Cosmetics have two shelf lives: before opening and after. The second one is never printed in large type, yet it decides whether your serum still works or quietly became a plain moisturiser.
Two dates on one package
- Production date and expiry — usually two to three years while the jar is sealed.
- The open-jar symbol marked 6M or 12M — that many months of life after opening.
- Korean products often print the date as YYYY.MM.DD, near the base of the bottle.
How long a product lives once opened
A year is fine
- Creams in jars with a tight lid
- Cleansing oils and balms
- Toners and essences without actives
Six months
- Serums with niacinamide and peptides
- Sunscreens — better to start a new season with a new bottle
- Products built on centella and propolis
Two to three months
- Pure vitamin C — it darkens and loses strength
- Retinol in a clear bottle
- Ampoules and anything opened one at a time
Write the opening date on the base with a marker — in six months you will not remember it.
Where to keep it
- Not in the bathroom. Steam and temperature swings are the worst place for actives, however habitual.
- Away from the window: light destroys vitamin C and retinol faster than time does.
- The fridge only makes sense for sheet masks and vitamin C, and even then it is optional.
- In a car in summer cosmetics die in a single day — it gets past 60 °C in there.
When to throw it out
- The colour changed: a clear serum turned yellow or brown.
- The smell turned sour or oily.
- The texture separated and will not come back together when shaken.
- It started to sting when it never used to.
Every product on the site has a healthy shelf life left — we do not sell stock that has been sitting around. Ask before you buy and we will tell you the production date of that exact jar.
Expired skincare is rarely dangerous — usually it just stops working. It is a shame to pay for actives and end up using plain moisturiser.