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hey guys in today's video I'm going to
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talk about why you should not use
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expired sunscreen or skin care products
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first up let's talk about sunscreen and
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why you should not use expired sunscreen
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sunscreen is actually an FDA approved
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medication intended to prevent a sunburn
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and so think of it as a medication and
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just like you would not use expired
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medications or you should not use
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expired medications you should not use
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expired sunscreen chemical sunscreens
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and mineral sunscreens both have
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ingredients in now not inevitably with
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time will begin to degrade breakdown and
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as that happens the product begins to
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lose its efficacy and can no longer
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protect you against a sunburn so it no
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longer achieves its intended purpose it
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is ineffective and using such a product
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could potentially cause you to have more
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sun exposure than you intended and even
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get a sunburn which is not good for your
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skin also a sunscreens degrade they
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become more irritating the chemicals
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degrade and can become irritants and
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cause rashes and all sorts of skin
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problems so you really should never use
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an expired sunscreen drug manufacturers
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have to do very very specific sets of
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stability testing rounds and submit that
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for approval so the medications can be
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safely sold to the public
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over-the-counter and so they have to put
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at least three batches of their product
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through a variety of different testing
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rounds testing different temperature
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conditions amounts of time and testing
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stability and so that's how I come up
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with with the expiration date on Iran
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sunscreens and on medication so there's
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actually a lot of data that goes behind
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determining that date and a lot of
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experiments that have to go on and be
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submitted so there's there's some
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science behind that expiration date and
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it's really important to follow it so
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the expiration date as I said there's a
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lot of data that goes into determining
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that and a guaranteed stability of the
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product up until that date now today
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after not a week after or not a month
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after so I often get questions hey I'll
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have the sunscreen Allen I notice it
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expired last month is it okay to use it
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short answer I would not because there
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is you know potentially it only degraded
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a little or potentially it degraded a
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lot there is no way that anybody can
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predict that and you're just you're just
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putting yourself at risk you're putting
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yourself at risk if you use it for the
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attention preventing a sunburn and also
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if you just want to use it to use it up
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because it's expired like I said the
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ingredients can become more irritating
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so you may put yourself at risk for
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developing a rash to to some of the
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ingredients that they've degraded and
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the other kind of question that I get is
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well this sunscreen has a really high
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SPF like SPF 75 for example or 75 or 80
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and it's expired by a month so even if
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it lost you know half of its SPF isn't
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it still good like can I risk it in that
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case and the answer is there's also no
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way to know that the rate of degradation
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happened in any kind of incremental
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fashion and not like all at once so in
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other words two days after the
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expiration day a product that was
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labeled SPF 75 it could be SPF 75 it
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could it could be SPF 70 or it could be
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SPF 7 there is absolutely no way to know
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and so for that reason I do not
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recommend using expired sunscreens
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whatsoever well there's no expiration
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date listed anywhere on my product what
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am I supposed to do as a general rule of
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thumb sunscreens have to be stable for
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at least three years so in other words
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three years from the date that you
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purchased it it should still be good but
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thereafter get rid of it don't keep
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sunscreens around for more than three
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years and so then there's this kind of
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gray zone where you start asking well I
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bought the sunscreen but you know
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it's probably sitting on the store shelf
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for so many months before I actually got
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it and so you know then it's more like
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three and a half years how do I know the
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answer is you don't so an even better
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rule of thumb is check it after two
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years just to be extra safe that's not
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to say that some screens might not be
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effective but they also might be
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ineffective and potentially degrade it
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and irritating so it's too big of a risk
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to take and so I just recommend getting
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rid of sunscreens beyond two years
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particularly when you don't know how
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long they've been sitting on a shelf you
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know for for whatever it's worth that
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being said there are so many skincare
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products that are pumped out into the
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market every single day that let's be
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honest emit um you know stores and
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whatnot they don't keep stuff around for
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very long they're always trying to churn
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out the next thing in the next round of
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products to keep consumers interested in
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people shopping and buying new stuff and
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excited to spend money so chances are it
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wasn't sitting on the shelf for that
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long but you you won't really know that
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going in but when in doubt just throw it
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out you know there's no there's no need
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keeping a product that could potentially
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put you at risk for a burn or irritation
