If you’re reading this blog, you already know that not all beauty products are created equal – there are the natural, honest products and the toxic BS that craps up your skin with all kinds of nasty additives. However, it turns out that there are some big disparities in the packaging used to contain beauty products as well. Plastic packaging screws up the products it contains, and can even be hazardous to your health. Glass provides a better option, but it’s still important that the manufacturer chooses the right kind of glass for the job. Read on to learn more about how plastic and clear packaging can compromise your health and beauty!
Plastic – Not So Fantastic
Plastic packaging is a long-time fav of big-brand beauty products companies because it’s cheap to produce and ship, and can be used for softer “tube” packaging. However, plastic has a dirty little secret – it can release harmful compounds and also absorb certain ingredients of the products it’s used to package.
There’s been a significant amount of research into the safety of consumer product containers. Most of it has focused on a compound called Bisphenol A, or BPA. The problem with plastic is that it can leach BPA into the products it contains, resulting in an adulterated product that may be detrimental to our health.
BPA is nasty business. It can impact fetal brain development, and may also impede childhood development – the FDA was concerned enough to prohibit BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups! It can also imitate estrogen in the body, throwing your hormonal balance out of whack. Importantly, research has also shown that BPA can be absorbed through the skin, meaning that beauty projects packaged in plastic can junk up your system with BPA.
If that isn’t enough, plastic can also absorb and potentially corrupt nonpolar ingredients such as essential oils, which are often found in beauty products. This means that beauty projects sold in plastic containers may be corrupted.
Glass – To Be Used en Masse!
So if we want to take steps to reduce the impact BPA may have on our health and the health of our children, what should we do? Think glass. Glass has class! It is non-toxic, its contents have a long shelf life, and research has shown that people like how things look when they’re packaged in glass.
Glass is impermeable and nonporous, it doesn’t degrade, and it’s chemically inert. What this means is that it will not leach into the substances it contains, and it guards its contents from moisture and oxygen. Result? Pure products that are fresher and have a longer shelf life.
Glass is also the ultimate sustainable product. It can be recycled indefinitely without loss of quality, making it friendlier to our fragile environment. Be earth friendly and health conscious. Think glass!
Amber Glass – Good as Gold
All glass types make for fresher products with a longer shelf life. However, light infiltration through clear glass can break down photosensitive compounds such as essential oils, botanicals, some vegetable oils, and other frail butters and oils often used in beauty products. There is good reason most beer and vino manufacturers choose dark glass as well, these are natures ingredients also! And they know it preserves better! Amber glass (or cobalt blue, even green) protects these compounds from light damage, and is used by responsible manufacturers who want to offer consumers the purest, freshest product possible. You deserve the best in your beauty products – go for the gold!
