When Should You Chuck Old Makeup? Is It Dangerous?

Let me just dive in, this is how it happened…

I have two cosmetic cases, one big luggage one circa 90′s that I picked up from Melrose and a travel sized Shu Uemura red carrier case. One day as I was bored I decided to peruse the contents of the big silver luggage one and it was a veritable graveyard of make-up faces of the past. I kid you not, I still had old Revlon brown eyeliners in there that I use to use for my eyebrows, eyes and as LINER for my chola lips! Holy Poop!

I also had assorted M.A.C. lipsticks (that smelled wretched) and fermented compacts from Estee Lauder that formed this fossilized crusty cover on the top (I assume from the old sponges and oil that was left to ferment on the surface of the makeup). Super gross to say the least…

Well obviously this stuff was way past it’s prime, but the question was posed: When should you chuck your makeup?

Answer:

- Is your mascara clumpy? Is your foundation thickening? It is difficult to know when to get rid of cosmetics because most don’t have an expiration date, and of course I understand it is hard to chuck expensive cosmetics but not doing so can actually be dangerous for your health because bacteria could literally be growing full force in your old makeup containers. Which can cause you pink eye or peri-oral dermatitis that might irritate the skin and cause little red bumps that look like acne. Yuck!

- Experts say you should go by when you first opened the makeup. Eye make-ups and liquid foundations last the least amount of time and should be tossed out after just three months.

- Powders and foundations opened more than a year ago can also cause problems and should be chucked.

- Makeup applicators should be replaced regularly as well, it is suggested that you re-fresh these supplies once a week.

- You should NOT share lipsticks, lip balms and lip glosses! They might have a strain of the herpes virus and give you cold sores. (Yeck!)

- Lastly if makeup looks old or changes texture is it a good idea to throw it out. Experts even advise to smell your makeup, an unusual odor usually means that it contains bacteria.

Eeks! Well I hope that helps ladies, truth is I was never this diligent about keeping my makeup supplies fresh. I usually purchase a few “fad” makeup items and stick to my “every day” face makeup daily. Time goes by so quickly by the time I return to the fad products they are already yucky. Talk about a waste of money. Poop! 

But I would rather chuck my old makeup then get some funky eye infection or skin rash. I hope this information helps you, it helped me.  – Michelle