How does the shelf-life work? #puzzled

[backstreetgirl]

I have a query and I don't know if I'm just being thick but....when Andrew Bagley was on yesterday (or was it the day before?) he mentioned the shelf life of their products and said '2 years unopened, 1 year opened.' Now when you receive your product, how old is it? Just fresh off Gatineau's production line? I don't think so, in which case it may have been sitting on the shelf of wherever for some time and may already be 2 years old, so how does that work? It actually stopped me ordering something.

 

[Ellaaa]

Indeed!

Considering it's got the old Gatineau logo on it that doesn't have the red "initials logo" above the name I should imagine it's been knocking around for some time and they've a shed load they need to get rid of.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

I have a query and I don't know if I'm just being thick but....when Andrew Bagley was on yesterday (or was it the day before?) he mentioned the shelf life of their products and said '2 years unopened, 1 year opened.' Now when you receive your product, how old is it? Just fresh off Gatineau's production line? I don't think so, in which case it may have been sitting on the shelf of wherever for some time and may already be 2 years old, so how does that work? It actually stopped me ordering something.

I recall a thread which gave instruction on how to get this info - perhaps one of our lovely members could do a link for you

 

[Ellaaa]

Last year I received some Alpha H Liquid Gold in the old packaging that had been redundant for some time, after a snotty email to QVC talking about the unopened shelf life the presenters keep banging on about I got it returned for a refund. (tbh I wasn't really bothered it was just the principle)


Beauty items have shelf lives as ingredients can go off and the efficacy can decrease, though you do have to wonder how folk got on before shelf lives were printed on (no problems whatsoever, I imagine).

 

[donna255]

I have said this more than once.

The EU forced cosmetic companies to put shelf life on products(also the ingredients), but they get round it by the magic 6,12,18 or 24 months on packaging. If properly enforced they should have the exact date manufactured and the date is should be disposed of.

I go by smell and texture myself. It is smells mangy or splits throw it out. Its suppose to be the products don't actually go off at the end of the magic 1 year period but loose their strength. I doubt the ingredients have a time clock and go, right that is one or two years everyone stop working.

 

[Boris Bear]

Beauty items have shelf lives as ingredients can go off and the efficacy can decrease, though you do have to wonder how folk got on before shelf lives were printed on (no problems whatsoever, I imagine).

I suppose you probably wouldn't know if something wasn't working quite as well as it should and as long as it wasn't actually "off" you would be ok. However if you're paying big money for a miracle product you should be getting something that's well within date so you will get the best result possible from it.

 

[Minnehaha]

I recall a thread which gave instruction on how to get this info - perhaps one of our lovely members could do a link for you

Hi, Checkcosmetic.net is the one that I use. Hope that it helps. Jay

 

[MinxyKitten]

I have a very large beauty stash and therefore never take any notice of shelf life. Like Donna says, if you open something and it looks or smells odd then don't use it. None of these products actually 'work' or do anything, let's face it (pardon the pun!) so as long as it can still moisturise your skin, remove your make-up or still has bits in it to exfoliate then I can't see a problem. Unless, of course you have very sensitive skin.

Cynic signing off!

 

[thatu]

I tried checkcosmetic.net but unfortunately it doesn't let you choose Decleor, Gatineau or Elemis. Odd - I'd have thought the more reputable brands would be happy to be there.

 

[donna255]

I believe most of the cosmetic checkers are actually US, and they do the dating themselves not the companies giving the codes. Hell on Basenotes you will not believe the fumeheads and the different codes on bottles used by the perfume houses. Someone even cracked the Chanel code.

There is another one which we on the perfume boards use, and sometimes it does not recognise the code you in put. Or you get a 2012 date when you know you had the bottle in your collection from the early 00s.

The last cosmetic I had to throw out was Elemis Chamomile Cleanser, I opened around Xmas and it smell as I though a bit weird. The texture was fine but the smell even for Chamomile cleanser was just not 100%, now I admit I did continue to use for about a week and then decided it was turning. Now I have the toner as they came in a duo pack and it is totally fine. Of course it could have been me, as I had used the Rosepetal one for quite a while and the Chamomile does have herbal smell.

 

[Vienna]

I can`t understand why cosmetic manufacturers don`t put a " best by " date on their items. If you look at a tin of peas or a jar of jam there`s a best by date usually stamped on the lid or the base. I`ve seen this on skincare items from one or two small companies such as Akamuti or Naturally Thinking but never on the big branded items.
This year I`m determined not to stockpile stuff and use up my stash before buying anymore. It isn`t as if Q and other shops, websites etc don`t have ongoing tsv`s or special offers throughout the year so I really can`t understand why I stash stuff !

 

[Weathergirl]

Vienna I don't understand it either. Surely having a date on would prompt people to chuck it and buy more! Manufacturers are missing a trick.

 

[donna255]

The cosmetics companies did not want to put any form of dating or even a list of ingredients on their products. The EU forced them and I think in the end the cosmetics companies agreed but went with the bare minimum hence the 6,12,18 and 24 months symbol.

Some companies will put a full use by date, Hourglass the US brand of make up has it written on the box and the bottom of each product, when manufactured and when its not safe to use. I remember Decleor also did this with the balms and oils, but no longer do.

Of course the SA will not tell you, "Well this pot of cream was in the warehouse for three months, then in our stock room for 3 months and on the shelf for 6 months.

 

[backstreetgirl]

The cosmetics companies did not want to put any form of dating or even a list of ingredients on their products. The EU forced them and I think in the end the cosmetics companies agreed but went with the bare minimum hence the 6,12,18 and 24 months symbol.

