How often to toss make-up - YouLookFab Forum

Angie's blog post got me thinking. I LOVE make-up and have a TON of it (I even went through to be an aesthetician). I actually have taken up a whole drawer in my dresser just for my make-up and I have a small box in my downstairs bathroom with my day-to-day stuff also.

I'd love to know how often I should be getting rid of my make-up though. In school, I think we were told every 6 months to 1 year to toss, but I think that's a bit ridiculous and expensive. Especially for my colourful make-up that I rarely where, but love to have around. What do you ladies do?

I know that after I have had my make-up for awhile, sometimes it does sting my eyes when I wear it and that's usually the way I know to get rid of it. I'd love to have a system in place where I get rid of it before it gets to that point, but I still get to use it as long as possible. I really do hate doing a whole application of make-up, getting it finished and then my eyes watering and stinging and I have to remove and start over.

15 years ago

Dawn

(website)

Active Member

Powders don't need to be tossed as often as liquid products so any bright powder eyeshadows are safe.

A good rule of thumb is every 6 months for mascara as they generally do not have a preservative or anti-bacterial ingredient in them due to eye sensitivities. These need to be tossed to prevent infections. Liquid eyeliner- it's generally a good idea to get rid of this after six months as well but I'm pretty flexible when it comes to these.

Lipsticks/ glosses & concealers/ foundations- the problem here is that the formulation can sometimes go off but the best way to check this is by smell, separation of the product or by the product drying out.

The rest depends on how often you wash your brushes. I try to wash my liquid foundation brush and my concealor brush after every use, my mineral powder and blush brushes get washed once a week, and my eyeshadow brushed get washed after every use.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

I use all my make-up until it finishes - I have a very lean make-up routine and am not into make-up at all actually. Just the odd bit of necessary "brightening up" each morning

But I clean out the samples and gifts that I receive for free very regularly. I pass them on as they are unopened.

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