When to throw away cosmetic mascara?

Especially with beginners who saved up a sum of money from their monthly allowance to invest in a good mascara, a common tendency is to use the mascara for as long as possible to get their money’s worth. Some even resort to pouring water into the mascara tube hoping that it will dilute the product, just like how their mums add water to shower gel so that it can last for another month!

Continuing to use the mascara after the passing of expiration will, as with every perishable product, do more harm than good. Big clumps of goo will form on the mascara brush, thus making application difficult, messy and uneven. The result is chunky (not in a good way!) eyelashes that stick together with stubborn clumps that can be hard to remove even with an eyelash comb. More importantly, introducing water into the mascara brings harmful bacteria into the product and resultant eye infections.

There is no actual way to prolong the lifespan of a mascara. Some mascaras naturally can last longer than others because of different ingredient compositions. On average mascaras start to dry out 3 months upon contact with air. Use your discretion whether to throw it away once the drying process starts or wait a little longer until clumps start to form. Just make sure not to keep any mascara for more than 6 absolute months. Even if you don’t use that particular tube of mascara often and the number of times used probably don’t add up to even a month, junk it.

Other than the time factor, another sign that a mascara ought to be tossed away is the smell. Some mascaras will exude a bad odour after being kept too long. That should be an obvious enough indication that it is time to get a new tube.

Just think of how much trouble you have to go through and the amount of money you have to spend on medication should an eye infection really occur due to expired makeup. So regardless of the mascara being a drugstore or prestige brand, once the time’s up, toss it out!