How long does it take to finish makeup products?

I’m going to terrify every beauty addict with this post. #sorrynotsorry

I’ve often claimed (jokingly) that I have enough makeup to last me a lifetime. And looking at the rate I’m using things up, it could absolutely be true. The only products I regularly use up are base products, mascara, and eyeshadow primer. The lipglosses I keep on my desk and in my bag are getting finished in around three months. Everything else? Nada. And I’ve been thinking: how long does it take to finish makeup products?

Therefore, I’ve been conducting my own little, totally un-scientific meta study for which I trawled through the world wide web and collected data. All numbers are from users at Specktra, Reddit, beauty blogs, and YouTube channel Beauty News.

Lipstick

Most data is concerned with how fast we might use up a lipstick, and the two most famous experiments come from the folks at Birchbox and the blog Brightest Bulb in The Box (now dead). Birchbox doesn’t specify in what way they tested, and what they exactly tested, but claimed that there’re 293 swipes in a ‘regular tube’ of lipstick. Brightest Bulb concluded that the usual application uses up 0,008 g of lipstick, which clocks a regular MAC lipstick at 475 swipes, making it around 238 applications per tube. So, with daily use and maybe three applications per day, after 80 days of continuous wear – presto, you finished a lipstick.

Maybe?

Beauty News tested ColourPop’s Lippie Stix (313 swipes), Hourglass Confessions lipstick (230 swipes), Fenty Beauty Mattemoiselle Lipstick (420 swipes), AND a Louboutin lipstick (OMG) (390 swipes). Different textures, and different amounts of lipstick, sure. These four (very different) lipsticks, though, would us bring to a cool number of potentially 670 applications. (I estimated that you would need two swipes per application.)

Let’s say you wear lipstick daily, and apply three times a day – it’ll still take you a little less than a year to go through all four. Imagine applying only once each day – 19 months. If you’re a weirdo like me and actually don’t use lipstick every day – huh. (For the record, I own more than 100 lipsticks. A little chilling, no?)

Eyeshadow

Various people on various forums seem to agree that you tend to wear a workhorse powder eyeshadow (like a highlighting or transition shade that you use every time you wear eyeshadow) for about one year until it’s empty. Beauty News took one for the team and swatched a NYX single eyeshadow (1,24 g). That yielded around 830 swatches, which they would conclude would be enough to 270 applications.

A MAC single eyeshadow, which has 1,3 g (usually), would clock in at around 1000 swatches, then. Depending on your application method and type of look (all over the lid application against inner corner highlight), that would make the approximation quite right. If you want to know more, reddit user /petrakay came up with an excel sheet to approximate how many years of eyeshadow palettes you own (I didn’t dare to use it yet).

When it comes to cream products, Beauty News swatch/swipe test showed that there’re around 100 applications in your 4,5 ml tube of Stila Magnificent Metals liquid eyeshadow. (Wow. That seems actually do-able?) (If you own only one, of course. And no other eyeshadows.)

Highlighter/Blush

This is where it gets terrifying. Imagine a 15 g powder highlighter (the ladies at Beauty News tested Jeffree Star’s). That yielded a heavy-handed 630 uses (highlighted both cheeks, one swipe each). Users of Specktra concluded that it took them around one year to finish a MAC MSFN (10 g) that they used every day as a setting powder.

Little White Truths claimed tentatively that you use about 1 g of blush PER YEAR. (Told you it would be terrifying.) I’ve ever used up one Max Factor blush (1,5 g) that I used A LOT, and just from that experience, I’d say that’s a valid approximation. (No, I don’t want to count my blushes right now, thank you very much.)

Foundation/Primer

Ooooo-kay, that’s actually something I guess we all used up at one point, or even pretty regularly. (Phew.) Imagine you got the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r foundation (32 ml – 180 pumps), Tarte Tape Shape foundation (30 ml – 500 swipes with the applicator), Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick (7,2 g – 664 swipes) and throw in the Wet’n’Wild Mega Cushion (15 g – 415 puff pats). That would give you (generously approximated) 14,5 months of application. IF you wear foundation every. Single. Day. (Data from Beauty News.)

If you throw in a primer (test object: Benefit Poreless Primer), a pea-sized amount will get you a primed face on 110 days. 

Concealer

Tarte’s Tape Shape Concealer (10 ml), tested by the ladies from Beauty News, gives you 250 swipes of product. They concluded that this will yield 35 weeks of daily application, but I found that somewhat conservative – if you don’t use concealer like IG beauties, I’d guess it’ll last you about 60 to 70 weeks – at least. Up to 500 DAYS of concealing. Wow.

Shopping your stash

If you want to get serious about shopping your stash, I guess those numbers might be helpful. This year, I’ve bought one makeup item so far, and that was a replacement of a loved one. And I’m really, really enjoying that and my whole stash.

I’m not getting overwhelmed by new additions all the time, and that has given me room to play around with once beloved products that were nearly forgotten. Using them up? No chance. Enjoying them? You bet!