What is the Shelf Life of Makeup?

I must admit, I am a hoarder. Sometimes it’s just too hard for me to let go of the things (even those which I rarely use). When it comes to makeup, it’s the same story. A few days ago I read an article and I immediately ran into my bathroom and decided to clean up my makeup storage. I knew that makeup has an expiration date, but I didn’t know some of the products had such a short shelf life. I threw away some of the products I hadn’t been using for a long time or they were opened up too long ago. I also decided to give some of them away to friends and family (which were still ok, but rarely used). I thought it would be nice to share some of the things I’ve learned:

Every makeup product has an expiration date and even your favorite lipstick eventually becomes breeding grounds for bacteria. Period.
All (most) of the products have an expiration date printed on the packaging.
To get maximum longevity from your make up, buy only cosmetics that haven’t been opened. At home, you should store them in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight.
Light, humidity and moisture, air, and heat will age a product faster.
When you notice weird smell, color change or uneven consistency (when it solidify or separates), toss the product immediately.
Don’t be sad to say goodbye to your favorite lipgloss or bronzer. When you toss something out, there’s a new room for some more products.
The last part is the recommended shelf life for each makeup product after it has been opened for the first time. Here are the numbers that might shock you. Guidelines for when to discard your makeup are the following:

mascara after 3-6 months
foundation 1 year
everything in cream forms (cream blushes, concealers, cream eyeshadows, bronzers) 12-18 months
powders (face powder, blush, bronzer, eyeshadows) 2 years
eyeliner 3-6 months (eye pencil 2 years)
lipstick and lipgloss 18 months
nailpolishes 2 years (EU guidelines)

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10 Comments

  1. Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 09:39 AM

    Sem že večkrat brala različne razlage za to kako dolgo lahko nekaj uporabljaš. Jaz vsekakor tekoče eyelinerje in maskare zavržem po dveh mesecih. Vse kar gre tik zraven očesa, raje zamenjam. Pa vse kremne zadeve so problematične. Kar pa je v prahu pa kar dolgo uporabljam. Včasih pa tudi vzamem 99,7% alkohol in razkužim določene zadeve:). Najbolj me je presenetilo dejstvo za lake. Jaz imam ene že po 6 let. Mogoče pa moram res kakšnega odposlati iz kolekcije:).

    • Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 11:29 AM

      Za lake je bolj kot ne priporočilo, se tudi jaz iskreno povedano ne držim (vsaj dokler je normalno mazljiv).
      Produkti, ki se uporabljajo blizu oči, so za moje pojme najpomembnejši. Tdu jaz zamenjam, čeprav je včasih se težko posloviti od kakšnega črtala, ki še dobro deluje. Sicer pa je na Etiketi malo bolj obrazloženo zakaj mora kakšna stvar v smeti 🙂

    • Wednesday November 19th, 2014 / 08:11 PM

      Kaj za božjo voljo pa naj bi se zaredilo v lakih? Naše direktive so včasih prav hecne. Ko mi najdejo nekaj kar preživi toksični odpad imenovan lak za nohte, bom šla delat čistko. Do takrat pa bom še veselo naprej zbirala lake in jih uporabljala tudi 6 let po odprtju. 😀

    • Thursday November 20th, 2014 / 06:54 PM

      Sem se enako sama spraševala.. In ne, jih ne mečem stran dokler niso posušeni ali kako drugače neuporabni 🙂

  2. Tiana
    Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 09:45 AM

    omg…I don't want to throw away anything… 🙁

  3. Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 05:47 PM

    Jaz enkrat na leto naredim čisto v kopalnici in pomečem stran kreme in podobne zadeve, pri makeupu pa priznam, da nisem tako pridna. Maskare in podlage ponavadi porabim v pravem času, kakšne lipglosse in šminke edino stran pomečem, ko začnejo zgledat/vonjat čudno, pa kakšne kremne senčke, ki se strdijo. . Pri lakih in senčkah se pa res ne držim roka uporabe. Si ne predstavljam, da bi po dveh letih vse stran metala… 😀

    • Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 09:28 PM

      Jaz sem večino senčk dobila pred manj kot dvema letoma (vsaj tadobre paletke), zato zaenkrat se še držim (tiste stare sem večinoma vse pometala stran; razen eno Diorjevo imam staro cca.3leta in pol). In ja, če bodo še ok, jih verjetno ne bom metala stran. Pudre vedno porabim v času, maskare in eyelinerja pa tako kot ti vržem stran 🙂

  4. Tuesday November 18th, 2014 / 07:47 PM

    Verjetno se malo katera drži tega, sploh lepotne blogerke. No jaz se ne držim pri lakcih in senčkah za oči.
    Pri maskaraj in eyelinerjih pa sem kar dosledna. Tekoče podlage itak porabim v določenem času, isto je z negovalnimi izdelki.

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