Why You Should Avoid Skincare Products in Jar Packaging

You may already be aware of the fact that buying skincare products in jar packaging is not a smart move for your skin and is a waste of your hard earned money. But it’s always good to get a reminder so when I came across this useful article by Paula Begoun aka Cosmetics cop, I decided to share it with you all. Read on to find out in detail why you shouldn’t be lured by anti-aging products packaged in pretty jars that might look good on your vanity but won’t be much help keeping your skin looking younger……

 

Great Ingredients Protect, But the Great Ingredients Need Protection, Too!
One of the critical factors in any anti-aging or skin-healing formula is the amount and variety of antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients (such as vitamin C and retinol) and skin-repairing ingredients and the more the better. These function in a variety of ways to reduce the effects of the constant environmental stresses your skin experiences. Sun exposure, pollution, and cigarette smoke bombard our skin with destructive free radicals, depleting the skin’s ability to heal, causing collagen breakdown, and producing abnormal skin cells. This is one of the major reasons why skin ages and wrinkles, and why dark spots begin to appear!

Antioxidants, cell-communicating ingredients, and skin-repairing ingredients not only can help prevent free-radical damage, but also can help repair that damage. However, these anti-aging superstar ingredients are not stable, which means they won’t be effective if exposed to light and air, which is exactly what happens when you take the lid off a jar. No matter how great the formula, it all begins to break down when you first open it! There is also the issue of hygiene—dipping your fingers into a jar transfers bacteria from your hands into the product, and that causes the important ingredients to further deteriorate.

Minimizing Air Maximizes Your Skin-Care Benefits!
With most skin-care formulas, all that is necessary to protect the beneficial ingredients is a container that minimizes air exposure and keeps light, and your fingers, out of the product. A pump or airless jar (meaning you can’t take the lid off) design or an opaque tube with a very small opening is enough to keep these important ingredients protected during the product’s lifespan, and allow your skin to reap the rewards.

Remember, no matter how great a product’s formula, jar packaging, and to a lesser extent clear packaging (i.e., lets light in), is always a deal-breaker. Given the number and variety of products available today that come in air-reducing or airless packaging, why waste your money on products whose most beneficial ingredients will be gone shortly after first use?

Why Do Companies Still Use Jars?
The issue of jar packaging and its effect on beneficial ingredients is truly common knowledge in the skin-care industry and cosmetics companies throughout the world are aware of it. But, despite this widespread knowledge, one question remains: Why do companies still use jars?

After looking at all the research and the facts, we’re not exactly sure why cosmetics companies continue to use jar packaging. All we can think is that they either are ignorant of the facts (which makes you wonder what else they don’t know) or they ignore the facts, to the detriment of your skin.

There also is the reality that women love jar packaging, and given that cosmetics companies love to sell products, it’s a smart marketing thing for them to do—it just doesn’t make for smart skin care.

We’ve heard all manner of excuses from cosmetics companies justifying their use of jar packaging, ranging from “we use a patented form of these ingredients to prevent degradation when exposed to air,” or “we use preservatives that keep the ingredients stable.” Neither of these explanations is viable. Patents are not scientific documents proving anything; they merely mean that you have the right to use it. In this case, even the best systems are not iron clad, the ingredients in lotions, creams, gels, and serums will still break down once you open the jar. The other issue is preservatives; they do prevent bacteria and microbes from multiplying out of control and reaching harmful levels in your skin-care products, but they cannot prevent the negative effects of light and air on those beneficial ingredients in the formula.

What Can You Do Now?
The best thing for you to do is avoid buying products that come in jars, especially if they contain beneficial, but unstable ingredients mainly antioxidants and retinol. Because there are so many companies whose packaging excels at keeping the formulas they contain stable, spend your beauty dollars on those products. If enough of us do this, perhaps that will send a message to the companies that still use problematic packaging, and your skin will receive the greatest possible benefits.