Expiry Date for Particular Cosmetics Products

2018-11-30

Expiry Date for Particular Cosmetic Products

Dear ladies, which one of us doesn’t like cosmetic products? When you see special offers in drugstores, can you be indifferent to them? A vast majority tempted by the discounts will enter the shop to buy ahead – after all, another chance like this may never come! To make matters worse, we very rarely check the expiration dates of the cosmetics that we use, and these expired ones may be dangerous for our health.

Why can’t we part with certain beauty products?

First of all: mostly for sentimental reasons! Some cosmetics may remind us of the most important events of our lives, e.g., first date, wedding, first holidays abroad.

Second of all: we feel heartbroken when we have to get rid of expensive cosmetics – it doesn’t matter that we have a foundation that doesn’t match our skin tone, or that it’s expiry date has passed a long time ago.

What are the risks?

Using expired beauty products may make you end up with a severe allergic reaction. Expired creams or foundations applied to skin may trigger itching, redness, and numerous eczemas. Using expired eye shadows or mascaras may cause eye pain, burning and itching, and even may lead to conjunctivitis (pink eye).

What should concern us?

change of color
change of smell
change of texture
change of thickness
clumps
turbidity
dryness

precipitate

How to store

Cosmetic products should be stored in a dry and dark place, because the sun rays and moisture have a destructive impact on them. Also, it’s extremely important to tightly close the cosmetic product’s primary packaging right after use. Another factor which makes the beauty products going bad, are our fingers (to be more precise, the germs that are present on the surface of the fingers).

What is PAO?

The Period After Opening symbol (the useful lifetime of a cosmetic product after its package has been opened for the first time), abbreviated PAO. It’s a graphic symbol presenting the shelf life of a cosmetic product after its packaging has been opened for the first time, without any health risk for the user. The symbol has a label icon of an open jar with a number of months or years. It should be visible on both, the packaging and product.

According to the EU Cosmetics Directive, PAO symbol has to be present on a product which shelf life is 30 months and more. For the products with the lifespan shorter than 30 months, the maximum date of the sale and use is required if the product was stored in proper conditions.

This marking does not apply to the cosmetic products which: