Knowing When To Let Your Makeup Go

May 31st, 2008 | By Beauty Snob | Category: Conscious Beauty
Rating 4.00 out of 5

Knowing when to let goWe can all get a bit sentimental with our makeup. The killer eyeliner that always makes your eyes pop. The lip gloss that have men staring. Yeah, yeah, but when it’s time, you need to chuck them. Just buy another one, clean and fresh, where you do not run the risk of bacteria and other funky stuff to grow. That includes sponges too.

Here is a basic time-line of how long you can keep makeup:

Liquid foundation: 1 year
Pressed powder: 1-2 years
Powder blush: 2 years
Powder eye shadow: 2-3 years
Pencil eyeliner: 1-3 years
Liquid eyeliner: 6 months
Mascara: 3 months
Lip liner: 2 years
Lipstick: 2 years
Lip gloss: 2 years
Nail polish: 1 year

Wash your brushes every 3 months with warm water and mild detergent. Throw away your sponges every month.

Basically, if it has any slight smell that seems any bit different than when you purchased them, throw it away. If you don’t remember when you bought it, throw it away. The natural products usually go bad faster, as there are less preservatives.

This keeps your face clean and healthy as well as open up more opportunities to buy more beautiful makeup.

More Insight…

Blushes/Eyeshadows- Ladies, use your senses of sight and smell to decide when it’s time to toss them into the trash. You should hold onto your shades for no more than 2 years. If you detect color or smell changes at any time, get rid of them immediately!

Mascara Mascara- First, you must know that mascara’s shelf life is shorter than the rest of your cosmetics. You might just be breeding bacteria if you continue to put that brush into the barrel. Please follow the lifetimes suggested above, don’t keep a mascara for more than 3 months. If you want to stock up on your favorite one, make sure to keep them sealed.

Lipsticks- If you absolutely adore a lipstick color, you can refrigerate it to extend its lifespan!

Lip and Eye Liners- These makeover superstars can sustain for up to 3 years! Although they are low maintenance, you should always keep the tips clean and sharpen them on a regular basis.


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3 comments
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  1. Emma June 1st, 2008 4:15 am :

    This is a good information to know! I’ve accumulated so much make up over the years because I don’t really know when to discard. It can be especially tough when you don’t use all your makeup on a daily basis… how can I bear to let my mascara go when I only use it twice a week?

  2. The Conscious Snob June 1st, 2008 9:50 am :

    Thanks for the comment, Emma! Twice a week, or even just a few times a month already exposes your mascara to air, which leads it to slowly oxidize, dry, and be susceptible to bacteria. It’s hard to throw something away that seems still “full,” but perhaps this will encourage you to wear mascara more often. Nothing makes your eyes pop like a good mascara.

  3. Eyes that Wow | The Conscious Snob July 6th, 2008 3:41 pm :

    [...] I recently tossed out mascara that was past its due date and went out to find a new [...]

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