Cosmetics Expiry Calculator — period after opening
Find out when an opened mascara, foundation or sunscreen should be replaced, from typical period-after-opening guidelines — in your browser.
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser. Your input and output are never sent to a server or stored — fully private.
Pick a product type and the date you opened it — get the use-by date and how many days are left.
The jar symbol on your product (e.g. “12M”) always wins over these typical values. Discard any product whose smell, texture or colour has changed, whatever the date. Eye products deserve extra caution. Not medical advice.
About this tool
Opened cosmetics do not last forever, and this period-after-opening calculator tells you when to let go. Pick a product type — mascara, foundation, sunscreen, moisturiser, lipstick and more — enter the date you opened it, and get the recommended discard date based on typical PAO periods, like the 6M or 12M printed inside the open-jar symbol on the packaging. It flags items already past their window and sorts what to check first. Dates are handled entirely in your browser, so your beauty-drawer inventory stays on your device.
Frequently asked questions
What does the open-jar symbol with 12M mean, and does it override this tool?
The open-jar icon is the official period-after-opening mark used in the EU and widely elsewhere: the number inside — 6M, 12M, 24M — is how many months the manufacturer guarantees the product after first opening. If your product carries one, that figure always overrides this tool's generic estimate, because it reflects the actual formula and its preservative system. This calculator exists for the many products, especially Japanese and Korean ones, that carry no PAO mark at all.
The date says it is still fine, but it smells odd. Which do I trust?
Trust your senses — they always override any date, in both directions. Discard immediately if a product smells sour or rancid, changes colour, separates and will not remix, or turns grainy or slimy, whatever the calendar says. Storage matters more than dates: a foundation left in a hot car or a cream scooped with wet fingers can spoil well early. Conversely, a pristine powder slightly past its window is a judgment call. Dates are guidance; visible or smellable change is evidence.
Why are eye products so much stricter, and is my list stored anywhere?
Because the stakes are higher and the products are contamination magnets. A mascara wand travels from lashes to tube with every use, pumping in air and microbes near an organ that infections can seriously harm — which is why mascara and liquid eyeliner get roughly three months, the strictest window of any category, and should never be shared or revived with water. Bin any eye product after an eye infection. Your inventory stays private: dates are computed in your browser and never uploaded.