Silica Gel Packets on Your Makeup Storage

Today, Im gonna share a little trick that I use to keep my makeup fresh and make their shelf life longer. 

Humidity or moisture in the air makes an excellent environment for bacteria and mold growth, and because makeup looks clean doesnt mean its free from molds and unwanted microorganisms. Yeah, we cant really make them 100% free from bacteria, right? But we can at least make the environment less conducive for them to multiply. 

Dont you just hate it when your CARGO blush pan (or any other makeup brand that comes in tin/metal packaging) starts to oxidize/develop rust? Or when that NARS compact starts to get sticky? 

Keeping Silica Gel Packets on your makeup storage would solve your problem. 

But first, take note that cosmetics with "Rubberized" packaging like NARS should NOT be cleaned with alcohol that contains moisturizers -- a lot of alcohol brands sell alcohol with moisturizing ingredients nowadays to compensate for the drying effect of alcohol, emollients melt the rubberized coating over time, and when you add moisture or humidity from the air, it speeds up the "melting" process of the rubberized coating thus making it feel sticky.

I use 3M Lint-Free Cleaning Cloths for Gadgets + Non-Moisturizing Alcohol solution to clean my makeup. 

Here's one of my makeup boxes : 

That blush box is supposed to contain all my NARS, CARGO and Pop Beauty blushes, but as you can see, it contains blushes from other brands too. Havent found time to reorganize (in other words, was too lazy wahaha) and segregate my blushes lately LOL! 

Anyhoo, I keep a 50gram packet of Silica Gel for each makeup box that I have including my box for makeup application tools since I dont like keeping my brushes and sponges in brush stands coz I dont want them to catch dust. More than keeping these moisture-sorbent packets in makeup boxes, I think its more important to have them in your application tools storage, since those are more prone to development of molds because of the constant contact with moisture. 

Some of the NARS blushes I have are more than a year old, and theyre still in pristine condition, texture of the compacts are still the same when I first got them. 

There are smaller packets of silica thats available in the market, like these 2gram packs that I also have. 

But I think the bigger ones are more efficient in absorbing moisture thats why those are the ones that I use for my stuff. Aside from makeup and makeup tools storage, Silica Gel packets also help keep your shoes and bags mold-free. Store 4-5 small packets inside the dustbags or shoeboxes and you wont have to worry about mold formation. It would also help if you clean and air-dry your shoes and bags prior to storage, moisture sorbent packets also avoid formation of "kulob" odors that would make you smell like youve been stored inside Lola's century-old baul. LOL!

For the 50gram packets I keep inside my makeup storage boxes, I replace them every year. :) But if you are keeping smaller packets, expect to replace them more often since they lose efficiency in absorbing moisture over time. 

Since good brands can be a little expensive, then it wont hurt to think of ways to prolong their lifespan, so we get to maximize what we pay for, Right? 


OOOPS!!! How can I forget, put several packets also inside storage cases of your SLRs and lenses to prevent formation of molds from condensation and humidity.


Where to buy? 


There are some being sold on eBay.ph, 100 packets for Php250.00 those are the small packets though. These bigger ones we get from our supplier who's based in the Binondo/Divisoria area. Will update this post for the pricing and other details. :)


DIY Handyman also has them, but its another type that turns moist or gel like after some time thats why I prefer these dry ones. 

So there, I hope this helps everyone who loves collecting cosmetics, bags and shoes. :) 

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Hows your weekend?

Mine's pretty good since I was able to let go of some stuff I dont get to use and gave them to our helpers. Im starting to learn how to live a clutter-free life! LOL! 

I did minor editing of my blog header and I think it looks better now. Also made a new signature for my entries, hope you guys like it coz I love it to bits!

Sending out love and kisses to everyone! 

Have a great week ahead, Lovelies!! 

Xoxo