Makeup Expiration Dates

Makeup, it's one of my guilty pleasures in life. It brings me great joy to take a stroll through Sephora or any other makeup store and look at all the beautiful products they have on display.

Over the weekend, I was hanging out with one of my friends that was up visiting from New Jersey. We were at the Providence Place Mall and she said she needed to get some new makeup. I was very excited to suggest Sephora, and off we went into makeup land.

My friend doesn't experiment much with makeup, she just doesn't have time and doesn't know that much about applying it. Plus, she's busy, she's got two little boys at home, so that doesn't leave her much time to herself to get ready. I was helping her pick out some items and colors, when she divulged that she has had the same makeup since her wedding. She got married in 2009! I said 'Oh my God! You need to replace it, that stuff is all expired by now!' Her response was: 'Makeup expires?' I just laughed and started telling her the expiration dates on the products she had. We later met up with her husband and he asked 'What happens if you use expired makeup? Nothing, right? I mean it still works?' While yes, it will still work, it won't work as well and over time it will break down and can contain a plethora of bacteria. If you don't replace your products often enough, you are putting that bacteria right on your face, day after day. It's especially dangerous to put expired eye makeup products on, because you could get some serious eye infections that way!

So here's some helpful info if you also didn't know that makeup expired...or maybe you knew it did, but just didn't know when. It's sooner than you think!

Mascara: You only have 3 months with this product. Which stinks because honestly, even when I use mascara every day, I do not go through a tube of mascara in under 3 months, so I always end up having to throw some away. I hate throwing it away, but it's a better option than an eye infection.

Any cream-based product (concealer, foundation, blush, etc.): This will last you up to a year and a half, before the contents start breaking down and they start holding onto too much bacteria. If you have a powder formula though, that can last you a bit longer, up to two years.

Eyeshadow: Most eyeshadow comes in powder form, and that will last you about two years. However, if you have cream eyeshadow, you cut that time down by about six months.

Lipstick: You can keep your tube of lipstick for up to a year, and if you're a gloss girl, you just bought yourself another six months. As for lipliner, that's good for two years, as long as you keep sharpening the pencil.

Make sure you keep your makeup in a cool, dry place, and to extend the shelf life of it just a little, you can try storing it in the fridge.

Also, if you start to see your makeup products separating or starting to smell funny, those are surefire signs that they need to be tossed.