Cosmetic Expiration
Find when an opened cosmetic expires from its PAO date.
About Cosmetic Expiration
Adding the PAO months to the opening date gives the expiry month, then the months left are compared to today. Pastes and creams grow bacteria and lose actives with time, so the PAO date guards skin and eyes.
Formula
Cosmetic Expiration
Expiry = open month + PAO months (carried across years)
- PAO
- Period After Opening marked on the jar
Worked example
With the default values below, Cosmetic Expiration returns Expiry Date of 9/2026. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Months after openingone of 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months
- 6 months
- Opened monthone of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
- March
- Opened yearminimum 2,000
- 2,026
- Current monthone of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
- June
- Current yearminimum 2,000
- 2,026
Results
- Expiry Date
- 9/2026
- Months Left
- 3.0
- Status
- Safe to use
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Cosmetic Expiration
- 3Expiry Date= 9/2026
- 4Months Left= 3.0
- 5Status= Safe to use
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Cosmetic Expiration calculated?
Expiry = open month + PAO months (carried across years) Adding the PAO months to the opening date gives the expiry month, then the months left are compared to today.
Why does Cosmetic Expiration matter?
Pastes and creams grow bacteria and lose actives with time, so the PAO date guards skin and eyes.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Months after opening, Opened month, Opened year, Current month, Current year. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.