Beauty Tips

Published on March 20th, 2014 | by The Perfume Expert

Spring Clean Your Beauty Routine: Beauty Tips for Spring

Spring is time for a fresh start! It’s time to throw out the old, clean up, and bring in the new! And I’m not just talking about your Spring cleaning at home, I’m talking about your beauty routine!

Spring is now upon us and we can’t help but feel the urge to bring out our Summer wardrobes, Spring clean our homes, and start our bikini diets. But while we’re busy dusting behind the couch, which we haven’t done since Thanksgiving, and throwing out those stale shortbread cookies from Christmas, we often neglect one of the dirtiest places in the whole house!….our makeup bag!

I don’t care how neat & tidy you are, or how many precious Tom Ford lipsticks you own, your makeup bag is probably stained with blushers, dusty from powders, and tacky from leaky lip glosses! But that isn’t really the bad part, the most dangerous aspect of your beauty bag lies in expired makeup and unclean brushes!

Throw out Expired Makeup

Basically as soon as you open up that pretty packaging and apply it to your skin/lashes, that’s IT! The clock starts ticking down! And just like Spring cleaning the fridge, this is the perfect time of the year to start tossing old products!

Here’s a simple guideline to follow for expiry dates:

Mascara: 3 Months (liquids are worse for being bacteria prone)
Eye-liner: 6 Months (though pencil liners can last 1 Year)
Foundation: 6-12 Months (toss if it starts to separate or toss sooner if you have acne-prone skin)
Lip-gloss: 1 Year
Concealer: 1 Year (powder concealers can last longer)
Nail polish : 2 Years (if it starts to separate, toss it)
Lipstick: 2 Years
Powders: 2 Years
Eye-shadows: 2 Years

As for fragrances, it is a myth that perfumes go “bad” after a few years. With proper storage, fragrances can last many years! In fact, vintage perfume collecting is a huge industry right now with people buying and still enjoying perfumes over 20 years old! Just make sure to store scents OUT of direct sunlight and in a cool/dark location (NOT the bathroom). Storing perfume in it’s original box helps along with storing scents in the fridge!

Store Your Winter Skincare

Your skincare collection is another thing that should be culled at this time. Spring/Summer brings a lot of change to our skincare routines, so now’s the time to start storing your rich moisturizers and heavy creams. But before you pack them away, check the expiry dates to make sure you won’t be pulling out expired creams come Fall! Most reputable brands will have expiry dates right on the bottles/packaging so make sure your products are still in date.

Then it’s time to start thinking about foaming face washes, lighter moisturizers, BB and CC creams, and sun protection! Woohooo! Here’s some of my favorite new products for Spring skincare:

REN’s Refreshing Rosa Centifolia Foaming Cleanser

EVE LOM’s light-as-air Day Cream

By Terry’s radiant Cellularose Brightening CC Lumi-Serum

Cane & Austin’s Anti-Oxidant Boosting Protect SPF 50 Ultra Sheer Sun Protection

Wash Your Dirty Makeup Brushes

Did you know that there is harmful bacteria lurking on your makeup brushes right now?! And every day, you are literally brushing bacteria onto your skin!

Don’t feel bad, there is nothing that you can do to prevent this, bacteria is everywhere. But, makeup brushes SHOULD be washed every month to prevent the growth and spreading of these nasty germs.

Now before you go rolling your eyes thinking to yourself “Who can be bothered to wash their makeup brushes!” Check out these super quick and convenient solutions to keeping your makeup brushes clean.

Sephora makes great products that are not only effective at eradicating the bacteria from your makeup tools, but easy and quick to use. Spend 30 seconds spraying the Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner on your brushes, swipe with a dry cloth, and that’s all! Or, if even THAT is too much effort for you, then try their Cleansing Brush Wipes. All you have to do is swipe your brushes with these pre-moistened wipes and Voila! Take that bacteria!

The benefit of these products is that your brushes will dry within minutes, so if you’re mid-makeover and need to use the same brush twice you won’t have a problem.

