Old mascara may not be as bad as we think

It may have been drummed into us for years that we should throw away mascara more than six-months-old.

However a new picture posted to Reddit has thrown all those rumours into disarray.

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The snap shows a five-year-old tube of Maybelline’s classic Great Lash mascara beside a petri dish.

And while you would expect an infestation of germs to come to life on the petri dish, experts claim it’s not that bad at all.

“Looks great! From my experience, looks just like some staph colonies I'm growing right now,” one microbiologist said.

“Microbiologist here, that is not bad AT ALL,” another person said.

Others were quick to question how many times the mascara had actually been used in the past five years.

“I actually used it about a year or so ago! Before I learned about throwing away mascara after 6 months. It was my special occasion blue mascara. It didn't smell bad so I thought why not,” the person who posted the photo wrote.

It comes after experts have claimed for years that mascara should be tossed within months of opening it.

“Ideally you should never keep an opened and used mascara for more than 4 months,” make-up artist Sonia Allen told Be.

“Eye infections are not worth it and protecting the health of your eyes is more important even if you haven't finished the mascara yet.”

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