5 Makeup Items NOT to Share with your Best Friend

We all know looking beautiful isn’t an easy job. However, us girls have to go through this struggle every day. If you are a fan of makeup you know the cost adds up quickly to perfect your face on a daily basis. Your favorite cosmetic brands like MAC, Forever Makeup, and Chanel are raising their prices faster than you can apply it. For all the beauties on a budget, sharing makeup with your best friend seems like a wonderful idea right? We share everything with our best friends, from our deep dark secrets to our favorite foods. As kids, we learned the beauty of makeup by sharing with our mothers, grandmothers or aunts. We thought of it as harmless playtime. But is sharing makeup a good idea? Let’s find out!


Stephen Louis, Manger from MAC Cosmetics on Michigan Ave. in Chicago, gives us the makeup items that are not okay for sharing with friends.  He also goes in depth with the risk that people face whenever they share contaminated makeup.

1.    Foundation: Unless you and your friend have different applicator brushes then sharing foundation is a big NO NO… Stephen says, “Most of the bacteria lie in the bristles of the brush.” If using the same brush then germs can easily be transferred from face to face. By sharing contaminated brushes you can receive staph infections and other skin complications. Don't ruin that wonderful face.

2.    Mascara: Stephen says, “Absoluetly Not! This is the most common way to spread eye infections among females.” Sharing mascara has many risks that range from pink eye to herpes. About 1,300 people contract pink eye a year, and 10% coming from the sharing of mascara. You should not even keep your own mascara for longer than 3 months and you definitely shouldn’t share with others. 

3.    Blush: Most people do not apply blush as heavy or as much as other makeup because it’s not meant for the entire face but blush still has the potential to spread skin infections. Once again this is a breeding ground for germs. Do not share without using a different brush.

4.    Lipstick/Lip-Gloss: Anything that goes on your lips or mouth should be kept to yourself. If it is directly from the tube to your lips or the tube to your finger it can still become contaminated. “Actually if the lipstick or lip-gloss is transferred to your finger it is more unsanitary because fingers touch almost everything,… that is disgusting,” says Stephen. In a study mentioned on Everyday Health’s website researchers found bacteria such as staph, strep, and E. coli within shared lip products. You may love your best friend’s new lipstick or lip-gloss color but it is not worth it. Buy your own!

5.    Eye Shadow: You might be a little more uncertain about sharing crème eye shadow than the powder but the two eye shadows come with the same risk.  “Both the crème and the powder spread the same amount bacteria and cause eye infections,” says Stephen. No need to chance it.

Photo by Chris Willis.