Expiration Dates: When to toss!

With almost every person I've met who uses makeup, they always have a product that is wayy past its expiration date. 

Like, that product could qualify for Medicare. 

And every time I see someone with that product, I inform them that it's time to pull the plug and let go. 

Really, not a lot of people know that makeup does have an expiration date. Though when I inform people of the past expiration, they laugh it off as if I told them a unicorn will come out of their mascara tube and eat them in their sleep.

Look, if something expires it means that the formula you paid for when you bought the product has completely changed. 

Let's say you have some milk. Right after it is bought, it does the job wonderfully. Two weeks later you go to grab the milk to eat your Captain Crunch, and find a colony of slightly green organisms crawling around amidst the curdled mounds of spoiled milk. You ignore the smell and the bacteria and the fungus, and pour that stuff into your Captain Crunch. You eat a big scoop of the curdled Crunch Berries, and when the food hits your tongue, you immediately know that eating that is really bad and you throw it away.

The same goes with makeup. Even the bacteria and fungus part of that metaphor. You are volunteering yourself for an infection by using expired makeup.

Mascara is the biggest culprit. Mascara only lasts four to five months, but yet it's the one thing people refuse to throw away! If you're using expired mascara, you are susceptible to eyelash loss, irritation, and eyelash mites. Eyelash mites burrow into the follicle of eyelashes and lay 20-24 eggs in your eyelash follicle!!!! Seriously, Here is a picture. I'm sorry for this trauma but this might be an intervention.

Ugh. I got the shivers.

As a last thought before I list expiration times for makeup; 

You're putting this stuff on your face. An infection isn't something you should accept just because you find it inconvenient to part with a product. 

Mascara: 4-5 months when it starts smelling strong, toss it.

Cream&Gel Eyeliners: 1 year when it begins to dry or "tug" on your skin when applying, toss it.

Pencil Eyeliner: up to 3 years! As long as it is sharpened regularly, you're good!!

Eyeshadow: up to 3 years, too! Depends on quality, but if kept in a dry and cool place, you're good!!

Concealer: up to 12 months. As with gel and cream eyeliner, if it tugs on the skin or feels dry and flaky, toss it.

Foundations:

Water-Based Foundation: up to 12 months.

Oil-Based Foundation: up to 18 months

Lipliner: up to 3 years for pencil lip liner a. 8-12 months on push up lip liners. 

Lipstick: 1-3 years. Depends on quality. If it smells rancid, begins to develop dark spots, then toss it.

Nail Polish: 1 year

Thanks for reading and don't forget to relay this blog to others you know!