Thursday 20 September 2012

When Should You Trash Your Makeup?

I was going through my stash of makeup a couple of days back and realised that I've had quite a few products for a pretty long time. A foundation actually goes back 3 years! Not that I use all the products regularly, but sometimes I am guilty of applying lipstick and blush which are a couple of years old. It's just so hard to throw them away!! Now that my collection is increasing at a rapid rate,  I wanted to know the shelf life of makeup products and exactly when I should put a stone on my heart and ditch them into the trash can. Unfortunately, the FDA does not require makeup companies to print expiration dates on their makeup so it's up to us to ensure that our vanity case has a clean bill of health. I turned to google for help and this is what I came up with. 










Approximate shelf lives for common makeup products:

1. Powders (including blushes, bronzers and eye shadows) - Two Years

2. Cream shadows and blushes - 12-18 months

3. Oil-free foundation - One Year

4. Cream Compact Foundation - 18 months

5. Concealers - 12-18 month

6. Lipstick and lip liner - One year ( Oh noooo :((

7. Lip gloss - 18-24 months

8. Pencil liner, kohl/kajal - 2 years

9. Liquid or gel liner - 3 - 6 months

10. Mascara - 3 - 6 months

Some Extra Tips:

1. If your product doesn't smell the same when you purchased it, or just smells bad, ditch it. You don't want to apply bacteria or fungus on your face.

2. If the product starts to separate, its's not a good idea to continue using them

3. Make sure the caps to all your products are secured after using and store makeup in a cool, dry place like the fridge for lipsticks

4. Do not pump the mascara wand in and out of the tube to collect more product. You are only providing easy access to bacteria to get in.

After getting all this information, I think I''ll have to do a major cleanup of my makeup :). Will break my heart to throw some beauties away but what to do?? I'd rather have a clean and healthy skin than tons of old, expired makeup!

What about you? Guilty of using products that are too old? Do share below. 

Images sourced from google

11 comments:

Apoorva Writes said...

Hey D.. I have these lip glosses.. which expired long time back. I don't feel like throwing them at all.. :(
even though I dont use them :P

Dolon said...

I have lots of old stuff that I really need to chuck right now!

Lee.B said...

i do tend to use my compact n foundi after the expiry date n even my mascara after 3 months..ohh no what a cardinal sin..i really need to talk myself into getting rid of all that .:(

Lee_Bee said...

i do tend to use my compact n foundi after the expiry date n even my mascara after 3 months..ohh no what a cardinal sin..i really need to talk myself into getting rid of all that .:(

Poutpretty said...

Me too:)...so hard to throw them away!

Apoorva Writes said...

I think I can never do that on my own.. Will ask my mom to do that :P

Shourima Ghosh said...

i always throw my foundations when expired! i never used expired products! but i dont have the heart to throw away lipsticks! i have to keep a stone on my heart & throw them :'(

Nidhi (Shukla)Pandey said...

Hi Dolon...an excellent post indeed! Although my heart would be shattered into a zillion pieces if i have to dump those lippies n eyelieners..:( No dont want to..but one thing I wntd to ask is my lippies r not bad..they r good to apply.. but yes the eyelieners have lost their sheen and creamy and soft velvety texture..plus they dont stay that long too.. would have to throw them for sure.. but I can continue my fav lippie naa..till it doesnt smell bad.. or doesnt separate (Plz say yes..:) )

Poutpretty said...

Ya lippie should be good:)) but eyeliners should be dumped for sure!

Nidhi (Shukla)Pandey said...

done that! I feel so nice! Now I need to buy eye liners.. almost similar to green and blue ones from Revlon colorstay..

Aarthi said...

Love the write up :) Very informative :)