• Keep makeup containers tightly closed except when in use.
• Keep makeup out of sunlight; light can degrade preservatives.
• Don’t use eye cosmetics if you have an eye infection, such as conjunctivitis, and throw away all products you were using when you first discovered the infection.
• Never add any liquid to bring the product back to its original consistency. Adding water or, even worse, saliva could introduce bacteria that could easily grow out of control. “If it has lost its original texture and consistency,” says McEwen, “the preservatives have probably broken down.”
• Never share.
• Throw makeup away if the color changes or an odor develops. Preservatives can degrade over time and may no longer be able to fight bacteria.

“We don’t have a hard and fast rule on [when to throw cosmetics out],” says McEwen. McEwen says makeup can be kept indefinitely as long as it looks and smells all right and the consistency doesn’t change. “It would be difficult to have any kind of bacterial growth and not have it be noticeable,” he explains.

However, Janice Teal, a microbiologist who heads the product and package safety division of Avon Products, Inc., disagrees. “Even after the preservatives have stopped working, you may not be able to see or smell anything different,” she says.

She agrees with McEwen that there is no absolute date for discarding various products, but says Avon recommends that consumers throw mascara away after three months. They can keep other makeup products a few months longer.

“Mascara is our biggest concern because of the wand,” she says. “Normally, the eye is a good barrier to bacteria, but one slip and that wand can scratch the cornea and introduce all kinds of bacteria.”

Dori Stehlin is a staff writer for FDA Consumer.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Office of Cosmetics and Colors Fact Sheet
Publication No. (FDA) 95-5012 – November 1991; revised May 1995