Katniss has recently developed a very bad habit of scratching the face. She first started when she was picked up. I only pick her up when I come home from work now or when I first see her in the morning as she is all purrs and love then, but I'd keep her away from the face area. Then yesterday she was sleeping on my lap all content and suddenly just went for my face. She managed to scrape my eyeball and there is a scratch mark inside of my lower eyelid. I'm fine with not picking her up, but today when she crawled into my lap and I've put her away, she just keeps coming back, but I'm kind on the edge, as I dont want her to lash out for no apparent reason again. I think she has always had some kind of weird obsession with bare skin, but I don't want her to hurt anyone else. Is there anything I can do or do I just make sure she is a safe distance away from anyone's face at all times?

I had issues with Hendrix at one point as he kept trying to steal my glasses off my face, and did manage a few times and run of with them. I was pretty worried about my eyes as his claws were always out. I came on here for help and was advised to blow fairly hard into his face and make a huffing noise at the same time. He really didn't like it and he did grow out of it thank goodness. Different to your situation though as it wasn't out of the blue, I could read what he was going to do.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

They do say if the cat is on your lap and scratches you the best thing to do is to get up slowly without touching the cat and walk away and turn your back to them and ignore it, do this each time and the cat will learn it gets ignored.

If it's good then reward it with a treat.

Another way is to firmly say not shout NO and clap your hands but not in the cats face as you don't want to terrify it.

I use the clapping method when my 2 get a bit out of hand and it does work.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

You cannot show your cat your fear! That puts them dominant over you. I've NEVER had Raiden scratch me except when his claws clip me while we are playing. I know some bengal owners have issues with their cat scratching them. It is dangerous and scary. My cat is not a lap cat or lovey dovey. I crave attention and love from him, but it's not there, so I'd love a cat who wants to be on my lap (but not the scratching). You might want to keep a toy beside you that you can distract your kitty before the attack.