Spring is a time of renewal. Trees are budding, flowers are blooming and we tend to clean house with windows open, dusting off winter. One area of house cleaning you may not think to dive into is your beauty products. Keeping your products clean, and getting rid of old products, is important not only for hygienic purposes, but they can be breeding grounds for bacteria and fungi, especially makeup brushes.

Don’t share makeup.

Everyone has different body chemistry and sharing products you use can cause the spread of viruses and inflammation. For example, using someone’s lipstick can pass along the cold sore virus or using someone’s mascara can spread pink eye or other eye infections.

Clean those makeup brushes.

No need to buy a special cleaner for this, using a mild soap or shampoo is sufficient. Put a small amount in your hand and swirl the brush around, rinse well, and dry upright or flat. This is also a good time to wash out that cosmetic bag and those tweezers.

Purge products every six months if they are a liquid or a cream.

This includes liquid eyeliner and mascara, they can collect bacteria that causes eye infections. Powders tend to last a bit longer, so your sparkle powder eyeshadow has a few more months in them.Store beauty products in a cool, dry space. Humidity and heat can accelerate the growth of fungi and bacteria.

One final tip, when in doubt, throw it out. Holding on to something that may be contaminated is not worth the risk of illness or infections.