Know When to Toss 'Em

Cosmetics, tools, and toiletries do not last forever. Some things breed infection (or at least zit) causing bacteria, and some may just lose effectiveness. Unfortunately, in the US, manufacturers are not required to print expiration dates on cosmetics. Some of them do anyway, and if you can find one, trust it. This is not the same as the suggested use by dates on food that you can mostly ignore as long as it looks and smells fine - there won’t always be a clue that something has gone bad (but if the smell, color, or texture of any of your cosmetics change, be safe and replace it even if it’s before the suggested expiration.) If there isn’t an expiration date, there could be something called a “Period After Opening (PAO) Date” - it’s a little icon that looks like a jar with a number inside, usually in months, like “12M” or “24M”. If neither of those are present, you may be able to look up some major brand name products’ expiration dates by the batch code on CheckCosmetic.net. If none of that pans out, here are a few general guidelines.

• Organic/all natural products do not contain preservatives like their standard counterparts, and thus should be replaced sooner.

• Anything that lists water as the first ingredient is prone to harboring bacteria, so should probably be replaced after three months to be on the safe side.

• Loofahs should be replaced after three weeks, and synthetic sponges after 7 weeks.

• Mascara and liquid eyeliner should be replaced three to six months after opening.

• Moisturizers, skin creams, eye creams and cream shadows, liquid foundations and concealers, cream blushes/bronzers, eye/lip pencils, lip glosses, and anything with sunscreen or anti-acne ingredients should be replaced one year after opening.

• Hair products, powder eye shadows, perfume, and nail polish should be replaced two years after opening.

• Powder and powder foundations, powder blushes/bronzers, and lipsticks should be replaced after three years for standard cosmetics with preservatives, or one year for organic/all natural.

• Makeup brushes should last for 1-5 years, depending on quality and how often you clean them, which you need to do weekly for normal use, daily for heavy.