Most lash damage does not happen while you sleep. It happens in the ninety seconds before, standing at the sink with a cotton pad.
The problem is friction, not the make-up
Mascara is built to hold. Waterproof mascara is built to hold harder. Rubbing at it dry, or with a cleanser that was never meant to break down wax, means the lash gives way before the make-up does. That is why lashes come away on the pad.
Soak first, then wait
Press a pad soaked in a bi-phase or oil-based remover flat against the closed eye. Hold it there for twenty seconds without moving it. The remover needs that time to soften the film. Twenty seconds of stillness saves a minute of rubbing.
Wipe in one direction
Once the mascara has loosened, draw the pad down and outwards, following the lash. One pass, then turn to a clean side of the pad. Back-and-forth is what tangles lashes against each other.
Leave the lash line until last
For liner along the base, use a cotton bud rather than pressing the whole pad into the lash line. It gives you control where the lashes are shortest and most closely packed.
Then stop touching them
Rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry. Do not drag a towel across your eyes. If a serum is part of your evening, the lash line has to be clean and dry before you apply it — so this is not a step before the ritual. It is the beginning of it. (What comes next, and the three habits that waste half the bottle.)
What to change if your lashes already feel fragile
Set waterproof mascara aside for a while. Use the curler before mascara rather than after, when the lashes are not stuck together, or leave it out entirely. And give the whole routine more time than feels necessary. Patience is doing more of the work here than any single product.
If the fragility follows a set of extensions or a lift, the timeline is worth knowing before you judge anything: what recovery actually looks like after extensions, and what a lift does to the hair.