“Who really runs the beauty industry, the manufacturers or consumers?”

On many of our beauty products, we see the recommended use-by-dates that tell us how often we should purchase replacements for them. This is quite a controversial topic with two main opinion camps. The first camp believes that consumers should adhere to these recommendations for health and safety reasons and the second camp believes it is purely an industry driven marketing ploy to con consumers into purchasing more products than is really necessary. So which do we believe? Well, personally I believe that it depends on the product.

Moisturizers generally have a recommended use-by date of 12 months and are usually in container sizes which should last about 3 months. So if you don’t use your product up within 12 months, will you have a horrid reaction and be disfigured for life? The general answer to this is simply, no. After 12 months, many of the active ingredients in products are de-activated due to exposure to oxygen, this does not result however, in a rancid product. Unless it smells off, and trust me when I say that you will know when this has happened, your moisturizer will still provide you with moisture and protection from the elements, so there is no reason that you cannot continue using it.

This is generally the rule for all cream based products; unless they smell rancid, they are still effective in their primary objective, providing moisture. The added ingredients in products which claim to have the extra benefits such as anti-aging, are the ingredients which have a use-by date and may lose their efficacy over time. One thing to be aware of is that natural, botanical products tend to have a shorter life span than chemical based products as they have less preservatives. Yet once again, you will be able to smell when they have gone off.

Mascaras are also a big product of concern when is comes to use-by dates. Some people believe that you should replace your mascara after one month, some after three months and other simply believe that you should throw it out when it is finished. Firstly the key thing to note is that if the beauty manufacturers were truly concerned with the damage a mascara could do after one or three months, then why aren’t they making the tubes a smaller size that only contain a months worth of product? I believe that you can use a mascara until you have used it all up, as long as you do not share it with anyone else. Any products which you use around the eye area should never be shared between friends or family as there are many contagious infections which can be spread through shared products.

On this topic, many believe that the beauty industry leaders are just out to bleed as much money as they can out of this lucrative market; so a few tips have emerged to make sure you do not become a victim to the sometimes ridiculous demands of product re-purchasing.

Problem: Dried up, clumpy mascara.
Solution: Place just boiled water into a mug and place your mascara tub in the mug so that the water comes up to just below the opening of the tube. Leave to sit for a about 5 minutes (the tube may warp slightly from the heat, but this wont affect the product adversely). Then remove the mascara tube and you will find that the product has loosened away from the edges and un-clumped. This will give you months more usage out of your product.

Problem: Nail polish drying up in the bottle.
Solution: Add a little nail polish remover to the nail polish bottle and shake well. This will water down and thin the product slightly and give it a new lease of life.

Problem: Foundation has separated.
Solution: Simply shake or stir the bottle to mix together. This tends to happen more in products with a higher oil content, yet if after stirring or shaking the product continues to separate, return it to the retail outlet as it is most probably faulty.
When it comes to your products, as long as it is only you who is using them, generally you are the best judge of if they need replacing or not. You will be able to smell if they have gone off, feel if the consistency has changed or are not getting the same sensation upon application. If you simply pay a little attention to your products, you will know when the time is right to go out and re-purchase. Try to be aware, however, when cosmetic companies have their sales and gifts-with-purchase, and time your shopping around these to get the most value for you dollar.