Spring Clean your Makeup

Makeup and cosmetics like creams and perfumes all have a shelf life. Continuing to use beauty products after a certain period of time can leave you at risk from spreading bacteria and developing infections. It is important to spring clean your makeup every year to ensure that it stays fresh and totally hygienic.

The first thing to do is go through your collection and putting everything you haven’t used over the past year into a pile. Next step is easy - throw it away. This may be hard if something expensive is included, but it not a good idea to use creams or makeup that have been left for this amount of time.

With whatever is left, go through each item checking its colour, consistency and smell. Anything that has developed an odour, changed colour or changed in its consistency should also be thrown away. This is especially true of creams, mascara and liquid foundations.

At this point your collection could have shrunk dramatically. There is still work to do however. With the remaining items, try and work out when you purchased them. A mascara for example has only a shelf life of 6 months because of the sensitive nature of the eyes. Your mascara may look ok, smell ok and have a normal texture, but if you have been using it on a off for more than 6 months, it is time to part ways and throw it out. As a rule, powdered makeup has a shelf life of a year, pencils about 3 years, and liquids including foundations and creams, about 6 months. Anything that you have in your collection that has been open for longer than these periods should go.

Next is the good part where you get to purchase brand new stuff! You may feel sad and hard done by that you had to throw away what seemed like perfectly good cosmetics, but the bright side is you get to replace them.

Have any of you experienced the negative effects of old makeup or cosmetics? Send in your comments below.

How to Store Cosmetics

The storage of cosmetics and other lotions and potions is very important if you want to prolong their “shelf life” and ensure they stay fresh for longer. When makeup and other cosmetics are not stored properly, they can deteriorate rapidly. Eyeshadows for example become crumbly and soft, mascaras can go mouldy and creams can go hard and discolour.

For correct storage of cosmetics like makeup, it is sensible to invest in a hard durable fishing tackle style of box. The different compartments will allow you to organise your products carefully so you can find them quickly when you need to, and the durable nature of the box will provide long lasting protection against your products getting broken or moisture and humidity from getting inside and affecting the contents. Moisture and humidity are the biggest reasons why makeup becomes crumbly and breaks and no longer be used. For this reason it is never sensible to keep makeup in a bathroom, but instead store it well away from the bathroom in a cool, dark cupboard.

Creams and lotions need good storage too so they last as long as possible. Homemade creams especially need good storage. The best candidate for the job is white plastic pots and jars with shives. Currently Baldwins have these on special offer, so it is a good time to stock up. They come in two different sizes, 30ml and the larger 250ml. Priced well under a pound, they are very strong, durable, easy to clean and will keep your creams looking, smelling and feeling great.

Similarly with makeup, it is vital that your creams and lotions and potions are not kept in the bathroom with all that moisture and humidity that is in the air. Keep them in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. With the correct containers and the correct storage, both makeup and other cosmetics and perfumes will stay fresh for longer.

If any of you have any tips on how to store makeup and cosmetics, send in your comments below.