Alright ladies (and everyone else who wears makeup), it’s spring cleaning time. Remember that it’s important to clean out your makeup as well as everything else in your house. Makeup becomes bacteria-ridden quickly, and its shelf life is close to that of bread in the freezer. If you want clean skin, it’s important to understand that most of the bacteria that will cause acne will come from you touching your face and the makeup that you wear – regardless of the brand or the amount that you wear.

Let’s go over your makeup products so you can try to remember when you bought them, and when you will need to throw them out. A recommendation would be writing the date that you first open the makeup in permanent marker on the bottom (not on the top, unless you wanna ruin the aesthetic).

• All of your powders – including but not limited to face powders, bronzers, blush, eyeshadow – should never be kept more than two years at the absolute max.
• Liquids such as concealers, liquid foundations and moisturizers should only be kept for a year to fifteen months.
• Liquid eyeliners, brow pencils and eyeliner pencils should only be kept for a year.
• Lipsticks and lip glosses should only be kept for a year.
• Mascara will only last three to six months at most – otherwise you risk getting eye infections.

Some ways to make sure that your makeup will last longer are tightening your caps on all of your pots and try to keep all of your makeup in a controlled temperature.

If you’re interested in seeing how much bacteria is on your makeup, check out this video from BuzzFeed’s website.