Topic: Manufacture Dates
This time of year with product moving so slowly, it's good to be careful when checking the manufacture dates on what we buy. Some are very easy - Estee Lauder brands (EL, Mac, Px, La Mer, Clinique, Origins, etc) follow the same three digit pattern: Location, Month, Date. The second character will be the month the item was made:
1 = January, 2 = February, 3 = March, 4 = April , 5 = May, 6 = June, 7 = July , 8 = August, 9 = September, A = October, B = November , C = December.
The last # is the 200X year it was made and the first letter is the production plant it came out of. So assuming we pick up an eyeshadow labeled B26, we know it came from B plant in February 2006. However, if the same code is on a foundation bottle, we know to pick another one off the shelf or throw it away.
L'Oreal lines (Shu, Lancome, the Body Shop, etc) have a completely different, and much more confusing code, while groups like Guerlian and Dior follow ANOTHER set coding systems. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure them all out, but I recently found a website that helps. On http://datecalculator.googlepages.com/englishhomepage you select the company from a drop down menu then type in the code on the back/bottom of the product. The calculator then pops out the date and month of manufacture. If you're on a cell phone, go to http://datecalculator.googlepages.com/mobile to download all the data to your phone!
