The Beauty Closet: Organize and Elevate Your Beauty Products

Would you eat expired food? Think of your skincare and makeup as skin food. A lot of people tend to focus on what goes into their body, but forget that what we put onto our body can be just as important. That expensive mascara or favourite lipstick you bought two years ago but can’t bear to part with isn’t just unhygienic, it could also cause you and your skin serious harm. 

Every year women end up with eye infections from cosmetics. According to the FDA, in rare cases some women have been temporarily or permanently blinded by an eye cosmetic! If that’s not reason enough, active ingredients in skincare will eventually become less effective, making them almost pointless to use.

PAO (Period After Opening Label)

One of the easiest ways to start your makeup and skincare clean out is to go straight to the PAO on the label. Most beauty products have an open jar icon including a number followed by an M. This tells you how many months after opening the product it should be thrown away. E.g. 6M means you should throw the product away 6 months after opening.

Expiration Guidelines

If you can’t find the PAO on the label, the below is a general guide to follow. It’s best to use your common sense and if you can’t read the label because it’s worn, that’s usually a good sign to suggest it’s time to throw!