Should I chuck out my sunscreens?

[tullytwo]

I have read on here that the spf factor decreases over time so should I bin my sun screens from last summer and buy new this year?

Thought you meant just bin them and not use sunscreen. IMO it is widely overused. Latest scare is that kids are not getting enough sun exposure to avoid ricketts, etc. I'm sure the health police went way overboard in the touting of sunscreen.

I'm sure sunscreen used to last a lot longer. Now it's suddenly an unstable compound and we need to buy new bottles of the stuff every year...

i don't know about that. in oz aren't they religious about checking the daten on and using sunscreen?

I bought non chemical Lavera last summer and they've got dates on them which don't run out for ages so check before you bin them.

I am albino and have to be super super careful with sunblock. I get it from my GP and the advice from the pharmacy was that as soon as it is opened it starts to lose its strength, so ok on holiday. But basically when the sun goes, so does the cream and start again. As Im sure you are painfully aware sunburn is a burn and potentially very damaging. HTH

My hubby makes sunscreen products for a living, and he tells me that most sunscreen actives are stable indefinitely.

By law, all European cosmetic products are stable for at least 30 months from the time of manufacture. As long as the lotion looks and smells fine, there is no reason to worry about the SPF.

That's reassuring, we usuaaly make a long haul trip to the philippines (where the sun blazes like nowhere else i've ever been) so in jan last year i coughed up 60 quid for a big bottle of the sunscreen we use. (it's for surfers -not that i surf myself, apply once lasts 8 hours and buys your dinner when it's done type)
then i got pregnant and thought better of exposing my 6 week old to the sun so it's good to hear i haven't just paid to watch 60 go down the pan.