And just so your trusty sponges aren’t left out (you’ll be shocked at how much gunk builds up in these little guys), Sephora also sells the amazing Koh Gen Do Sponge Cleaner.

But if you aren’t one for extra products, try this easy DIY Brush Cleaner:

Simply apply a drop of baby shampoo to your brush, then lather and rinse!

When rinsing, try and not get water at the base of the bristles as water can loosen the glue holding the bristles/brush together over time.

Then smooth the bristles back into shape and lay flat to dry. I lay mine over the edge of the counter so that the bristles can get air on all sides. Never let brushes dry standing up as, again, water can travel down the base and loosen the glue holding the brush together.

Although cheap, the downfall of this at-home cleaner is the cleaning time (it takes a good 2-3 minutes to properly clean/rinse each brush) and drying time (brushes need overnight to dry fully). But I would recommend this as a good monthly deep clean!

Sanitize Your Beauty Products

Not only does bacteria build up on your makeup brushes, but then, every time you place that brush onto a different eye shadow, or go from your bronzer to blusher, you are spreading the bacteria from the brush to the product!

This makes your products a potential breeding ground for bacteria!

But have no fear! Because I have a trick used by some of the largest cosmetics giants in the industry! A DIY sanitizing spray! This simple spray is used by beauty stores and beauty counters alike for their testers and makeovers.

All you need is Rubbing Alcohol! Create your own sanitizing spray by using at least 91% Rubbing Alcohol (has to be at least 91% otherwise it will discolor product) in a small spray bottle.

Then lightly mist (about 10-15 cm away) your shadows and powders and let air dry (takes mere seconds to dry). Or lightly mist a high-quality cotton pad and swipe the surface of your lipsticks or lip gloss wand.

This also makes for an excellent tip for professional makeup artists who are applying makeup to multiple people, or for those of us who simply can’t resist trying our sister’s/friend’s makeup from time-to-time.

But now that it’s Spring, this tip becomes even more relevant as it’s time to store away our darker Winter eye shadows and lipsticks. When we do, the last thing we want to store is bacteria! So before you put away your Winter shades, sanitize them first to ensure they’re ready to go come Fall.

And speaking about sanitizing your makeup, try Sephora’s Anti-Bacterial Sharpener for eye liners and lip liners! It naturally kills bacteria with Zinc every time you sharpen! Truly innovative!

OUT with the Unused and IN with the New

Be honest with yourself! I know you are saving that glitter ball eye shadow for a special occasion (which will never come) and are keeping that glow-in-the-dark lipstick you wore to a Halloween party because you think it’s such a waste to throw something out that you only wore once! And yes, I know how guilty you feel tossing that lipstick that you hate because the pushy sales assistant said it looked good on you! But come on!

Be honest, there are all products and shades that we hoard either due to our irrational optimism or buyers remorse, but it’s time that we let go! Spring is a time for a fresh start, a clean slate! So out with the old and unused and in with the new! And if you feel THAT guilty, why not use some of the sanitizing solutions above and donate your unwanted makeup to a theatre group!

Plus, it makes room in your beauty bag for some of Spring’s exciting new trends!

Here’s a few new products that can easily update your beauty routine for Spring:

Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint Foundation Natural For a Sun-Kissed Glow

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Illuminating Bronzing Powder Antigua 0.28 oz For just the right shimmer!

Dolce & Gabbana Vibrant Spring The Eyeshadow Smooth Eye Colour Quad

YSL’s Trendy Coral Gloss Volupte

Formula X Top Coat in Spring-Like Cherry Blossom

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Tags: Beauty Tips, Makeup Brushes, Makeup Tips, Skincare Tips

About the Author

The Perfume Expert The Perfume Expert is an online Perfume Blog, Beauty Blog and Skincare Blog all rolled into one so you can stay looking good, smelling nice and feeling great all in one place! Written by an expert you can trust, I provide you with Perfume reviews, Best Perfumes, Beauty reviews and Makeup trends that are all written with passion and an eye for excellence.