The last thing you want after spending every last cent to buy skincare products is for them to lose their effectiveness prior to their expiration date. This can happen if you store your product in an environment which is not favourable to the ingredients.
Opened skincare products are highly susceptible to contaminants and bacteria which end up affecting the potency and eventually lessening the shelf life of the product. Additionally, the packaging of your skincare can influence the shelf life of your product. Check out 5 creative ways you can use expired makeup
That’s why in this article, we highlight the best practices to implement so that your products can stay effective and fresh for longer.
- Handle your skincare products with clean hands
This might seem obvious but not too often do we go sanitising our hands before scooping our face creams or moisturisers. On the other hand, double-dipping on creams and other jar products poses the same threat to their shelf life as handling these products with unclean hands. The same happens with tube products that come into contact with the skin.
You may wonder why?
Well, that’s because whenever an applicator touches the skin, it gets exposed to unwanted bacteria. Such bacteria get reintroduced into the bottle repeatedly influencing the product’s shelf life. Likewise, if you happen to double dip your fingers into a product, you introduce bacteria from the skin to the product and the cycle keeps repeating. To avoid this contamination, use a spatula when scooping from jar containers. Spatulas reduce bacteria contamination although most skin care products have standard preservatives that are resistant to contamination.
For this reason, it’s advisable that you don’t use your skincare products for more than a period of one year.
- Avoid storing your skincare products in the bathroom
Having products at the convenience of your bathroom might seem reasonable, but this is why you should avoid doing so.
- The bathroom is a breeding ground for bacteria due to high moisture levels and fluctuating temperatures. Such bacteria and fungi if introduced in skincare products (which can easily happen through contact) could cause products to lose potency faster and thus lessening their effectiveness and shelf life.
- Some products may be anhydrous (without water) meaning the manufacturer never intended them to come close with water. Yet the bathroom is where most water-based activities take place.
- Whenever you take a hot shower this increases the temperature of the bathroom which weakens the preservatives in your skincare products.
- The temperature fluctuations in the bathroom, especially when there’s heat leads to the breakdown of ingredients in your skincare. This destabilises the product rendering it useless.
- If you’ve kept your products on the window where they’re exposed to direct sunlight, this could lead to faster oxidation. The result explains why one day a product may be effective and before you know it, it’s causing you irritation and acne.
- Also, don’t forget that when you flush the loo faecal matter and urine are sprayed all over your bathroom which results in bacteria all over your beauty products – Most In-Use Makeup Products Contaminated With Awful Bacteria
Instead, if you must have your skincare near your bathroom, store them in a cabinet outside the bathroom. Ensure that sunlight, water and heat cannot reach this cabinet.
- Store your products away from direct sunlight
There’s a reason this exact statement is found on medications and skin care products are no exception. After all, both are developed from chemical compounds, which can disintegrate once exposed to direct sunlight. Sunlight affects the potency and reduces the shelf life of your skincare products.
Hence, if you have products with benzoyl peroxide, vitamin C or retinol as part of the ingredients, store them away from direct sunlight. A good place would be in a cabinet, lidded box storage, or a drawer. From the Klog, if you would like to carry such products in a purse, place them in a zipper bag for further protection.
- Store the following skincare products in a refrigerator
The more organic your products are the better if you store them in a refrigerator. This is because such products do not have preservatives and this makes them susceptible to bacteria growth. Such products include 100% organic skincare, products with food matter, DIY skincare and products with organic matter as the primary ingredients. Find out more about organic makeup and its benefits.
Storing these products in a fridge will not only prevent the breakdown of ingredients, but it will prevent mould from growing, increasing the shelf life of your products. Toners, vitamin C serums, face mists and sheet masks can also be kept in the fridge. The cool temperatures prevent vitamins and the ingredients from separating which keeps the formulae intact. Check out mistakes to avoid when using Korean skincare products
- Change the container if necessary
Products in jar containers are prone to contamination and bacteria growth. If you think a product is better off in a pump container than a jar (for instance, oils and serum which tend to oxidise easily) you may go ahead and re-pot it. Use tinted glass containers since they block the light. A pump is also preferable as it keeps bacteria away, keeping your product fresher for longer.
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