

I’m about to tell you something you’ve definitely heard before. Yeah, yeah, it’s about wearing sunscreen in winter.
Just because you’re not spending your days lying on the beach or covered in sweat (oh, was that just me?), doesn’t mean the sun isn’t damaging your skin and increasing your skin cancer risk.
The message is clear: make putting on sunscreen part of your morning routine. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen that’s SPF 30 or higher and apply to your face and all areas of your skin not covered by clothing. Why though?
In Queensland, the UVR Index is above three for the majority of the day all year round (even winter), meaning you’ll need to use a combination of sun protection behaviours, including sunscreen, whenever you’re heading outside. Rant over.
We’ve all heard it time and time again. Just like we’ve all had the ‘slip, slop, slap, seek, slide’ sun-safe behaviours song stuck in our heads since primary school.
(Quick recap if you missed it: slip on protective clothing, slop on sunscreen and slap on a wide-brimmed hat, seek shade and slide on some sunnies). But what if the sunscreen you’re planning on slopping on has expired?

It's true. Like a near-empty bottle of milk or the chicken you bought but forgot to cook, sunscreen can go off.
Keep reading for exactly where to find your sunscreen's expiry date, why it's important, how to tell if yours has gone off and the best ways to store sunscreen to get your money's worth.
Does sunscreen expire?
Why, yes. Yes it does.
The short version is: sunscreen contains a combination of chemicals or active ingredients that work to protect you from the sun. Over time, these chemicals and ingredients degrade and therefore can't do their job to the full extent listed in the job description.