Spring Cleaning – When is it Time to Throw Away Your Beauty Products?

You probably will be sorting through and cleaning out your closets this spring, but what about your medicine cabinet? If you are aiming for beautiful skin (and who isn’t?) you probably have a set routine, but how many additional beauty products do you have stored in your vanity, bathroom closet and drawers?  This round of spring cleaning, be sure to include a good sweep of your cosmetics.   The most important reason to throw out your beauty products is to prevent health risks - some as serious as old cosmetics carrying traces of staphylococcus and streptococcus! Most beauty products contain preservatives to help kill bacteria and prevent the decay of active ingredients, but that doesn’t mean that they are going to last forever!   So how do you know when it is time to toss out old products and replenish with new? Repêchage prints an expiration date at the bottom of each product, however if you are using the same Hydro-Complex® PFS for a full two years, then something is amiss. Although we learned to keep our fingers out of our creams in How to Prevent Contaminating Facial Moisturizers & Eye Creams to help prevent contamination, a single jar of cream if being used correctly should be gone in 6-12 months, pressed powders should tossed after 6 months and if the expiration date on an SPF is up - it isn’t going to do you any good!   Be sure to check out the directions on your cosmetics and make sure that you are using the products correctly. If you are not properly following the directions, you are not going to see the results that you are looking for. After all you aren’t doing yourself any favors by buying a luxurious face cream, using it in small amounts and not seeing the benefits!   Besides proper usage, who is to say you still have the same skin type? Age, environmental and hormonal changes can affect your skin type, so if you bought a face cream two year ago in Arizona and now live in Chicago, you and your climate may have changed!   So freshen up your skin care routine this spring. Start by sorting through your products, then head to the spa to get a professionals opinion on what your skin care line-up should look like!   When was the last time you cleaned out your cosmetics? Tell us in the comments below!