Makeup--technically none of us need it, but so many of us use it. Research shows that we primarily use it because we're anxious and insecure and want to appear less noticeable, or because we want to be more attractive, and have been taught that our natural, untouched faces are unattractive. Cool!
Not only is makeup crazy expensive, but it expires relatively quickly. What's that you say? "Expiration dates on my eye shadow?! I ignore the expiration dates on medication, so there's no way I'm taking an expiration date from a company called e.l.f. seriously!"
Not only is makeup crazy expensive, but it expires relatively quickly. What's that you say? "Expiration dates on my eye shadow?! I ignore the expiration dates on medication, so there's no way I'm taking an expiration date from a company called e.l.f. seriously!"
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| Sure, you seem credible. |
Well what if i told you expired makeup can cause breakouts; skin parasites; infections; loss of vision; puffy, red, and/or swollen eyes; styes; conjunctivitis; pink eye; and more? Still want to put that shit on your face? Didn't think so! But how to track this?
Let's start with the PAO (or "Period After Opening") symbol that's on most cosmetic products. It identifies the useful lifetime of said product after its package has been opened for the first time. It depicts an open cosmetics pot and is used together with a written number of months. Go check some of your makeup and prepare to be gobsmacked!
Once i learned of the PAO, my first idea was to just write the date i open any cosmetic right on the product in permanent marker. This wasn't super effective because cosmetics live in humid environments, near solvents, and rub against a lot of fabric. So i quickly abandoned the idea.
So where to turn next? If y'all haven't guessed "a spreadsheet" by now, i'm wicked ashamed. You got your brand. You got your type. You got your color. PaO is the fun little number we just discussed.
Some of my products didn't have a PAO symbol, so i looked up common expiry durations, put them in a little table, and used VLOOKUP to populate.
Remember to put your table in alphabetical order if you're using VLOOKUP!
The sixth column of the table shows the month products expire. I actually have a lot of stuff i should get rid of. 😞 The seventh column shows a safety index from 1-9, with lower numbers indicating less hazardous ingredients. Shout-out to CosDNA.com for this invaluable info for sensitive-skinned individuals such as myself.
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| Think you can use all that blush in one year? Better get layerin'! |
Once i learned of the PAO, my first idea was to just write the date i open any cosmetic right on the product in permanent marker. This wasn't super effective because cosmetics live in humid environments, near solvents, and rub against a lot of fabric. So i quickly abandoned the idea.
So where to turn next? If y'all haven't guessed "a spreadsheet" by now, i'm wicked ashamed. You got your brand. You got your type. You got your color. PaO is the fun little number we just discussed.
 |
| Thanks, ipsy. |
Some of my products didn't have a PAO symbol, so i looked up common expiry durations, put them in a little table, and used VLOOKUP to populate.
Remember to put your table in alphabetical order if you're using VLOOKUP!
The sixth column of the table shows the month products expire. I actually have a lot of stuff i should get rid of. 😞 The seventh column shows a safety index from 1-9, with lower numbers indicating less hazardous ingredients. Shout-out to CosDNA.com for this invaluable info for sensitive-skinned individuals such as myself.
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| Wondering what i'm using this month? |
In case you haven't deduced the color coding system yet, red is expired stuff and yellow is stuff expiring in the next three months (now y'all now why i've been piling on the gold eyeshadow everyday lately).
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