Your make up habits might be doing some serious damage

Hate to be the bearers of bad news ladies but this is actually possible. Whether you’re getting all glammed up for a big night on the town or your just putting in a 9-to-5 day with the essentials from your make-up bag, you could be doing some serious damage. We may not even realise it but some of the most common make-up habits can be doing awful things to our skin without us even noticing. So, to help keep you at your healthiest, we identified the worst habits we’re all guilty of that can ruin our glowing appearance.

Ignoring expiration dates

You wouldn’t use bread that’s been sitting in your kitchen turning green would you? The same goes for your cosmetics. Almost all of your products should have a symbol on their label that lets you know how long it’s safe to keep using once opened. And while we all have our absolute favourites we couldn’t live without, clinging to that two year old MAC matte could give you a nasty infection. Or worse, age old mascara might leave you with some less than sultry stink eye. Rebecca Taylor, M.D., an ophthalmologist and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, recommends getting rid of them after three months.

Sharing is actually not so caring

It really doesn’t matter how amazing your BFF’s lippy was last night, you need go and buy your own. Or you could end up like the woman who borrowed her friend’s make-up brush and ended losing the use of her legs due to catching MRSA.  Nobody wants a cold sore, or conjunctivitis. Not cool. So to avoid the any risky infections, or the inevitable cold shoulder when a certain gloss goes missing, keep your favourites separate. You can still admire, obviously, just from afar.

Fake it ‘til you make it

Between holidays, festivals or just your social life in general, it can be easier to fork out and have a professional take care of your stubby lash woes. Be warned though, some of the glues contain less than sweet ingredients. Such as formaldehyde, which can cause serious irritation to your eyes. Taylor says that “if applied poorly, extensions can cause lashes to become brittle and break off”. Which is exactly the look we were hoping to avoid. She recommends having a patch test done so you can see how the glue will affect you before going all-in.

Misplacing your lines

Look, we all want that doe-eyed oh-so-pretty aesthetic, it’s not that uncommon. But here’s a helpful tip, applying liner to your waterline isn’t going to help. The opposite actually. And, it’s going to mess with your vision too #epicfail. Your eyes have their own natural bacteria and putting liner in the mix is going to make it too crowded in there. Steal clear of the water then!

Hitting the hay, face intact

It’s always tempting after a long day (or night) to dive straight into the duvet, to hell with the face wipes, bring on the naps! How about no, though? Skipping this vital step in the beauty process is going to leave your eyes irritated, and your pores clogged. So clogged pores might not lead to certain death, but Taylor explains “when you toss and turn your head throughout the night, traces of makeup can migrate into the eye.” And nobody wants to wake up the morning of that most important interview with a nasty stye. Pass us the cleanser please and thank you.