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and so you know that being said if you
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use sunscreen the way you should be
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using a meeting reapplying it daily at
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least three times a day or every two
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hours when you're outdoors you shouldn't
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have any sunscreen laying around for
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that long so i don't you know i don't
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recommend hoarding sunscreens by a few
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and have several around and always be
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reapplying them and use them up that's
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that's the best approach then you never
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really have to worry about about the
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situation so you know that is what i
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would recommend to you guys when in
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doubt throw it out and do not use beyond
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the expiration date do not use beyond
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definitely not beyond three years but
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just for safety not beyond two years
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because as i said you won't know you
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won't know for sure when it was
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purchased and kind of along those lines
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places like Ross TJ Maxx Marshall
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I've done some shop with me videos in
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those stores I would not buy sunscreen
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there either because it sat on the shelf
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in a store somewhere for a long time and
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then it got to TJ Maxx Marshalls
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wherever you're buying it after after
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the store couldn't get rid of it and
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it's been sitting in TJ Maxx one of
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those little caged boxes for a long time
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so in that case you know if you buy it
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they're definitely throw it out after
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six months at the most
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I would say okay so buy it buy it you
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know when you run out which should be
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every couple of months not every three
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years then you don't don't run into this
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issue a lot of lines of expiration dates
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with sunscreens I also get questions
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about effects of temperature and
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moisture on sunscreen specifically
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people for whatever reason seem to often
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leave their sunscreen in the car I guess
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I can understand that maybe you keep it
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in there so that it's always on hand I
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don't recommend doing that and here's
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why extremes of temperature whether it
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be heat or cold can compromise the
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ingredients like if you're a little bit
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a cold climate and you left it in your
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car overnight and it froze throw it out
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I would not use that likewise if you
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left it in a hot car I don't care if
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it's twenty minutes thirty minutes an
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hour overnight get rid of it don't keep
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it same holds true for medications
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over-the-counter medications don't just
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don't keep them in your car and don't
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don't use them if they've gotten
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overheated
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ideally you keep sunscreen and you know
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a cool dry area protected from light so
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follow-up to that that is well what
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about the beach it's not exactly cool
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there when we go to the beach we ops
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obviously need to bring sunscreen with
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us it's gonna be hot and bright out what
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do we do and my tip for that is to just
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bring one of those little kitty
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lunchboxes and keep your sunscreen in
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that way it stays cool and doesn't get
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overheated and you know you can keep
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reapplying it and then just keep it back
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and put it back in the whole lunch tote
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you know everything's good but the
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physical sunscreens those that can
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zinc and titanium dioxide they will
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degrade with time and the chemical
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sunscreen ingredients like Ava Ben's own
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oxybenzone octi NOx 8 those will
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actually oxidize and those are the ones
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that really can become more irritating
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zinc and titanium dioxide they they
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themselves are pretty stable but if
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they've got like a coating on them not
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any grades with time and that influences
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how the SPF is determined initially so
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as that degrades you're gonna lose some
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of that and not only do do the active
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sunscreen ingredients degrade but the
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inactive sunscreen ingredients the rest
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of the product starts to degrade and can
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compromise the active ingredients
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efficacy as well so yeah again to
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reiterate don't use expired sunscreens
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there are their medications and you know
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they'll lose efficacy and you could be
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putting yourself at risk for not only
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burn but also irritation and rashes now
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moving into just skin care and the
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non-medication stuff like your
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moisturizers serums toners whatever
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you're using cleansers anything again I
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don't recommend using old stop and
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definitely don't use it beyond its
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expiration date these products have
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preservatives and things added to keep
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everything stable and working and
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functional and that starts to degrade as
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well with time and so you don't want to
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be putting expired products on your skin
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it can put you at risk for irritation a
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classic example of that is vitamin C
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serums I would definitely you know never
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use an old vitamin C serum and I
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definitely would not buy one from like
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TJ Maxx or Marshalls because it's been
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sitting around for a long time and
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vitamin C degrades with time and can be
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very unstable a lot of the products like
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moisturizers anti aging products they
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have a lot of antioxidants in them those
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two are not super stable and with time
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they're going to degrade and lose
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efficacy so I just don't recommend using
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experts too often in general don't
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collect skincare it's a bad hobby now as
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far as the amount of time those skincare
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products are a bigger unknown
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sunscreen at least sunscreen we know has
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to be okay for three years but Sun skin
