How to Preserve Your Makeup Products

Makeup is a key item for us crossdressers. Yet, sometimes, it may be hard to acquire due to either privacy or financial reasons. With that in mind, we must preserve these makeup products so they last longer.

I mean, I’m sure you don’t want it to go to waste or to give you an allergy.

Most issues can be solved with proper storage and by keeping those items away from the sun and bad weather.

Besides that, avoid moving them too much, and make sure you use them as intended.

And keep them clean, to avoid possible contaminations that can ruin the products.

To help you solve this issue, I’m going to tell you about how to take proper care of your supplies.

These are all helpful methods that will keep makeup products last for longer periods.

This preservation will save you some money and effort.

1. Keep Makeup Products Away From Water

Moisture is the enemy number one of makeup.

First of all, it causes alterations in its texture, ruining the consistency of the products.

Creams become less dense and less likely to stick to your skin.

Powders, on the other hand, may flock and lose pigment.

Either way, long-term exposure to moisture may render your makeup useless.

Besides that, moisture is something that helps center and germs to grow and reproduce.

As ecente is very likely to retain water, it becomes a feast for them.

Another problem that can appear is fungi and moss, which are also attracted to moisture.

All of the above is bad for your skin, with high chances to cause you na allergy.

It varies on the degree and according to which product is contaminated.

It may be a sore eye, some eye irritation, or even something more serious.

So, if you want to avoid this kind of stuff, keep your makeup somewhere dry.

Never put it in the bathroom, and give preference to places with decent airflow.

2. Don’t Expose Makeup Products to Sunlight

Sunlight is also harmful to your makeup products.

The radiation can split up molecules from the formula, which is even more harmful to liquid products.

Heat itself may break down the formula and ruin the ingredients or even melt some of your creams.

But direct sunlight is way worse, as it does that at a much faster rate.

With that in mind, make sure you keep your creams and liquid supplies in the case and remember to keep them closed.

To reinforce its effectiveness, keep the cases in your closet or somewhere with little sunlight and cool temperatures.

3. Store your stuff in drawers rather than in the open

Leaving your makeup supplies in the open may be disastrous due to two main factors.

The first one is direct sunlight, which we have already discussed.

The other one is dust, and I’ll talk about it right now.

Dust is composed of many different particles and may contain harmful materials.

Sometimes, it may even be full of germs and bacteria.

You do not want it to have direct contact with your skin.

The point here is that leaving your makeup stuff in the open allows a lot of dust to gather inside of it and mix up with the makeup itself.

It may cause a wide range of diseases of different natures due to the many possible contaminants.

My advice regarding this is for you to keep your supplies well stored inside of drawers.

You can divide it into sections to keep things organized, but make sure to close everything.

Brushes and other tools, however, may benefit from a better wind flow.

Maintain them in the open, inside of a mug or a cup, to keep them smooth and useful.

But make sure you wash and dry them at least twice a month, as dust is still a problem.

For crossdressers who want to hide their makeup supplies, a drawer may seem too obvious.

Therefore, I recommend you use a shoebox or any box in which you can fit your stuff.

You may keep the said box in a hidden drawer or somewhere in your closet.

If you’re afraid someone will find it, try a backpack.

The former method is what I used for over a year.

But of course, make sure you don’t move it around too much.

Otherwise, you may damage or mix the products.

4. Watch out for makeup products’ expiration dates

Sometimes, makeup expires, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

It’s natural, but using expired makeup is dangerous.

That’s because it loses some qualities, including its capacity to resist bacteria and other contaminants.

The best thing you can do is buy a new one to replace it.

But you may still take some care after that. Expired makeup may contain several types of bacteria and fungi.

And if you’re not careful, it may spread to products that are not expired.

Keep an eye out for expired stuff, and once you get rid of old products, clean the area before storing the brand-new ones.

But to do that, you must first learn how to recognize expired products.

The first thing is that they smell different. Expired makeup smells much like stale oil most time.

They are also likely to show alterations in both color and texture as they get old, becoming much different from what you bought.

But most important, it starts to feel weird in contact with your skin.

Also, if you had an eyesore or any infection recently, be careful.

Your makeup may have had contact with germs and particles that will make them expire faster.

To be more precise, here are the average expiration dates of some products:

Mascara: Around three to six months. It depends on how often you use it.

Lipstick and Powders, in general, tend to last for about two years before expiring.

Foundation: If it’s water-based, you may not use it for more than a year. Oil-based foundations, on the other hand, may last for 18 months before losing their consistency.

5. Avoid touching the makeup products too much

Your fingers contain a lot of particles and bacteria.

They gather up throughout the day and are quite hard to get rid of.

Said particles act upon your makeup, degrading it at a much faster rate and causing it to expire.

If you avoid touching them, however, it won’t happen, and your makeup will have a longer lifetime.

They may even stay fresh for longer and keep the same aspect as if they were brand new for a few weeks.

With that in mind, aim to use brushes and sweep less of the product at a time.

That’s because brushes are less likely to transfer germs from your skin into the products themselves.

6. Give preference to small containers

Opening your makeup supplies’ original containers may cause them to dry.

To avoid this problem, I recommend you buy several small containers and transfer a small portion of the product onto them.

This way, the main container stays sealed with the product, keeping it out of contact with air and delaying the drying process.

The small container, on the other hand, will contain a few weeks’ worth of product, which is unlikely to expire before you use it all.

This technique prevents your makeup from drying prematurely and lasting as expected.

My advice is that you label each one of these containers and keep using them to store the same product.

It prevents them from mixing up, which can cause a lot of alterations.

If you feel like you need to change what kind of product you store in each container, wash it with running water and soap.

And make sure you let it dry since it’s important to avoid excessive moisture.

7. Clean your brushes after each use

We’ve discussed before how important it is to keep your tools clean.

And I’ve pointed out that it’s important to wash them well at least twice a month.

However, this is more efficient for storage purposes when you want to get rid of dust gathered in them.

As you use your brushes and tools, they are entering into contact with much more than just dust.

They are in contact with the makeup itself and can be damaged or lose efficiency if you fail to clean them.

As makeup gathers in your tools, they get dry and expire the same way as it would if you left your makeup unguarded.

It may cause a series of problems, as expired makeup may house bacteria, germs, and other harmful particles.

This sort of contamination is guaranteed to affect your face since the brushes will be in direct contact with them.

With that in mind, try to wash them after each use.

Makeup products are delicate and quite difficult to maintain.

But if you take a few precautions, you can make it last longer and prevent most damage to it.

Try to avoid moisture, sunlight, and dust, and make sure you remove expired products before they ruin everything else.

I hope this article was helpful for you and that you can now preserve your makeup supplies.

If you want to share your experience, tell us in the comments about how to preserve your supplies!