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OMG You Do NOT Want to Know What's REALLY in Your Mascara!

23 May, 2017 - 04:32pm by - First Lady | 13 Comments

by BR Natalie

How long have you had your current mascara?  

If it's over 3 months then pay heed to the following sentence. 

THROW IT OUT.

Seriously.  Do yourself a massive favour and get rid.  Did you know mascara has a use-by date of just 3 months from opening?  And no, it's not a sales ploy to get you to buy more.  It's a very genuine measure to help prevent some pretty nasty infections.  And blindness.  Yes really!

In a study by International Journal of Cosmetic Science 79% of mascaras tested contained staph bacteria.  And 86% of the owners admitted that their mascaras were out of date.  Coincidence?  We think not.

In this article various cosmetics were tested for bacteria. The mascara tested positive for Enterobacter and Eubacterium.  These can cause urinary and respiratory tract infections and bacterial vaginosis.

Why is mascara so prone to icky, germy nasties?  It's a moist and dark environment, which bacteria loves, and therefore bacteria thrives!  Contaminated mascara can cause conjunctivitis, mild break outs, boils and abscesses.  

Here's some other things found in mascara: Staphylococcus, micrococcus, bacillus, and even (brace yourself) E. coli, which is from erm, poo.

So...replace your mascara (and eye pencils/liners) every 3 months.  Chuck them out if you have a bout of conjunctivitis or something similar.  And never, ever share them with anyone else.  Even family.

Is it time to go shopping?  Find out what mascaras Kiwi ladies are raving about - and which ones you don't want to buy!

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Comments

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24th May, 2017

It grosses me out seeing people selling used mascaras... sorry, just bin it! But I am guilty though of not throwing mine out after three months... mines probably only had 6 uses by then if that (lately at least anyway), so I think I am ok... right?? Note: goal is to use make up more often again... especially mascara ;)

24th May, 2017

Oh my gosh, 3 months. Gosh I hate to think how long some of them are that are in my make up case I'm still working on the removal stage of products

24th May, 2017

Omg I'm throwing out all my mascara so, time for brand new one, I had no idea

24th May, 2017

Ewwwwwww, ok I have had my mascara for probably over 3 months, but it's almost finished (I use a lot every day) and I've just bought a new one to replace it, so out it goes!!!!!!!!!!

24th May, 2017

I keep thinking about this, hmmm now when DID I start my current mascara?? I have one on standby, so no excuses.

24th May, 2017

That is...quite gross. I'm suddenly very glad that I just bought a new mascara.

24th May, 2017

this is intresting as I just looked at some of my mascaras and the POA (period after opening) says 6months eg toofaced better than sex, too faced queen of lashes. maybelline also have 6m

24th May, 2017

Staph is a bacteria on your skin whether you like it or not, it's there. Some people are very susceptible to it and it can cause serious harm to them but most of us will never notice it.

Still, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Write the day you opened the mascara on the tube with a black vivid so you know when to throw it out.

23rd May, 2017

I tend to hold on to mascara for about four months and liquid liners even longer. I do have the felt tip ones though so hopefully those are less icky than the liquid liners that come with a brush.

23rd May, 2017

I just opened a new mascara but I've definitely had my other one longer than 3 months.

23rd May, 2017

Gross! I have new mascara thankfully but in the past I have definately used it past 3 months!

23rd May, 2017

I'm not good at that. In the past I've kept and used make up for years (BR has taught me not to do that of course!).

23rd May, 2017

this is scarey -I often have my mascara for longer that 3 months

Qweenkaren
24th May, 2017

THIS is a great tip! infact, I may even use my liquid eyeliner to do this, as I never have a tiny permanent marker near my makeup... imagine the error I would make lol!

MAGPIEFI
25th May, 2017

Oh yep how can people even want to buy used mascara eeek

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