An old moisturizer has no printed date, and the mascara beside it is older than you can remember. Neither appearance nor the amount left answers whether to keep using them. For the moisturizer, check manufacturer instructions and what you know about the container. If you cannot establish a usable history, replacement is a conservative choice, not proof that a particular birthday made it unsafe. For forgotten, old mascara, replacement follows the stronger product-specific guidance described below.
The useful distinction is between a calendar instruction and evidence about this particular product. A date cannot erase poor handling, and a missing date cannot certify freshness. This guide combines FDA advice, the drug-dating rule and two contamination studies into a shelf checklist. It does not assign a universal lifespan to creams, serums, lip products or makeup tools.
What U.S. law requires of cosmetic shelf life
For products regulated only as cosmetics, U.S. law does not require a specified shelf life or an expiration date on the label. Manufacturers remain responsible for safety, and FDA considers shelf-life determination part of that responsibility. The agency describes shelf life as depending on the product, its use and its storage. See FDA’s shelf-life explanation.
That distinction matters when asking a company about an old container. Useful questions are whether it has an unopened shelf life, what it recommends after opening, and which storage conditions its advice assumes. Give the exact product name and batch information if available. A generic answer about the brand cannot settle a question about a different formula or a container with an uncertain history.
FDA notes that some companies test samples under different temperatures and humidity conditions, but companies are not required to share their shelf-life testing and tracking information with FDA. Do not infer a standard laboratory temperature, a specific preservative capacity or a personal safety guarantee from an unexplained date. Manufacturer information helps interpret the label; it cannot reconstruct handling that neither you nor the company observed.
Cosmetic or OTC drug? The expiry rules split here
Intended use determines whether a product is a cosmetic, a drug or both. A moisturizer can be cosmetic; a moisturizer marketed with sun-protection claims is also a drug in the United States. FDA also identifies antidandruff shampoo, fluoride toothpaste and antiperspirant deodorant as common combinations. Products in both categories must meet both sets of requirements. “Cosmeceutical” does not create a separate legal category. See FDA’s classification guide.
Under 21 CFR 211.137(a)–(b), drug expiration dates are based on stability testing and relate to labeled storage conditions. Paragraph (h) states a qualified non-enforcement policy, pending consideration of a proposed exemption: the section’s requirements are not enforced for human OTC drugs whose labeling bears no dosage limitations and whose stability data support at least three years. This is more precise than saying every OTC package must display a date, or that all products automatically last three years.
| Product on the shelf | U.S. classification | Dating boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Moisturizer without drug claims; lipstick or powder without SPF | Cosmetic | No federal cosmetic expiration-date requirement; use product-specific instructions. |
| Mascara and ordinary eye shadow | Cosmetic | No federal cosmetic expiration-date requirement; FDA gives separate mascara and eye-safety advice. |
| Sunscreen; moisturizer or makeup marketed with SPF | Drug, or drug and cosmetic | Drug stability/dating framework applies. FDA gives a specific rule for undated sunscreen. |
| Acne treatment or antidandruff shampoo | Drug, or drug and cosmetic | Drug stability/dating framework applies, including the qualified OTC policy described above. |
| Antiperspirant deodorant; fluoride toothpaste | Drug and cosmetic in FDA’s examples | The cosmetic-dating rule alone does not answer the question; check the drug label. |
For sunscreen specifically, FDA advises discarding products past a printed expiration date. Without a date, consider sunscreen expired three years after purchase; discard it if you do not know its age. Protect it from excessive heat and direct sun. A recent purchase does not extend a printed expiration date, and the three-year convention does not override storage directions.
Do not transfer that sunscreen convention to an undated acne wash or shampoo. If the date or instructions on another drug product are unclear, ask the manufacturer or a pharmacist about that exact product. For example, a 12M open-jar mark on an SPF moisturizer answers a different question from a printed drug expiration date. Recording only one of those pieces of information can leave the other unresolved.
