With such crazy college schedules, students barely have time to put on any makeup in the morning, let alone shop for new stuff. But the life of your makeup is a lot weaker than it seems when its covering up the baggy circles under your sleep-deprived eyes. Do yourself a huge favor and empty out that free makeup bag that you got with your purchase of $75 or more in cosmetics and freshen up the products that you use to freshen up yourself!
Makeup doesn’t last forever! Here are the life expectancies for each of your products:
Foundation: 1 year
Eyeliner: 4-6 months if liquid, 1 year if pencil
Eyeshadow: 1-2 years
Lipstick: 2 years
Mascara: 3-6 months
Nail polish: A little over a year
Now why replace? Great question, that’s exactly what I asked myself when I saw the total cost of my shopping cart on Sephora.com. But, when your makeup starts to expire, besides starting to smell (yuck!), it can start to grow bacteria. So that mascara that looks completely brand new could give you pink eye or a serious eye infection. And that foundation that’s been around for a while? It’s not going to cover up acne, it’s going to create more! So replacing your makeup is definitely worth the splurge.
Here’s an extra tip: use a chart like the one above to calculate the expiration dates of your makeup, and label those products! That way, you’ll know exactly when to replace them. Happy spring cleaning!