What is your Makeup’s PAO?

Nothing beats the feeling of opening a newly-purchased makeup item; more so, a newly released edition or a recent product release. The hype won’t probably subside until you’ve swatched it on your skin and tried it on your friends’ face. My experience with makeup started more than a decade ago – I started to apply makeup on my own when I was in grade 4 during one of our school’s program. I remember I applied a muted red eyeshadow, blended it with my fingers and mainly concentrated the product on my crease. I used a lip gloss with a sheer bright red tint. The products I used were all owned by my mom. Few years have passed and the makeup I used were still sitting on my mom’s vanity table. Come college, I started to buy makeup using my own money. I purchased items little by little; until my third year in university and my makeup items could barely fit in my purse. Quite unsure of the purpose and best use of some of my purchases, yet one thing was sure: I was still curious about those makeup items my mom used to own.

“How long has it been sitting on her vanity table?”

“When did she start using those?”

“Is makeup meant to be used all up?”

“Does makeup expire?”

My curiosity intensified for every makeup purchase I made. I made a bit of research and truth be told, makeup do expire and it varies depending on the kind of formula and packaging. Since I knew about it, I started to make a list of the makeup products I own along with their corresponding lifespan and left it on my vanity area where it’s accessible and could easily be seen to stay updated. You can determine the lifespan of your makeup product through the PAO, or Period After Opening, symbol which looks like a container with a lifted lid with an indicated number followed by the letter M. It looks like this:

The symbol means, for example, if you open your makeup product on January 11 and the icon indicates 9M, your makeup will expire after 9 months, or October 11. Keep in mind that day 0 starts once you expose the product on air. Even if you solely opened it to gaze at the product’s beauty, or smelled it out of pure curiosity and didn’t dip your finger or swatch it, the lifespan has already started. In cases wherein you lost track of your product’s first “exposure”, what I recommend  is to write down the year you purchased or used it. From there, pay close attention to its formula and smell. If there are changes in its formula and smell, it’s most possibly expired.

Now, let’s be honest… not all makeup brands have the PAO symbol on their packaging. Don’t worry! I got you.

List of expiration for your guidance.

1. Makeup sponges – 3 months
2. Mascara – 3 to 6 months
3. Eyeliner (both gel and liquid) – 3 to 6 months
4. Cream products – 6 to 12 months
5. Liquid foundation and concealer – 6 to 12 months
6. Liquid lipstick – 12 months
7. Lipstick in bullet – 2 years
8. Brow, lip and eyeliner pencil – 2 years
9. Powder products – 2 years

You’re probably thinking about the importance of all this expiration thing-y. You may have owned a few makeup goodies which have lasted way beyond its lifespan, and you may think it’s still working just fine. What, I think, makes you feel guilty the most is the fact that you’re still left with a lot of product. I still have some of my makeup products which expired last year but I don’t use them any longer. I am yet to dispose them anytime soon, but since I still have them with me, I will share a few thoughts about their current performance.

1. Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip in Stingraye

The smell is not inviting at all and kind of similar to the smell of a marker pen. I cannot bear the smell and since lipstick has the highest possibility of entering my body, I don’t want this product anywhere near my mouth. The opacity of the color is still awesome, but I have observed that the formula was more drying (considering how drying the formula of colourpop’s ultra matte lip is) compared before.

2. Detail MakeBrow Mascara

The formula is awful. I hated this brow mascara hence a lot of product was left. After swatching it, the formula was so weird. I tried to apply it on my brows and it set so fast, I didn’t even have time to fix my brows. The smell wasn’t also good before, and it just got worse now.

3. CoverGirl Clump Crusher by Lashblast

The formula was so dry, nothing could be swatched on my hand. I doubt if any product could be transferred to my lashes. I don’t want to risk it.

4. Wet n’ wild Rose-bud

The formula is still awesome. However, as few seconds passed, after I put this lipstick on, it made my lips sting a little bit. I don’t remember feeling that before I was using this lipstick. The smell has stayed weird… maybe a little bit worse.

I hope you learned a thing or two! Let’s be more critical of the makeup products we apply on our skin to avoid possible irritation, infection or breakout.