Should You Buy Preloved Skincare Products?

Every woman loves to treat their skin with daily skincare routine. Whether they use skincare products to maintain and improve their skin condition, or to heal their skin problems, it goes without saying that skincare is the best and more affordable solution for every woman’s skin instead of flat out getting plastic surgery. With several skin types out there, skincare comes from different brands and types as well, making it hard to choose which one is suitable for our skin. Speaking of products, some people prefer to keep using their usual skincare products; others prefer to change products after fully using the second bottle. However, different skincare products or brands might mean different price range too. Sometimes we might set our eyes on this seemingly good product with good reviews, but unfortunately, the price is quite off the budget, not to mention if we haven’t tried this product before and we are afraid it might not be suitable for us. Yes, I know the feeling when we have purchased something we needed that cost too much only to find out later that it was going to be useless. With this in mind, there comes another solution to buy this kind of product without having to spend the same amount of money on it; buy preloved skincare products. When you are buying a preloved skincare product, you are purchasing an item that once belonged to someone else (and possibly was loved by that person too). At a glimpse, this might be an efficient way to buy expensive products that once belonged to other people with cheaper and more affordable price. Aside from that, if you buy preloved skincare products, you have the chance to try and test the products and determine if they are suitable for your skin or not. It looks very handy to me, at first. However, using preloved skincare products is not the same as using preloved furniture, and I am very certain that I would not recommend it. With that in mind, today I am going to honestly tell you why you shouldn’t buy preloved skincare products.

Say, you came across this online store website specifically offering famous skincare products and you were enchanted by their cute, eye-catching web design and their product description as well as the affordable price for such big brands. However, at the end of the description, it said; “Preloved, last used 3 months ago.” Just then you realised that the online store only provided preloved skincare products. If that really happened, would you buy it? Let’s discuss it here.

Identifying the expiration date of a skincare product

When we are talking about preloved skincare products, of course we are also talking about the expiration dates. Every skincare packaging is equipped with certain dates that allow us to know when the product should not be used anymore. However, there are many people who are still unaware of the difference between the expiration date and the manufacturing date as well as when exactly the product is not feasible to use. 

• Manufacturing Date 

If you see “Mfg. date” on your skincare product packaging, don’t panic, you didn’t buy an expired product as this is the manufacturing date, not the expiration date, which means, this is the date when the product was manufactured. Most products may not list their manufacturing date on their packaging, but some still do.

• Expiration Date 

Another date you might see on the product is the expiration date. However, if you have a skincare product that expires 3 years later, it doesn’t mean that you can use the product until 3 years. The expiration date listed on your product only means that you should immediately use the product before that date. Simply put, the expiration date only applies if you haven’t opened the packaging.

• Period After Opening (PAO) 

The most important part is the one you can usually find it on the back side of the packaging. This is called the Period After Opening (PAO) denoted by the ‘opened jar’ symbol. On the symbol, there is a number and the letter ‘M’ indicating how long the product is safe to use after it is opened. The letter ‘M’ means ‘months’ and therefore ‘18M’ means that you should use it no later than 18 months after it is opened. In short, you may have a product that can last 3 years before the expiration date, but once you open it, the expiration date is not applicable anymore, and you have to use it fully before 18 months after opening. Note that each product may have different PAO; some have 6M, 12M, others may have 24M symbol.

Now that you know how to identify the real expiration date on your product, can you imagine if you bought a preloved skincare product? Some cunning sellers would try to tell those who are unaware of the meaning of the symbol and expiration date that the product would expire 2 years later. Not to mention if some sellers would lie about the time when the product was opened. I know there are also many people who would never lie about it, but we don’t know for sure, right? Now, let’s compare the pros and cons of buying a preloved skincare product.

Pros:

• You can buy even a high-end skincare product for a cheaper price, although not in a full size
• You can try and test the product you want to buy before purchasing the full size to see if the product is suitable for your skin or not

Cons:

• You don’t know how the previous owner stored the skincare product, whether they are hygienic or not, you never know
• You don’t know if the seller is telling you the truth about when the product was first opened. For example, the truth is that the product is going to expire in 2 months, but the seller told you they opened the packaging only about 2 months ago and they said it was going to expire in 10 months
• If the skincare product doesn’t come with a cap, chances are, the seller might not be cleaning the packaging, causing dirt to enter the cap, which can make the whole product not hygienic anymore
• The letters in used products might fade away due to the friction during travelling or storing in a bag full of other stuff, which makes it harder to decipher whether the product is fake or original (because we don’t buy it directly)

We can’t really trust people nowadays and I certainly won’t buy preloved stuff especially if it is going to be worn on my skin. However, I might consider buying preloved skincare products if the seller is my trusted friend, best friend, or family. Skin is not a negligible matter – I would never use random products on my skin, let alone the preloved ones. If I want to try some new skincare product, I will always make sure it is safe for me to use; therefore, I choose to buy samples instead. If you can’t find the samples of the products you want, you can ask your friends if they ever bought the same products and ask them for a review. Taking care of our own skin is our responsibility. Whether you are a man or a woman, your skin is important for you and you need to treat your skin not just for self-satisfaction, but for your health too. When your skin is healthy, your mind is also healthy. Therefore, be careful when choosing and buying skincare products for your precious skin.