How Long Should You Keep Makeup?

While you’re doing your spring cleaning, maybe it’s time to take a look at your makeup bag, as well.  To keep your makeup fresh and your skin healthy, you should go through your makeup every few months, check smell and consistency, and take note of each item’s purchase date.   Keeping your makeup bag fresh and up to date will help you avoid skin irritation or infection that could arise from using old cosmetics.   Let’s talk about a few general guidelines regarding the shelf life of common cosmetics.

First and foremost, if your makeup smells funny, throw it out!  This seems like it would be common sense:  You don’t want to be putting something IN YOUR EYE that smells like it’s gone off.  Please. If any of your lotions or potions smells off, get rid of it, no matter how much is left in the container.

Now, here’s a list of general rules regarding the shelf life of make-up:

• Concealer:  12 months
• Foundation:  Water-based, 12 months; Oil-based, 18 months.
• Powder:  2 years
• Lipstick:  1-2 years.  Again, if it smells bad, throw it away. Now.
• Lip Gloss:  1-2 years.
• Mascara:  3-4 months.  This is the product you’ll want to replace most frequently.
• Pencil eye liner:  If sharpened regularly, can last 2-3 years.  Same with pencil lip liners.  Sharpening these pencils regularly removes the top layers of product and helps keep the surfaces relatively free of residual bacteria.
• Powder eye shadow:  2 years
• Cream eye shadow:  1 year
• Powder blush: 2 years
• Cream blush: 12-18 months

In addition, to help keep your makeup free of bacteria, you should wash your makeup brushes in a mild detergent every couple of months.  Makeup sponges should be washed weekly.

A final caution:  If you tend to use a lot of “natural” cosmetics which are free of preservatives, these should be tossed sooner. The lack of preservatives and the composition of many botanical ingredients means that natural makeup tends to go bad sooner.  Keep your eye on it.

So if you still have that fuschia blush and blue mascara in the back of your drawer from that 80s party you went to three years ago?  You guessed it: Time to get rid of it. 

Keep Organized With A Stylish Makeup Case

Every woman has a drawer full of tubes, powders, pencils, brushes, sponges, and various other tools and make up products that are needed to make you look radiant everyday. Even if you are a low maintenance type of woman who only requires a bit of face powder and mascara to look her best, you likely still have an arsenal of brushes, tweezers, creams and lotions. It’s a fact of life for most women.

But what doesn’t have to be a fact of life is the mess that tends to accompany all of these supplies. Who says you have to have drawers and shelves with all of your products spilling out everywhere? No, all you need is an organizational tool that will keep everything where you need it and still look great. That’s where make up carrying cases come in. I’m not talking about just simple make up bags, although those work great in the right situation too. But no, I’m talking about make up kits with pull out drawers that are compartmentalized so that you can keep your supplies organized.

Imagine opening the lid to your hot pink make up case, with reinforced aluminum corners and there you had all of your brushes, powders and lotions all laid out for you? No more rummaging through drawers, looking for the right thing.

Most of these kits are stylish, easy to keep clean and come with a mirror attached, so you have everything you need right at your finger tips. And if you’re worried about prying eyes, or sneaky fingers dipping into your make up stash, you can lock up your goodies to keep them safe.

There is no reason you need to suffer the mess of the bathroom all for the sake of beauty. Get yourself organized with a make up case that looks great and gives you the function and organization you need so badly.