Hello, Dolls! It’s SignedM. taking over the Dollup Beauty Blog again, & today we’re talking about my recent beauty product purge.

There’s just something about the change of seasons that makes me want to open up the house, get rid of everything unnecessary I’ve accumulated over the hibernation months, & get hyper-organized! This tendency often resonates in my closet first, & I recently wrote a blog post on SignedM. about my closet spring clean, but this year things have gotten a little more serious.

Now, full disclosure: I’m a beauty product junkie. I’m a sucker for anything that claims to be the latest & greatest in an effective anti-aging regimen (eventually someone has to discover the fountain of youth, right?!). Each new season brings new trends in the beauty industry, just like the fashion industry… & just like the with the fashion industry, I tend to invest in the hottest colors in lipsticks & eye shadows ever season.

But I’ve recently opened my eyes to the fact that, after filling my Dollup Beauty Case, I still had three massive makeup bags spilling over with makeup. I have an entire drawer in my bathroom vanity full of serums swearing to turn eliminate wrinkles & scrubs that will make my face flawless. Why in the world do I have four full sets of makeup brushes? Why do I have 3 different kinds of brush cleaners (all of which haven’t even been opened… because I’m absolutely terrible about cleaning my brushes!)? Why do I still have eye shadows that I can remember wearing when I was still single & free to mingle?! It’s been seven years!

My husband & I moved into our home shortly after getting engaged two years ago, so it hasn’t been that long since I’ve done a deep purge… but, it’s amazing how quickly stuff can accumulate. Every trip to a cosmetics counter comes with samples in the bag. Every online order includes some as well. And speaking of, let’s talk about samples real quick: Can I just say how much I hate them?! Ugh. I love the idea of them… but let’s be honest, trying something for a single use is going to give me absolutely nothing to base an opinion on. So they end up getting thrown in my vanity drawer & never again see the light of day, until I get all OCD with Spring Cleaning Fever.

My deep-cleaning process consists of one makeup bag/drawer at a time. I literally empty every.single.thing out & wipe them all down. Then I comb through the contents, remembering that, if it was something I used regularly it wouldn’t be lost in the drawer. Less is more… so my theme is “toss, toss, toss!” Here’s what I know about myself: If I find myself needing (or wanting) a new lipstick, I’ll go out in buy it. What I won’t do is dig through a drawer, to see what other colors I might already have. So these drawer deep cleans are actually more of a dump-all sort of situation.

Because all this deep cleaning made me curious, I did a little research on how long our beauty products last. Here’s what an interview with Jamie Greenberg, a celebrity makeup artist, on Huffington Post had to say:

Eyeliner: 6 months to 1 year

Gel eyeliner only lasts six to eight months because you’re constantly double-dipping a brush into a pot. A pencil, on the other hand, has a shelf life of one year. If you’re using a pencil, you can sharpen it and it’s not going to be a breeding ground [for bacteria] as much.

Mascara: 3-6 months

If you’re using mascara daily, it won’t last six months. However, a lot of us pump our mascara wand in & out to get more on the brush. Turns out, that actually forces air into the bottle which dries the formula out more quickly and also lets in bacteria.

Blush, eye shadow, and other powder cosmetics: 1-2 years

Powder lasts longer than wet formulas, but check them periodically. If the formula changes at all, toss it. If it smells, toss it. And if the color goes out of style, definitely toss it!

Foundation: 6 months to 2 years

Foundation packaged in a pot expires in about 6 months, whereas a pump formula can last one to two years. When your foundation expires, look at it as an opportunity to try something new.

Lipstick: 2 years

Change in color, texture or smell are all big warning signs that your lipstick has expired. Clean them off, wipe them off, spray them with a little bit of alcohol just to keep them sanitized.

Natural products: 3-6 months

Think of your natural, preservative-free cosmetics as food. If you keep them in your refrigerator, they’ll last a little longer. But the natural stuff is going to go fast.

So there you have it, Dolls… your inspiration to roll your sleeves up & clean out your makeup case! But before you do, I’m curious: what is the ONE beauty product that you absolutely CANNOT live without?!

Until next time…

Signed,

M.