Hey beauty! let me start by saying how crazy it is that its already December! This year has flown by so fast and preparing for 2019 honestly has my head spinning. Im really happy about the progress we’ve made with the beauty blog and Beauty Mail subscribers, I am so thankful to have all of you here reading and sharing in this journey with me.

I know that when it gets close to the new year everyone is super motivated and all you see is “New Year, New Me” posts all over social media and i’m all for the progress boo, live your best life! Sense this is the perfect time to reevaluate things and get ready for all the newness the upcoming year will bring I decided to take a look at my personal makeup bag and see what things I could purge to make room for new additions. I can’t be out here talking about new me with old foundation, you feel me?! So, I start taking a closer look at some of my faves and i’m like OMG.. there was so much stuff that needed to be thrown out that i’m surprised my face hasn’t fallen off.

Contrary to popular belief, your makeup products do get old and expire (yes the expiration date can be before you are actually done using it.. stop with the excuses). Even though I know better as a professional, in my personal life I have a great balance of being on my ‘ish and just being complete trash LOL Judging by my makeup bag, i’ve definitely been the latter!

How To Tell When Your Makeup Is Expired

On most makeup packaging there is be a small cylinder shaped stamp on the back or bottom of the product with an open lid on it. Inside of that stamp will be a number, typically most products will be good for 12-24 months depending on ingredients and what its used for. There is never a sure fire way to know exactly when a product was packaged, shipped to a location and from there placed on the shelf. For this reason you want to make sure to take a good look at your products before purchasing and ask yourself.. is it separating? does the formula look more thick or chunky than normal? is the coloring off? and even paying attention to damaged boxes is a good way to ensure you are at least buying something that hasn’t been sitting on the shelf sense the stone ages!

Is Following Expiration Dates Really That Important?

Yes sis, it is. Just like the food we put into our bodies, the products we put on them can do harm to us if they we prolong our use after they are expired. Skin care products that have active ingredients lose their effectiveness after their “best used by” date, you don’t want to waste time applying an under eye cream when the ingredients that are there to give you the best results have lost their flare. Also, using things like mascara, lipstick and even foundation after their expiration date can cause skin irritation, break outs and even things like pinkeye! Now I don’t know about you, but my doctors bills cost much more than a new tube of my favorite lipstick.

While we are all preparing for the holiday and the new year, I strongly encourage you all to take a close look into your makeup bags like I did and get rid of any products that may be on there last leg. We are bringing all positive vibes into 2019 and its honestly really hard to stay positive with dried up itchy mascara cramping your style.