My makeup is outdated, is that serious?

Here's why you shouldn't use your old jars of cream or dried out mascara anymore. We take stock of expired beauty products.

How long do beauty products keep?

The manufacturer indicates two dates beyond which it no longer guarantees the quality of the product. The expiry date, symbolized by an hourglass, concerns the unopened product. No hourglass? There are generally thirty-six months before it expires. The pictogram representing an open jar accompanied by a number indicates the shelf life after opening. It takes three to six months for a mascara, six to twelve months for a cream, twelve to eighteen months for a lipstick.

What are the risks after the expiry date?

“The main risk is that the formula changes and loses its properties,” explains Dr. Nina Roos (author of “a skin in great shape!” ed. Solar), dermatologist. Even if it is not systematic, expired cosmetics can change texture, color or smell, like lipsticks, or become ineffective, like certain slimming or anti-aging creams. But the deadline is not everything. The way in which the products are stored and used is almost as important. "Cosmetics do not support light, heat and large temperature differences", reminds cosmetologist Christine Lafforgue. A new lipstick that has softened and then hardened in a handbag deserves the trash more than a lipstick that has expired for a month and has been kept in the fridge. The second problem is that of contamination by bacteria. The longer the cosmetics are in contact with the air and the skin, the more the micro-organisms develop. A study from London Metropolitan University in 2015 showed that expired cosmetics contained bacteria that are found in certain pathologies. Results to put into perspective. “These bacteria are naturally present on our skin, remarks P r Vincent Jarlier, bacteriologist. It is logical that products opened and left at room temperature contain it. But there is a world between the presence of bacteria and the development of a disease. “Our skin knows how to defend itself perfectly,” sums up Dr. Roos. If a "contaminated" mascara can cause conjunctivitis, the risk is limited in most cases to an irritated epidermis and a few pimples.

What to throw away?

Once the deadline has passed, we get rid of all products that have changed in appearance or smell. We proceed in the same way with treatments, which may have lost their active ingredients (such as vitamin C), and creams in jars, which are too often in contact with air and fingers. Sun creams must suffer the same fate - because they lose their protection index - as well as mascaras. For other products, anything that has been stored away from light and heat can be used for a few more weeks with no problem. This is particularly the case with dry textures, such as powders, which repel bacteria. It is clear: a few weeks, not a few months!

What are the right steps to take?

“It is better to prefer pump bottles, which are more hygienic, and to use a spatula with potted creams,” advises Dr. Roos. It is recommended to wash the brushes at least once a week with very hot water and soap, because bacteria develop there. You can also improve the preservation of products by putting them in the refrigerator, especially oils and balms, whose fat goes rancid, but also lipsticks. Finally, if you juggle with many cosmetics, it is wise to note the date on which you opened them.

This article was published in ELLE magazine on November 10, 2016. Subscribe here.