7 Habits That Are Making Your Makeup Dirty

It's time to face the facts: Wearing makeup can be a very dirty business. From cross-contamination to everyday accidents, there are several ways that your makeup could be harboring bacteria and germs. In fact, many of your day-to-day habits could be the reason that your makeup is contaminated. Clean out your makeup by cleaning up some of your beauty-based habits. While none of these lifestyles hacks are incredibly drastic, they will make a huge difference in the look and feel of your makeup and skin. These small changes will do wonders for keeping your beauty products as germ-free as possible.

The down-side to using dirty makeup is that it can wreck havoc on your face. From eye infections to acne and breakouts, germ-filled beauty products have tons of negative side effects that can affect your health. Keep yourself looking and feeling your best by tweaking some of your lifestyle habits to prevent bacteria growth in your beauty routine. So, don't be caught using dirty makeup. It's bad for almost every inch of your skin. Wondering what lifestyle habits could be infecting your beauty products? Here are seven everyday habits that could be making your makeup extremely dirty.

1. Using Your Fingers To Apply

While using your fingers to apply your makeup may seem like a quick and easy solution, BuzzFeed reported that it could also be the reason that you're experiencing acne and other breakouts. Think about it. Our hands touch thousands of things a day. Each of the items that we touch contain their own set of bacteria. Do you really want all of those germs touching your makeup, or let alone, your face?

2. Not Sharpening Your Pencil Products

If your makeup is touching either your eyes or lips, it needs to be cleaned. Both of these wet areas contain many unseen germs, and therefore, your makeup products can gather these items. ABC News reports that you should "sharpen your eye and lip pencils to remove the bacteria on the outer layers."

3. Adding Water To Old Products

Think adding just a bit of water to a product is okay? Wrong. Not only could this introduce new bacteria, according to OrganizationQuest.com, but a change in consistency is a usual sign that your product has gone bad or expired.

4. Leaving Makeup In Your Car

While you may think it's a good idea to store emergency makeup in your car, it isn't. OrganizationQuest.com reports that heat and light can cause preservatives in your makeup to breakdown, and can cause bacteria to grow inside your products. Eww!

5. Not Cleaning Your Brushes

There is a reason that every beauty guru harps about cleaning your makeup brushes. These applicators practically cling to germs, so scrubbing the bristles may be the best way to fight off possible breakouts or infections, according to TotalBeauty.com

6. Storing Makeup In Your Bathroom

From bright lights to wet surfaces, bathroom are practically a breeding ground for germs, according to Romper.com. Keep your makeup as germ-free as possible by storing your products in another location.

7. Sharing Makeup

Just don't do it. While your BFF may be desperate to try out your new MAC lipstick, the chances of cross-contamination just aren't worth it. Trust me, no one looks cute with a cold sore.

Nothing is worse than ruining your makeup and skin with germ-covered products, so make sure to take the proper steps to protect them both when using and storing them.