How contamination builds during use
FDA identifies several routes of deterioration: fingers introduce microorganisms, applicators are exposed during use, preservatives can break down over time, and bathroom moisture can favor bacterial and fungal growth. Oil-and-water mixtures may separate; products may dry out or change color, texture or smell. These mechanisms explain why handling belongs in the decision alongside the calendar. They do not establish a measured microbial count for your moisturizer.
In Bashir and Lambert’s UK study, published in 2020, consumers donated used lipsticks, lip glosses, eyeliners, mascaras and beauty blenders for laboratory testing. About 79–90% of tested used products contained bacteria. Reported loads were generally 100–1,000 colony-forming units per milliliter; beauty blenders averaged more than one million. Investigators detected Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Citrobacter freundii.
Among beauty blenders, 93% had not been cleaned and 64% had been dropped on the floor and kept in use. Those findings concern donated products in a UK sample. They do not mean 79–90% of users developed infections, establish the condition of all products sold in America, or show how quickly a specific formulation becomes unsafe. A laboratory colony count describes organisms recovered under the study’s methods.
A 2025 study by Attar and Imam in Jeddah examined 57 used brushes and beauty blenders and surveyed 370 people. Gram-positive bacteria accounted for 81% of isolates; 44.3% of survey respondents reported rarely cleaning brushes, and 27.8% reported skin problems they suspected were makeup-related. Cleaning frequency was not significantly associated with self-reported skin problems (p = 0.698).
That survey result neither proves that cleaning prevents acne nor establishes that cleaning is pointless. The tool sample was small and local, while the symptom data relied on people’s recollections and attribution. Neither study provides a tested schedule for replacing all brushes, sponges or jars. The defensible conclusion is narrower: used products can carry microbes, and evidence of contamination should not be presented as a measured probability of illness.
Why mascara needs a separate decision
FDA says most eye cosmetics are safe when used properly, while contaminated products can cause infections; rare infections have caused temporary or permanent blindness. Its eye-cosmetic safety checklist reports that manufacturers usually recommend discarding mascara two to four months after purchase. The starting point is purchase; the guidance does not assign the same interval to every eyeliner, eye cream or eye shadow.
Replace dried mascara rather than adding water or saliva. FDA warns that additions can introduce bacteria and water dilutes the preservative.
If an eye cosmetic irritates you, stop using it immediately. Seek medical advice if irritation persists; contact a healthcare provider about an eye infection.
During an eye infection or inflammation around the eye, avoid eye cosmetics until healed. Discard eye cosmetics you were using when the infection occurred.
Wash hands, keep eye-area instruments clean and avoid sharing. Follow the product’s own instructions as well as these precautions.
A forgotten purchase date makes the mascara decision different from a documented recent purchase. Starting a new opening-date record today cannot establish when an old tube was bought. This is a reason to replace the uncertain tube and record the next purchase, rather than trying to infer its age from pigment, smoothness or remaining volume.
What the open-jar symbol tells you
The open-jar symbol commonly gives a period in months after first opening; 12M means twelve months. It should be read alongside storage precautions and other dates. In the United States it is manufacturer information, rather than a federally required cosmetic expiration mark. It does not cancel a change in the product or a stop-use instruction.
The GOV.UK statutory guidance for Great Britain explains the Article 19 framework derived from Regulation 1223/2009. Products with minimum durability of thirty months or less need a minimum-durability date, identified by the prescribed wording or hourglass symbol. For products with longer minimum durability, a period-after-opening mark generally applies instead. Exceptions include single-use products and products for which opening-related deterioration does not present the relevant risk. This is GB guidance, not U.S. labeling law.
For a practical reading exercise, imagine a jar with a 12M symbol and a separate best-before date. Ask two questions: when was it first opened, and what does the other date refer to? Do not silently choose whichever gives the longest remaining use. If the meaning is unclear, ask the manufacturer. The symbol supplies an instruction; it does not document what happened in your bathroom.
