Fashion
Makeup Expiration Date Guidelines To Help You Decide What To Keep And What To Toss During Your New Year Purging Sesh
New Year's Eve may feel like last night, but *spoiler alert* it happened almost a month ago. Soon, this month will be a memory. You know what else should be a memory? That body glitter from middle school still taking up space in your makeup box. Consider this an intervention — one involving lots of makeup expiration date guidelines.
Since the new year is already off to a running start, it's time to do some winter cleaning, starting with your makeup collection. What are you still doing with the electric blue eyeshadow from your high school musical? TOSS. The trendy green mascara that your college roommate gave you as a Secret Santa gift? Bye, Felicia. The fake eyelashes you bought in bulk off Amazon during your '60s Twiggy phase? Give those babies away. The truth of the matter is your makeup collection is cluttered with old, unmatched, and unnecessary items that are taking up valuable space for new goodies. How can you put your best face forward in 2015 with five year old foundation you bought during that one Spring Break in Cancun?
Here's a shopping list of all your makeup essentials, complete with recommendations on when to keep, when to give away, and when to toss. Trust me, this is for your own good.
Images: nuwatphoto/Fotolia
Mascara: 2 - 3 Months
Keep: That shiny new tube of Diorshow, acquired last week.
Give Away: Any unopened mascaras still sitting around in your bathroom. If you haven’t used them by now, you never will. *cough hoarder cough*
Toss: That tube of Maybelline GreatLash you’ve been holding on to since sixth grade — you know, just in case…
Image: fotosmile777/Fotolia
Eye and Lip Pencils: 12 - 18 Months
Keep: For eyeliners, you should keep black, brown, or if you’re feeling adventurous, olive green and plum colors handy. These are the most useful and complementary colors. For lipliners, you want to shoot for colors that are as close to your natural lip color and one token red lipliner for those special red-lipped nights out. Bacteria in your eye is not a joke, so sharpen regularly.
Give Away: Don’t share lipliner or eyeliner. That’s the easiest way to get pink eye or herpes.
Toss: The black lipliner from your middle school goth phase. Even if you’re still into black lipstick, it’s time to purchase a new one. No judgement.
Image: Katrina Brown/Fotolia
Pressed Powders: 2 Years
Keep: Fortunately for us all, pressed powders, such as powder foundation, bronzer, and blush, last seemingly forever. If it’s still in one piece, not cracked or flaky, and the right color, it’s a keeper.
Give Away: Think like Goldilocks. If it’s too dark or too light for your skin tone, give it to a friend who could use it more than you can. You’re looking for the shade that is juusttt righhhtt.
Toss: The blush you’ve used so much that there is only a sliver of product left in the pan. Go buy yourself a new one, doll.
Image: Tanouchka/Fotolia
Eyeshadow: 6 Months - 1 Year
Keep: Eyeshadows are like chocolates — you can’t have just one. But lucky us, we can keep them for a year before we have to worry. Like the pressed powders, any eyeshadows that are in good condition, not cracked, and have retained their pigment can stay put right where they are in your beauty drawer,
Give Away: Certain colors look better on certain skin tones. For example, Lupita Nyong’o can rock cerulean all over her lids. I, sadly, cannot. Hand off any of those colors you experimented with but simply cannot rock to someone who can.
Toss: The cracked, the old, and the almost finished. Your eyelids deserve better.
Image: fieldwork/Fotolia
Liquid and Gel Eyeliners: 3 Months
Keep: You bought it at CVS on your way home from work — yesterday.
Give Away: Like any other products that touch the eye area directly, you should not share them. Unless you have extra eyeliners in their original packaging, keep your germs to yourself.
Toss: Is it empty? Chuck it. Have you only used it once in the last year because putting liquid eyeliner is harder than taking the LSAT? Garbage time.
Image: imagehub/Fotolia
Liquid Foundations and Concealers: 6 - 12 Months
Keep: You got it professionally matched to your skin tone at Sephora as a a part of your Christmas Sephora gift card.
Give Away: That foundation you bought while you were on vacation in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, or any other sunny destination where your skin tone was drastically altered temporarily for a weekend.
Toss: If you’re scraping the bottom of the bottle, it’s time to part ways.
Image: Eskymaks/Fotolia
Lipstick and Lipgloss: 1-2 Years
Keep: The holy grail — a red lipstick that flatters your skin tone and makes your teeth sparkle like a winter wonderland.
Give Away: All of the other red lipsticks you bought trying to find the holy grail.
Toss: If the name and brand on the tube has completely rubbed off, it’s time to say goodbye.
Image: fotomania777/Fotolia
