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Guest post by Sreeparna G.
Hey beauties!
Today I am going to talk about how we can prevent two most common problems, personal care and makeup product wastage and contamination. Nearly all of the personal care and makeup products come with a shelf life mentioned on their packaging. After that mentioned period, the product loses its effectiveness and becomes toxic. Sometimes we are unable to use them within that mentioned period. Products get dried up; change colour, consistency or smell. As a result we need to discard them. In most of the cases where manufacturing defects are not the cause behind this wastage; contamination is the cause. If we take care of a few small things we can prevent it. Here is how we can do that.
1. Always close the lid properly
Often we forget to close the lids of our skincare or makeup products when we are in hurry. This not only dries them out but can also contaminate them. So, next time make it a point to shut the lid of your favorite cream or cream concealer tightly after use. This will save a lot of your hard earned money as well as prevent health hazards.

2. Shake it up
Liquid cosmetic products like foundations, serums or nail paints are made up of ingredients of different densities. When we keep them in one place for a long time ingredients get separated. This leads to degradation in performance and finally wastage which is not desirable at all. So, when you are not using a particular product for some time give it a good shake once in a while.
3. Keep cosmetics in a dry place away from dust and humidity
Dust and humidity are two greatest enemies of makeup and beauty products. Excess heat in warm weather can melt your lipsticks and can cause fungal and bacterial growth too. So, never keep your skincare and makeup products in open places like table tops. Try using drawers or plastic boxes. Put all your lipsticks in an airtight plastic container and stuff it in your refrigerator.
Most of us tend to keep their basic hair care products like shampoos, conditioners and leave-ins in our shower area so that they can be reached easily. Humid shower area encourages bacterial and fungal growth. Choose a relatively drier place in your bathroom to keep your bathing essentials. I personally prefer a basic plastic shower caddy to stow all my shower things. It is simple to clean and keeps things handy for me.
4. Sanitize your hands before
This tip is especially for tub packaged products where you need to dip your finger to take out the required quantity. Before dipping fingers into the tub, never ever forget to sanitize your hands either with a anti-bacterial soap or a hand sanitizer. You can use a spatula too. This way you would not have to dip you fingers at all. Just remember to clean your spatula after every use.
Read: Are These 7 Habits Causing Your Skin to Breakout? Break the Breakout Cycle NOW!

5. Do not share your skincare and makeup products with anyone
Sometimes sharing is good but this is not the case with personal care products. Never share makeup products like compacts, lipsticks, lip glosses, kajals, eyeliners and makeup brushes with anyone. This rule applies for personal care tools (i.e. nail and cuticle care tools, hair brushes) too.
6. Clean your makeup brushes often
If you use makeup daily then cleaning makeup brushes once in 2 weeks is a good habit. Otherwise clean your brushes as per the frequency of use. Use makeup brush cleansing mists in between.

Read: How To Clean Makeup Brushes Effectively
Read: 6 Ways To Apply Foundation- Beginner’s Guide
These were a few tried and tested suggestions from my side. With these small changes in your habit you can save your expensive makeup and personal care products from getting spoiled. You can avoid a lot of unnecessary expenses and stay organised at the same time.
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This was it guys! Don’t forget to share your thoughts. Take care!
Bang On Tips! Also base products like foundation tend to oxidise if the lid is not closed properly after use.
Thanks Sneha 🙂 Yes you are right about oxidising of foundations..
These little tips can actually help prolonging the shelf life of beauty products. Useful post 🙂
Thank you Mariyam