natural beauty

Why sharing makeup is more dangerous than you think.

From clothing to shoes, and of course, dating advice, you and your girlfriends share everything, but there’s one thing you should never, under any circumstances, share with each other, no matter how close you may be: makeup. Sharing makeup is a definite no-no.

While yes, you may love the shade of eye shadow that your bff just bought and it might be tempting to ask her to borrow it, do yourself a favor and don’t. Just think about what your own makeup goes through in a day as it glides across your skin; it collects dead skin cells and bacteria.

Now, think about what would happen if you used someone else’s makeup, or someone else used yours – it’s not exactly hygienic.

To further elaborate why sharing makeup isn’t a good idea, here’s a look at some of the scary things that can happen when you share cosmetics.

Eye Infections

Your eyes are extremely delicate. Just think of how irritated they get when you get something in them. Eye makeup is a breeding ground for bacteria and microscopic organisms. Imagine how irritated your eyes will become if exposed to these tiny germs.

Not only can your eyes become irritated when you share makeup, but you can actually develop an eye infection, such as pink eye, styes, and even staph infections. The chance of developing eye infections is even greater if you wear contact lenses.  Germs trapped behind your lenses can really breed.

Cold Sores

Sure, your friend’s lip gloss or lip pencil may be a beautiful color, but using it could leave your lips looking – and feeling – far from beautiful.

Just like eye makeup, bacteria collects and quickly multiplies in lip products. The cold sore virus (HSV-1) can spread onto a lipstick very easily. This means that you could be inviting the virus onto your own lips, and once you catch the cold sore virus, you have it forever. While you and your girlfriend may be best friends forever, you don’t need to share cold sores to prove it.

Breakouts

Pimples aren’t contagious but are certainly irritating. If you use somebody else’s makeup, especially brushes, foundations, cover-ups and powders, you can spread her oils and other bacteria across your face. Sure, your skin may look more radiant when you first apply your friend’s makeup, but soon, an unsightly breakout of pimples can occur.

 Exposure to Other Bacteria

Makeup not only harbors bacteria on the face, but it also harbors bacteria that is collected from the hands. If your friend doesn’t wash her hands before applying a cover-up, for example, the germs on her hands will infect the makeup. If you use her cover-up, you be exposed to those germs.

Makeup is supposed to help you look more radiant, but do yourself a favor and stick to using your own products. If you use someone else’s, you may end up looking less dazzling than you hoped to; plus, you could develop a pretty nasty – possibly permanent – infection.

Guest writer – Cassie Brewer