These are my current skincare products. OK, well, to be honest, a few masks and balms are missing. Not exactly a hoarder right? I mostly have one in – one out policy, because I’m a minimalist by nature and anyway, with sensitive skin especially – less is definitely more.
But this post is not about quantities but about packaging. I guess you can see that all the products in the pic are not in a jar.
Why not? Two simple facts
Bacteria party
If you don’t use a spatula while using cosmetic products in a jar you can repeatedly “contaminate” the formula with microorganisms on your fingers. Simply put – it is unhygienic and it spoils the product by hosting a bacteria party. You can use a spatula all right, but it’s extra fuss and still hardly 100% sterile.
Oxidation
Many of the really good and effective ingredients, that we all long for in our skincare routine, don’t like oxygen. Every time you open a jar, you expose the delicate formula to air and light which causes oxidation. Oxidation diminishes the potency of the goodies you were so eager to put on your skin significantly, even totally, and this isn’t even the worst case scenario! It may also change the proprieties of the ingredients and all the goodies can become nasties for your precious skin.
And last but not least – imagine paying a little fortune for a product that becomes less efficient or even harmful in matter of weeks…
Bojcott of jars?
Of course this does not apply to all cosmetic products in general. Some stable stable ingredients are just fine in a jar in terms of preservation (don’t forget contamination with bacteria though!) but in organized and effective skincare we use a lot of active ingredients and antioxidants, that are not stable (vitamin C, retinoids, peptides etc.) so to be on the safe and hygienic side – opt for products in tubes, pumps, dark bottles, medicine droppers, etc. whenever possible. Sometimes is simply not – because some otherwise quality products can’t be put in tubes or bottles due to it’s texture.
Stable ingredients?
In theory you could examine the product’s ingredients and make an estimation of the stability of the formula, but this actually requires knowledge about formulation, interaction, the production process and preservation, which most definitely exceeds the information you can find in an ingredient dictionary.
So be really mindful when choosing your skincare products not only by ingredients, bit also in terms of packaging.