This article was originally posted on Reddit on June 6, 2021. I’ve replaced a few links with archive links and made minor formatting changes and corrections, but otherwise haven’t done any editing or updating. Some links are broken, and some of the information in this post may be outdated by now, although I imagine most of it should still be true.

[Guide] The expiration date of Japanese products (shelf life and PAO)

I often see people asking about the expiration date (in terms of both shelf life and PAO, or period after opening) for Japanese products, so I did some research to try and clear up anything I realized I wasn’t entirely sure about. Specific sources aren’t indicated if I’m referring to more than one website (see References section).

Disclaimers: This entire post is pertaining to products made for the Japanese market, and does not account for any potential differences for products made for other countries, even if they’re made in Japan and are from Japanese brands. Also, I’m not an expert and I’m not affiliated with the beauty industry in any way. I’m just a skincare enthusiast who happens to be fluent in Japanese, so if anyone better informed has anything to add or correct, I would appreciate it very much!

Contents

• TL;DR, or the rule of thumb
• By product type
• How to determine the manufacturing date
• Stable storage conditions
• Why most Japanese products don’t have expiration dates
• References
• Laws

TL;DR, or the rule of thumb

Japanese cosmetics are not required to indicate expiration dates if the product has a shelf life of at least 3 years unopened starting from the manufacturing date or import date, under stable storage conditions. If the manufacturing date is printed on the product, it will often be in the format YYYYMMDD or similar. Opened cosmetics should generally be used within 3–6 months or at least within 1 year after opening, depending on the type of product (higher water content = shorter PAO), unless otherwise indicated. Watch out for any changes in the color, texture, or smell. Note that both the shelf life and PAO can be affected by storage conditions. Also, the shelf life and PAO indicate the periods of time during which the product is guaranteed to work as advertised, and may often actually be fine to use after that (at your own risk).

In other words: The shelf life and PAO are guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. This is especially true if they aren’t specified for that product. You might want to be more strict about it for products with active ingredients (including sunscreen), anything that can get in your eyes, and anything that doesn’t contain preservatives, but for the most part, if it looks fine and it smells fine, it’s probably fine to keep using it.

ETA again (in January 2022) that I bought a book by a cosmetic chemist YouTuber—he seems more honest and straightforward than most influencers so I thought of it as a kind of donation to help support him—and he says that based on his experience with product stability testing, he would say that most products are safe to use for 1 year after opening, but that you should stop using it if you observe any changes in appearance or smell. A couple of more advanced books I have mention the 3 year shelf life, but don’t seem to specifically discuss PAO at all. They pretty much just say to be observant about the product’s appearance and smell, and to make sure the formulation isn’t separating out or anything.

By product type

Shelf life (unopened): Starting from the manufacturing date or the import date, under stable storage conditions, unless otherwise indicated.

Approximate PAO (opened): Recommended Period After Opening starting from the day you open the product, under stable storage conditions, unless otherwise indicated.

The PAO varies depending on the source (and between different formulas, I’m sure), so I’m giving ballpark figures based on the multiple sources I’ve found, prioritizing articles that are more specific about the types of products they’re referring to. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot (or maybe even all) of the PAOs are the same as or similar to any other country, but I’m basing this exclusively on articles in Japanese in case there are any differences.

Again, the higher the water content, the shorter the PAO (with mascara and liquid eyeliner set shorter for eye safety). The PAO also tends to be shorter for “clean beauty” products (or “organic” and/or “natural” and/or “additive-free” products in Japanese marketing terms) that contain no preservatives, which often do give expiration dates.

Here are the changes you should look out for, according to the articles I’ve seen (linked in the References section):

