Date of minimum durability (the hourglass)
Stored as the pack says, the product will keep working as intended and stay safe until the end of the date shown. The law requires it on cosmetics that keep for 30 months or less.
How to read it
The date is written month then year (or day, month, year, in that order), so 03/2027 means the product is covered until the end of March 2027. The hourglass can also stand in front of words saying where the date is printed, for example on the crimp of a tube. If the pack adds storage conditions (‘store below 25 °C’), the date only holds if you follow them.
What it does not promise
It does not promise how long the product keeps once opened: the date is about the product ‘stored under appropriate conditions’ and says nothing about the time after first opening. It does not promise the product is unsafe after the date either: it is the last date the maker guarantees. A pack with no hourglass is not missing its date if it shows the open jar: that means the maker declares a durability of more than 30 months.
This page explains what a symbol or mark on the pack means in law or in the scheme’s own rules. It is not advice on whether a product or an ingredient is safe for you or suits your skin: for that, read the product’s warnings and ask a pharmacist or doctor.
- What it looks like
- An hourglass with sand in the lower half, followed by a date: a month and year (08/2027) or a day, month and year. Some packs print the words ‘best used before the end of’ instead of the hourglass.
- Legal reference
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 19(1)(c) and Annex VII point 3
- Also called
- best before end symbol; hourglass symbol on cosmetics; expiry date symbol
Good to know
The same hourglass drawing is used on medical devices, where ISO 15223-1 gives it a different meaning: a use-by date after which the device is not to be used. On cosmetics it is a best-before date.
Related
Other marks with the same shape
Sources
Each document was fetched and read on the date shown. Written in our own words; quotations are the documents’ wording.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Article 19, Labelling (as adopted) — Article 19(1)(c): the date of minimum durability ‘shall be preceded by the symbol shown in point 3 of Annex VII or the words: “best used before the end of”’, expressed as ‘either the month and year or the day, month and year, in that order’, and is not mandatory for products with a minimum durability of more than 30 months. Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — EU Official Journal text, reproduced by legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products — Annex VII, Symbols used on packaging/container (as adopted) — Annex VII point 3: ‘Date of minimum durability’ — the official drawing of the hourglass. Checked 2026-09-26.
- Legal text — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 — Annex VII, latest version in force in Great Britain — The latest version in force in Great Britain keeps point 3, ‘Date of minimum durability’, in Annex VII. Checked 2026-09-26.