Skincare routines are quickly popping up almost everywhere
you turn, and this is simply because a lot of people are
interested in skincare.
The concept of skincare is so crafted that it offers you loads of
promises such as healthy skin, a more youthful look, and
overall, more self-confidence.
Today, there are a lot of skincare products and multiple
skincare routines to implement, and as much as every skincare
routine offers sugary sweet promises, it would be fair to note
that not every skincare routine will work for you.
This fact is not meant to propose bias, rather it helps to
highlight that you are indeed unique, just as your skin is. The
same way every person’s fingerprint differs so does everyone’s
skin type differ.
In a nutshell, the skincare products or routine that works for a
person with dry skin may not work for a person with sensitive
skin.
One of the best ways to enjoy everything skincare has to offer
is to experiment with products and tweak routines until you
find the one that is just right for you, and this is just the first
step to an exciting journey into the beautiful world of skincare.
What To Do When You Have Gotten The Right Products
Loving skincare and getting the right products are two
different things.
The truth is that although there are currently a lot of amazing
skincare products, you can’t get all of them, so here are some
tips you can implement to help you tame a possible product
obsession:
- Be honest with yourself: As lovely and shiny as skincare
products look, you will unable to use them all. The best
thing you can do at this point is to decide on what you
plan to achieve (your skincare goals) and get products
that can help you do just that. - Try to show some restraint: It is so easy to splurge on
products just because of the amazing goodness they
promise, but you should try to take things one at a time
as overloading your skin with unnecessary products
would not help you attain your skin goals. - Get a skincare routine and stick with it: Your skin is the
largest organ of the body and it stays with you for the rest
of your life, this is one of the reasons a steady skincare
routine is essential. You should treat your skin with
utmost care and gentleness, and having a skincare
routine your skin loves is very important.
The Shelf Life of Skincare Products
Skincare products are like tiny packets of joy that make your
heart flutter a little when you glance at them, but as lovely as
this feeling is, unfortunately, you can’t keep your skincare
products forever. Sad, I know!
Understanding this very important detail would be
instrumental in helping you protect your skincare as much as
possible.
Skincare products vary in their shelf lives, for example, an
opened product has already been exposed to oxygen and this
will reduce the lifespan, as there is a decay process occurring
which will decrease the product’s efficacy as time goes on.
Products that have short shelf lives, or go bad quickly include:
• All-natural products
• Products sensitive to hot temperatures like those containing
Vitamin C (if not kept out of direct sunlight or in a cool place)
• Opened products
Products that can last a bit longer than others usually contain
active ingredients, but they tend to cause skin irritation and
inflammation if used after they have expired.
The expiry date of products can be found on their packaging
written in numbers such as 12, 36, or 24. These numbers
signify the number of months a product can last whilst
maintaining its potency.
Vitamin C serums last for about 3 to 6 months, moisturizers
and eye creams for about 6 months to a year, and face oils for
about a year.
How to Know When to Change Your Skincare Products
When it comes to changing your skincare products, you would
have to prepare your mind for a decluttering process, this
means that you would need to sort through your products to
check if any would be expiring soon, are already expired, or
are already getting bad.
Some signs you should look out for when sorting through your
products include:
• The expiry date
• Unpleasant smells
• The presence of mold spots
• Changes in texture or consistency
• Changes in color
If you notice that your skincare products have any of these
signs, or have already expired, it would be best if you throw
them out. This is because continuous use of the products
would do your skin more harm than good.
An illustration would be a moisturizer specifically for sensitive
skin, if it gets expired, it would not be right to continue to
make use of it simply because it would not be as effective as it
normally should. The result of this would be a loss in the
potency of the product, which would in turn affect the
integrity of your skin.
On the other hand, if your product gets bad but isn’t yet
expired, it is still not advisable for you to use it because it can
introduce you to bacterial infections or harsh chemicals as a
result of the changes in the product.
Although as they say, “all good things come to an end”, you
can try to make your products last longer by storing them
properly, for example, unopened products sometimes have a
shelf life of about 3-5 years, but if they are stored carelessly
and kept in hot humid environments, their lifespan would be
invariably shortened.
Make sure your products stay as clean as possible and that
they are stored in cool places and out of direct sunlight.
This simple detail stresses the importance of storing your
skincare products in a place that is both cool and dry, this
would help to preserve both your unopened and opened
products for a long time because as you know, beautiful skin
begins with exceptional skincare.