If you are concerned about the care of your skin, you probably look carefully for the products, textures and active ingredients that work best for you based on your needs. Surely you follow a meticulous cleaning and hydration routine in the morning and at night and putting on a mask is your favorite Sunday plan.
One of the maxims for a healthy complexion is to respect the useful life of products, both facial care and makeup. Because something that many people don’t know is that cosmetics expire. So if you intend to take advantage of the sun protection cream that you had left over from last summer on vacation this spring, or you have been applying the same blush for several years, you should know that you are risking different skin conditions.
The European Union has a rule that all cosmetic products must indicate their expiration date. Specifically, it is a labeling of its period after opening (PAO). In other words, the expiration of the product in question is counted from the moment you open it, not from the time it is manufactured or produced, as in the case of food.
Only products that do not contain water in their formulation, or those that do contain alcohol or an extreme pH, are exempt from indicating their PAO. The rest of the cosmetics must specify the expiration date, from facial or body creams to lipsticks.
To know the expiration date of a cosmetic, you should look for a symbol of an open jar on its packaging. Inside this drawing, the letter M appears and a number next to it. This figure indicates the total number of months that the product in question lasts in good condition, which will depend on its characteristics and formulation.
The passage of time deteriorates the good condition of cosmetics. The contact with the air when opening, as well as with other external agents, is damaging the composition formula. In addition, bacteria can appear, especially if you do not take care of them correctly, you apply them with your hands or with brushes that you do not wash often enough.
The main consequence of not respecting the expiration date of a cosmetic is that it loses its effectiveness. So in the case of a facial care product, it will not fulfill its purpose, even being harmful. And, in the case of makeup, it can last less, look worse on application, show a rusty color or a clumpy or oily texture. They can also smell bad.
In addition, when using expired cosmetics and in poor condition you run the risk of contracting skin infections, irritations, allergic reactions, dermatitis, acne breakouts, herpes on the lips or conjunctivitis in the eyes.
