Mascara and Liquid Liners - 3 months at the most. The shelf life on these is much less for one simple reason. The bacteria on your eye is deposited into the tube every time you use the product and re-dip. If you have had any type of eye infection, all of your makeup that has touched the infected area must be tossed in the trash. This way your risk of continuing the infections or re-infecting the area goes way down.
Sponges and brushes - Sponges should be kept for no longer than a month and should be washed once a week. Remember, the pores on sponges trap bacteria and dead skin cells. Do you really want to be rubbing that on your face for more than a month? Brushes can be kept as long as you need if you take care of them properly. Shampoo them every couple of months using a mild soap or shampoo and then allow them to dry thoroughly before use.
Eyeshadow, Blush, and Bronzer - Up to 2 years depending on the formula. Powder's can be kept for two years. Creams will have a shorter shelf life and should only be kept for up to a year. Of course, this all changes if you have had an eye infection. The shadows you used on the infected area will then need to be thrown away.
Eye and Lip Pencils - Up to 2 years. Even with an eye infection, eye pencils can be kept for a while. This is simply because you can shave off the area that has come in contact with the infection with a pencil sharpener. The tips can also be cleaned with rubbing alcohol before being shaved down in order to be 100% sure that the bacteria has been killed. Make sure you have shaved down this area before applying it to your eye as the alcohol would clearly burn. A lot!! The same goes for lip pencils.
Lipsticks and Lip gloss - Up to 2 years. Lip glosses can be kept for up to 6 months and operate on the same philosophy as your mascara and eye liner. With each application and re-dip, more bacteria is re-deposited. Lipsticks are good to go for about 2 years as long as they are taken care of properly. They need to be "shaved down" so that you can remove the bacteria on the top layer. This can be accomplished by taking a razor blade(removed from the casing) and shaving off the very tip top layer. Be cautious to not take off to much as you would be wasting your money with lost product!
Setting and Foundation Powders - These can be used for up to 2 years unless they smell funny or have changed in color. At that point, it is pretty clear that the product should be tossed.
Foundations and Concealers - 12 -18 months depending on the formula and how you choose to apply them. Creams and water-based liquids should be thrown away after a year if you use a sponge or brush to apply them. These two options keep your fingers and the bacteria currently residing on them away from your makeup! Those that are oil-based can be kept for about 18 months.
On a side note, sometimes product will have a helpful guideline listed on the product that is a suggestion on how long the product should be kept after being opened. What this looks like is pictured below...
As always, thank you for reading and I hope you guys have a blessed day/night!
XOXO - Megan
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