Monday, April 4, 2011

Beauty shelf life

Ladies...
I know some of you probably grew up looking at your mother's beauty vanity and admired and even tried on the makeup. I also know some of you have mother's who still to this day have the same exact makeup that you tried on as a child.

Well we are not our mothers, right? lol

I know we all love to collect makeup and it's hard not too, since there are so many out there and so many different and cool colors :)
but are you still using the same eyeliner that you bought as a teen?
If the answer is yes, then read on please.

So before I tell you what some experts are saying, these are my general rule for when to toss out your makeup. Now it's not easy for me to say that, "just toss it out", because who wants to throw away something that you spent your hard earned money on? But, if it means applying bacteria on yourself, it isn't worth it. Money is money, but you only have 2 eyes LOL

Ok, so my rules;

Throw out your makeup IF:
1) It smells bad, we all know when something smells bad. Take a big whiff and throw it out!
2) If you can't remember when you bought it, because it was soooo long, throw it out!
3) If the color has changed, throw it out!
4) If the texture has changed, throw it out!
5) and please if you live in a tropical/hot temporary area and you leave your product in the car by accident and it melts, throw it away. Heat+humidity+germs is not a good combo for you.

So those are my general rules, now this is what others are saying are the shelf lives:

Lipsticks/lippies: 1-2 years
foundation: 1-2 years
eyeliners: up to 2 years
eyeshadows: up to 2 years (if it's not cream based)
mascaras: 6 months
blushes: up to 2 years (if it's not cream based)
Powders: up to 2 years
Concealers: 6 months

Alot of our makeup can either by mineral/powder based or cream based. It's just logical that anything that is moist/cream based will not last as long as powder, because of it's formula.

I read someone say that nailpolish can go bad after 2 years, but I also know a lot of nail fantatics that will add thinner (acetone) to it to break up the hardened polish to reuse.
I happen to be one of those people that when the formula gets gloopy and hard to thin it out and continue using.

I know not a lot of people want to hear about shelf lives, because they can't fathom throwing away their precious collection, but that just means you have to shop smarter (or less) and be able to use what you actually buy.

What do you guys think? What was your experience with makeup products and when do you toss?

2 comments:

  1. Keep your blasphemy about my expired collection to yourself ;p

    I don't even know what it smelled like when I got it, I can claim ignorance when I smell it later :)

    ((sarcastic bunny tone off))

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  2. haha. If you turn your nose away because it stinks, it's time to toss :p

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