Spring cleaning your make-up bag

Spring has sprung!

One of my favourite seasons of the year is here. The sun is shining, blossom trees are in full bloom and walking down the street sweet fragrances from nature surround me bringing a smile to my face while reminding me how good it is to be alive and be able to just enjoy the simple things in life.

The onset of spring time has sent me into a frenzy, cleaning, clutter clearing and making solutions for our one bedroom apartment to become my office as well as remaining our “home”.

However, spring cleaning needn’t be all about your home. Why stop there, after all how good did it feel to revitalise the house after another year (or in my case, years) of clutter hoarding?

So now, moving onto something a little more manageable and less time consuming – your make-up bag, drawer or kit! What better time to rid the products which are more likely old, bacteria filled and doing you and your skin more harm than good.

All skincare and cosmetics have a shelf life, some longer than others. Most will display the length with a little logo on the bottom of the jar. It will be an image of a jar and a number indicating the months the product can be kept once opened. The only problem with this is that we don’t tend to record when we opened the product. If you cannot remember when you opened the product, chances are it’s time to throw it out. Once opened, bacteria can thrive and cause the product to deteriorate, not to mention possibly infecting your skin. A good way to tell is by smelling the product as you may notice an offensive or unusual odour. You may also note if there is any break down or seperation of the ingredients. This will generally appear by means of liquifying, however not all products will be easily recognised as being off, and you can’t always see the bacteria! Most likely these will be your eye shadows, pressed powders and mascaras. They might look fine but beware – using them will be at your own risk and the potential for eye infections or more serious troubles are likely and just not worth it. So remember one simple rule – “If in doubt, throw it out.”

When it comes to cosmetics, mascaras must be thrown out three months after opening, no matter how much you paid for it! They grow bacteria which can lead to eye problems, much quicker than other cosmetics.

A few tips on keeping your skincare and cosmetics clean and hygienic:

• NEVER share your cosmetics such as lipsticks, lipgloss wands and mascaras as you can transmit germs and grow bacteria in your products quicker.
• Throw out your mascara after three months as it grows bacteria very quickly and can result in eye infections or long term eye problems.

• Keep your brushes clean by washing them in warm soapy water every week. In between washes it’s a good idea to give the brushes a clean with some brush cleaner which you can spray on and wipe off with a tissue. Or you can use alcohol wipes or medi swabs which can be obtained from a chemist or Priceline, and are very handy when on the go. I keep them in all my hand bags, make-up kits and purse, and use them on everything from the outside of cosmetic and skincare jars, make-up brushes, to cleaning my computer keyboard, mobile phone and home phone.

• Place your brushes into a plastic zip lock bag before placing into your make-up purse when on the go. This will keep them a lot more hygienic, as we all know how dirty our make-up purse can get.

• Throw out your old germ filled make-up purse and replace it with a brand new one. If you follow the above tips, you should find you get much longer life out of your new purse.

• Always use a clean spatula to dip into jars or creams, rather than dipping a dirty brush or your fingers directly into the product.

• Keep your jars and bottles out of direct sunlight and away from damp areas to avoid spoiling.

A few tips for make-up artists:

• If you are a make-up artist you should wash the brushes with warm soapy water after each job, and follow with an anti bacterial soak in a medical grade cleaner, which you can obtain from beauty supply stores. The brush cleaner or medi swaps can be used between clients when on the go.

• Always use disposable mascara wands and never double dip the wand back into the tube. The same goes for lipstick & gloss application. Use a spatula to scrape the lipstick off and a clean brush to apply on your client, from the spatula. When using glosses, purchase in tubes where possible and use the back of your hand or spatula.