I always thought it was very obvious that the little pot with 12M or 24M on the back of products meant that those products either lasted for 12 or 24 months. However I was clearly mistaken, whilst on holiday in Spain my mum had a small rash on her arms where she had reacted to something. We tried to figure out what it was and got her to try all these different remedies but nothing worked. I then happened to ask her how old the sun cream was and to my horror she replied that she had bought it a few years ago. A FEW YEARS AGO. Now there's no proof that the out of date sun cream is what gave her the rash but I still couldn’t quite believe that my own mother was using it. I will just point out now that sun creams don’t normally last more than 12 months so really you should be purchasing new bottles every year; this is your UV protection we're talking about, it’s sooo important that you're looking after your skin in the sun. But that’s another matter. Back to use by dates on make up!
With sun care I always keep to use by dates but I’ve never really taken much notice of them on make up products; especially if I’ve spent a lot of money on them. They say foundation should be used within 24 months, however I’ve definitely kept hold of a few that I haven’t finished. Obviously if it gets to 5 years I might decide to get rid of them but I never noticed a difference with the product or my skin after using the product when it went over the 2 year mark, so I didn’t see a reason to chuck them. I know all you beauty experts are probably screaming about how awful that is, but as stated I’ve never noticed a change so definitely don’t want to throw away money.
I’ve also heard that you should get rid of mascaras after 3 months as you get lice on your eyelashes that reproduce and can live in your mascara. But I’ve got to be honest again, I’ve definitely kept mascaras much longer than this. As I said before, it just feels like you’re throwing money away, and for someone who doesn’t make a massive amount of money, I want to make sure I get as much use out of my products as possible!
My issue is that as I work in a nursery I don’t wear make up to work. This isn’t a rule or anything I just don’t see any point in wearing make up when you’re looking after children all day. So because I like spending a lot of money on make up that I don’t wear everyday, it actually takes me a long time to finish products, a lot longer than they usually stay “in date”. I know a solution would be to spend less on make up so I don’t feel so bad throwing it away, but it's such a huge passion of mine. I love to try every product I can and love treating myself to premium brands. So what’s a girl to do?
At the end of the day it’s up to the consumer how long they want to keep products. It’s not against the law to use out of date make up, you just need to be aware that there is the possibility it won’t work as well as it should and might have an effect on your skin, or in the case of sun cream, it may not work at all. Basically, if it’s not doing what it should do anymore - get rid!