Can Hair Products Go Bad?

I have a large tube of Sebastian Lamintes smoothing/shine gel. I bought it a couple of years ago and really don't use it much. Today, when I pulled it out I found that it has turned a funky/foggy yellowish colour. Do you think it has gone bad?

I don't know if it's gone 100% bad necessarily, but I do know that some of the more liquidy hair potions/gels/styling or texturizing lotions, etc. will turn a foggy color (and the activeness of the ingredients will still be *JUST* as good from what my former stylist versed to me) when they are stored in too cold or too hot of a temperature. Like I said, it does not effect the ingredients one single bit. Tigi used to make a leave-in conditioner that was liquidy and blue called 'Essensuals' and there was actually a warning on the back of the container about this type of 'clouded fogginess' that you're speaking of. It said it was just due to the temperature of the room or storage space. It said in the 'warning' that it doesn't effect the ingredients. I'm sure some ingredients, oils, herbal infusions, waxes, dyes, and chemicals *DO* settle or separate after time, though. I'd smell the product for a wierd odor or maybe take it in to a neighborhood salon and ask what they think. Do remember what it smelled it like when you bought it? Is the smell tremendously different or offensive/'mediciney' now as opposed to before?

Yes. I've had body lotion & hair conditioner go bad after a couple of years. The consistency became wattery and/or the smell changed, and one time an unopened bottle of philosophy body cream grew some weird black mold. I'd throw it out.

General rule: If it fails the organoleptic test, toss it.

bought it a couple of years ago and really don't use it much. Today, when I pulled it out I found that it has turned a funky/foggy yellowish colour. Do you think it has gone bad?

As a personal rule of thumb, anything that doesn't start off yellow but turns it ain't good.