Storage history belongs beside the date
FDA’s eye-cosmetic checklist advises against storage above 85°F, about 29°C, and warns that prolonged hot-car storage can deteriorate preservatives. Its general shelf-life page also identifies moisture, sunlight, air and temperature changes as relevant. Sunscreen has its own heat-and-direct-sun storage warning. None of these sources establishes an exact number of hot-car hours that makes every formula fail.
A useful record describes the actual exception: “left in the car during a hot weekend” is more informative than “stored normally.” If that exposure conflicts with instructions and you cannot resolve the concern with the manufacturer, replacing the product is a conservative choice. Moving it to a cooler drawer afterward does not establish that its earlier condition was acceptable.
Purchase history matters too. FDA cautions that flea-market or internet-resold cosmetics may be old, used, diluted, tampered with or counterfeit. A seller’s photograph of an intact jar cannot establish the storage history of the one delivered. Keep those uncertainties separate from a claim that every resale product is contaminated.
An opened-date, sharing and storage checklist
Use the following as a record for each product, rather than a substitute expiration chart. The aim is to identify what you know, what the label tells you and what remains uncertain. These are practical applications of the evidence above, not a validated home contamination test. A check of smell, color and texture can flag a problem, but cannot certify the absence of microorganisms.
| Record or question | What to write down | How it helps the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and label | Exact product, drug claims, expiry date and any open-jar period | Classify the product before applying a dating rule. Save instructions from an outer carton. |
| Purchase and first opening | Both dates, separately; mark unknown dates as unknown | Use the correct starting point for mascara guidance, sunscreen advice or a PAO instruction. |
| Contact and sharing | Finger dipping, reused applicators, sharing or communal tester use | Identify handling concerns without inventing a numerical contamination score. |
| Storage exceptions | Heat, direct sun, bathroom moisture and any known departure from instructions | Describe the event when asking the manufacturer about continued use. |
| Product changes | Changes from its usual appearance, texture or odor; drying of mascara | Stop using a product with unexpected changes; ask the manufacturer or replace it. Discard dried mascara. |
| Eye symptoms or infection | Product in use when symptoms began and whether an infection occurred | Follow FDA stop-use advice; discard eye cosmetics used when the infection occurred. |
Start with the products you already own. For an old jar without a date, list the missing information before deciding it is fine. An unknown opening date and uncertain handling history remain unknown even if the jar looks familiar.
For the next purchase, record purchase and first-opening dates separately. Keep the label information accessible. If a new product replaces an old one, create a fresh record rather than copying an estimated date forward.
Compare each item with its own instructions. Do not borrow a mascara interval for eye cream, a sunscreen convention for acne medication, or an online serum timetable for a different formulation.
Decide whether a question can actually be answered. A manufacturer may clarify a label or batch, but cannot inspect every prior use. If the uncertainty matters enough that you would not choose the product today, replacement is a reasonable conservative decision.
Maintain clean containers and applicators, avoid sharing and use a fresh single-use applicator if sampling a store tester. For tool cleaning, follow the manufacturer’s instructions rather than assuming a home cleaning method makes every product or applicator safe.
For example, an undated sunscreen of unknown age has a clear FDA discard recommendation. A moisturizer with an unclear opening history has a different evidentiary problem: there is no universal federal cream deadline to apply. Explain the uncertainty honestly instead of inventing a six- or twelve-month cutoff. Conversely, buying another jar does not remove the need to improve the storage or sharing practice that created the concern.
What MoCRA changes about this decision
Under MoCRA, the responsible person named on a cosmetic label must ensure and maintain records supporting adequate safety substantiation. FDA says specific safety tests are not prescribed. Responsible persons must report serious adverse events to FDA within fifteen business days; this is an industry reporting obligation, not a consumer waiting period. FDA also has conditional mandatory-recall authority.
The FDA overview, checked for this review, lists required rulemaking on cosmetic manufacturing practices and other topics. It does not establish a new cosmetic expiration-date requirement or a tested lifespan for your jar. For the broader regulatory context, see the site’s MoCRA coverage. The keep-or-discard decision still requires the correct product category, relevant instructions and an honest account of use.
