People shocked after realising what this symbol on cosmetic products stands for

Everyone got so used to this small symbol on the back of a shampoo and a conditioner bottle that people stopped questioning what it actually means. When asked, even the hairdressers have trouble explaining what it is.

The instantly recognisable symbol in question shows a little pot with the lid slightly lifted, containing a number. When the topic of this supposedly mysterious sign was raised on TikTok, users had no idea either what it stood for, and it took them years of countless hair washes to figure it out.

‘Still blows my mind’

Taking to TikTok with a screengrab from Twitter, flabbergasted Denise - who posts under the username @denisephx_official - remarked that the revelation 'still blows her mind'.

The Twitter screenshot reads:

How old were you when you found out….that this means how long you have to use that product from the date you break the seal before it's no longer considered a good product?

It includes a photo of two bottles of shampoo, each one with the symbol circled. The number reads '12m', meaning the haircare product would be good for a year once opened.

On a shampoo or conditioner container, the letter 'M' which follows the number stands for 'months', with typical duration dates being 12 M, 18 M and 24 M.

People had no clue

It turns out, people had no idea what the mysterious symbol stood for.

One TikTok user gasped:

Today years old and I was a hairdresser for 10 years.

Another admitted:

I thought that was information for a different country, so I never paid attention.

This appeared to be the consensus among the majority of Denise's followers, with a third person confessing they were only just learning the true meaning at 60 years old.

A fourth person commented:

But the question is .. who remembers when you opened it.

Sources used:

- Mirror: 'People are just realising what the symbol on their shampoo and conditioner actually means'