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I'm looking for what other people practically do.
I know the industry recommendation is to dump your makeup every year or so, maybe less for liquids. And I do for liquids--foundation, mascara, etc--they get funky after a while.
But I have some face powders or blushes I might hold on to for over a year, and, in particular, I have an eye shadow pallet I've had for about three years now.
I don't blow on my makeup brushes to get rid of excessive powder, I just tap them on the side of my pallet (so less germ contamination) and wash the brushes regularly. I've never had an eye infection or any skin issues from my older makeup. I'm under the impression my powders are fine, but I'm looking for other opinions.
What do you ladies do?
Uhmm... when they are empty? Granted, I don't own a huge amount of different powders or palettes, so it doesn't take a decade for them to get empty but I wouldn't throw perfectly usable and fine looking powder away just because it's a year old. That shit is expensive. It may be different for things like lipsticks, creams and pencils (because they actually touch your skin and can't really be cleaned and will probably dry out or get icky at some point), but dry things like powders, blush or eyeshadow? That gets used until it's either empty or unusable.
I don't share my makeup or brushes with anyone, apply my makeup to clean skin only and wash the brushes regularly. Never had any problem.
I asked an experienced makeup artist this question last week and she said that most makeup can be kept indefinitely - except for mascara because it goes in a tube where bacteria can grow.
If it smells bad or the formula has split, throw it out.
I definitely have some makeup (eyeshadow palettes, glitters, blushes, highlighters) that are many years old (some of the very first Morphe palettes produced!). I rarely wear makeup anymore but I love to play around with it.
I have great skin, only have issues when I have an allergic reaction or maybe one bump when my hormones go nuts every month. Several years ago I started having weird acne around my nose, mouth, and eyes that didn't seem to respond to treatment. I had been abroad and we think I picked it up camping in the mountains. It became a saga, spanning two doctors and two derms, steroids, creams ..... it was finally identified as a fungal infection and what finally cleared it up for good was letting medicated dandruff shampoo sit on my face every shower for about a week. I had to throw out or sanitize just about everything, and from that point on I became really anal about keeping my makeup hygienic.
I think for powders, as long as you practice good hygiene they'll last forever or until you use them up. I keep a little spray bottle full of alcohol at my vanity that I spritz my powder makeups with to sanitize them after uses, and sanitizing wipes to use on the rest of my tools. Loose powders get a bit put into an old empty jar and that jar gets an alcohol wipe when I'm done. Mascaras, gel eyeliners, etc get replaced often. I prefer to buy the travel sizes of these now that I use them so rarely a full size will dry up and get gunky before I use much.
Foundations, concealers, liquid eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc I never use the applicator that comes with it or put it on my skin. I like to use a palette where I pull some out and then go from the palette to my face with a sponge or brush. I also make it a point to wash and sanitize my tools regularly (now that I'm not wearing it often, usually right after I am done with it).
If you use clean brushes, you probably donMt beed to toss them til they run out, or if the color changes.
Never.
Hmm, it will usually say in a little symbol (for example 6,12,24,36 in a circle) on the sticker/label how long it's good for. So I usually take that as my guide.
When I hit the pan