All skincare and cosmetic beauty products have expiry dates, but do you ever pay attention to them? We find that many of our clients are not aware of the expiration dates on their skincare products, and will often have products that have been in their cupboards for years which they're still using. Whilst using creams and serums which are out of date may not seem as bad as ingesting food that is out of date, your skin is still absorbing all the ingredients. Most cosmeceutical products will have longer expiration date, however natural skincare products that do not contain any preservatives will often expire much faster.

How to find the expiration date?

If you've never really thought about the checking for an expiration date on your products, then you may be wondering how you find it? Luckily, in the EU regulations enforced mean that all products with less than a 30 month expiration date will need a label on the product stating the expiration. Most products will have a small symbol (like below) with a number of months in it, e.g. 12m or 24m, this shows the ‘period after opening’ PAO time.

Why does the expiration date matter?

After the expiration date, most skincare products will be completely ineffective, meaning there really is no benefit to use them. However, if that is not enough to put you off, they can even be harmful to your skin. Expired skincare and make-up is full of bacteria, which can cause your skin to come out in rashes and lumps which can have a similar appearance to acne. In certain products, like SPF it is extremely important to pay attention to the expiration date as these products will become completely inefficient, meaning if you’re wearing out of date SPF then you’re not being provided with any protection from the sun.

Signs your products have gone off

Sometimes it can be difficult to remember when you purchased a product to know if it's off, so these are some key attributes to look for to know if your product is off. If there are any changes in the smell, colour or consistency of your products than you should take that as a definite sign that you need to throw your product away. Something we recommend many of our clients do with their products is to stick a small label on the bottom of the product with the date that they opened the product. This way it is much easier to keep track of how long you've had the product and when you need to throw it away. At EF MEDISPA we have a extensive range of cosmeceutical products that can help to combat many different skin concerns. To find out more about the different products we stock, call us today on 020 3811 2727.  
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