This viral TikTok warns you might be buying expired beauty products…
A TikTok exposing what beauty retailers such as Ulta really do with returned products went viral leaving people shocked by the wasteful reality of the “damaging out” process.
Now, a new TikTok video is hoping to educate customers about another aspect of beauty retail and teach us how to purchase smartly and safely.
A TikTok user named Canon Ryder published video alerting viewers that several beauty items offered at independent stores like TJ Maxx and Ross may be well past their expiration dates. Ryder uses an Olay moisturizer as an example to show how to obtain the product’s batch number and input it into the Cosmetic Calculator website to determine when it was manufactured. In the case of the moisturizer, the answer turned out to be 2011.
“This product is almost ten years old and they are trying to sell it to you,” Ryder says in the video. “Don’t get scammed.”
When you enter the same batch number on Check Fresh, a different website that tracks the expiration date of cosmetics, you get the same 2011 result for the Olay moisturizer. The usage of preservatives and the type of product used all affect the expiration dates for cosmetics. Cosmetics have typically had a shelf life of one to three years. It was 36 months in the instance of the Olay moisturizer.
If you want to test out products you already own or are interested in purchasing, locate the batch number which can usually be found on the bottom of the product, and run it through Check Fresh or Cosmetic Calculator. Although both websites have an extensive list of brands they cover, not every brand is listed so be sure to double-check. Get more tips on how to decontaminate your makeup and ensure your beauty products are safe.
After the video went viral, many of Ryder’s supporters were horrified that retailers can do this.
One person said, “That should be illegal.”
Another added, “I’m not even into cosmetics like that, but this is so interesting.”
A third commented, “I just sent this to like ten people omg.”
Watch the video below:
@bellamyjames_ Always check cosmetic products!!! #fyp #beauty #makeup #skincare