When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

We tend to invest in a great deal of not just our beauty obsessions, but the newest ones on the market, and sometimes we can get a little lost in between buying one product to jumping to the next, and  it can add up to a great deal of beauty products that get left behind on the back shelf, and when one finally remembers hey, wait, I bought that product a while ago, I liked it, but I started using another and now you want to reclaim your liking for it all over again, but  is it safe?, when did I actually buy that? Or maybe should I just toss it into the trash, well wait because here’s a quick little guide into how long to actually hold on to some of those beauty faves and undiscovered beauty products that have been hanging out on that old back abandon beauty shelf.

First, lets talk PAO

This photo is from Cosmopolitan U.K. + Pinterest

Just in case we missed it, a great deal of our beauty products have been trying to tell us for years hey, this is how long I’m good for peeps and here’s the proof. Some skincare and makeup products have this little symbol on the back of their packaging and this symbol is known as PAO, which stands for period-after-opening. Yeah, that’s what the little bottle with the number on the back of product packaging actually means. PAO helps the consumer identify for how long their item will actually last for after opening it, before it’s time to toss it and is usually depicted as seen above with an M indicating months or a Y indicating years.

Eyes, Eyes, Eyes they don’t lie and neither does our mascara

When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

Mascara

Expiration date: 3-Months and it’s time to throw away.

If you are a subscriber to any beauty sample subscription, you pretty much know by now you have an overload of mascara and on top of receiving them pretty much monthly, you also have your staple mascara that you return to time and time again, but how long is it actually good for, well, experts tend to say three months right after opening and using and I concur. Mascara is one of those makeup items that can overtime build up bacteria and cause infections as well as other irritations so after three months of use toss it, because that doctor bill is not worth it.

When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

Makeup Brushes

Expiration date: A lifetime with proper care.

Makeup brushes can be tricky, but not really. If you purchase nice quality brushes and you care for them properly they can actually last a lifetime.

 Eyeshadows & Eyeliners

When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

Eyeshadows

Expiration date: 2-years and then they have to go.

Eyeshadows tend to have a longer shelf life than some of our other makeup items. Powder-based makeup products are good for two years after opening, however, if your eyeshadow starts to fade in color earlier than it’s probably best to toss it sooner than later.

When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

Eyeliners

Expiration date: Pencil eyeliners 2-years, Liquid & gel eyeliner 3-months

And, don’t think we have forgotten about those eyeliners they to have an expiration date as well, and for the liquid and pencil eyeliners those dates are quite different. After 24 – months for pencil eyeliners and 3-months for your liquids it’s time to bid them farewell and off to the trash they must go.

When to toss it Beauty Product Expiration : A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life

Lipsticks, Lip glosses & Balms

Expiration date : 2-years for lipstick, 1-year for gloss, lip balms  2 to 3 years

Lipsticks, lip glosses and balms have a longer shelf life before they meet the garbage can. For lipsticks they expire within two years, one year for lip glosses and balms can last up to three years, however, if your lip products begin to look or feel dry, and have loss some of its pigment or starts to smell more chemically before they actually expire then it would be wise to toss it right away.

And that’s a wrap on When To Toss It Beauty Product Expiration: A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life. Thank you all for stopping by, and make sure to checkout more tips and tricks to avoiding using expired makeup below and I will see you all soon. Like the post and definitely subscribe for more to come.

Extended tips and tricks for avoiding expired makeup

• Purchase a good ole Sharpie permanent marker and write the date on the product to when you’ve opened it and the date to when it will expire. Example 11/16/16 opened and 2/16/2017 expires
• Sharpie markers are not your thing, purchase some cute mini stickers and color code your makeup for products that have been used and ones that are unused.
• As hard as it is try not to beauty product jump, try using one or two mascaras for the three-month period and then once those become expired start using a new one.
• Keep a beauty product journal, which is where you inventory when you’ve brought the product, when you opened it and when you need to toss it, yeah it can take some time, but it will save you money in the long run.

Please remember that I am not a doctor, esthetician, dermatologist, herbalist, or health care specialist of any sort. The article When To Toss It Beauty Product Expiration: A Guide to Your Makeup Products Shelf Life is just that a guide into makeup and when they are vastly generally known to expire.