I was preparing to make a little masterpiece in the kitchen today. I pulled out all my ingredients to make a bacon carbonara pasta dish (I know and I don't even want to hear it) and that's when I noticed the expiration date on the parsley container.
05MAR11. Yes, I was and have been using some freakishly old seasoning. As much as I detested throwing out my three-quarter full container, I knew it was for the best. Then I went on to review all of my spices. Do you know I threw out more than 15 containers, large and small. Then I started going through my baking ingredients and found myself ditching flour, vanilla extract bottles, and even cookie sprinkles. My whole dang kitchen was OLD. I couldn't believe it. Now at this point the spring cleaning spirit was in me and was running around the house tossing anything that remotely looked dusty into trash bags. I reviewed every item in the pantry, and the refrigerator. At the end of my cleaning rampage I threw out more than 4 tall trash bags of condiments, spices, pasta, popcorn, jello, vitamins, over-the-counter and prescription drugs (except for my Vicodin and Percocet...I would never throw out the good stuff), and hair and skin products. But seriously when is the last time you did an inventory of your kitchen, your medicine cabinet, your makeup bag, and under your sink? A lot, if not all, of these articles have an expiration date. When it comes to perishable foods it is easy to tell when they go bad because they usually develop mold or have a foul order. It's harder to tell when seasonings or processed food go bad because they might look and taste okay. Truth is when you go past the "Best by or Use by" date, the food's nutritional value decreases and the taste may not be as tasty as it once was. Likewise with medicine, it's best to throw out old vitamins and drugs as they lose their potency after the expiration date and what's worse they could potentially cause illnesses or other conditions. Unlike food, cosmetics may not display an expiration date, however, they go bad just the same. Old cosmetics can cause eye infections and skin blemishes. As a tip, when you buy a new cosmetic item immediately mark it with the date purchased with a marker. Did you know mascara goes bad at around 3-4 months? When's the last time you switched out that basic beauty item? Check out the guidelines for the basic types of make up products.
| Product | Toss it after. . . |
|---|
| Mascara | 3 - 4 months |
| Concealer | 12 months |
| Water-based Foundation | 12 months |
| Oil-based Foundation | 18 months |
| Blush or bronzer | 18 months |
| Cream blush | 18 months |
| Eye shadow | 3 years |
| Pencil Eyeliner | 3 months |
| Powder | 2 years |
| Lipstick/lip gloss | 18 months |
| Lip liner | 12 months |
| Nail polish | 12 months |
| Makeup sponges | Wash weekly,discard monthly |
So let the spring cleaning spirits be with you so that you can prevent any illnesses or at the very least not be featured on an episode of Hoarders.
Take good care of yourself.
