What happens when your skin care line expires?

My dresser is packed with different make up and beauty products. Some of them have become keepsakes and others I try to use as often as possible. But the fact remains, I hardly do justice to all my dear cosmetics, lotions and skin care creams. Even though I can give credit to myself for being a girl of today, I am was not very sure when do these make up and beauty products expire. After all they are not like medicines, having a clear expiry date printed on them. After digging through the net for a while, these are some of the important points I came across. My guess, once you read this, some of your beauty products and cosmetics will move from your dresser to the waste bin.

It Doesn’t Smell the Same

One of the easiest way to understand that your make up and beauty products are closing to the expiry date is the smell. Beauty products will lose their fragrance the first thing. A little of fragrance fading is normal but if you smell a sour or rancid odor then something is definitely wrong with your skin care product.

Change in Texture

The other way is the change in the consistency of the make up and beauty product. For example, your body lotion may become exceptionally thin or thick suddenly. Or it may also appear grainy. This is a sign for emulsion instability. This is an indication that the oil and water soluble chemicals are separating. If this is happening, you should avoid using the beauty make up product.

Change of Color in Cosmetics

They are cosmetics and not chameleon and are not expected to change their shade or color. A minor shift is ok, but if your favorite red lipstick turns orange then better throw it away.

Fuzzy Growth in Beauty Products

If your make up and beauty products are having black spots or fuzzy growth then it is possible that is contaminated with bacteria or fungus. You shouldn’t use it at all. Also you should never use water to dilute a beauty product just so that you can get the last few drops from the bottle. By adding water you can dilute the preservative system and it can lead to the growth of harmful bacteria.

The Skin Care Product Separates

One more symptom that your make up and beauty product has expired is if it’s separated into two layers. And just fixing it will not solve the problem. This is especially true with dandruff shampoo, sunscreen and other products that have active ingredients. If the active drug ingredient has separated from the remaining formula then it will not work properly.