When does your Makeup Expire?

As a beauty blogger with an ever growing makeup collection its sometimes hard to use products on a regular basis and even harder to know when to toss them. To be honest, when I first starting buying makeup and blogging about makeup I had no idea that makeup actually went 'bad' or expired. Of course, I knew that mascara would dry out and foundation would become spoiled and have harsh effects of my skin but I thought things like powders including eyeshadows and blushes just lasted forever. I've learned through using my makeup collection and being part of the beauty community that no matter the products at some point they all go bad. While powder products, like eyeshadows and blushes, may last longer than things like foundation and concealer there are still signs that you should watch out for to know just when to make sure you're tossing your makeup when you should be. I thought to make this daunting task of getting rid of makeup a little bit easier that I would create a few fun images to help you remember when its time to do this task.

Foundation & Eye Primers = 1 year
Liquid Foundation: 6 mths - 2 years
Concealer = 1 year
Powder Foundation = 2 years
Pressed Powders = 2 years
Blushes/Bronzers = 2 years

Powder Eyeshadows = 2 years
Cream Eyeshadows = 6 mths - 1 year
Liquid Eyeliners = 6 mths
Pencil Eyeliners = 2 years

Lipglosses = 1 year Lip Stains = 1 year Lipstick = 2 years Lip Liners = 2 years
Its important to also remember to pay attention to other things including the smell of yours products - if they're changing toss them. Also pay attention to color, if that's changing also toss them. Finally the overall formula, if anything seems different or not right, don't 2nd guess yourself, its time to toss it. When it comes to face products or things that you wear in heavy amounts or long periods of time be more critical with them, while the smell may not be bad but its different just get rid of it and purchase something new. Its not worth damaging your skin just to keep and use that $10-$30 foundation. When it comes to things like cream shadows, obviously when they are dried out and unusable, its time to throw those out. Another great tip to remember is with pencil eyeliner. These can be sharpened to expose new product, so even if the exposed product seems no good, give it a sharpen and the product is all good to use again - use your common sense though, if the pencil was black and is now all grey, toss it. And when it comes to lipstick, you also want to be careful because in some cases the moisture in your room or makeup drawers can cause things like mold or bacteria since the product has been smeared on your lips.  Overall,  its good to keep a mental record of how your products are in the beginning and then in 3 months check them again, if something seems wrong you need to toss it. Use this process every 3 months to make sure that your collection is completely clean and free of bacteria. It also might be a good idea to sanitize your collection, which is really easy to do by using an old spray bottle with a little bit of alcohol and lightly spraying your products and letting them dry before shutting them. I hope that you found this post helpful in some way and that it wasn't too much information throw at you.  Do you have any horror stories or expired makeup? When do you normally go-through your collection? When do you normally toss your makeup?