Ello Ello!
Ooooh this time in 24 hours we’ll all be allowed to meet up with 5 friends outside legally again, how exciting! Never in a million years did I think we’d ever not be able to do this, but here we are haha! Roll on the summer eh! Anywayyy… speaking of time, this week I wanted to talk about something that I learnt way later than I probably should have… how to spot the expiry dates on products (and if you don’t already know, it’s not actually as obvious as you may initially think…)
So lets start with saying that; did you know that nearly every product has a shelf life/expiry date even if it doesn’t specifically say ‘EXP 23/5/2022’ (for example)? Well, it does! Okay some products may not, but most do and have you seen this symbol on bottles before and thought what on earth is that…? (Because I know I used to…)
So above ladies and gents, are your product expiry dates/shelf life times!
I think it’s safe to say I only found this out about a year or two ago and always wondered why on earth I was never told about this before then (especially when studying beauty, but anyway…). It’s funny isn’t it how some things are just assumed to be one of those things that everyone knows about and is quite frankly, just brushed under the carpet. So up until now, if this were the case for you and you didn’t know what this meant… well, here you go!
Let me explain my understanding of how it actually works…
So it’s actually quite simple (once you know how)- basically the number corresponds to the number of months the product stays okay for once opened and the ‘M’ basically just stands for ‘Months’. So it’s quite simple really right? For context, here’s some examples:
- 3M – 3 Months
- 6M – 6 Months
- 12M – 12 months
- 24M – 24 Months
And so on…
Okay I’m sure you didn’t really need me to point all of that out above haha, but hopefully you get the gist…?
Now I don’t know about you, but I remember thinking at first; “well how on earth are you meant to keep track of it when your open the product?” And to be completely honest, it’s pretty hard to unless you note it all down or write it on the product bottle when you opened it (which by no means don’t let me stop you do this, I just personally don’t have time for THAT haha…) so I think it’s safe to say, it’s not completely set in stone but it’s good to have a little guide roughly right?
Another little thing to note, is the fact that I’m pretty sure some products are perfectly fine after the said time, however, just remember that some may not be and it may be fairly important to stick to the said time. I don’t want to name any particular products here because in theory you should really always stick to it, but some I’m sure you can be a bit lenient with as who’s going to know eh? Just keep it under wraps and use your initiative, no one has to know😉
So there you go, I hope that makes a little bit of sense? And if you are new to this, just beware now, you’re never going to be able to un-see this now and you may even have to have a little (or big) new product overhaul, sorryy… (it’s actually a great excuse to buy new products though by the way…) but all in all, it’s a handy little tip to know if you ask me!
Happy date checking & stay safe all!
Oh and by the way, If you do find products that need updating and have to spend your hard earned cash, please don’t blame me, just call it self care😉
Lots of love, Ella x
Ps. While we’re on the subject of time… don’t forget the clocks changed last night! (if you hadn’t noticed that is…) It’s taken it’s time hasn’t it, but spring is coming, yippee!
Ella May Beauty 