Store Bought vs Natural Skin Care - Shelflife

A general rule of thumb is: if it sits on a store shelf there is usually (always) something in the product(s) that make this possible. Usually it is synthetic preservatives and a mix of hazardous chemicals. At best it is a low lever alcohol or sodium based ingredient.

The main reason for these preservatives is so products can be stored (sitting on shelves) for long periods of time before being opened. Also so products can be stabilized (i.e. unaffected by heat, cold, bright lights etc) and shipped world wide; because the aim of the game with cosmetic corporations is world wide domination to increase consumer consumption.

JOLI Natural Skin Care products cannot be found in stores for this very reason, they don't contain all those skin irritating additives. Though you may be wondering does this mean JOLI products are inferior to store bought products. Will they not last as long?

It might surprise to you know that store bought products don't last as long as you think once opened. All skin care and cosmetics have 'use by / best before' dates (whether they're included on the labeling or not). And how one person uses and stores a product differs to the next which means these dates can vary from person to person. It all depends on how you treat your products. Sharing with a friend or using a product on an infection (conjunctivitis, cold-sores) for example can reduce the product shelf life.

General* period mainstream products last after opening:

Perfume - up to 3 years

Powders, eyeshadow, blush - 1 to 3 years

Foundation - 1 to 3 years

Sunscreen lotion, SPF cosmetics – up to 1 year [one season only]

Bronzer – 6 months

Lipstick, lip gloss – 1 year

Pencil liners, eyes, lips, eyebrow - from 6 to 12 months

Liquid eyeliner - from 3 to 4 months

Mascara - 3 to 6 months

Skin care products, moisturiser, anti-wrinkle, eye creams, sealed container with dispenser - about 1 year

Skin care products in a jar - from 6 to 10 months

Nail polish - 1 year

Natural/Organic products – up to 6 months

*This information may vary depending on your source. Info from: checkcosmetic.net

You might have a mascara, eye liner, lipstick or moisturiser that you've had sitting around for over 10years thinking it looks alright therefore is still OK to use. To look at the product you can't see any bacteria growing and that is the beauty (or not) of all the chemicals added to skin care and cosmetics. All those toxins hide any signs of an ageing product.

JOLI products aren't any less superior than store bought products. JOLI products contain natural blends of herbal extracts and essential oils, as well as antioxidants, to preserve. Depending on how you use and store your products they can last for up to 12months, and if refrigerated products can last up to 3 years. Below is a Recommended Use By list for natural skin careproducts. These RUB dates depend on how you use and store your products, they also depend on you using the products as designed - i.e. daily, every 2 - 3 days, twice daily etc.

NAME	MONTHS
Bubble Bath Crumble Bar	12
Bath Salts Bliss	6 - 8
Bath Salts Serenity	6 - 8
Bath Salts Unwind	6 - 8
Deluxe Bath Serum	6 - 8
Deodorant Bar	8
Soothing Salve	12
Enliven Facial Scrub	6
Fluffy Lime Eye Cream	6
Facial & Body Wash	8
Fancy Cuticle Oil	6
Hair Styling Wax	6 - 8
Heavenly Bath Milk	4 - 6
Light Moisturiser	6 - 8
Lip Balm	3
Luscious Body Butter	6 - 12
Massage Oil	6
Moisturising Lip Balm	3
Purifying Cleansing Toner	6
Rich / Whipped Moisturiser	8 - 12
Rose Milk Bath Soak	4 - 6
Skin Serum	3 - 6

Keep in mind if you still have products sitting around unused after a some time then you've either most likely not been using them in accordance with directions or you didn't like the product enough to use it often. Time to discard all those old out-of-date products and start afresh.