Ever notice how many beauty products as well as medicine you acquire throughout the year?  If you subscribe to the various subscription boxes such as  FitFabFun boxes you’ll likely end up with even more!

A couple times a year it’s a great idea to go through all the products you’ve acquired and clean out that medicine cabinet.

I recently did this at my house and while some products had expiration dates on them I noticed some of the products had a jar symbol instead.  I decided to google it and see what it actually meant if anything.  I fully realize I just admitted I’m really a nerd, but hopefully you’ll learn something new from my nerdiness…

If your beauty product has a jar symbol on the product (see photo below) it’s there to tell you how long the product is good for once you’ve opened it.  In the sample below the hair care product is good for 12 months from the time I open it hence the number 12 and letter M in the jar.

So now that we know to look for expiration dates or the number in the jar symbol I thought it might also be helpful to share on average how long some of our beauty products last:

• Face, eye creams and moisturizers once opened last on average 6 months to 1 year
• Shampoo and conditioners on average last 2 years
• Perfumes don’t actually expire, but some do start to smell different if exposed to light or heat
• Body wash/soap 3 years
• Most hair care products unopened last up to 3 years

The following is the shelf life of cosmetics once opened:

• Mascara – 2-3 months.
• Foundation – Powder 18 months, liquid 6-12 months
• Concealer – 1-2 years depending on if its liquid or powder
• Face Powder – 2 years
• Blush Powder – 2 years
• Cream Blush – 1 year
• Powder Eye Shadow –  2 years
• Cream Eye Shadow – 3-6 months
• Eyeliner Liquid/Gel 2-3 months, Pencil – 1-2 years but sharpen it between use. If your pencil starts to get white around the tip throw it out
• Lipstick/Liner – 1 year
• Nail Polish – usually doesn’t go bad you just need to mix it up

In researching all of this I learned that expired products might still work, but they can collect bacteria which can cause an infection, rash as well as other potential reactions!  In addition to those fun reasons not to use old products they also become less effective.

Happy organizing!