Anyone else who doesn't throw make up out after the expiry date?

[HowLongToXmas]

I will confess I have some eyeshadows which must be pushing 5 or six years old. Foundations which are two or three years old. I do because I have a TON of make up and I don't use everything until it runs out before buying a new, different one. I know that on the packaging it says that you shouldn't keep something longer than 6, 12, 24 (?) months but I've never had any issues. No break outs, no rashes, nothing. So I'm wondering whether this 'expiry date' thing is just a way for the cosmetic companies to make more money and/or cover their backs should someone leave a bottle of foundation open, in a sunny spot, in a warm and damp room for example.

Anyone else? Or am I just vile?

I have old make up as i dont use that often plus some of lipgloss etc i cant remember when i did open it half the time , unless i write on them
Also have some old creams ? Planning to have a sort out but can you just throw creams etc in the bins , sunscreen prob all too old now too

Good grief yes. Why would I throw away make up that looks, smells and performs perfectly well? A couple of months ago I had to throw away the Nars Multiple I bought in 1997 because it smelled bad. Gutted. I think it's only the second time in my life I've had to bin something.

I have some Bobbi Brown eyeshadows and blushers that are 7 years old and they are fine.

Does anyone know how long you can keep moisturiser and foundation etc that are unopened?

The only thing I think you have too throw after a while is mascaras and lip gloss can start to smell funny too.

They discontinued my favourite foundation so I stocked up. I’ve probably got ten years worth kept in a cool, dark place. The only thing I throw away is mascara but it’s usually just about run out by the time it’s been open six months anyway.

Me. Some of these posts are making me feel better. If it smells funky or feels weird (lipstick that smells like old crayons and feels like rubber is a good one) it gets chucked. Powder products can last for years. I don't wear mascara, and eyeliner pencils get sharpened (plus most things you can sanitise with rubbing alcohol if need be, although I made do with witch hazel once.)

I never used to, but then I got a Corneal ulcer and had coincidentally worn mascara a few days before for the first time in months, and which was ancient.

The horror of having hourly eye drops for 48 hours straight, then two hourly for another 48, diminishing over a week, and being unable to wear my contact lenses for a while has made me a bit more careful (plus if it had gone untreated I could have lost the sight in that eye).

Having said that, anything other than eye make up, I do the sniff test.

I was gutted when my favourite discontinued lipstick started smelling funny.

Agree that mascara and lip glosses are the ones that smell funny fairly quickly.

Eye makeup especially, kept too long can end up breeding bacteria that if it gets in your eyes and takes hold, it can be well nasty.

People take their eyes for granted apparently.

I'm with the rest of you. Opened eye makeup I bin (as a PP said mascara is usually used up by then anyway) because eyes are sensitive. Anything else I try to use common sense and sniff test... I do find nail polish can thicken after about 5 years and apparently some creams can separate but even then I'd just stir them up

My mum still has her BIba make up from the 60s!!

I still have some pots of barry m dazzle dust from the 80's , they are as good now .
I won't part with them , i had so many wild , wonderful nights out wearing them , and i can still wear them , in a toned down style of course !

Well only me then 😁. I do need to throw things away after a couple of months because I start reacting to them. Especially on my eyes. I haven't wore hardly any make up.since lockdown so will probably need to chuck everything and start from scratch if I ever go back to teh office 😟

The only things I regularly replace are mascara and liquid eyeliners, because I don't want any damage if they get in my eye. Most of my lipsticks and palettes are high end like limited edition things or my mac lipstick collection which I definitely won't throw out!

I have makeup that must be over 20 years old; if it's looked after and doesn't get applied to "wet" areas of the face it keeps way beyond the manufacturer's recommended time.

What annoys me is manufacturers saying their product only lasts a few months once opened but selling it only in a size that would last most people years. They ought to sell mini sizes for cheaper if they're so concerned about expiry dates.

I’ve only just thrown an Avon lipstick out from 2001, only because it started to smell off. Still got a boots no7 eyeshadow from 2001 used on my wedding day, there’s nothing wrong with it. Got a 2005 eyeshadow going well too!

I am a religious mascara chucker, mainly because I wear contact lenses, but anything powdery is fine by me.

I bin mascara, but find it goes clumpy anyway so isn't much use if its 'old'. My favourite mascara is a super cheap one anyway so I don't feel like I'm binning money

Some of my other makeup (that i hardly ever wear) is, to me, expensive. In makeup terms it's not but I'm poor! I've got some eyeshadow that was my Grandmas. She died 11 years ago. No idea how long she had it!

The only thing I feel paranoid about is mascara, most other things I keep for years.

I hardly wear mascara as can't find one that doesn't smudge on me + as a contact lens wearer and with eye conditions running in family I am fussy about my eyes ,

Lipsticks I have tons of - to be honest though last year I realised I had lots of free ones over the years from advent calendar things or offers that weren't ones I would have bought that I have hardly ever used probably because they don't suit me and I threw them away it felt strange . Now I still have lots but I regularly use them

I wear lipstick, balm or gloss everyday - as I do perfume - if I threw everything away when the expiry date kicked in I would be poor

I have foundation and lipstick that I bought for my wedding 13 years ago. It hasn’t dried out at all and still looks good on.

I only ever have one mascara on the go at one time so I bin that every nine months or so because it has dried out or been used up.

I don’t wear eyeliner.

I have eyeshadow palettes that are 15+ years old.

I like to fly by the seat of my pants and use stuff that is decades old.

i just threw away a lipstick I'd had since 1999. And it hurt.

Like PPs have said, mascara carries an actual risk of infection, the rest no real reason to worry

I whizz mascara after 6 months