Spring Cleaning Your Makeup

Did you know that beauty products expire? If you’re like most people, you’re keeping your products way longer than recommended! Let’s dive in!

I get it. You’ve been the perfect shade of (insert favorite product here) but you don’t wear it often enough to go through it all before it expires. What’s the big deal, right? Wrong! If you’re holding onto products longer past their expiration date, they’re potentially harboring bacteria and mold. This can eventually lead to skin irritation and potentially infection. On top of it, product effectiveness goes down with each passing week after the expiration date.

Product formulators spends months and sometimes even years testing ingredients and creating just the right combination to achieve the desired results. Because there's such a huge variety of formats, active ingredients, preservatives, and types of packaging, there's no easy answer when it comes to figuring out if your particular product in question is no longer effective or, even more importantly, safe. However, on MOST packages, you’ll find the universal symbol of an open container with a number inside, representing the number of months you should use a product within after opening. The trick is remembering when you first opened it, that’s really when the clock starts ticking! Subtle changes in color, scent and texture and separation can all be signs that your product should be replaced.

Two last things not to forget! Remember clean your makeup brushes,! Depending on how often you’re using them, we recommend cleaning about once a week. If you only wear makeup once in a while, cleaning every few wears will be fine. Remember to not store your brushes in your bathroom where dampness and particles in the air can land on them. Plus, empty beauty product containers cannot be recycled in your regular curbside recycling, so be sure to stop by Shimmer and utilize out TerraCycle recycling program!