Making Monday Pretty: When to Toss What

Posted by Hayley French on

When you love makeup as much as we do, you tend to collect quite a lot of it. However, it is important to go through your makeup drawers at least once a year, not only to keep things organized but to make sure to toss anything that may have expired. To help make this process a breeze, below are some guidelines as to the expiry dates of our favourite products.

Powder: 1 - 2 years

Powders have the longest shelf life of any products, however, make sure to check the ingredients and if water is listed, stick to the 1 year mark.

Liquid Foundation and Concealer: 8 - 12 months

Germs love liquid, and using liquid face products that are past their expiry date can cause irritation and break outs, which we would all prefer to avoid. You can tell if the product is past its prime when it becomes watery and starts to separate.

Cream Blush: 1 year

Although cream isn't considered fully liquid, it still gets its creamy texture from water, so like liquids, these products shouldn't stick around longer than a year.

Eyeshadow: 2 years

Powder shadows have a much longer shelf life and you can tell it's time to toss them when they become dry and flaky. Mist your powder products with alcohol every few uses to help keep contamination to a minimum.

Pencil Eyeliner: 2 years

Pencil lasts longer than all other forms of liner because every time you sharpen you are removing the contaminated surface layer. However, remember to keep your sharpeners clean!

Mascara: 2 - 3 months

Known for having the shortest lifespan of all makeup products, every time you pump the wand back into the tube air also enters, contaminating it with germs. Using expired mascara can lead to eye irritations so as soon as it starts to look dry, clumpy and possibly have a slight odour, its time to toss it.

Liquid Eyeliner: 2 - 3 months

This should be treated similarly to mascara since it comes very close to the eye area and there is no way to sanitize liquid liner.

Lipstick and Gloss: 2 years

Lipstick will become dry when it is starting to go off and become difficult to apply, whereas lip gloss will become tacky and start to separate.

Nail Polish: No shelf life 

Although there is no specific expiry date for your polishes, you will notice when it is time to toss a colour as it will become thick and clumpy making it hard to apply and in some cases it will start to discolour. Make sure to store your polishes in a cool, dry place to help make them last their longest and use a nail polish thinner on any shades that start to get a little gooey.

Have a beautiful holiday Monday everyone!


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