By BR Tabatha
How often have we gone on about throwing makeup in the rubbish once it goes past a certain amount of time? So often you're probably sick of hearing about it. But we're about to bang on about it again because we've just found visual proof of the greebies that hang out in your makeup once it gets old. (Side note - here's one of our articles on expiration dates in case you're not up to date with this most important beauty information.)
Redditor, Semicolon_Expected, decided to swipe an old mascara and an old lipgloss on separate agar plates, then let them do their thing over the course of three days. The results are... expected... but still shudder-worthy.
While this is icky enough as it is, what grosses us out more was when a fellow Redditor commented saying they'd done a similar test using testers from beauty stores, which people then went on to comment about how many people they see applying lipstick testers to their lips. Noooooooo! Don't! Swatch your hand, not your kissables, people!
Microbiologists reading the five-year-old mascara thread said the growths were actually looking pretty good - although one did say it looked like a staph colony they were growing. I've seen a skin staph infection. I'm not sure what's so good about that...
Fellow Redditors are now calling for Semicolon_Expected to test other beauty products, like makeup sponges, and after seeing the mould spores in BR Kellie's old Beauty Blender, we're hoping she follows through!
The thing is, common sense does have to prevail, because although these images make us squeamish it doesn't mean there's anything deadly in those petrie dishes - and she didn't have the equipment required to confirm what the bacteria was, so there's no point scare-mongering. That being said, it's still bacteria. And it's still from an old cosmetic. So unless you're planning on having some sciency fun with them we deeply recommend, no, we implore you, to chuck the old stuff out.
So after seeing the germs that grow in old beauty products will you be doing a mass throw out? Or will you continue to throw caution to the wind? Also... are you tempted to conduct experiments like this on all your cosmetics? We know we are!
It's hard to use common sense when it comes to throwing after make up. Especially if it is expensive and has hardly been used. I don't like to use mascara that is too old as its so easy to get eye infections. I wish more companies made travel size makeup.