• All products: Anything that starts smelling funny could be contaminated with water or another substance, leading to bacteria growth, and you should immediately cease using it. This is something we should especially keep in mind regarding any products we keep in our shower or bathroom.
• Skincare and other liquid/cream products: Any changes in the color, smell, or texture (e.g., is it separating out into liquids/solids, water/oil, etc.?). Cloudiness in products that should be clear could be a warning sign, too. If it seems okay but you’re concerned about whether you really should be using it on your face, you can try patch testing it on the inside of your upper arm to check how your skin reacts to it. Don’t worry about the excess on the container’s opening getting crusty if the actual product inside the container is fine.
  • Oil cleansers and face oils: Products using natural oils can partially solidify and become cloudy in low temperatures, but they will go back to their normal appearance and consistency in warm room temperature conditions and are fine to use.
  • Sunscreen: Be extra careful if you’ve left it in a hot car or in direct sunlight, etc.
    • ETA (in January 2022) that the cosmetic chemist YouTuber I mentioned earlier says that some additional signs for sunscreen are that it might have more of a white cast than it used to, or that it used to be white but has started to turn yellow.
• Makeup: If the product has dried out or otherwise changed in texture and won’t apply the way it used to, that’s likely a sign that it’s expired.
• Lip products: While lip products should last up to 1 year with stable storage conditions, the reality is that we would most likely get saliva, food, etc. on the product. Look out for any changes in the color or smell, and condensation in the case of lipsticks. Wiping off the applicator or surface of the product after each use can help the prodcut last longer.
• Powder products: Warning signs include the surface hardening or cracking, lowered color payoff, shimmers/glitter becoming dull, etc.
• Fragrances (perfumes, colognes): According to Shiseido, because perfumes and colognes consist of fragrance and alcohol, it’s natural for the alcohol to gradually vaporize, making the product darker in color and stronger-smelling. They should be safe to use as long as the change in smell doesn’t bother you.
• Product samples: According to Dr. Ci:Labo, samples are usually in simplified packaging and may not necessarily last as long as the full product, hence the shorter shelf life and PAO. This MyNavi News article, while not as specific, also suggests that sample pouches should be used as soon as possible. I think this is important to note because you probably wouldn’t know what the product is supposed to be like.

And you would obviously want to cease using anything that causes any redness, itchiness, swelling, etc. But as I mention later, in practice, a lot of products seem to be fine to use after the typical PAO under stable storage conditions; it’s just that the safety/stability of the product isn’t officially guaranteed after that point.

Personally I’m more willing to overshoot (admittedly by a lot) with makeup products, because I don’t wear makeup every day and there’s just no way I can possibly finish using anything within the recommended PAOs. But again, that’s 100% at my own risk. I do tearfully discard any products that have changed in color/texture/smell, including liquid eyeliners that started drying out before I could get a lot of uses out of them (an especially heartbreaking farewell goes to my excessive UZU eyeliner collection—I got way too excited when they were first released), and haven’t had any problems so far.

How to determine the manufacturing date

This is going to depend on each brand’s specific practices, but the key thing to remember (especially if you’re from a region that uses a different system) is that dates are formatted as YYYY/MM/DD in Japan. In some cases they might use the Japanese calendar for the year, in which this year is Reiwa 3, but I imagine it would usually be the Gregorian calendar, in which this year is 2021. Supposedly the best way to find out is to contact the distributor or manufacturer and to give them the batch code, but I realize this could be an intimidating process if you don’t speak Japanese (and it’s honestly kind of a hassle even if you do). It can be hit or miss anyway, because apparently not all brands will actually give you the manufacturing date.

Here are some formatting examples from brands that do print the manufacturing date (which, again, they aren’t required to if the product’s shelf life is at least 3 years):

• Bioré, Bioré UV, and other Kao products: The manufacturing date is printed or embossed with the format YYYYMMDD. This does not apply for all of their products, however; they say they’re doing this on a trial basis to meet consumer inquiries and for exporting overseas.
• Chifure: The manufacturing date is printed or embossed with the format YYMMX or YYMMXX, where X or XX is the lot number for that month (e.g., 18064 = the 4th batch made in June 2018, and 190310 = the 10th batch made in March 2019).
• Fancl: The manufacturing date, shelf life, and PAO are printed on all Fancl products because their products don’t contain preservatives. Unfortunately the shelf life and PAO are only in Japanese on the packaging, based on what I have on hand; I don’t know whether the “Freshness Period” listed on the North American website would always be the same for the Japanese products or not, but it seems to be the best source unless you’re willing to refer to a machine-translated version of the Japanese website. The manufacturing date is printed with the format YYYY.MM.DD on the product I have on hand.

Another way to tell whether a product was manufactured within the past 3 years or not is to guess based on their packaging. As most of you know by now, Japanese products are reformulated or at least repackaged fairly frequently. I think we all tend to worry the most about sunscreen; major sunscreen brands seem to reformulate every 2 years or so, and can sometimes even repackage annually. There are also a lot of limited-edition designs, as well as products that are limited editions entirely. The brand’s official website (and/or their official social media acounts) should have images of the newest version of the product, and RatzillaCosme (in English; fewer products but generally more thorough in covering repackagings) and @cosme (in Japanese; more products but might be hard to navigate, and don’t pay too much attention to the overall ratings and rankings because they’re heavily affected by incentivized reviews) are useful resources for checking for previous versions of the same product.

