Cutting your beauty products open is bad news for your skin health…
For the skincare obsessed, that moment when a tube of your favourite product stops giving but you just know there’s plenty of cream clinging to the inside, is all too familiar.
If this is a regular bathroom irritation, it’s likely you’ve tried out the so-called beauty hack of snipping away at the packaging to get to the goodness the inside.
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Why cutting your beauty products open is a bad idea…
But, reclaiming access to those last bits of liquids is actually a really bad idea.
Beauty and skin experts have filled Allure magazine in on exactly why it’s a recipe for disaster and just downright unhygienic.
Cutting open tubes and bottles and exposing products to the outside air can speed up oxidisation of ingredients. It could also promote the spread of bacteria.
Dermatologist Marguerite Germain stresses how important it is to not open up products that are particularly used on the eyes, mouth and face.
“Caution must be taken to not introduce microbes. A large contamination may overwhelm the preservative system at some point; and allow harmful bacteria or moulds to grow in the product”, she said.
“Once the tube is cut open, the safeguards have been removed and the manufacturer can no longer guarantee the product.”
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Dermatologist Melissa Kanchanapoomi Levin reports that using contaminated products can lead to infections. Or trigger conditions such as acne, eczema, contact dermatitis, and folliculitis.
“Beauty products are formulated with preservatives in order to control bacterial contamination. The packaging is important for certain ingredients such as antioxidants, peptides, and retinol/retinoids, in order to prevent accelerated oxidation,” she added.
Can’t resist cutting into bottles and tubes? The skin pro suggests transferring the insides to a sealed container as soon as possible to slow down oxidisation.
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Words: Caitlin Elliot. Additional Words: Martinique Stevens
