Photo Credit: nixxphotography
There comes a point when makeup should be removed from your cabinets and head towards the trash can; but then again, maybe your old makeup is actually salvageable? We have a few ideas to help you extend the shelf life of your makeup, as well as suggestions on how to use your unsalvageable makeup in unique and creative ways! Get more bang for your buck with these innovative uses for your old makeup!
Make Old Makeup Last Longer
1. Warm Water
If you have old mascara and lip gloss tubes that have dried out and become hard, don’t throw away your makeup! Try soaking the dried out containers in a cup of warm water. This tactic will help to revitalize the makeup and get the ingredients to remix and become a liquid again!
2. Drugstore Eyeliner
Purchasing cheap eyeliner is something that every girl is guilty of, and it usually sits in your makeup bag until you do some spring-cleaning and toss it out. The problem with inexpensive eyeliner is that it tends to be made of a tougher consistency, and doesn’t blend nicely on your eyes. Instead of throwing it way, try holding your eyeliner pencil over a lighter. Put the point of the pencil in the flame for about 15 seconds. Let it cool for about 20 seconds, and then use. This will help create a softer consistency and allow the liner to smudge across your eye. Basically, you can create an “expensive-feeling” eyeliner at a drugstore price!
3. Cracked Powder
If you let your powder sit around and dry out, or your makeup doesn’t travel well and falls apart in your bag, you don’t have to throw it away. Try adding a few drops of rubbing alcohol to your powder to create a paste. Mix it around and let it set over night. This will allow the powder to come back together and dry without any cracks. Now you won’t have chunks of powder on your brush or falling on the ground.
Make Old Products Into Something New
1. Old Mascara Brushes
Clean your old, dried out mascara brush by washing it with rubbing alcohol and cold water. Once the brush is completely clean, you can use it as an eyebrow brush to keep your brows in check and create the perfect arch.
2. Last Drops of Perfume
Sometimes your perfume bottle can’t soak up and spray those last few drops of fragrance. Instead of just tossing the bottle out, try emptying those remaining drops in to something that needs a spiced up scent! Find an unscented body lotion and pour perfume in to it. Mix the lotion up by stirring it with the pump tube or closing the lid and shaking it up.
3. Old Eye Shadow
There are eye shadow colors in your bathroom cabinets that have gone out of style or cracked and become unusable. Add the old powder to a bottle of Elmer’s Glue to create a fun and sparkly paint for your kids to use. If you don’t have children, use it yourself, give it to neighborhood kids or donate it to a local day care. Kids will love the shimmery paint to create art projects, and you won’t feel like you wasted money on makeup!
Do you have any tips to help preserve old makeup or use it in a creative and new way? Please share in our comment section below!
