cream, shelf life?

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408
Evening gentlemen,
Just fancy giving some tubs of cream a try, just wondering though what sort of shelf life I could expect as I would only use them on a rotation with soaps.
Thanks for looking.
V.
 
by the ingredients and instructions, factory/marketing address you should be able to see a picture of a tub with the lid half open and on that tub, there should be a date reference like: 12M or 24M which suggests that it should be used up in 12 Months after opening.
Having said that I have some creams that I opened over 4 years ago and they are still good with both performance and scent.
The only problem I had was a tub of Cella that developed a light brown patch but still smelt and performed same, also I suggest that you store the creams in tubes with their lid facing up as I had some creams that some liquid settled down and as soon as I opened leaked out leaving the cream dryer and harder to get out of the tube.
 
Evening gentlemen,
Just fancy giving some tubs of cream a try, just wondering though what sort of shelf life I could expect as I would only use them on a rotation with soaps.
Thanks for looking.
V.

The period after opening (PAO) label is the tub open icon with the number inside. That's, as Sezer rightly said, the time in which it should be used after opening (self-explanatory). A slight word of warning, the PAO test is done under controlled conditions so is the 'most likely' outcome when stored in specific conditions (cool, dark, dry as stipulated on the label). It is a test of a range of parameters, including microbial activity, odour and look of the item.

What you might need to watch out for is microbial activity as a result of storage. Usually, this will only affect the upper-most layer of the item in question, so might result in something like a brown patch as above, a smell, or mould. It might not present as anything, despite there being microbial activity.

I don't want to scare you, though, as it is a shaving cream and hence you're not likely to ingest it, so it should be fine to use after prolonged storage. Be sure to have a quick whiff, maybe feel some in your fingers for grittiness, take a close look etc. If you're unsure at any point, it's usually better to bin it, or if you're really keen to keep hold of the cream, remove a layer and check the resulting underneath. Shaving creams are usually pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things anyway! :)

P.s. same does apply to soaps, though they usually last better because of a reduced water content, though not always!
 
Thanks guys for such comprehensive replies.
I generally ignore bb dates and go by common sense, in this instance though I'm not experienced enough to know if I would be wasting money.
Cheers,
V.
 
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