When to get rid of old grooming products?

Grooming of good quality can be expensive thus we know that throwing away even a small bottle of that special edition moisturiser is tough. But you gotta do what you gotta do, because no matter how expensive and amazing these products are, they have a capacity to go bad too. Each product has an expiry date, but if not stored properly, these can go bad even before reaching the expiry date. So what should be done to preserve these products so that you can use them to the best of their efficiency? Let’s take a look.

Shampoo and soaps

When it comes to soaps and shampoos, rather than being worried about the products losing its efficiency, these products are more at risk of bacteria growing on or inside them. Thus make sure that you keep your soap in a dish where it stays dry. Filthy, wet soap dishes invite bacteria to grow on it. In case of shampoo, body wash and conditioner bottles, make sure that you close the caps so that excess moisture doesn’t enter the bottles and make a breeding site for germs. If properly taken care of, shampoo and soaps can easily last for about a year and a half since the first use. Unopened shampoo bottles and soap bars can last for up to three years.

Moisturisers & Creams

To preserve your creams and lotions, store them away from the sun, in a cool, dark place. Depending on the product that you are using, these will last for about a year since being used first. If the product is natural, it won’t have any preservatives which is why its shelf life would decrease comparatively. The lesser the contact with air, the fresher the moisturiser.

Sunscreen

It is important that sunscreen is kept at room temperatures because it is made of active ingredients that do not work efficiently when there is a spike in temperatures. Usually, sunscreen can survive for a year once it is opened but if you forget the bottle in the sun, its ability to protect from the sun will decrease because the active ingredients that protect our skin from the UV rays, become unstable.

Deodorants and antiperspirants

The ingredients of a deodorant or an antiperspirant aren’t affected by changes in the temperature, be it too hot or too cold. You also don’t have to worry about your deo becoming infected because its purpose is to get rid of bacteria that cause body odour. So you don’t have to worry too much about this product. Use it however you want to and it will easily last for up to 3 years. The worst that could happen is that it may dry out, and still manage to work.

Perfume

You may like keeping your fancy perfume bottles on display but that is probably a bad idea. This is because perfume for men is made of a mixture of chemicals that are reactive. Too much sun can disrupt the balance of these chemicals and hence the scent, so the way your perfume smells might differ from its original fragrance. Perfumes can last for up to two years and can be bought from online perfume shops such as Wild Stone. They have a variety of fragrances and their perfumes are long-lasting.

Styling Products

You use your hair styling gel every day but have you ever wondered that when you dip your finger into the container, you introduce a huge amount of germs into it every time. These bacteria can spoil your hair and the effectiveness of the gel won’t work. Also, factors like moisture and heat are also responsible for reducing the efficiency of the product, so you should store them in a cool place and ditch it after two years if at all it does last for that long.

Skin products

Every skin product has active ingredients such as retinoid, salicylic acid, or benzoyl peroxide. No skin product would be effective without these active ingredients. These ingredients are highly volatile and hardly last for about three to six months, once they’ve been opened. To get the best out of it and make them last for even this long, keep these products away from direct sunlight and store them in the refrigerator. The cool temperature would slow down the decay of these active ingredients and make the product last for longer. After this time period, it is time to order a refill for the product of your choice.

Thus, caring for your products is important for these to last long and work effectively.