Have you ever been doing a deep housecleaning and found a bottle of hair developer in the back of a cupboard? Sometimes we can forget we’ve purchased something until we accidentally stumble upon it one day.
At first, you might be feeling great joy at being able to use a product you forgot about. Then comes the doubt about whether it would be safe to use the product.
If you’ve purchased some hair developer or have found some you purchased a while ago, you might be wondering if there is an expiration date.
After all, the last thing you want to do is use the hair developer if it has expired.
So, if you want to know about the expiration date of hair developers and how long they last open or unopened, you’ve come to the right place.
What Is A Hair Developer?
Hair developer is a product that you mix with dye in order to activate it. It’s used for coloring your hair, as well as removing color from your hair by mixing it with bleach.
The process of using hair developer involves mixing it with the dye you want to apply to your hair.
You then apply this mixture to your roots and let it sit on your head for several minutes before rinsing out any excess. This will help to remove the unwanted color from your hair.
It helps the color penetrate the cuticle in order for it to dye your hair.
Does Hair Developer Expire?
So now that you know what a hair developer is, it is time to answer the important question. Does hair developer expire?
The short answer is yes! There are many different types of hair developers available today, but not all of them last forever.
Some of them only last a few months, while others can last up to two years.
If you’re looking for a hair developer that lasts longer than most, you should consider purchasing a good quality brand.
Related: Does Permanent Hair Color Fade?
How Long Does Hair Developer Last?
There are so many factors that determine how long a hair developer lasts. For example, the type of hair developer you purchase.
In general, a hair developer that is stored properly in a cool dry place can last anywhere from six months to three years.
However, some hair developers expire much sooner than that.
The general rule when purchasing a hair developer is once it has been opened, you need to use it within six months. An unopened hair developer can last for around 3 years.
When you’ve mixed your hair developer with hair dye or bleach, then this mixture only lasts for about half an hour. After this time, you should not use the hair developer any longer.
As we said before, some hair developers expire much quicker. So whilst it may not have been three years, it is a good idea to check to see if your hair developer has expired before using it.
How To Tell If Your Hair Developer Has Expired
There are a few ways that you can check to see if your hair developer has gone bad. Here are some of them.
The first way to check if your hair developer has expired is to look at the consistency of the hair developer.
If you are using a liquid developer it can be quite easy to spot that the developer has gone out of date. You can tell that a liquid hair developer has expired because it will be runnier than usual.
In terms of consistency, there are also ways of being able to tell if creamy developers have expired.
This is usually quite easy to do so as when a creamy hair developer expires, they lose their creaminess.
Another way to immediately tell if your hair developer is out of date is by its toxic chemical smell. This might be the first thing you notice when opening your hair developer.
This method of checking if your hair developer has expired works best if you’ve previously used it.
This way you’ll be able to compare the smell of the developer now to what it was like before.
You might notice that the developer smells more chemically than usual, this is a clear sign that the hair developer has expired.
Depending on how you store your developer can affect how long it will last. If your hair developer has been exposed to heat for long periods of time, it is likely to expire a lot faster than usual.
You can often tell that your developer has expired due to heat through its appearance.
If your hair developer has a yellowish color to it, then it has expired. You should not use a hair developer that has started to turn orange.
The last way to notice an expired hair developer is by looking at the container. If there is any swelling in the container then the hair developer has expired.
How To Store Hair Developer
When storing hair developer, make sure to keep it away from heat sources like radiators and ovens. These are great places where hair developers can go bad quickly.
The reason why these are such bad places to store hair developers is that they cause the hair developer to expand.
As the hair developer expands, it makes the developer harder to work with. It’s also important to keep hair developers away from light. Light causes the developer to become discolored over time.
If you want to keep your hair developer fresh, you should always try to keep it in a cool dry place. Make sure that the area where you store your hair developer is well ventilated.
Related: Does Hair Dyes Expire?
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, hair developers do expire! As long as it is stored in the correct place, open hair developer expires after six months and unopened hair developer expires after three years.
It is really important that you do not use expired hair developers as this can be bad for your hair.
If you use an expired hair developer it can lead to the color not staying on your hair evenly, it can leave your hair damaged or brittle, it can lead to hair loss, and it can cause itching or infections.
We hope that this article helped you learn about hair developers’ expiration dates. If you found this guide useful, please share it with others who might benefit from reading this guide. Thank you for reading!