Six year old protein treatment: can I use it?

May 4, 2018 7:05 PM

I have the bottles for the Aphogee Two Step Protein treatment and Balancing Moisturizer. I probably used them once in 2012. They've been in a dark cool closet since then. Can I still use it or will it not work? Or will it damage my hair if I use it? I'm kind of wary of using it since it probably has a complex formula that can degrade, but I also don't want to pay $20 for something I already have.
posted by starlybri to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

I’d toss it. Maybe the product is still good 6 years after being opened and maybe not, but why use yourself as a guinea pig just to save $20? It costs a lot more than that to fix a hair mistake. The money you spent on the purchase is long gone. You don’t have to replace the product but I certainly wouldn’t use old questionable stuff.
posted by Autumnheart at 7:35 PM on May 4, 2018

There's only so much damage a protein treatment can do.

But I would open it and take a very cautious sniff before proceeding.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:42 PM on May 4, 2018

I'd probably use it, but at worst, try it on a section of your hair before committing your full head?
posted by batter_my_heart at 7:48 PM on May 4, 2018

Response by poster: Update: I threw it out. One of the bottles smelled really bad.
posted by starlybri at 10:56 PM on May 4, 2018

Good call - the protein treatment in Two Step gets nasty within a year. If you like Two Step but don't use it frequently enough to go through a bottle within a year or so, you can buy it in single-serve packs at a lot of beauty supply stores.
posted by blerghamot at 12:48 AM on May 5, 2018

I’m glad to read your update. I use the packets once a year.

For future readers, this isn’t like a nice leave in conditioner or oil treatment that you can use safely as long as it hasn’t obviously turned. It’s a stiff sticky formula you dry with a hairdryer and if you pull or bend your hair while doing so, you can stretch and snap the hair, doing more harm than good. I wouldn’t use an old opened bottle even if it didn’t smell, because as OP mentions, the formula is complex and I’d worry about changes to the formula, even evaporation of moisture.
posted by kapers at 7:37 AM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]