I really don't know why he might be doing it.
But, I have sort of the same thing with my Gracie...she' 8 years old and she's chewed on my hair since she was a tiny baby.
My cats TK and Meiko used to do that all the time when I was sleeping.TK would also lick my forehead. I think the eyelashes is because when you sleep, your eyes move a little and make your eyelashes move. My cats slept near my head, so they couldn't probably see that, get curious, and nuzzle my eye a little.
I don't think it's anything abnormal or strange behavior though.