New trends in the development of cosmetic tubes

1. Aluminium-plastic cosmetic tube

Plastic tube is to aluminum foil, plastic film by co-squeeze compounding process into a sheet, and then processed by a special tube machine into a tube-like packaging containers, mainly for hygiene, barrier performance requirements of cosmetics packaging. With the continuous development of science and technology, the thickness of the aluminium foil barrier layer in the aluminium-plastic tube has been reduced from the original 40μm to 12μm, or even 9μm.

2. Pure-plastic cosmetic tube

Pure plastic tube material is all plastic components, divided into all plastic non-barrier tube and all plastic barrier tube two. All-plastic squeeze tube is generally used for low-grade fast-consuming cosmetic packaging; all-plastic barrier tube is usually used for high-grade cosmetic packaging, the barrier layer can be a multi-layer composite material containing EVOH, PVDC, PET with oxide coating.

Cosmetic plastic tube has the advantages of good environmental performance, colour diversity and good resilience after squeeze. Plastic cosmetic tubes have the most similar structure to plastic squeeze tubes and are the most promising type of tube. However, compared with plastic squeeze tube, the poor appearance of the welded edge seam is its biggest drawback, which needs to be addressed from the tube manufacturing process. The traditional pipe making process of the side seam welding for the lap method, all-plastic tube need to use a special pipe making process to meet the requirements of high-end cosmetic tube.

High barrier properties: Aluminium foil has excellent barrier properties such as light, oxygen and water resistance, which on the one hand can prevent external substances from penetrating into the cosmetics and causing oxidation and deterioration, and on the other hand can prevent moisture or glycerine from spreading through the tube to the outside world, thus effectively ensuring the quality of the cosmetics.

Low cost: To achieve the same physical properties such as barrier properties, aluminium-plastic tube than all-plastic tube and plastic squeeze tube used less material, lower costs, and therefore better economics.

The cosmetic tube manufacturer can achieve a high gloss effect by adapting the structure and process of the product, which can be widely used in the tube in tube sector.

New sheet materials for high-end cosmetic tubes

With the increasing demands of consumers on cosmetics, new types of high-end cosmetic packaging are appearing on the market one after another. High-end cosmetic tube requires the use of new materials, processes and structures, the following cosmetic tube manufacturers introduce several new sheet materials in the application of high-end cosmetic tube.

1. Laser sheet

As a novel and environmentally friendly packaging material, laser packaging material has been developing rapidly in recent years. Compared with other packaging materials commonly used in the current packaging and printing industry, laser packaging materials not only have a new, bright appearance effect, but also have a high-tech anti-counterfeiting function, known as one of the most cutting-edge technology in the world's packaging and printing industry. Laser packaging materials have a wide range of applications, especially in the fields of food, pharmaceuticals and daily chemical products. It is reported that some foreign packaging material manufacturers have started to use laser film as the outer film of cosmetic tube sheets, which can make the overall effect of cosmetic tube look more gorgeous on the one hand, and can also play a certain anti-counterfeiting effect in the field of high-end cosmetics on the other.

2. High gloss film

Recently there has been a cosmetic tube made of high-gloss sheet material on the market, the outer surface of which has a strong metallic feel and can give consumers a more intense eye stimulation. It is reported that certain well-known domestic brands of cosmetics have already started experimenting with this type of packaging.

As we all know, aluminium foil is a barrier material with the advantages of being moisture-proof, airtight, light-blocking, corrosion-resistant, fragrance-preserving, non-toxic and tasteless, etc. It is particularly favoured for its elegant silver-white metallic lustre and is now widely used in various composite packaging materials. However, aluminium foil has a very obvious disadvantage in that it is not resistant to bending. Once bent, aluminium foil will reduce its inherent barrier properties. In addition, the cost of aluminium foil in packaging materials is high. As a result, some packaging material suppliers have started to use vacuum aluminised films (e.g. MPET, MPE, etc.) instead of aluminium foil. Vacuum aluminised films for packaging materials have the following characteristics.

Compared to aluminium foil, vacuum aluminised films greatly reduce the amount of aluminium used, saving energy and materials and reducing costs. The thickness of aluminium foil for lamination is mostly 9-20 μm, while the thickness of the aluminium layer of vacuum aluminised film is about 0.04 μm, and its aluminium consumption is only 1/200 of that of aluminium foil, and the production speed is much faster.

