so suncream - whats the deal with how long to keep it?

[tentative123]

Got a few bottles festering away in the back of the cupboard from the last few years, not sure when to cut my losses and chuck it. Its so expensive, and i hate using it so hardly ever get through a bottle on a hol. I think ive read to keep it for a year - is this right? What do you do?

I have in my head that the shelf life for all bottles cosmetics is 18 mths, and then the peservatives start to break down and the active ingredients start to fade. Not a major problem with most things but with sun cream I'd probably say 2 years. If its for your DC I would buy new just to be on the safe side. Last summer I was using sun cream that I bought when I moved this house - so about 3 years old and it was fine (and I would know if it wasn't as I burn very easily), so I would say it will probably be fine

It lasts 12 months once opened, a friend last year used some old factor 50 on her daughter and she burnt very badly with in half an hour and that was in this country.

All bottles should have an emblem like an opened jar with a figure in. 12 would indicate 12 months. People keep suncare for far too long & I have seen some really nasty burns from this. If in doubt,bin it.

I have been known to use 4-year-old suncreams and I did not get burnt...

One season, max. I used to be a food marketer (for simplication, a buyer at a supermarket HQ) and we always told customers who asked this question, based on supplier/manufacturer info, at the end of the summer to get rid of it and start fresh.

Think it would make a difference if it had been opened or not. There should be a emblem on it, a circle with a line through and a number in it, i.e 12 or 18, that is its shelf life from when it's opened to when you should effectively stop using it (not because it would do any harm but because it will have lost some of its efficacy).

I would have thought that un-opened stuff has a much longer shelf life. When supermarkets/chemists take sun lotions off their shelves in September and put out Christmas stock, I guarantee it sits backshop until January/February when it gets put back out for sale again- it doesn't get destroyed because it's been out for a season!!

Also take into account where your suntan lotion has been.
If it's been in a dark cupboard unopened then fine.
If it's been in your beach bag, taken out in hot sun, then it would have deteriorated.