A thought on shelf life while watching Extreme Couponing

For some reason, I can't stop watching the show Extreme Couponing on TLC, despite the fact that we can't really do that in Canada as we don't get double or triple coupon days around here and stacking is almost impossible when you only get one version of a coupon...but I digress. It seems to me to be socially acceptable version of hoarding coupled with our strong desire for a bargain, both of which are fascinating to me. (If I had that much fabric or shea butter, I'm sure I'd get labelled a hoarder and my friends, co-workers, and family would set up an intervention! But have that much soup, and you're considered well prepared for the inevitable zombie apocalypse!)

What really strikes me about this program is how the people boast with pride that they have enough body wash or deodorant to last forty years! Every bath and body product has a shelf life determined by the life of the oils or butters (generally no more than 2 years for butters, about a year for oils), surfactants (2 years), and preservatives (again, about 2 years). I know you can open a body wash and enjoy its fruity scent five years later, but there are things in there that won't be working so well, like the preservatives. Once you've opened it, you've broken that seal and you could be asking for a world of ick! So please, make sure you're checking the best before labels on your products instead of hoarding them for the time when the zombies rule the earth and we have to hide in our basement bunkers hoping we won't get bitten! (And really, are you that worried about having moisturized skin when your brains might be the main course at an all you can eat undead buffet?*)

For more information on shelf life of our products, may I suggest these posts?
Determining the shelf life of your product
Shelf lives of our products (part 1)
Shelf lives of our products (part 2)
How do anti-oxidants affect the shelf lives of our products?
Or any of the emollient posts, which should have the shelf life of each oil and butter in each individual post.

*Can you tell what nightmares I had last night?