When is it time to give your beauty products the boot?
Expiration dates aren't just for milk, ladies and gents! We have now Marie Kondo'd our top #shelfies with products that don’t bring us joy, but, did you remember to check those pesky expiry dates at the back? These bad boys don’t last forever.
Yes, beauty products also have expiry dates, and just like the food in your pantry, they too have ideal storage temperatures.
Lets start off with expiry dates. It's normally listed on the product itself, but sometimes is written only on the outer packaging also - so beware! You're looking for a tiny little open jar with a number, normally 12, listed as "12M".
I'm sure your eyes have skimmed passed it a few times and dismissed it (like me!).
This means, the product from opening is A- Okay to use for the next 12 months, and after that timeframe- well, who knows what might be growing in there ( sorry! ). As soon as you've opened a product, it begins to oxidise, hence, is less effective. Unfortunately, just a part of life. Picture this, you've cut into an apple, and after a while it starts turning brown. Your beauty products are the same - just a very, very expensive apple.
Storage of beauty products is another thing we don’t look out for all that closely, it gets thrown in the draw and that’s about it. But just like how butter needs to live in the fridge, or your daily probiotic needs to be stored in a cool, dark place - so do some of your beauty products.
These labels will be written generally on the outermost packaging, and, have straightforward instructions like "store under 30 degrees" and so forth. You can expect to see this with Retinols or Vitamin C creams. As for your chemical exfoliants, they would want to stay out of direct sunlight, otherwise the formulation is broken down at a rapid rate, and is less effective. These would say something like "keep out of direct sunlight" - you get the gist.
But my beauty babes, don’t stress. Now you know!
If you don’t remember how long you've had it for, it's safer to throw it out. Say goodbye to that Naked palette you’ve had since you were eighteen.
Have fun reading your labels, beauties!
ublished on 17/05/19 by Leonie Henzell CEO beauty's got soul