Are Makeup Expiration Dates a Scam?

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Do you throw your mascara out every three-to-six months? Do you dump lipsticks after a year? Have you ever suspected that the beauty industry's scare-tactics over cosmetic expiration dates are just a scam to get us all to buy more stuff? Reporter Claire Cowers gathered up 5+-year old makeup products from her "hoarder friends" and had them all sent to a lab to be tested for bacteria and microbes. "For a product to be considered safe for use on the face or around the eyes, by law, the figure on every sample must come in at under 100. They agreed to carry out tests on my collection of grotty, 'out-of-date' makeup and I fully expected to hear that my cosmetics were harbouring, if not killer spores, at least a thousand different types of revolting bacteria. The results were staggering. Just not in the way I expected. Every single one of the products came back with a count of fewer than ten and was passed as fit for use." The only thing she was told to toss? Her grubby old makeup sponges. Thoughts? [Daily Mail]