June 30, 2017.
On the back of your sunscreen, you can read that it should be discarded a year after opening. Is this a marketing technique or our creams are indeed no longer effective after a year?
Creams always effective but under certain conditions
An Italian consumer defense magazine, Altroconsumo, decided to investigate whether we could use sunscreen bought last year or whether, as many brands indicate, throw out our old creams and buy new ones. However, according to their work, it is not at all essential to buy new products every year.
To reach such a conclusion, the authors of this survey focused their analyzes on three sunscreens with a protection factor of 50+: Aptonia, NIVEA Sun Kids Protect and Garnier amber solar. They subjected these different products to drastic changes in temperature, to see if this altered their effectiveness and experience showed that the effectiveness remained intact but thatyou had to beware of the sun.
Store your cream in the shade at room temperature
The cream should not stay too long in the sun so that it does not get damaged. To know if you can use your cream two summers in a row, you need to know if your product has been exposed to the sun for a long time or to high temperatures in the past 12 months. If you buy a new cream this year, remember to leave it in the shade as often as possible and avoid forgetting it in a car in the sun.
You will also have to make sure that no grain of sand or water gets into the pot. ” If you notice that its appearance is oily or has a different texture than when it was opened (lumpy, more fluid, too pasty …), throw it away in order to get a new one. », Recommends the brand Corine de Farme. If your product ” does not look or smell suspicious, then it can be used for the new season “, completes the Nivea brand.
Marine Rondot
Read also: Protecting yourself from the sun: 20 questions and answers
