Mascara Monday #1 Has your mascara gone bad?

Welcome to the first edition of Mascara Monday! Expect to see more tips and reviews the first Monday of each month!

If you don't already know, all makeup has an expiration date. 

Some products will offer a suggested time frame for use that will look like this:

*Photo from thebeautyloverspage.com

This symbol is usually found near the ingredients list. The number stands for the months the product is good for and the M stands for months.  In the case above the suggested use time is 6 months.

 You might also see the exact expiration date of a product, this is typically be on the bottom of the product. These dates make it easy to determine when its time to toss mascara out.

But what if your mascara has neither?
Cosmetic's spokespersons will tell you every three months, but is that really necessary?

In reality your mascara can last anywhere from 3 months to one year from the time of opening, depending on the formula and how you care for your mascara. As soon as you open the mascara and pull out the wand you have invited bacteria to live in the tube. Sounds gross, but the great thing is mascara has preservatives to keep bacteria from infesting your mascara, but only for so long. 

Many people will throw out a mascara once it becomes clumpy, but that doesn't necessarily mean its gone bad.

So, how do you know when your mascara has gone to sleep with the fishes? 

Well...when it smells like it has.

Also remember if you used a product while you had an eye infection, throw that sucker away, if it irritates your eyes but doesn't stank like the sea, still throw it away! If you are iffy about the product because of how it looks, throw it away! Always trust your gut.