So right now, as of 2021 (and let me know if I’ve somehow screwed up my math):

• An unopened product with a formulation that was released in 2019 or later is definitely safe to use for at least 1 year, because it would have been made in 2019 or later.
• An unopened product with a formulation that was released in 2017 or earlier but has not been reformulated since should be safe to use if purchased from a trusted seller, because it could have been made at any point after the release date.
• An unopened product with a formulation that was released in 2017 or earlier and has been reformulated in 2018 or later could possibly be expired, because it would have been made before 2018.

And so on. (I’m not going to say “definitely expired” because I’m sure many or even most unopened products with no specified expiration date would be safe to use beyond the 3 year mark, provided that they are kept in stable storage conditions.)

There are also websites that can give you manufacturing dates based on the batch code, but I don’t know of any that are based in Japan, and I don’t know whether the dates they display are actually applicable for products made for Japan or not. They also don’t seem to be officially endorsed by any of the brands they cover, so we don’t know for a fact whether they would be accurate for any country. I’ve also seen blog entries by people who claim to have figured out how to determine the manufacturing date based on the batch codes for specific brands, and even though some of them seem to make sense, they’re all unofficial sources and can’t be guaranteed to be correct.

Stable storage conditions

The shelf life and PAO I’ve discussed assume that the product is stored under stable storage conditions. This means the following:

• No extreme temperatures/humidity (store at room temperature)
  • According to this VoCE article, safety/stability testing is generally performed under the assumption that the product will be stored at 15–25ºC, or 30ºC at the highest = 59–77ºF, or 86ºF at the highest.
  • Aerosol products can explode at temperatures above 40ºC = 104ºF. They can also explode or leak if the can rusts, so high humidity conditions and long-term storage in general should also be avoided.
  • According to Shiseido, foaming cleansers can disintegrate at temperatures above 45ºC = 113ºF.
  • According to Shiseido, lipsticks melt at around 45–50ºC = 113–122ºF.
  • Any products containing alcohol can explode or cause the container to inflate at extremely high temperatures.
• No major fluctuations in temperature
  • Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a great idea to refrigerate skincare or other products, even if it’s just for the temporary cooling sensation in the summer, since it would experience large fluctuations in temperature going in and out of the fridge. Every source I’ve seen that mentions refrigeration cautions against it. I would avoid refrigerating anything unless it’s specifically encouraged for that particular product. If you do refrigerate a product, you should make sure to keep it refrigerated as much as possible (i.e., put it back in the fridge ASAP every time you use it).
• No direct sunlight
• Opened products should have their lids closed completely to prevent oxidation
  • Ideally we should be wiping off any excess that might get in the way.
• No contamination
  • Not getting water in products, using spatulas and other tools as necessary, keeping makeup brushes/sponges clean, etc.
  • That said, you don’t need to be paranoid about using spatulas for products in jars if no spatula is provided, because they should be formulated to be safe to use directly with your fingers for the PAO described above. Just make sure to wash your hands before you use the product.

Why most Japanese products don’t have expiration dates

According to Japanese law, cosmetics are not required to give an expiration date if the product is stable and safe to use for more than 3 years after the manufacturing date or import date under stable storage conditions. (I’ve intentionally mistranslated this as “at least 3 years” up to this point to avoid giving the impression that I mean 4+ years.)

To give examples outside of Japan for some perspective, according to the US FDA, “[t]here are no U.S. laws or regulations that require cosmetics to have specific shelf lives or have expiration dates on their labels,” and manufacturers are merely responsible for determining the shelf life of their products. Taiwan seems to have the same three-year rule; it’s 30 months in the EU and ASEAN countries, though the EU also requires a PAO for products that have a shelf life longer than 30 months; and Korea seems to require an expiration date and/or PAO and/or manufacturing date for all products, if I’m understanding my source correctly. (I’ve posted links and excerpts in the Laws section.)

As a cosmetic scientist points out in this VoCE article, the shelf life and PAO are the periods of time in which safety can be guaranteed. There are products that end up being safe to use for much longer than the supposed shelf life and PAO, especially if they don’t contain any water. The scientist in the article claims to own a cream that he opened more than 10 years ago and is still safe to use; I don’t know about that, but then again, I too have had a huge jar of petroleum jelly for roughly 5 years in the past, and it never gave me any problems to the end.

