I had a conversation with one of my besties this evening about when to throw stuff out. I told her the rules I generally go by and I thought I’d share them with all of you!
First, consider that those magazine “rules” that tell you to throw out everything after 1 year– bullcrap. Complete bull!! They are trying to sell you more makeup. However, little do they know I would still buy makeup even if I didn’t throw out my makeup bag every year, so joke is on them. Nyah! I’m an addict!
Anyway, here are the rules I go by for When To Toss It:
Foundation (Liquid) – Toss when it separates and/or changes in color/scent.
Mascara – Toss every 3 – 6 months. The difference between 3 and 6 months varies. Some mascaras just dry out quicker and by 3 months you know they’re just done. However, if you’re nutty like me and have several different mascaras that you rotate, one of them might only get used 1x a week. That one you can usually keep around for 6 months. Just keep in mind that every time you open a mascara you are exposing the product to air, which speeds the process of it going bad. If your mascara seems dry and gross before 3 months, by all means TOSS IT. And if you get an eye infection, please toss your mascara. I don’t care if it’s $20 DiorShow. Just toss it.
Lipstick – Toss them when they smell funny. And by funny I mean they will smell like a box of crayons with a dead fish inside. It’s unmistakeable. Even NARS lipsticks, which don’t smell particularly great, will smell much worse when they have turned. You will know.
Lipgloss – Toss them when they separate or smell bad.
Eyeshadow, Blush, Pressed Powder – Toss them when you’re dead. In fact, don’t. Will them to someone. All jokes aside, powder products like this pretty much last forever as long as you take care of them. Take care of them? Yes. Don’t use your grody fingers or nasty makeup brushes coated in face grease on your powders and they will last a lifetime. What kills these is often interaction with oil. Ever have an eyeshadow that develops kind of a “film” on top and now you can’t pick up any color off it? You killed it. You might be able to scrape off a layer (THIN layer people, don’t dig to China) and continue using it as normal, or you might have killed it. This can also happen from using a powder with water that is not meant to be. Baked eyeshadows (like Milani, Laura Gellar, many others) do just FINE with water. Others do not and they get that gross film and they’re goners forever.
Pencils – I can’t imagine why you’d need to toss a pencil. Sharpen it and life begins anew.
Anyway, those are just my general guidelines. This isn’t rocket science. If it smells like funk or doesn’t look like the same thing you purchased, don’t put it on your face.
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