If you don't plan to use it regularly, you may want to choose a smaller dose to prevent it from expiring. Without opening it, the shelf life of vitamin C is from 1 year to 18 months. Using vitamins that are past their expiration date isn't likely to harm you, but it might not help you much either. Vitamins tend to lose their potency over time, by 20 to 40 percent.
Some nutrients, such as folic acid and vitamin B-12, lose about 10 percent of their potency after six months, according to the United Natural Products Alliance. Vitamin A loses about 40 percent of its potency after the same amount of time. Some manufacturers add more nutrients than are actually listed on the package to help compensate for this loss of potency or offer conservative expiration dates. Even so, it's a good idea to replace vitamins when they're past their expiration date to get the maximum benefits.
It is important to differentiate between an expired product and a product that is no longer effective. Although the vitamin C serum loses its effectiveness once it is oxidized, the product does not harm the skin until its expiration date, approximately one year after its manufacture. For best results, we recommend using the vitamin C serum 3 to 6 months after purchase, when it is fresh and most effective. The rate at which vitamin C breaks down depends on several factors, and even expired vitamin C is safe, although it may not be effective.
If they don't expire at the same time, you might be left with a potent vitamin in a not-so-tasty snack. Known as one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, vitamin C helps combat the harmful effects of the sun's rays and other environmental factors. You can use your homemade vitamin C solution by dipping a cotton ball into the mixture and rubbing it on your face and neck. For greater potency, store vitamin supplements in their original container, preferably in a dark or opaque container.
While it's probably not dangerous to take vitamin C after its expiration date, it will almost certainly have lost its potency. Even vitamins and supplements have an expiration date, although it may not appear on the package. Avoid storing vitamin supplements in warm places, such as the refrigerator or microwave, or in humid places, such as the bathroom cabinet. In other words, it's not necessarily bad to take expired vitamin C (unless it contains other ingredients that pose a risk once they've been broken down), but you probably won't get the full amount of the nutrient that's on the package.
Vitamin C, with its powerful antioxidants, is the skin's first line of defense, as it brightens, clarifies and protects. Vitamin supplements typically have an expiration date of about one year from the time they are manufactured. The Timeless Ferulic Acid Serum with 20% Vitamin C + E is packaged in a special opaque, airless bottle to protect the integrity of the product. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamin C, and the highest concentration is found in grapefruit, sweet yellow peppers, kiwi, broccoli, chilies, and vegetables, such as kale, parsley and spinach with mustard.
Even the potency of vitamin C consumed as a food source is subject to external factors such as cooking temperature, exposure to oxygen, the handling of the particular food and age.