I don’t know how they decided on the three-year rule, and this is just my personal perspective, but not indicating a specific expiration date and encouraging consumers to base their judgment on the color/texture/smell can help us avoid being overly cautious with products that are actually still safe to use, and thus avoid creating excess waste. Conversely, it can also help account for any variations in the storage conditions, which can protect both consumers and companies (in that companies would probably be less liable for problems that can be beyond their control). For example, if your sunscreen has degraded earlier than it should after having left it in your car, an expiration date could potentially give you a false sense of safety.

But while this approach can make sense for products we’ve already bought, it kind of leaves us dead in the water regarding products we’ve yet to buy. My tips would be to buy from sellers that you think are trustworthy and are likely to have high turnover rates, and, if you want to be absolutely sure the product was recently manufactured, to make sure to buy the product in the latest packaging.

Edit: I added notes based on a couple of books I bought after I wrote the post, added to the references section below. (January 2022)

Edit 2: Added info about sunscreen mists/sprays and aerosol sprays. (February 2023)

Edit 3: Added 1 year note about sunscreen. Sumisho posted a video where he tests some sunscreens (mostly from Shiseido or Kao/Kanebo) that were opened last year vs. newly repurchased this year, and most of them seemed like they’re still fine to use. This is going to vary wildly depending on the product and how it’s been stored, though, and there are some major caveats regarding his testing methods as well, e.g., he used PMMA plates and UV-sensitive labels, not human skin. (May 2023)

References

• General information (and ETA who the information is coming from)
  • Japan Cosmetic Industry Association (JCIA) 化粧品Q&A / 化粧品を保管するときに注意していただきたいこと
  • Biteki 追いUV対策にも重宝！日焼け止めスプレーおすすめ人気13選 (June 15, 2022) – Sunscreen mists and sprays. Not sure about source
  • All About Beauty 城後紗織「化粧品の使用期限と捨て時のアイテム別見極め方……知らないと危険！」 (July 3, 2020) – Written by a beauty journalist
  • Biteki コスメの捨て時は、開封後3カ月!? 使用期限を知って、おうち時間にコスメのお片付けしませんか？ (May 30, 2020) – Interviews a beauty consultant who formerly worked in product development and marketing at a major cosmetics company
  • Elle Girl 今こそ“コスメ断捨離”ですっきり！ コスメコンシェルジュに聞く、使わない化粧品の捨て方＆収納のコツ (May 7, 2020) – Interviews the chair of the Japan Cosmetic Licensing Association (JCLA), which honestly sounds more important than it is; it’s basically a for-profit accreditation thing
  • VoCE 10年使えるクリームも!? 化粧品開発者が教えるリアルな【コスメ消費期限】 (January 14, 2019) – Interviews a “beauty scientist,” which I understood to mean cosmetic scientist, formerly of Kosé and Albion. ETA that this seems the most sensible and reliable to me among the magazine articles
  • MyNavi News 栗田智久「化粧品の使用期限はいつまで? 未開封なら期限過ぎでも使用可能??」 (March 28, 2018) – Interviews a cosmetic dermatologist/cosmetic surgeon/plastic surgeon
  • Maquia 和田美穂「使わずに眠ってるコスメ、大丈夫？知っておきたいコスメの使用期限」 (January 6, 2017) – Interviews two people; this seems to be an excerpt and I’m not sure who one of them is, but the other is a skinfluencer
  • Nikkei Style 畑中麻里「眠る化粧品 まだ使える？」 (October 4, 2016) – Interviews a dermatologist
  • Anan 古屋美枝「コスメはいつが“捨て時”？ わかりにくい「コスメ寿命」を指南！」 (December 13, 2016) – Interviews the JCLA chair, who apparently didn’t have this title at the time—oops, same person—and a hair/makeup artist
• Specific brands/companies (if they give more information than the basic rule of thumb)
  • Bioré and Bioré UV (Kao) ビオレに関するQ&A / ビオレ UVに関するQ&A
  • Chifure 品質・保管
  • Dr. Ci:Labo 化粧品の使用期限は？開封前と開封後の違いもご紹介！ (October 13, 2020)
  • Dr. Phil Cosmetics (Kosé) 化粧品に使用期限はあるの？ (March 12, 2019) – Written by another All About Beauty writer who formerly worked in R&D at a cosmetics company
  • Fancl 化粧品全般 | よくあるご質問
  • HABA よくあるご質問
  • Kanebo 商品の品質と保管に関するご質問
  • POLA 使用期限と保管 | 化粧品について
  • Shiseido 使用期限・保管方法について / 容器・表示について – Their FAQ section is pretty extensive
• Books
  • Sumishō, Saitan de bihada ni naru tameni shitte okitai skincare taizen (Tokyo: Kadokawa, 2021), 121. (すみしょう『最短で美肌になるために知っておきたい スキンケア大全』) – Cosmetic chemist YouTuber
  • Tetsuji Hirao, Ishi/iryō staff no tame no keshōhin handbook (Tokyo: Chugai-Igakusha, 2016), 86–87. (平尾哲二『医師・医療スタッフのための化粧品ハンドブック』) – Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiba Institute of Science
  • Mitsuo Uyama, Miyoji Okabe, and Issei Hisamitsu, Cosmetic Ingredients Guide 7th edition (Tokyo: Fragrance Journal, 2020), Q&A sec. 6 questions 76–77, books.apple.com. (宇山侊男・岡部美代治・久光一誠『化粧品成分ガイド』第7版)

