Some of your beauty products are flaking, clumping, cracked and just, well, old - like, well beyond the expiration date. While there are certain items that need to go directly into the trash (*sad face*) there are a few things you can salvage. What's that new MDC saying we just made up? One woman's trash can still be her treasure....

1. Expired Mascara: Hang on to your spoolie even after your mascara has expired! Wash it off with dish soap and use it as a brow brush, lash brush for de-clumping mascara or in combo with your fave lip scrub to exfoliate your pout!

2. Dried-Up Liners: Both eye and lip pencils that have dried up and appear to be useless are perfect for being used as pencils. Hang on to them for sketching, crafts, or outlining and marking if you're going through house renovations.

3. Old, Goopy Nail Polish: Looking to add some sparkle to your frames or any other surface for that matter? Nail polish can be used as a binding agent to keep your glitter together! Or add a little color to your keys so that you can tell them apart!

4. Not-So-Creamy Lipstick: The lipstick tube you hang on to, but don't use often has a taken a turn for the worst - it's hard and all dried up. Time to throw it out? Nope! Get some use out of it this time by melting it down in a spoon and mixing it with Vaseline to create the perfect tinted balm.

5. Dry, Flaky Shadow: You know it's time for you rshadow to go when its application performance goes south. The shelf life of shadow is about two years and after that, they tend to become flaky. But your eyelid's loss is your nail polish gain! Mix the shadow with clear polish and viola, a new color to coat your nails with.

Do you have any tricks on how to reuse old or expired cosmetics? Share in the comments below!

Photo: iStock