Make up and cosmetic items have expiration dates, just like food. While it won’t make you sick like expired food can, it can cause break outs or irritation. Follow this simple guide to know when it’s time to toss that lipstick shade you’ve been hanging onto since high school.
Mascara and Liquid Eyeliner: Mascara and liquid eyeliner have a shelf life of 2-3 months. Most of us go through these products fast, as they are every day items for most. But if they aren’t every day items (or you have multiple mascaras and eyeliners), be sure to toss them after 3 months. The tip of your liner or wand of your mascara can pick up bacteria that can cause irritation to your eyes. Tip: Getting towards the end of your mascara that hasn’t expired yet? Tighten the cap and place it in a cup of hot water for 2-3 minutes. This will help extend the life of unexpired mascara!
Liquid Foundation: Your foundation has a life of 6-12 months. If you’re like me, you have a fall/winter shade and a spring/summer shade (yay! for tans!) which means you may try to save bottles from season to season. This could mean that your foundation isn’t making until the next season. We recommend at the end of the season, just tossing your old foundation. But, if you insist on holding onto it, just mark the expiration on the bottle.
Concealer: Concealer has a life of 1 year. If you are like me, you’re going through concealer every month. Between actually concealing redness and dark circles as well as highlighting, my concealer never makes it longer than a couple of weeks. But, if by chance you have wands and jars of colors that you can't remember the last time you opened them, just toss them. Concealers are meant to hide blemishes, not cause them.
Lipstick: Luckily for us, lipsticks have a life span of 2 years! If you are someone who wears a lip color every day, there is probably no chance of your lipstick making it for two years. For a lot of us, lipsticks aren't an everyday item until we find that perfect shade. But we all know that once you find a shade that you absolutely love, it usually then gets discontinued and most women will stock up on that color, but that’s not always the best idea. If you do decide to stock up, make sure you mark when they were purchased so you can remember when to throw them out. It's okay ladies, if your shade gets discontinued, keep looking- there are a million shades out there!
Powders: Foundations, eye shadows, and blushes all fall within the powder category and they all have shelf lives of 2 years. The powders never make contact with your face, allowing them the last much longer. To ensure the life span of your powders make sure you keep your brushes clean!
Make Up Brushes: Your make up brushes will last you for a few years, as long as you take care of them. Our make up brushes hold not only old make up, but oil and skin cells that become a breeding ground for bacteria (eww!). Who wants to put that back onto their face everyday? We recommend washing your brushes every two weeks, but it is also very dependent on the amount of use your brushes get. If you use them often, you may want to wash them a little more; if you don’t use them every day, you may be able to go three weeks before washing them. A good way to tell is when your brushes no longer feel soft and you can see the make up caking up on them.
So girl, go look through your make up bag, underneath your bathroom sink, and in your vanity and start throwing out that old make!
*Tip* Expiration dates may vary between companies. Be on the look out for the "jar" symbol on your product to tell you how long your product lasts.
