Beware! Your expensive skincare products could be expired!

Image: Corbis

First things first, great and powerful skincare is all about “efficacy”, or how well the ingredients in a product are able to come together in order to achieve an intended result.

Oftentimes, the ingredients in skincare that do the most work for your skin are the least stable, meaning they are easily affected or lose effectiveness when in contact with external factors. Just like your skin, these formulas need protection too!

Maintaining maximum efficacy of a product is where packaging comes into play. A serum could be incredibly effective at the point it’s made and bottled, but if it’s exposed to air and sunlight or heat on a daily basis, the efficacy can deteriorate more quickly over time, leaving you with a product that will probably only be good for a few months instead of a year.

Pumps or jars?
If you’re forking out a fortune for a cream or serum or essence that contains active ingredients, you should consider whether the product comes with a pump or in a jar.

While some of us might prefer jars (so luxurious), pumps keep your products from being exposed to the elements (and your fingers). Besides, pumps also mean less mess and are quicker to use! Even a product housed in a squeeze tube with a small opening would be preferable to a jar.

You also need to remember that clear bottles will let light in which can also react with the ingredients in your skincare, so keep an eye out for packaging that’s opaque too. As a whole, you might want to consider ditching the jars (unless that cream happens to be the one you can’t live without). It’s also going to be more hygienic in the long run!

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