According to regulations put forth by the European Union, all cosmetic products must have an expiration date, unless the shelf life is over 2.5 years, in which case a Period After Opening symbol is mandatory. The PAO symbol looks like a small jar with a number inside, which signifies the number of months a product is safe for use after unsealed. This means that when you see the open jar symbol on your product, it was designed to be free of mold and bacteria for at least 30 months.
The 30-month/2.5-year duration is the time it takes for a typical cosmetic product to be blended, bottled, freighted, warehoused, transported, and eventually sold. Please keep in mind, there is no regulation to ensure a product is sold within this timeline, it is just a guideline.
When it comes to long shelf lives, there is first of all a need for high concentrations of preservatives and stabilizers that do nothing helpful for the skin. At worst, these ingredients are potential harmful- which is why so many people seek clean beauty formulations. Key active ingredients also break down over time no matter the packaging. A formula containing water molecules will begin to break down (oxidize) as soon as it is blended. A product that sits on the shelf for 3, 4, or even 10 years - which is not unheard of in the beauty industry –is left with only trace amounts of active ingredients by the time it is purchased and opened.
In defiance of the industry standard, NUORI products are freshly blended and marked with an actual expiration date, rather than the open jar symbol. You can easily find this date on the outer box, bottle and tube, indicating our commitment to potent and pure skincare. We call this our ‘Fight For Fresh’- and we believe if making fresh skincare was easy, everyone would do it.