Why do some 'clean' lip balms and blushes go off so fast?
Over on r/Sephora, someone's lip balm from a 'clean' brand started smelling sweet and sour before it was a year old, and it put them off the whole line. They admitted it hadn't had much use, but asked whether others were seeing the same.
What the replies said
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Plenty of similar stories: blushes, glosses and bronzer sticks from clean-marketed brands smelling off within months, a few even arriving that way.
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Several people now avoid 'clean' labels or buy minis so they can finish them in time.
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Storage came up: lip products kept warm in a pocket or car seemed to turn faster.
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A recurring line: preservatives were cast as villains, and now people miss them.
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One commenter noted the balm wore a clean seal yet used BHT, an antioxidant some retailers' avoid lists name, a sign of how fuzzy these labels are. The mood was firmly anti-'clean', with a side of "stop hoarding".
Desk note A sour or crayon-like smell in oily products often points to rancidity, meaning the oils are oxidising. That is a different failure from microbes: antioxidants slow the first, preservatives handle the second. Either way, an off smell or separation means stop using it. Under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, products that last longer than 30 months carry a period-after-opening symbol (the small open jar), which is worth checking at purchase.
How long do your lip products usually last before you finish them, or bin them?
Original thread: r/Sephora — clean beauty strikes again · Source: EUR-Lex 1223/2009
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