Some companies will put a full use by date, Hourglass the US brand of make up has it written on the box and the bottom of each product, when manufactured and when its not safe to use. I remember Decleor also did this with the balms and oils, but no longer do.

Of course the SA will not tell you, "Well this pot of cream was in the warehouse for three months, then in our stock room for 3 months and on the shelf for 6 months.

Exactly, so when Mr Bagley says "2 years unopened" that 2 years could already be up, especially when they bring something back - as they have done - that didn't sell out in the TSV. I know that you can go on smell a lot of the time but if I am paying a lot for a product and I'm told it's got a 2 year shelf life, how the heck do I know how long they've had the blooming product already? Recently I had to send back some Prai eye cream, I'd bought 2, opened the first one and used it, opened the second one just 3 months later and it had changed to a dark creamy colour. It said 12 months opened on the back yet it hadn't even been opened up to this point! Now even if it wasn't going to irritate my eyes by using it, what good would it do to any lines/wrinkles around the eye area if it was past its best? It would just be a complete waste of money. And I do think that some products do some good to the skin, depending on what they are, whether they hydrate it or deeply moisturise it etc., so why waste money on these products when we may be using something that's actually a bit stale on our skin?!

 

[Moth]

This is exactly why I never trust Gatineau's "2 for 1" offers. Andrew says he had to negotiate hard with Paris to get the stock for these offers. Sorry, but I think that's a load of codswallop. It's more likely they've got a stack of stuff that never sold and that they're worried will go out of date if left. I've bought 2-4-1 offer products that have gone off just a few months after purchase.

 

[Minnehaha]

I tried checkcosmetic.net but unfortunately it doesn't let you choose Decleor, Gatineau or Elemis. Odd - I'd have thought the more reputable brands would be happy to be there.

Hi thatu, here's how to identify the date of manufacture (DoM) of Elemis items. I have used a PCMC from Dec 12 TSV and the PC Cleansing Balm from May 13 TSV

PCMC 0230922A 09 = September and 22 - 10 = 12 = 2012

Cleansing balm last four digits = 0323, therefore DoM is March 2013

With regard to Decleor, it is a little more difficult. I concentrate only on the year of DoM.

If the product code starts with a T, assume 2010; U = 2011; V = 2012.

I contacted Elemis, and was given the information. Decleor declined. In consequence, they lost my custom. If I really need something from Decleor, I check the product code before buying. I have not asked Gatineau, although I am still awaiting a reply from Gatineau to my request for information of MI.

I do have fairly sensitive skin, so I try to be careful about product ingredients and DoM. If a cosmetics company is not willing to be open, then I go elsewhere. I like Elemis products, and have been using them for years, and I find the company very open to requests for information. Should this ever change, I shall be off! Jay

 

[Mazza]

Thank you for that very interesting info. I have just checked my stockpile of TSVs and find Elemis seems a lot more recent than my Decleor, and that was where I could actually find a reference number!! I shall have to get a move on and use them up. Mind you, I know it may be a load of old guff, but doesn't Fiona say the balms and are essences last forever because of their contents not going off???

 

[spartacus]

I dread to think what dates I'll derive from stockpiled Elemis & Decleor from years ago! I like the fact that Neals Yard Remedies put a best before date on their products, it means I can see at a glance in which order I should use things up. Philosophy did the same, don't know if they still do. I don't get hung up on dates, if it looks, smells, feels like its supposed to I'll happily continue using.

When something has obviously deterioriated I'll bin it - the only ranges in which I've ever noticed deterioriation are Philosophy - their shower gels seem to go mottled and blotchy looking (don't know how else to describe it) in the bottle; SBC gels I only ever bought once and would have binned them anyway because I didn't like the strong alcohol smell but they went all watery in under a year; and both Molton Brown and L'Occitane shower gel plastic bottles went brittle and split, I'm assuming because of some reaction with the ingredients after a couple of years as the shower gels developed a cloudy scummy surface layer prior to the bottles splitting.

 

[Akimbo]

Thanks for raising the subject of packaging perishing, I've got a stockpile of favouurite smashbox items (powder based products really only deteriorate once they're exposed to oils on brushed transferred from one's face) well in a dark cool box some of the packaging is becoming sticky. You know the slightly rubbery textured compacts, they feel like neoprene? Well the surface of some is really tacky in places which is annoying as the contents seem perfect. I can still use them by dusting the outside with talc to absorb the stickiness (which can't be wiped or washed off); also the inner surfaces surrounding the powder tray are fine so I can only assume the outsides are oxidising or something. Anyone else got any vintage smashbox doing this?

 

[spartacus]

Thanks for raising the subject of packaging perishing, I've got a stockpile of favouurite smashbox items (powder based products really only deteriorate once they're exposed to oils on brushed transferred from one's face) well in a dark cool box some of the packaging is becoming sticky. You know the slightly rubbery textured compacts, they feel like neoprene? Well the surface of some is really tacky in places which is annoying as the contents seem perfect. I can still use them by dusting the outside with talc to absorb the stickiness (which can't be wiped or washed off); also the inner surfaces surrounding the powder tray are fine so I can only assume the outsides are oxidising or something. Anyone else got any vintage smashbox doing this?

I've not had this happen and I've got loads of the fusion soft lights (round with twist off clear lid) and brow tech. They have the slightly rubbery feel I think you're meaning, but they've not gone tacky.