Beauty products, just like food and many other things, have a shelf life. You may not be eating them but you still apply them near sensitive areas such as your eyes. We’ve all cheated (more than once!) and used an expired product on our face, most of the time without even being aware of our crime. But it can be dangerous! In order to avoid catastrophes, you should know when to throw out makeup and skincare products.

What is the shelf life of makeup and skincare

Here’s a rule of thumb: the more moisture a product contains, the shorter the life span. Below is the recommended amount of time you should keep products before throwing them out.

• Mascara: 3-5 months
• Foundation: 1-2 years
• Eyeshadow: 3-5 years
• Fragrance: 3-5 years
• Lipstick: 1-2 years
• Powders (blush, etc.): 3 years
• Nail polish: 2-3 years
• Most skincare: 1 year

How to prolong shelf life for makeup and skincare

In order to avoid an unpleasant surprise on your face, make sure that your beauty products are always safe to use, and that means not expire. This can easily be achieved by regularly reorganizing your makeup bag/skincare shelf and throwing out any product that seems to be too old. Oh and: when in doubt, throw out!

A big red flag is when you’re thinking “hmm I can’t remember when I bought this”. Or worse, “I don’t know how long I’ve had this”! Throw that out!!

To prolong shelf life, make sure your products are away from heat, humidity and sunlight. You may keep some skincare products and cream makeup products like a foundation in the fridge. Use the vegetable drawer or the door for that, they are not as cold as the other areas on the fridge. This will prolong their shelf life but won’t make them eternal!

On another note, do not keep perfumes in the bathroom (too humid) or on your drawer (too much sunlight).

How to know when to throw out makeup and skincare

An easy way to know when to throw out your beauty products is to look for the tiny symbol that looks like an opened jar with a number on it, either 6M, 12M, 24M, etc. This symbol means “period after opening” and indicates the shelf life of the product (6 months, 12 months, etc.) after you started using it.

Of course, just like any other expiration date, it is just a guideline: it doesn’t mean that your product suddenly becomes toxic and dangerous to use once the time indicated on the container has passed. Instead, make your own investigation to know if your product is still good.

What you can do is an easy 3-step test to know if you should throw out makeup:

1. LOOK: Does the product look the same as when you bought it? Maybe the colour is different or the product is separating.
2. SMELL: Does the product smell the same as when you bought it?
3. SWATCH: Does the product have the same texture as when you bought it?

If you have answered “yes” to all 3 criteria, your product is still good to use! Be especially careful will liquid and creamy products (foundation, mascara, cream blush, etc), as these tend to be better breeding grounds for bacteria!

If you are like me and can never remember when you bought a product, use a sharpie to write the date on it!! This way, you’ll never use an expired product again! And your face will thank you for that.

Another extremely important tip! Apply products with clean fingers and clean brushes only. If you are not sure how to wash your brushes, I wrote a useful post. To learn more about the risks of using expired makeup, read this post by Byrdie.

If you have any questions concerning beauty tips, don’t hesitate to reach out!

-xox- Marika