Wednesday, 12 August 2009
-
Does Your Makeup Need To Be Tossed?
vFor a girl contributing to a beauty blog, I'm not very good at throwing away makeup, even if its been a while. It's probably just the broke college student in me talking, but after seeing a friend of mine get an eye infection from some bacteria-laden mascara, I'm thinking I have to shut that part of me up.
But how do you tell when makeup's ready to be tossed? Since there aren't experation dates on makeup (there are no laws in the US mandating that they be displayed), we have to rely on some rules of thumbs and helpful tips.
After reading some government-issued FDA guidelines and an article on the same, here's the low-down on when you should throw away old makeup:
- Eye Makeup gathers bacteria faster than any other products and should thus be thrown away earlier than all others. Makeup manufacturers recommend mascara be thrown away after two to four months (information that definitely would have helped my friend out). If it dries, throw it out; water or saliva will only increase the bacteria on the product.
- Fondations and Concealers last from one year to a year and a half. Cracking, discoloration, and other irregularities will signal if it needs to be tossed earlier.
- "All Natural" Products don't have the preservatives that keep other makeup lasting longer, and thus should be watched more closely for cracking, drying, discoloration, or other irregularities that would signal it needs to be tossed,
- Sharing Makeup is a huge no-no, as it introduces foreign bacteria into your system. That means testers in stores and borrowing your friend's lipstick can lead to big problems.
When do you throw away these or other products? What are your tips for promoting sanitary makeup use?
-
recommend
- recs 1
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to Beauty's Lovelyish Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in Beauty's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: cristeen
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 35 Views: 0 82309 Comments: 0 2984 View all posts by cristeen
Comments (19)
I usually sanitize my pencil makeup (liners etc) with rubbing alcohol, shave the top of the lipstick if needed, tissue the top of powder makeup (eyeshawdow, press powder, blush etc) <--thats how i was taught when i was working at sephora- but more importantly, smell them! If it smell funny..its probably time to toss them away
With mascara, a great way to tell is the smell. If it smells "off" then it's time to toss it! A lot of people will ask "what does that mean?" and trust me, you'll know when you smell it lol
if it looks clumpy and yucky i throw em out. smell too yeah i toss em.
I don't see anything weird about my mascara, but, aaahh, it's been about 9 months since I've had it. Probably time to invest in another.
yes, tossing stuff and washing all brushes and applicators with antibacterial soap and air drying
I don't wear makeup
...I smell it....If it starts smelling weird, I toss it.
i don even know how i judge it, honestly
with powder and eyeliner, i use it up before it has the chance to go bad
eyeshadow and mascara i play it by ear
I always throw out mascara by the 3 month date. Other stuff, I look for changes in texture or smell. Also, a lot of the natural products I have bought typically come with an expiration date on them so I use them up before then.
how would anyone get saliva on a mascara wand is what i would like to know. O_O
i hardly use my mascara, maybe like once every two weeks. so mine lasts quite a while.
i also dont use my eyeshadows that often, but what i do is after every use, i spray a little bit of ethanol onto the surface. ethanol dries quickly, and since its alcohol, it also disinfects without damaging the product.
but i would have to say that i use brushes for everything, and i wash my brushes quite often. and i never ever share! i spent so much money on makeup, im stingy. LOL
when trying on makeup at stores like eyeliner/shadow i usually draw it on the back of my hand to see how the color would look on my skin tone
Make up does have an experation date on it, just look at that. All MAC makeup does, even ones from wal-mart. Just look for it. Unless its funky then throw it out before.
I don't wear makeup, but I plan to wear it occasionally. This is a pesky burden for someone like me who will probably only use makeup every few months anyway.
Mascara is pretty annoying seeing how long they last and the price they go for :\
I once used the same bottle of mascara for an entire year and was fine...I think it just depends on how you use it. If you're careful and make sure the wand doesn't touch anything other than your lashes, you will have little risk of getting bacteria on the wand.
i hate it when i have gym and everyones like can i barrow this and that, because i sound so mean when i say no, BUT i dont share brushes because i dont need head lice. and eyeliner and all that jazz is also a no because i dont know what they have. Conjunctivitis is not fun! i dont share my make up, and i'll be sure to smell and check my stuff out in the morning, 8D
hmmm.... i throw it out if it looks funky
i smell it and if it has diff looks on it of clumpy(eyeliner etc..) then i throw it away...
meh. probably.