Comparison function and application of cosmetic packaging materials

Comparison function and application of cosmetic packaging materials

In order to attract consumers, in recent years, more and more efforts in cosmetic packaging, all kinds of novel and exquisite packaging emerge in endlessly, excellent packaging and bottle design has indeed become a hot selling factor. In fact, the role of cosmetic packaging is not only to attract consumers, for material, packaging also provides essential storage space and protection function.

Cosmetic packaging is divided into internal and external materials, the inner packaging material directly contact with the material body, which form is closely related to the product composition.

Common cosmetic packaging material：Common cosmetic packaging materials are plastic bottles, glass bottles, hoses and so on, the packaging materials of different materials have different characteristics, suitable for different texture and composition of cosmetics.

Plastic bottles

Plastic bottles are made of a variety of materials, including ABS (acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene), PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), AS (styrene - acrylonitrile copolymer), acrylic and so on. Among them, PP, PE, PET are environmentally friendly materials, can be directly in contact with the content; PP, PE translucent, natural white, can be made into a variety of hardness; PET is transparent, light and soft.

Glass bottle

Glass bottles in cosmetics are mainly used for cream, cream, emulsion, essence, essential oil and other small volume products. According to the type of bottle mouth, glass bottles can be divided into wide bottles and narrow bottles. Wide mouth bottle is used for cream, smear mask and other solid paste cosmetics, narrow mouth bottle is generally used for water agent and emulsion cosmetics.

Glass bottles are generally matched with bottle caps, pump heads, or with the use of dropper, to better ensure the cleanliness of products. The bottle body can be frosted, sprayed or silkscreen processing.

The advantage of glass bottles is low cost, disadvantage is large weight, easy to break. Perfume products often use glass bottles, in order to better prevent liquid volatilization, to maintain the scent of perfume.

Plastic hose

The hose is divided into single layer, double layer and five layer according to the number of layers. According to the material can be divided into plastic tube and metal tube, the most common is plastic hose, namely the packaging used by ordinary cleansing milk, PE plastic is generally used.

Hose packaging has good airtightness, can isolate outside air, and prevent the contents from leaking out. Different layers of hose have different impermeability. The hose is usually matched with a rotating cover or a clamshell, and the tube body can be silkscreen processing.

Special ingredients need special packaging

Some cosmetics have particularity because of composition, need to use special packaging, in order to ensure composition activity. Dark glass bottles, vacuum pumps, metal hoses and ampoules are commonly used in special packaging.

Dark glass bottle

After the photosensitive composition in cosmetics is oxidized by ultraviolet radiation, it may not only lose activity, lose effect, and may even produce sensitization and toxicity. For example, ascorbic acid and ferulic acid are easy to photolysis and oxidation, and vitamin A alcohol and its derivatives, furan coumarin have photosensitivity and phototoxicity. In order to avoid this kind of composition by ultraviolet photodecomposition oxidation, it is necessary to do the packaging to avoid light treatment, generally with dark opaque glass bottles for packaging material, dark brown glass bottles are the most common. In order to ensure the convenience of use and product hygiene, dark glass bottles are often used with dropper.

Cosmetic brands that focus on action ingredients often use dark glass bottles to make sure the ingredients work.

It should be noted that although dark glass bottles are used for protection from light, they can be used purely for traditional or cosmetic reasons. Some cosmetic ingredients do not contain photosensitive ingredients, but brands are using the same packaging to appeal to consumers, mindful of the traditional use of dark glass bottles and droppers in medicines.

Vacuum pump

Dark glass bottles offer good shading, but only complete air isolation until use. They are not suitable for ingredients that require more air isolation (such as anti-oxidants such as panquinone and ascorbic acid) and oils that are easily oxidized (such as shea butter).

If the product components have higher requirements for packaging tightness, vacuum pump can be used. Vacuum pump generally uses AS material, its significant advantage is that the content can be well isolated from the outside air. The vacuum pump has a piston at the bottom of the bottle. When the pump head is pressed, the piston at the bottom of the bottle moves up, the content flows out, the bottle space shrinks, and the air does not enter.

Metal hose

Because vacuum pump is made of plastic, so the shading is not good. If the product composition has high requirements for shading and air isolation (such as vitamin A alcohol substances), metal hose is needed. High concentrations of vitamin A alcohols are usually stored in aluminum tubes, which are more airtight than plastic and provide shade from light and moisture to better protect the activity of the contents.

Ann bottle

Ampoule is one of the most popular inner packaging materials in cosmetics industry in recent years, and its tightness and safety are noteworthy. The ampoule idea of cosmetics industry comes from the ampoule of medical industry. Ampoules can keep the active ingredients sealed and are disposable, which can isolate air and pollutants and ensure product hygiene. In addition, glass ampoules can be made of dark color, making them good protection from light. Aseptically filled, single-use ampoules are preservative-free, providing a new option for consumers with severely sensitive skin or who do not want to use preservative-containing products.

Store cosmetics according to ingredient requirements

Although the inner wrapping material can help maintain the stability and active ingredients of cosmetics, consumers need to follow the instructions after purchasing the product to further extend the life of the product. Cosmetics with special needs, such as to avoid direct sunlight, dry place, etc., will be marked on the outer package.

Many active ingredients in cosmetics are not stable, and the properties of products change easily under high or low temperature conditions. Such as vitamin A, polypeptide, enzymes and other active substances, in high temperature may change color failure, suitable for low temperature storage. However, just because the active ingredient is unstable does not mean that the product is unstable. Before the product is produced, the formulator has taken a variety of circumstances into account to ensure the stability of the product through formula and packaging materials. So if you look at the ingredients in isolation without considering the overall formula, freezing or heating a product on your own can backfire.

If the room temperature is too low, some water-based or pure oil cosmetics may freeze or crystallize, and stratification may occur at low temperatures if the emulsifier content in the formula is very low. In this case, the product can be properly heated or stored at a suitable temperature.