Beauty hygiene tips:

Are you guilty of holding on to your favourite cosmetic and using it until the bitter end? Do you own a cracked broken compact? Using an old dried out mascara? Own an embarassing dirty make-up bag? If any of these sound familiar you might like to read on…

Clean make-up brushes and beautifying tools such as eyelash curlers and tweezers with an antibacterial hand wash/shampoo and warm water. Place some cleaning product in the palm of your hand, hold each brush under warm water then work bristles into the cleaning product until the brush is free of all make-up. Rinse and shape the brush so the hairs are not splayed, dry on the edge of a work surface so the air can circulate the brush head.

Sponges and puffs can be cleaned in the same way. Regularly clean make-up bags with a household cleaner and sponge or if suitable place in a washing machine. Foundation, concealer, cream blush and lip brushes should be cleaned after every use. Make-up will “go off” on brushes over night. For speed, invest in a brush cleanser which you can use daily. Pour onto a paper towel and gently wipe your make-up brush through until clean. I recommend MAC Brush Cleanser £8.00.

Never share cosmetics or brushes this transmits bacteria and can cause infections. Keep cosmetics in a dry area away from direct sunlight/heat as this will breed bacteria and lessen the products shelf life. If you want to help products last longer a great tip is to keep any cream/liquid cosmetics in a refrigerator. See the published shelf life printed onto the back of all beauty products. The product will show a small symbol of an open jar with a number i.e. ‘12M’ showing how many months until the product expires. Use common sense if something doesn’t look or smell right throw it away.

Below is a general guide to the shelf life of products:
Mascara 3-6 months: Mascara has the shortest shelf life as bacteria live in our lashes so the moment the mascara wand touches the lashes, bacteria is transferred to the product tube or to the other eye. Bacteria thrive in dark warm environments, within six months a mascara tube will be over run with bacteria.

Concealer: 6-12 months.
Gel/liquid liners: 12-18 months.
Foundation: Up to 12 months for water based/oil free as these tend to dry out quicker and up to 18 months for oil/silicone based.

Creams: (blushers/highlighters/shadows) 12-18 months

Lipsticks and glosses: 1-2 years

Powders: (blusher/bronzer/face powder) 2 years

Eye shadows: Up to 3 years

Eye and lip pencils: Up to 3 years