Vacuum aluminised film has excellent folding resistance and good toughness, few pinholes and cracks like aluminium foil, no kneading and cracking, and higher barrier to gases, water vapour, odours, light, etc. The vacuum aluminised film has an excellent metallic lustre with a light reflectivity of up to 92%, giving it an overall gloss effect much better than aluminium foil.

Partial aluminising can be carried out using shielding or eluting processes to obtain vacuum aluminised films with arbitrary patterns or transparent windows, and packaging made from such vacuum aluminised films enables the consumer to see the contents clearly.

High gloss sheet has become a selling point for high-end cosmetic tubes, the use of vacuum aluminised film to replace traditional aluminium foil will also be an important development direction for cosmetic tubes, which will be more widely used in the field of cosmetic tubes in the future.

3. Application of hot stamping process of composite sheet

Aluminum stamping process applied to the composite sheet, but also to make the processing of cosmetic tube with a bright appearance effect. The laminated sheet with the hot stamping process has the following characteristics.

The cold or hot stamping process gives the laminate a super glossy surface which stimulates the consumer's desire to buy.

They are expensive and are generally used in high-grade cosmetic tubes.

The adhesion of the hot stamping foil on the surface of the laminated sheet is not high and it is easy to fall off, so the requirements for the stamping process are high.

4. Product safety will be taken seriously

Cosmetics are in direct contact with human skin, and the choice of their packaging materials will directly affect human health. Therefore, how to ensure that the packaging materials in some additives and cosmetics in the composition does not react, or do not produce side effects on the cosmetics themselves, become a major problem we have to face. Foreign countries have paid particular attention to this and introduced a series of product safety regulations, such as the European Union (EU) regulations and the United States (FDA) regulations; but in China, the relevant regulations and standards are still in continuous improvement, GB9685-2008 "food containers, packaging materials with additives in the use of health standards" although listed in more than 900 substances, but compared with the EU's more than 3000 substances There is still a considerable gap between the GB9685 and the EU's 3000 substances. The new version of GB9685 is under discussion and will have stricter regulations on the additives used in packaging materials.

For cosmetic tube sheets, which are still mainly made of polyethylene, polypropylene and aluminium foil, compliance with EU regulations is particularly important if the sheets or tubes are to be exported. For example, polyethylene materials are manufactured with chemicals such as antioxidants, openers and slip agents, which, in the presence of cosmetics (which are a well extracted substance), can migrate from the film into the cosmetic and may cause changes in the cosmetic properties. The EU regulation (EU) 10/2011 on food contact materials has strict regulations on the migration of antioxidants, openers, etc. The total migration level (OML) must not exceed 60mg/kg, which is a serious challenge for packaging material manufacturers. In order to meet this requirement, cosmetic tube manufacturers start from the source and strictly control the quality of raw materials to ensure that the raw materials used meet the relevant regulations of the EU, the US FDA and national standards. At the same time, the cosmetic tube production process to establish and use a separate sheet production plant to ensure that the product is not contaminated by other impurities. From a practical point of view, the sheets produced by the cosmetic tube manufacturer have an excellent performance in all chemical tests, and the products comply with European and American regulations, so they are exported to Europe and the USA.

With the gradual improvement of product safety awareness, as well as the increasing soundness of laws and regulations, I believe that the safety of cosmetic packaging materials will be more and more attention, which will also be the primary item of investigation when cosmetic manufacturers choose cosmetic tube packaging suppliers.

5. Conclusion for cosmetic tube wholesale

The development of cosmetic packaging is changing rapidly, and new forms of packaging are colorful and endless. The future of cosmetic packaging should be both protective, functional and decorative, in order to occupy a place in the highly competitive market. Moreover, the safety of packaging materials will also receive more and more attention, cosmetic tube manufacturers only from the source to control the quality of raw materials, in order to make cosmetics packaging to win the trust of customers and consumers. High-end cosmetic tube as an important branch of the cosmetic packaging system, the need for special new structures, new materials and new processes to occupy new markets, while maximising the use of economic, easily recyclable sheet materials, so as to meet the functional, decorative, environmental and cost requirements of cosmetic packaging. In order to provide more and more innovative cosmetic tube and more reliable product quality, cosmetic flexible packaging enterprises should be bold and innovative, develop new materials, optimize the product process, so that the tube in the cosmetics field of application more and more extensive.