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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,936
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

The only thing I worry about is lipstick, I never order in the summer.  I do have a PO box, mainly because our house box would have to be one mile away on the county road.  With all the eBay, QVC, prescriptions, etc., that we get, its just smart to go to town a couple times a week.  It costs us 108.00 a year in a small town. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,151
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

I worry too about how hot or cold makeup or skincare or meds get as those ups or usps or fedex trucks don't have air conditioning. 

 

I put things in the refrigerator like makeup or skincare that gets delivered in the summer so it can normalize before I use them.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,306
Registered: ‎10-01-2011

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

Cold is much less worrisome than heat, @BabyYoda.  One of the stability tests normally performed is a "freeze thaw" test.  It's main purpose is to check for emulsion stability but I'd think a company adding a pricey active would consider that as well.  

Contributor
Posts: 61
Registered: ‎01-13-2011

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

I have had problems with beauty products sitting in the sun all day, They were bad or leaked out slowly all over the place. If I can I try not to order in the hot summer months but sometimes a deal is too good to pass up and  I try to watch the mail if possible.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,151
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox


@Bella Carro wrote:

Cold is much less worrisome than heat, @BabyYoda.  One of the stability tests normally performed is a "freeze thaw" test.  It's main purpose is to check for emulsion stability but I'd think a company adding a pricey active would consider that as well.  


 

I once received a Dr. Denese face cream that was pretty frozen with ice in it last winter. I called her company and was told it will be fine. Well it wasn't. They told me they heat test their products as well as test below a certain level of cold. I don't think they test for below freezing.  It thawed out but never really was the same consistency. Seemed all the water separated from the cream. Parts of the cream were hard.

 

But in the summer I got her cream and it was a very hot day I received it and who knows how hot it got in that UPS truck and it was fine. I put it in the refrigerator and it still kept its same consistency. I had no problem with it. 

 

I still am concerned about the extreme tempertures while the products travel in the heat or cold. I am ordering most of my kits/creams/makeup now so I don't have to order them in the summer or dead of winter. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 39,562
Registered: ‎08-23-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

Depends on the items, of course, but it's just easier to have packages delivered to my office.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,742
Registered: ‎10-30-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox

@RinaRina @Texasmouse

 

Same with me. I have a PO box for my online purchases only. It's so much easier and they are quite inexpensive to rent.

 

Everyone offers them nowadays so you are not stuck having to rent one from the post office.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,306
Registered: ‎10-01-2011

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox


@BabyYoda wrote:

@Bella Carro wrote:

Cold is much less worrisome than heat, @BabyYoda.  One of the stability tests normally performed is a "freeze thaw" test.  It's main purpose is to check for emulsion stability but I'd think a company adding a pricey active would consider that as well.  


 

I once received a Dr. Denese face cream that was pretty frozen with ice in it last winter. I called her company and was told it will be fine. Well it wasn't. They told me they heat test their products as well as test below a certain level of cold. I don't think they test for below freezing.  It thawed out but never really was the same consistency. Seemed all the water separated from the cream. Parts of the cream were hard.

 

But in the summer I got her cream and it was a very hot day I received it and who knows how hot it got in that UPS truck and it was fine. I put it in the refrigerator and it still kept its same consistency. I had no problem with it. 

 

I still am concerned about the extreme tempertures while the products travel in the heat or cold. I am ordering most of my kits/creams/makeup now so I don't have to order them in the summer or dead of winter. 


@BabyYoda, if you still have the cream that froze you might try your hand at "high shear" blending.  If you have a stick (immersion) blender you can do this.  Put the cream in a sterilized deep and narrow container so that the immersion blender is immersed.  Turn that bad boy on and whirl back into an emulsion.  Sixty seconds should do the trick.  If not, you can try heating the cream to 70C (in a water bath) and then mixing.  If it looks like that is working, cool the mixture by putting container into an ice bath and stirring, not with stck blender, until it gets below 40C.  Voila, you've emulsified the cream.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,697
Registered: ‎09-27-2010

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox


@icezeus wrote:

@RinaRina @Texasmouse

 

Same with me. I have a PO box for my online purchases only. It's so much easier and they are quite inexpensive to rent.

 

Everyone offers them nowadays so you are not stuck having to rent one from the post office.


@icezeus, really? I didn't know you could get a PO box anywhere but at a post office! What are some places you can get one?

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,306
Registered: ‎10-01-2011

Re: Skin care products left in a hot mailbox


@Texasmouse wrote:

@icezeus wrote:

@RinaRina @Texasmouse

 

Same with me. I have a PO box for my online purchases only. It's so much easier and they are quite inexpensive to rent.

 

Everyone offers them nowadays so you are not stuck having to rent one from the post office.


@icezeus, really? I didn't know you could get a PO box anywhere but at a post office! What are some places you can get one?


UPS store locations have them.