Stop Hoarding and Learn When to Toss Old and Expired Makeup

Stop Hoarding and Learn When to Toss Old and Expired Makeup | by The Luxi Look

Confession: I am a makeup hoarder. I buy makeup and I keep it in a drawer, rarely throwing product away unless it’s completely used up. I’m guessing some of you do this too? For the longest time, I didn’t think twice about this habit. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, I told myself!

Why you shouldn’t use old, expired makeup

The reality is, makeup expires. And it’s not pretty when it does.

I mean, you don’t eat expired food, do you? I’m not talking about a couple days… I’m talking about months or evenย years old expired food. You probably wouldn’t even think of it. Expired food can make you sick, plain and simple. So why do we continue using expired makeup?!

Whether you realize it or not, the process of applying makeup can be less than sanitary, especially if you’re using your fingers to apply product and not washing your brushes properly (<< will do a post on this!). Over time, products can change in color and formula, lose their effectiveness, and become a hotspot for germs and bacteria. Ew!

Expiration dates for some common beauty products

Foundation 6 months+.

Foundation can last up to 2 years, but this is one you want to pay attention to, especially because you’re putting it on all over your face.

Lipstick 2 years.

Totally guilty of keeping lipsticks for longer than this time (I rarely use them up). It’s hard to say goodbye, but for sanitary purposes it’s a good idea to toss shades that are older than a couple years.

Mascara 3-6 months.

This one is usually safe if you consistently use the same tube, they usually won’t last longer than that time anyway. Over time, pumping the brush also pushes air into the tube, which will dry the mascara out.

Eyeliner 3 months (liquid or gel formulas) to 2 years (pencil).

3 months is not a long time at all! Chances are you’ve used expired eyeliner before. You might think oh it’s NBD but considering how close to your eye you’re applying this product, you definitely want to avoid the risk of getting a gnarly eye infection (definitely do not share eyeliner!)

Powder makeup (bronzer, blush, eyeshadow) – 1-2 years.

You get a bit of a pass with powder makeup – because it’s dry, it takes longer to go bad. Still, it’s not a bad idea to keep track of dates and make sure you avoid stockpiling older product.

If you’re not keeping track of your makeup expiration dates, you should! Try keeping a list or writing down when you bought a product on the package itself. When I did an assessment of my makeup, I was shocked to find that more than half of it was expired!

I was keeping around old foundations and shades of lipsticks that I didn’t want to throw away because “you never know when you might want to use them!” But rather than keeping a stash of “just in case” makeup, I’m trying to streamline my makeup drawer so it contains just the essentials.

Do you keep track of your makeup expiration dates? How do you organize your beauty products?

Follow me on Instagram for more updates.

xx, Amy

9 Discussion to this post

  1. Elizabeth says:

    Ahh I’m totally guilty of hoarding items (even ones that I know that I need to throw out)! ๐Ÿ™ Hahaha it’s just so hard to say goodbye! But yes, I actually just did a super makeup drawer cleanse and threw out 2 trash bags full of makeup! It hurt a little, but I knew it was necessary, since I wasn’t using more than half of the stuff I was keeping hidden in my drawers! Loved this post love <3 Hope you're having a great week!

    XO, Elizabeth
    http://clothestoyouuu.com/

  2. sunny says:

    Thanks for this everybody is always worried about their make up kit and no expiry date mention on them so thanks again for this useful review.

    http://uptown18.beep.com/are-you-a-game-of-thrones-fan-get-your-got-t-shirt-on-uptown18-2017-08-16.htm

  3. Paula says:

    This was such a helpful post! I didn’t know much of it so thanks for sharing it ๐Ÿ™‚

    http://www.blossomikebana.com

  4. Jessi Malay says:

    Such a great post babe! thanks for sharing! I hoard makeup too! but Ive told myself when I have a new item, I should also throw an old item.

    XO, Jessi

    http://www.mywhitet.com/my-dream-closet/

  5. Kathy R says:

    Thank you this post is very helpful! The reason I hoard make up as well is to trick myself in the sense that I have a lot of makeup so I don’t buy more haha
    xx, Kathy
    http://www.kathywang.co.uk

  6. […] simplifying my diet by meal prepping and finding easy recipes, simplifying my beauty routine by overhauling my makeup collection… like I said before, I’m having a total Marie Kondo moment with everything in my […]

  7. Jenelle says:

    I keep everything far too long! I really have to get rid of some of the old for all the new stuff I have been lucky to get. Such a good post! It’s an excellent reminder.
    xx Jenelle
    http://www.inspiringwit.com

  8. Jenny says:

    Ugh I’m totally guilty of hoarding my makeup for way too long, especially since I only wear makeup on weekends so it’s pretty much impossible to hit pan on anything before the expiration date. As a result I’ve stopped buying foundation and use cushions because they usually dry up around the expiration time, forcing me to toss it out. Thank you for the reminder post, I’ll need to do a better job of keeping track of my other makeup’s exp dates!

    Jenny | Geeky Posh

  9. DaIndiaShop says:

    Thank you so much for sharing this useful information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.