Knowing how to properly store and keep your cosmetics and skin care products can not only keep you safe, but can also keep your face fresh and healthy looking and give you a reason to treat yourself more often than you may already. Proper storing and keeping of skin care products and cosmetics is often overlooked, but these products, just like others, have a time limit on when they can be used most healthfully and beneficially.

About the Life of Cosmetics and Skin Care Products

Despite the importance of keeping cosmetics and skin care fresh by properly storage and using them within a specific timeline, the Food and Drug Administration (the governmental regulatory agency responsible for overseeing the safety of our cosmetics) has enacted no standards or regulations for cosmetics companies to inform customers of a date after which cosmetics and skin care products will no longer be safe to use. It`s the same principle as buying a carton of milk that has a "best-before" date and an expiration date. These dates give us a guideline to protect us and keep us from consuming harmful products. Since skin-care products and cosmetics are ingested into the system, you would think that they would be more regulated in terms of when the ingredients in them may turn harmful to us. Since they are not, however, we`ll tell you some guidelines to follow to properly store your products to prevent sickness or infection, and when to throw them out.

Safety Guidelines To Follow

Many women don`t think twice about their cosmetics or skin-care products having a "life". The good news is that the guidelines for keeping you safe are pretty simple, straight-forward, and easy to understand and remember - a lot of them are self-explanatory.

Understandably, if you opt for all-natural or organic skin care and cosmetics, you`re products don`t contain any preservatives and will expire before traditional products. Their shelf-life is shorter and their freshness needs to be monitored more closely as to avoid exposing yourself to bacteria and possible infection. Any product, whether organic or not, may have it`s safety and effectiveness compromised by being exposed to extreme hot or cold temperatures. Therefore, it`s best to store your products in a safe place where they will be kept at constant room temperature. Products that have not passed expiration dates but have been exposed to extreme conditions, should not be used.

Avoid using "tester" products as they can contain bacteria transmitted from a previous user. A better bet, if you really want to give the product a test spin, is to write the company for a free sample or purchase the product, keep the receipt, and return it for a refund if it isn`t to your liking.

Finally, makeup products should be renewed after a certain amount of time, whether or not they are empty. It is commonly recommended to replace cosmetics every 12 weeks, although I prefer every 8 weeks. Products that come in close contact with the eyes, such as mascara and eyeliner - since bacteria are very easily spread here, religiously renew these products at least every 6 weeks.

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