Does glycolic acid and other skincare products expire? (red, beauty, looks)

[ericjustin2]

I have a small tube of alpha hydrox souffle 12%. I used this many years ago for clearing red marks and it seems to work but it takes a very long time. I still have a new bottle and a very tiny bottle with very little left that i sometimes use. The thing though is these tubes were bought probably in 2013... so close to 5 years. Does anyone know if these are still usable? I had lot of other face products and vitamins that i had to throw out because i kept them for so long and notice they expired a few years ago so i threw them away. I read vitamins still are okay but not effective but because i consume it, i throw away.


Does anyone know of glycolic acid expires? I dont have the box but i have the tube only and it does not show an expiry date. Also they dont seem to sell this product anymore so if it is expired, then i rather but something very similar again.



Thanks.

[Arkay66]

Looks like items containing glycolic acid break down after a year, according to this:

https://lifehacker.com/do-skin-care-...ire-1468955193

[ericjustin2]

Hi there. Well i don't think that is correct though. Because glycolic acid products seem to be much longer than that i read. I read a while back that its good for at least 2 years and even 3 years. But I don't know when i got this bottle exactly.

[ericjustin2]

Anyone else?

[jelenap]

I trust Paula on this wholeheartedly: https://www.paulaschoice.com/expert-...-products.html

If you don't remember when you got it then it's the first sign to toss it. If there is any kind of identification on the product, you could try contacting the manufacturer and they might be able to find at least a possible date range. But IMHO it's not worth the effort.

It's interesting that you mention throwing away vitamins because they go into your body. Well, where do you think all the cosmetics go?

[tinakexpert]

According to me glyconic acid products expires in a year or less. Most of the products contains their manufacture and expiry date, You can check that.

[writerwife]

I had a tube that I had misplaced and tried to use probably about 2 yrs later. It definitely didn't work like it did new. I couldn't tell that it did anything at all so I tossed it.