Two years ago this month I had up a post about cosmetics. Mostly I focused on the high cost of certain name brands and the tendency to over buy.
http://conversationsinklal.blogspot.com/2008/02/speaking-of-buying-makeup.html#comments
However, at the end of the posting I added that we need to keep in mind that all of these products have expiration dates. In addition, there is a safety concern when items that are used on the face can be contaminated by bacteria. Some commenters said that the products last longer than what is recommended by the government and the safety issue is not all that big a deal.
I am now living proof that these products can and do expire, and they can cause you a health problem. At this point in time I simply do not do the full makeup thing any longer. But I bow to my mom's wailing "At least put on a little lipstick!" I do when I remember. When the weather gets wintry blustery I put on that lipstick as much as a protection for the lips from the weather as for any decorative purpose. Last week I felt a burning, itchy sensation at the corner of my mouth. From somewhere I had gotten a rash. When the rash didn't disappear despite what I tried out of my medicine cabinet at home, I dropped by the dermatologist's office. I think I expected to have him tell me it was just a cold sore and dispense a prescription.
Instead, he asked me if I had worn any lipstick lately. The upshot was that my lipstick, purchased I can't possibly remember when, had given me a "boo boo." The doctor told me to ditch it. In truth, looking into my make up box, I couldn't remember when I had purchased any of the items in there. Again my doctor's advice: ditch it all. He mentioned that a lot of cases he sees where women come in with a "something" on their faces are caused by contaminated makeup.
Ladies, variety may be the spice of life, and make up may be your joy, but once purchased, make up doesn't last forever. Using makeup past its expiration date can cause problems. The burning itch was so not worth saving a few dollars in replacing the lipstick.
Now that you're cleaning for Pesach you might want to start by cleaning out your makeup box and ridding yourself of any items that could cause more trouble than they are worth.
8 comments:
Just great! First you mention the P word before I'm ready to hear it and now you're telling me that my carefully hoarded makeup might give me skin problems. Any good news on the horizon?!
"you're telling me that my carefully hoarded makeup might give me skin problems. Any good news on the horizon?!"
some guys don't like makeup
FYI, a cold sore is caused by the herpes virus. You probably meant a canker sore, though those are only within the mouth to the best of my knowledge.
My dermatologist long ago warned me about using the sample products that are on all the makeup counters in the stores. She said that you have no idea what germs the previous people who used the samples may have contributed. Even though they give you disposable applicators when you try some of them most people apply some to the face and then take the same applicator and put on some more. And just imagine how many lips those lipsticks have been put on.
Pardon me -
I don't mean to detract from the main message of your blog, but I just had to laugh....
"But I bow to my mom's wailing "At least put on a little lipstick!" "
At 9:50 pm this past Sunday night, as I was finally drying all the stemware and ushering the last of our Purim seudah guests out the door, my mother looks at me gravely and remarks in all seriousness, "You know what you need right now? A little lipstick."
It has to be mothers of a certain era G6. Mine doesn't care what I'm wearing but I'm not dressed if I don't have on lipstick. It's her general recipe for getting cheered up. One of my kids was a C-section and I was feeling miserable. My mom arrived at the hospital, looked at me, took out a lipstick and put it on me. She told me I'd feel better.
A lot of makeup is going to expire before you can even use up half of it. The companies would do us a favor if they would make the products half the size, charge half the price and let us use up the products before they expire.
Even if you put on lipstick every day you maybe will use up one tube in a year. And most women I know have more than one tube because one color won't go with everything.
So if all my makeup is about 13 years old, that's very very bad?
So I guess it's good that I basically never use it anyway.
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