Fall is here and I couldn't be more excited!  This is one of my favorite seasons and, for basic bitch reasons, I cannot get enough!  Pumpkin spice, moody manicures, chunky scarves, leather jackets, booties... I love it all!

Photo cred: Influenster

Did you know that your makeup has an expiration date?  I didn't either until someone at Sephora educated me!  All cosmetics and skin care have a shelf life during which the manufacturer deems the product "best suited for use" or "best used by."  If a product is used outside of this time period it is highly likely that the product will not perform as expected/promised.  The manufacturer sets these parameters as a type of disclaimer, like "Hey--this may not be what we promised after this time, so don't come back on us!"

Before I knew about the "expiration" or "best by" dates I had kept makeup for YEARS!  I had known that some of it had to have gone bad because some of the ingredients had separated or it would irritate my skin--now I know why!  How many of us have nail polishes that are more than a year old because we haven't gone through the whole bottle?  I can probably name one color that I have used all the way through!  So, are we just supposed to throw it all away?  Yes.

Knowing when to dispose of products is going to be your best way of ensuring that you are using healthy products.  While they may not have an actual expiration date printed on the packaging, the manufacturers do have symbols on each product, or the packaging that it came in, with a symbol that shows how long you can use the product once you have opened it.

Here are a few things that I plan on implementing into my life to help make sure that what I am using is up to date:

1. Setting calendar reminders of when to dispose of an individual product.
2. Write date of expiration on product that way it is right there when using it.
3. Do a quarterly product purge and get rid of any products that may have expired.
4. Use clean tools for products in pots or jars (spatulas, cotton swab, etc.) instead of your fingers.
5. Buy travel/sample sizes of products, such as mascara, so that I don't waste it before it goes bad.

It pains me to know that I am throwing away products that are so expensive, but it is necessary.  I think this is something that may help some of us (*cough* me) who have some over-buying tendencies to curb our spending.  I don't want to buy two or three foundations if I know that in 6-12 months I am going to have to throw them away and I won't have used the entire bottle!

I am going to challenge myself to an "empty" challenge.  I want to use all of every product that I have (as long as they are in date range) before I buy a replacement or duplicate product!  Want to join this challenge with me?  Comment below if you do!