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care products there are a huge huge bag
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of tricks and you know many
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manufacturers do disclose an expiration
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date so definitely chuck it after that
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most the majority of products will have
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a get rid of by X months after opening
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so that's definitely a good good one to
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follow as well like once you've opened a
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product you know it can be exposed to
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air and the degradation process gets
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kicked off a little bit more
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expeditiously but just sitting in an
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unopened package it's still can degrade
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in that bottle so it's not it's not a
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perfect product I definitely wouldn't
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use something that's ten years old on
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you on your skin you know it's just puts
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you at risk for irritation that makes
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that I'm sure there are people out there
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who are like well I used I used this
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expired moisturizer and I had no issue
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with it that's great but I mean I
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there's no way to predict that right so
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it just seems like excessive risk and so
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I recommend using old products when you
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buy either sunscreen or skin care
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products another tip is to write the
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date of purchase somewhere on the
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package that way you have some kind of
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idea at least yourself how long you've
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had it in your possession right right
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the date in which you purchased it and
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that if you open it up and start using
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it take a little break from it for a
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little while right write down the date
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it was opened and so then you have an
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idea of how long you've had it how long
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it's been open and use etc so that is
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another little tip and then the last
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point I'll make is there is a huge
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there's a rising popularity out there
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for selling those little skincare
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refrigerators those are cute right
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they're like this they're basically a
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glorified dorm fridge right and they
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keep your products cool um you know
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those are another another thing where it
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doesn't seem harmful but it's not going
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to extend the shelf life of your
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products necessarily in any predictable
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fashion it may
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it may slow down the rate of degradation
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of some active ingredients products that
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we do often recommend putting in the
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refrigerator to keep cool and apply to
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the skin cool include a lot of just
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plain moisturizers or a lot of our
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moisturizers that are intended for itchy
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skin because the sensation of cool
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moisturizers on the skin can help
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distract some of the itching nerves in
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our skin and be really calming and
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soothing for itch so that's a great
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that's a great use of those little
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refrigerators if you have one is to keep
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moisturizer by your bedside in the
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refrigerator that way if you wake up in
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the night it she or you're scratching
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just putting on some cool moisturizer
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onto the skin can help soothe the skin
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right away cut off that itching signal
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and help you get back to sleep so that
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is really that's really where those
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little mini fridges shine but honestly
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you don't need one of those humidity
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also can't a fact stability of
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ingredients also moisture getting into
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the product can affect stability and
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also put the product at risk for
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contamination mold particularly if
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you're using a lot of natural skin care
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products are sort of minimal on the
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preservatives that can be you know risky
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so I don't keep anything personally I
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don't keep any skin care products in my
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bathroom you know as pre it's pretty
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humid in there with the shower so I
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don't I don't keep skin care products in
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the bathroom other than I'm like the
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Hamm soap on the bathroom sink which you
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know that's that's more than fine but
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like I wouldn't keep my sunscreens in
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there for example I wouldn't keep I
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don't keep things in the shower either
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don't keep skincare products in your
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shower
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so yeah take-home points when in doubt
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throw it out don't keep your sunscreens
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beyond definitely not beyond three years
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but to be conservative and not beyond
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two years use them when you get them use
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them consistently and use them up and
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then this is not an issue don't collect
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skincare that you're not going to use
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and when you buy products with a be
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sunscreens or skin care products outside
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of sunscreen right the day to purchase
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and then write the
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Daten when she opened up and don't leave
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stuff in the car when you go to the
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beach take a little kitty lunch toge to
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keep your sunscreen in so it's out of
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the Sun and yeah
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comment below though those of you who
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have your skincare products in one of
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these mini fridges like what are you
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keeping in there do you keep snacks in
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there actually that would be my problem
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if I had one of those fridge fridge mini
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fridges I'd be like oh I'm just gonna
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keep beverages in here and pretty soon I
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would just have like a ton of drinks and
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by the bedside and I'd be up going to
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the bathroom all night but anyways guys
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I hope this video kind of address some
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of your overriding concerns about
00:15:44
expiration dates I know it's an
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ambiguous area but hopefully these tips
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were helpful to you if you liked this
00:15:51
video give it a thumbs up share it with
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your friends and as always don't forget
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sunscreen and subscribe I'll talk to you
00:15:57
guys tomorrow
00:15:58
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