5 Signs Your Sunscreen Is Expired

Check the expiration date If the bottle has a printed date and it has passed, the sunscreen is no longer effective. Toss it immediately.

Assume three years from purchase If there is no expiration date, sunscreen is generally good for about three years from when you bought it. Past that, the active ingredients degrade.

Look for texture changes If the sunscreen is separated, watery, clumpy, or has an unusual smell like paint or chemicals, it has expired. Throw it away.

Trust your uncertainty If you cannot remember when you bought it and it has been more than one summer, replace it. Sunburn costs more than a new bottle.

Ditch old half-empty tubes That tube from two years ago belongs in the trash, even if it looks fine. The protection is gone.