Unlike rotten fruits or that suspicious-smelling milk in your fridge, it can be hard to tell when skin care products are past their prime. And with SPF in particular, you definitely don’t want to risk it: Sure, you may not immediately get sick from slathering on expired sunscreen, but you can definitely wind up with a painful burn and bigger problems down the line.
Still, you may be reading this and brushing it off as no biggie to keep using that half-empty bottle sitting in your beach bag. But sunscreen expiration dates aren’t just some marketing ploy to get you to buy more, Kelly Dobos, MSc, MBA, cosmetic chemist and adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, tells SELF. “The most important consequence is that you won’t be getting full protection from the sun if your sunscreen has gone bad,” Dobos says (which shields you from harmful UV rays, reducing your risk of developing skin cancer and preventing sunburns and signs of photoaging, including wrinkles and hyperpigmentation). “Plus, other ingredients in skin care and makeup, like certain naturally derived oils, can go rancid over time and irritate the skin or break you out.”
The best rule of thumb, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is to consider your SPF expired three years after you bought it—even if there’s no expiration date on the label and even if you’ve never opened it, Dobos adds. And you may want to toss it even sooner if the tube has been left out in the sun all day, for example, or stored in your ultrahot car because, yep, heat can make sunscreen go bad faster, she says.
So before you reach for that SPF lotion or spray you’ve had for two summers, read on to learn a few ways to tell if it’ll still work its skin-saving magic.
Check the expiration date.
It sounds easy and self-explanatory, right? Some expiration dates are clearly displayed in bold, black ink, yes, but oftentimes, they’re not hiding in plain sight. For example, on sprays, the month, day, and year will likely be stamped on the bottom of the bottle, Dobos says. On tubes, it’s often imprinted at the very top. For some SPF creams and makeup, you might find a tiny icon that looks like an open jar (formally known as the Period After Opening—or POA—symbol) with “9M,” “12M,” “18M,” or “24M” on it. This indicates that the product remains effective 9, 12, 18, or 24 months after opening.
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You also might see an engraved five-digit code: The first two numbers represent the year the sunscreen was made, and the next three, the day of the year, according to Banana Boat. (So a code of 23136U1 means your sunscreen was manufactured on May 16, 2023—the 136th day of 2023—and should be tossed three years after this date, per the FDA’s guideline.)
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Look at the color.
No expiration date? No problem (well, kind of). Maybe the product doesn’t have one, or perhaps oil from your hands or water from the pool wiped it off. In that case, Dobos says you might still be able to test your sunscreen’s efficacy with a handy-dandy sight test. If the formula was originally white in color—many mineral sunblocks are—it may appear more muted or have a yellowish tint when expired, Dobos says. As you can probably tell, though, relying on your eyes becomes more difficult with clear and tinted options, which brings us to our next pointer.
Check the texture.
Another telltale sign of sunscreen gone bad is a change in consistency, according to Dobos. Start by squirting a dollop of cream onto the top of your hand. Do you see little clumps or chunks? Is your spray watery or runnier than when you first got it? If you’re nodding your head yes, ditch it just to be safe. Another good expiration indicator: Check if the formula has separated. Basically, “If you can see a distinct oil layer or your lotion is no longer a consistently creamy emulsion, it’s likely no longer good,” Dobos says.
If it smells weird, toss it.
Now what the heck does expired sunscreen smell like? It’s not always obvious, especially when so many SPF products are loaded with fragrances. But any hint of sourness or funkiness (like, you’re really hesitating to put that scent all over your face) is an indication that your sun protector is well past its good years, Dobos says.
Though the above tips are certainly helpful, that isn’t to say they’re foolproof tricks. You may still be shrugging your shoulders with a giant figurative question mark over your head. What if it smells like nothing, for instance? Or with sunscreen sticks, how are you supposed to notice texture changes when you’re dealing with a solid consistency?
When in doubt, throw it out—and get a new one. And if you really can’t remember when you bought it, it’s likely too old and not worth the health risks either way. In the future, though, Dobbs advises making a good habit of keeping track of when you purchased an SPF product: You can do this by writing the date on a piece of masking tape and slapping it onto the tube, say, or jotting it down in a note on your phone. Because it’s always better to be safe than sun-damaged.
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