Laws

• Japan
  • Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 医薬品、医療機器等の品質、有効性及び安全性の確保等に関する法律第五十条第十四号等の規定に基づき使用の期限を記載しなければならない医薬品等(◆昭和55年09月26日厚生省告示第166号)
  • Cosmetic Fair Trade Conference 化粧品の表示に関する公正競争規約施行規則

使用の期限第6条　規約第4条第6号に規定する「厚生労働大臣が定める化粧品」とは、医薬品医療機器等法第61条第5号の規定に基づき厚生労働大臣が指定する化粧品とする。ただし、製造又は輸入後適切な保存条件のもとで3年を超えて性状及び品質が安定な化粧品を除く。2 規約第4条第6号に規定する「使用の期限」は、「使用の期限」等の文字を表示し、前項に規定する化粧品の性状及び品質の安定を保証しうる期限について、月単位まで表示する。例　使用の期限平成13年4月　　使用の期限2001.4

• South Korea
  • Korean Law Information Center Cosmetics Act – See mentions of the “use-by date” or “best-before date.” It seems like manufacturers are required to list the manufacturing date and/or expiration date and/or PAO in all cases, if I’m understanding this correctly.
  • the klog Alexis Diaz “A Complete Guide to Korean Skin Care Expiration Dates” (November 7, 2017) – Not regarding the laws, but just FYI. It tells you how to read the expiration dates/manufacturing dates on Korean products.
• Taiwan
  • Taiwan FDA Promulgate the amendment of The Indication Requirement for the Label, Leaflet, and Packaging of Cosmetic Products – “The ‘storage method and expiration date’ for permanent hair perming agents, hair dyes, products with enzyme, products with vitamin A, B1, C, E and their derivatives, salt products, and the normal storage product under three-year stability, shall be indicated.” (So the law seems similar to what’s enforced in Japan.)
• ASEAN
  • ASEAN Cosmetics Directive ASEAN Consumer Information Handbook on Cosmetic Products (vol. 1, June 2013; PDF) – “Under the ACD, cosmetic dealers are required to comply with the following in order to market a cosmetic product in ASEAN […] Label their products clearly. The label must reflect key information such as the product’s name, ingredients, country of manufacture and expiry date (if the product has a durability of less than 30 months) or manufacturing date” (p. 5).
• USA
  • US FDA Shelf Life and Expiration Dating of Cosmetics (August 24, 2020) – “There are no U.S. laws or regulations that require cosmetics to have specific shelf lives or have expiration dates on their labels. However, manufacturers are responsible for making sure their products are safe. FDA considers determining a product’s shelf life to be part of the manufacturer’s responsibility.”
  • The Code of Federal Regulations Sections for Cosmetics Labeling (CFR Title 21, Part 701) doesn’t seem to have any mentions of the manufacturing date, either.
• EU and UK
  • Cosmetics Europe Understanding the Cosmetics Regulation – “Labelling requirements include […] The date until which the cosmetic product, stored under appropriate conditions, will continue to fulfil its initial function / The date of minimum durability (if less than 30 months)”
  • thefactsabout.co.uk Understanding your label

Any cosmetic product that has a lifespan of less than 30 months must show a "Best before the end of" date. This can be shown using the "egg timer" symbol followed by the date, or the words, which can be abbreviated to BBE or Exp, followed by the date.

For products with a lifespan longer than 30 months, cosmetic products must show a “period after opening” time. That is, the time in months when the product will remain in good condition after the consumer has used the product for the first time. A symbol of an open cream jar is usually used instead of words and the time in months can be inside the symbol or alongside it.

Some products do not require any of these times to be shown because the product will not deteriorate in normal use. Examples are aerosols, which are effectively sealed, perfumes, which have a high alochol content, or single use packs.