The warm weather is finally here and brings with it not just the promise of longer days, but another Bank Holiday to offer the extra time we need to reorder and refresh our homes. If you’re seizing the moment for a life declutter, now could be the perfect time to pay your cosmetics and personal care products some seasonal attention too. But where to start?
Thefactsabout website is full of helpful tips on this very topic so we’ve brought together some of the most popular ones from across the site. Here are five ways you can spring-clean your favourite products this Bank Holiday, ensuring they’re fresh, organised - and above all - remain safe to enjoy.
1. Gather your products together
Start by gathering together all of your make-up, skincare, haircare, and personal care products from the various places you might store them around your home - bathroom cabinets, handbags, bedroom drawers, and even in the glove compartment of your car. Lay everything out in one place so you can see what you have - and what attention it might need.
2. Check Period After Opening Dates and Any Product Changes
While you might feel your favourite lippy or hand cream is still going strong, cosmetics and personal care products don’t last forever. Using items past their best can cause irritations or even infections. Take this opportunity to check the packaging for Best Before End dates or, much more commonly, look for the Period After Opening (PAO) symbol, which tells you how long a product is safe to use after being opened. You can find out more about the PAO symbol here.
If you’re unsure when you first opened your products, check for any changes in them because this can be a sign that it’s time to call time! If a product smells strange, has changed in texture or appears discoloured, it’s best to dispose of it - even if it’s within its labelled lifespan.
3. Clean your products and applicators
It’s time to give everything a spring clean - literally. Use a damp cloth to clean any marks or smears off your products. If your make-up or toiletry bag is made of washable material, pop it in the washing machine. Lastly, don’t forget to give your beauty tools a scrub. Make-up brushes, sponges, and other applicators can accumulate dirt and bacteria over time, which can lead to skin and eye irritations. Protect yourself against problems by regularly tackling your tools as follows:
- Make-up brushes: Wash with mild shampoo or brush cleaner, rinse thoroughly and lay flat to dry
- Beauty sponges: Soak in warm soapy water, squeeze out excess make-up, and rinse well
- Hairbrushes and combs: Remove trapped hair and wash with warm, soapy water
- Razor blades: If they look dull or rusty, replace them immediately to prevent problems
4. Declutter and organise
Now that you’ve weeded out past their best and old products, it’s time to reorganise your collection. Here are some tips:
- Separate daily essentials from occasional items: Keep everyday products easily accessible and consider storing special occasion items separately. This can avoid clutter and help you keep track of long-standing products that may be past their best
- Use clear storage containers: Transparent containers can help keep all your products front of mind so you can enjoy the full use of them and nothing goes to waste
- Store products correctly: Keep cosmetics and toiletries in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight to maintain their efficacy
5. Refresh your recycling regime
By this point you may well have a pile of products destined for the bin, but is that the best place for them? Today there are more possibilities than ever when it comes to recycling your cosmetics and personal care products, so consider if there are more sustainable ways to dispose of them.
Look no further than the label to find out the most planet-friendly ways to dispose of your products. A circular arrow on a green or black background means all or part of your product can be recycled - and there are a growing number of ways you can do this, from recycling centres, to curb-side collections to take-back schemes in stores.
Find out more about how you can recycle your packaging here.
Taking time out over the spring Bank Holiday season to declutter, clean and organise your cosmetics and toiletries, means you can make smart choices about what you need moving forward - and feel confident that your favourite products remain safe to enjoy.
