Re-discovering discontinued products - when are they too old to use?

[prettybyrd]

Hello ladies!

I know that many of us have fallen for products that later became discontinued. If you happened to find that product again, how old would be too old for you to use it?

Recently, I found a leave in conditioner that I used and loved from 1997 to about 2004. It is Freeman Sunflower Ginseng Spray Leave-in.

An Ebay seller had three bottles for $20 bucks and I bought them without thinking twice about it because I was so excited to find them. Now I'm thinking that I may have acted too soon. 2004 was 8 years ago! The bottles are in great condition and the conditioner smells the same as I remember. It has preservatives, but I don't know how long a product stays stable, even with preservatives.

Would you use products that old? Have any of you found a favorite discontinued product and used it after a significant amount of time had passed? Was the quality compromised?

TIA!

 

[Raspberry]

I had the same issue - I had a ton of old products I wanted to start using but after doing some googling, turns out that general shelf life recommendations are 2-3 years max, and it can be less depending on the ingredients. Even if the product doesn't smell bad and the consistency seems ok, the effectiveness will most likely be compromised or non-existent. For example, I had a big jar of extra virgin coconut oil for 3+ years that I didn't want to give up because it still seemed ok but a salesperson at the natural food store talked me into buying another one. The new jar is way more potent in its smell and effectiveness, I didn't realize my old jar was losing it's mojo over time.

There's many factors that go into the shelf-life a particular product - especially exposure to sunlight and heat.

It sucks when you have good products going to waste but I've learned my lesson about being a product junkie, I ended up pouring a lot of dollars down the drain

 

[prettybyrd]

Thank you, Raspberry. I didn't know that 2-3 years was the max, and these products are much older than that! I think that I will go with my plan-b and make my own formula based on the ingredients.

It really is too bad, but I'd rather have wasted a few dollars than use something that won't work or may cause harm.

I appreciate your response!