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Ask 10 different women how long they've had that container of blush in their bathroom drawer or lounging about the depths of their handbag and you'll probably hear the same response every time: "I can't remember ... six months? two years? Since I thought wearing legwarmers was a good idea?" This laissez-faire attitude may work with items that can't go bad, like clothes -- except, of course, for those legwarmers -- but it's definitely not a good way to treat your blush or any other cosmetics. Learning when to replace your blush and how to store new blush will extend its shelf life as long as possible.
Shelf Life of Blush
If you have powder blush that's been living in your makeup kit for longer than a few years, get rid of it. Blush's shelf life is only two years. And that's under the best possible circumstances. If you've got oily skin, you may need to replace your blush more frequently, since oils from your skin transfer from brushes into the powder and gradually make the compounds in the blush deteriorate and change. If you're a fan of cream blush, you'll need to replace it even sooner, about every 12 to 18 months. After this amount of time, the water in the blush solution starts to dry out.
Habits to Extend Blush Shelf Life
"Habits," some do-gooder once said, "can make or break a man." They can make or break a woman, too, especially when it comes to her ability to make her blush last as long as possible. First, wash your blush brushes or applicators in warm soapy water at least once a week. If you have oily skin, wash your blush applicator after every use. If you're as likely to do this as sprint up Mount Everest, go disposable with your blush applicators. If you've got some blemishes located in the blush zone, don't apply blush and then put the brush back into the powder. You'll only end up contaminating the rest of the blush with all that lovely bacteria. Use a disposable makeup sponge or swab for those areas. If you use cream blush, don't just shove your fingers into the little pot to apply the stuff -- use a clean applicator or sponge each time.
How to Store Blush
We women are inherently lazy when it comes to storing blush and makeup. For most of us, our "storage" method is simply to leave it wherever we're likely to use it -- the bathroom counter if we're in a rush and don't care about the mess; the bathroom drawer if someone's coming over later. If you want to get the most bang out of your blush-buck, though, you're going to need to kick your cosmetic storage up a notch. It may seem completely counter-intuitive, but the last place you should store your blush is in the bathroom. Blush will degrade quicker -- and host more pimple-inducing bacteria -- if it's regularly exposed to the humidity and heat of a typical bathroom. Instead, put it in a makeup bag and store it in a drawer or closet that isn't anywhere near moisture or wildly fluctuating temperature changes. When you need your makeup, grab the bag, do your magic in the bathroom and replace the makeup in its little hideaway.
When to Replace Blush
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn't require cosmetics to have expiration dates on them, so it's important you're savvy to the signs that your blush is past its prime. Dump any blush -- powder or cream-style -- that starts to change to a different color or texture, or all of a sudden seems harder to apply than before and is clumpy or otherwise just plain weird. The cardinal rule here, ladies, is to use your brain. Don't get stubborn and refuse to replace your blush after a year even if it's somehow morphed from peachy to darkish brown just because you are determined to get those two years of shelf life out of the thing. Trash it, buy another one and store it better the next time around.
