A Guide to Spring Cleaning Your Makeup
The happy season of spring is already upon us and I’m loving the weather vibes lately. I’ve been seeing so many “spring cleaning” posts and I got to thinking, how many people don’t know about timelines for throwing out their makeup?
By the time this blog posts, I’ll be in the middle of moving in my new home (so excited), and hoping that my closet is organized by Sunday, lol. Since I’m moving, spring cleaning was a no brainer for me. I’m downsizing to a beautiful new modern home while I wait to get my dream home at the end of this year, so I’ve had to do some serious purging. I can tell you that I’m slightly excited not to have to walk what seems like a quarter of a mile downstairs, past two living rooms, just to get a hot cup of tea. It’s going to be great!
In preparation of the big move, boy did I throw so much makeup away. It made me feel like I had thrown so much money down the drain. I literally found a container with about 300 MAC eyeshadows under my sink, lol. I’m definitely going to be buying exactly what I need from now on and nothing more!
So how often should we actually be purging our makeup? Lip liners? Eyeshadows? Here’s a little rundown of when you need to hit the that toss button on various products.
Heather’s “Time to Toss It” Timeline:
Eyes
-Cream Eye Shadows: 6 months
-Powder Eye Shadows: 2 years
Lips
-Lipstick and lip gloss: 2 years
-Lip liner: 2 years or more
Skin
-Sunscreens: 6 months
-Liquid Foundation: 6 months
-Pressed powder and powder foundation: 2 years
Hair & Nails
-Nail polish: 2 years
-Hair products: Every year
Sunscreen
Opening and closing the tube of sunscreen, especially if done near water, causes the contents to begin breaking down. Once that happens, the ingredients no longer distribute evenly, so while you may get a lot of protection in one dose, you could get nearly none in another. This means you may not be as protected as you think you are, with lowered efficacy over time.
My go to sunscreen is a water resistant spray sunscreen by Hint with SPF 30. I love the scent, and honestly a spray works great for me so I can get coverage everywhere, without needing help.
Hair Products
Always close the caps of shampoos, conditioners, and styling products tightly — something that I’m NOT very good at. But, after researching for this I’ll be way more diligent about it, because my shampoo isn’t cheap! If you choose to rush and not close the tops, water and air can get in breaking down the formulas or causing them to separate. The only thing that lasts, what seems like forever, is aerosol hairspray!
These are my go-to hair products: Sun Protection Spray and Session Spray Strong by Balmain Hair, and Milbon’s Repair line. I buy all my Milbon products from Sparkles Beauty Bar in Las Vegas. Go support the owner and my dear friend Stacey! She’s a Rockstar.
Makeup
Most of us have heard warnings about keeping mascara too long. Similarly, bacteria tends to flourish in liquid-eyeliner tubes over time and the product starts drying out. Pencil eyeliners have a longer shelf life because you can create a fresh, clean surface each time you sharpen them. Just be sure to regularly sanitize your sharpener with rubbing alcohol, and you’ll be set. Powder shadows, like pressed powders, are less prone to contamination than cream products because they lack water. But if you wet them, you should toss them after the six-month mark.
Kylie Cosmetics has some great bundles and sets that I’ll be continuing to buy, it’s basically all you need in one package! I also love KKW Beauty’s bundles. I am a fan of the nude tones. I buy all my liquid eyeliner from #Give Them Lala Beauty. It’s my absolute fave. My favorite lipsticks are from Tom Ford’s Lip Collection.
