How long to keep opened face creams?

[MacarenaMacarena]

When do opened face creams need to be thrown away?
If the lid has been on for a year after light use is there still likely to be a load of harmful bacteria?
Thanks for any advice!

It usually says on the jar, there's a symbol that looks like a jar with a number inside followed by M usually 6M or 12M meaning 6 or 12 months good to use after opening. It's an indication really, anything beyond that time you'll have to do a sniff test but anything with a good preservative system (things in jars tend to have more preservatives as it's exposed to a lot with use) will probably still be okay to use but it's at your own risk. If it's a 'natural/clean beauty' brand or has a lot of heavy oils/butters it's less likely to still be okay.

Thank you botemp!

I go by the lid symbol advice these days too. Prior to that I’d use creams makeup etc for forever until it was finished!

What I’m more concerned about is how long it can be stored before opening. Nothing tells you when it was made!

I found unopened face cream the other day at the back of a drawer.

Has to be at least seven years ago I bought it. How long it sat in the shop before I bought it or how long it took to get there after manufacture I don’t know.

So I’m hoping it’s still ok!

It's never occurred to me to throw anything like that away simply because it's been open a while and nothing has ever gone off or caused irritation, infection etc.

Some things might have been open for years if I forget about them or swap and change if I get bored with something.

They want you to throw it away and buy more, primarily.

As well as the date you can often tell by the smell.

The symbol a previous poster mentioned is your best indicator. It looks like this. Creams and anything with active ingredients usually have much shorter 'shelf life' than powders etc.

I would avoid jar packaging altogether as it's nowhere near as stable as tubes or pump bottles, especially if the product contains active ingredients. Plus there's a risk of contamination every time you put your fingers in it.

Toiletries with no preservatives go off quite quickly even if unopened.

I've never noticed anything go off.

I have.

I use a little spatula to remove the cream