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Are shaving creams really going bad after 12 months ?

Hello friends,

I am new in this forum. I am not from an english-speaking country so please excuse me for my lingual mistakes.

I recently bought about 15 shaving creams. Among them : Phoenix artisan , A&E , TOBS , Castle forbes and prorasso.
A noticed today that they should be good for 12 months.
I was really dissapointed and upset that I did not think earlier about that. I think I wont be even able to at least try them after a year.

But is it really the fact? Do you have experience after what ammount of time these creams are going „bad“ ?
Will they start to lose their scent ?

I was hoping they would last at least 3 years.

I think I will stop buying new creams for now. At least till I consumed one of mine.


Thank you for your answers.

Greetings
POSEIDON96
 
I have not found this to be true at all. I have an open tube of Palmolive cream which I've had open for well over 6 years and it's still perfectly fine to use. My proraso soaps in the tub have changed colour from a white to a slightly yellow colour in about 2 years but still smell and work beautifully. The only soap I have had go gross and unusable is Cella and that was the 1kilo block which I moulded a piece of into a dish which was left wrapped and unused for a period of about 1 year before I noticed it was brown and no longer smelt good. The rest of the 1kilo block is wrapped up and stored in the same room but in a small cupboard and is still as beautiful as the day it was bought. My Taylor's of old bond Street sandal wood cream also is still as fresh and fine as it was years ago when I bought it.

I don't think you have to worry about your creams, just keep them out of the warm and direct sunlight and they'll last you years and years.
 
The makers are required by regulations to put that information on the label. It is intended to be a "best when used after opening" date. Normally most creams will last several years. The biggest problem is having them dry up. Even this can be solved by adding water to the cream in a sealed container.

If you want the creams to last, keep them sealed tightly in a cool place. Scoop a small amount for your shave out with a clean spoon and lather in a separate bowl. That way, the cream in the original container will stay clean.
 
I have not found this to be true at all. I have an open tube of Palmolive cream which I've had open for well over 6 years and it's still perfectly fine to use. My proraso soaps in the tub have changed colour from a white to a slightly yellow colour in about 2 years but still smell and work beautifully. The only soap I have had go gross and unusable is Cella and that was the 1kilo block which I moulded a piece of into a dish which was left wrapped and unused for a period of about 1 year before I noticed it was brown and no longer smelt good. The rest of the 1kilo block is wrapped up and stored in the same room but in a small cupboard and is still as beautiful as the day it was bought. My Taylor's of old bond Street sandal wood cream also is still as fresh and fine as it was years ago when I bought it.

I don't think you have to worry about your creams, just keep them out of the warm and direct sunlight and they'll last you years and years.
thank you very much my friend ^^
 
If your cream is in a bowl the air contact surface is larger. It can get dry over the years (not months). Maca Root Cream bowl is a good example.

And if your cream is in a tube it last very very long time after the last comsumption date. Because the surface which is in contact with air is minimum in a tube. I have a Turkish Dalan Shave cream expired 5 years ago and still I am using without any issue.
 
I have a tub of shaving cream I don't use often and that I've had open, and partly used, for many years. It still works just fine. It may not be soft and creamy as it was at first, so is more like a really soft soap now, but I don't notice anything at all wrong with it. I wouldn't worry in the least, my friend.
 
Hello friends,

I am new in this forum. I am not from an english-speaking country so please excuse me for my lingual mistakes.

I recently bought about 15 shaving creams. Among them : Phoenix artisan , A&E , TOBS , Castle forbes and prorasso.
A noticed today that they should be good for 12 months.
I was really dissapointed and upset that I did not think earlier about that. I think I wont be even able to at least try them after a year.

But is it really the fact? Do you have experience after what ammount of time these creams are going „bad“ ?
Will they start to lose their scent ?

I was hoping they would last at least 3 years.

I think I will stop buying new creams for now. At least till I consumed one of mine.


Thank you for your answers.

Greetings
POSEIDON96


In a nutshell: No.

I have some creams that are older than 3 years and they still work very well.


The Period After Opening symbol (Period-after-opening symbol - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Period-after-opening_symbol) satisfies the requirement to indicate a period of time after opening a cosmetics container when the products is safe to use, but it does not imply that after this period the product has become unsafe to use.

You might think of it like a manufacturer‘s warranty that has expired.


B
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
In short no.
I have had tubes of Palmolive and Proraso for up to 2 years I have a tub of TOBS sandalwood for the last 20 months and my coconut TOBS lasted more than 3 years.
If you want to build up a collection of soap try triple milled soap pucks, they are good for years. Not saying you should buy enough hard soap pucks to last for years, but that seems to be an awfully popular thing to do around here.
 
I don't have any creams in tubs, so I can't help you there. However, I had a tube of Bigelow that was over 10 years old and was as good as new. It looked, smelled, and shaved like the day I bought it. Unless something looks bad, smells bad, or doesn't lather I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I agree with you Luc--I have creams and soaps that are literally years old. I think my TOBS creams are about 5 years old--and still fine. I also have after shaves that are years old--has anyone ever had problems with after shaves going bad?
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
I agree with you Luc--I have creams and soaps that are literally years old. I think my TOBS creams are about 5 years old--and still fine. I also have after shaves that are years old--has anyone ever had problems with after shaves going bad?
Same for AS. I bought a bottle of Skin Bracer vintage years ago on eBay. The bottle was full when I got it, it was the Hard Hat Skin Bracer. I cannot say that the scent or efficiency of the product was affected.

I believe how it was stored has a lot to do with it. If you leave a bottle of Aftershave in a window (with sunlight), I don't think it will stay good for long.
 
I have an Art of Shaving shaving cream lemon scent which I purchased 10 years ago. I used it the other day which has dried. After rubbing the cream with water on my badger, I am able to lather it into a bowl and found it quite usable.

I love lemon scent !!! Sure wish the Art of Shaving still made the lemon scent. I had the Lavender and it was a very nice scent. My first two shaving kits when I acquired my razor.
 
Some of them it's 12 months after opening if they are sealed. Otherwise, it can dry out. So instead of the date, just try using it and see if it's still soft enough. Sometimes it gets too thick to squeeze out of a tube. But if it's in a tub, you might still be able to lather it.
 
What you are asking is strongly individual. The main factor being how sensitive is your skin, the second one - the chemical compsition of the cream. I have very sensitive skin and with some creams get irritation even when they are well within their expiry. Palmolive tubes give me irritation if 2 years since production date have passed, especially the Aloe type. There are brands that can be used without problems even a few months after expiry.
 
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