Daytime Resident Dr. Srinivas Iyengar: Hazards of Expired Makeup
Ladies, if you wear makeup, listen up. Using expired or contaminated products could be doing your looks more harm than good.
Dr. Srinivas Iyengar, a cardiologist at the Bradenton Cardiology Center and Daytime’s resident doctor shows us how to store and clean cosmetics and when to throw them out.
Believe it or not there are some serious health hazards to wearing expired markup or worst of all contaminated products. The good news is — if you know what to look out for and with some regular cleaning, most of it can be avoided.
The general rule is simple — as soon as you notice changes in your cosmetics — it’s time to throw them away. Smell is a good indicator. Pay attention to appearance and texture as well. Mascara will get dry and clumpy, nail polish will get hard, and foundation will get runny.
Expired cosmetics can result in skin irritation, dermatitis, allergic reactions and when you consider the proximity these products are to sensitive parts of your body like your eyes and lips, that can become a bigger problem.
How you store and care for your cosmetics can make all the difference.
Don’t store makeup in your bathroom. Bacteria and airborne microbes breed in bathrooms, and will no doubt get into your makeup. Store all cosmetics in a cool dry place, out of moisture and the sun.
Once you introduce even the slightest bit of bacteria into this little tube, with the right amount of heat and moisture bacteria will multiply contaminating the entire tube and that is the last thing you want on your face.
Cleaning out your makeup bag, and properly cleaning applicators and brushes will significantly cut down on the bacteria being spread around.
1.Run warm water over the makeup bristles to soften the brush fibers.
2. Use baby shampoo and workup a light lather.
3. Work the bristles with your fingers with a gentle circular motion between your fingers.
4. Let the brush air dry.
So many outside factors as we discussed affect a products shelf life but these are general guidelines:
Perfumes — up to 3 years
Powders (including blush, eye shadows with powdery texture) — 1 to 3 years
Foundation in a jar or a cream powder — 1 to 3 years
Lipstick, lip gloss — 1 year
Pencil (Eye, Lip) — about 1 year
Mascara — 3-6 months
Liquid eyeliner — from 3 to 4 months
Natural/organic products — up to 6 months
