GUANGZHOU REGENT PACKAGING CO., LTD.
GUANGZHOU REGENT PACKAGING CO., LTD.
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Characteristics of Cosmetic OEM Packaging Materials: Glass Tubes and Plastic Bottles

Glass Packaging Material

Glass bottles are mainly used for cosmetics, including skincare products (creams, lotions), perfumes, essential oils, and nail polish. The capacity is usually small. Glass makeup bottles are divided into wide-mouthed and narrow-mouthed bottles. Solid cream is generally stored in wide-mouthed bottles, which are suitable for aluminum or plastic caps. The caps can be colored by spray painting. Emulsions or water-based creams are generally stored in narrow-mouthed bottles with pump heads. If a cap is needed, an inner plug should be used for pump heads, while small holes are used for water-based creams and larger holes for thicker lotions.


Combination forms:

  • Cream series: glass bottle + double-layered plastic outer cover (usually with a capacity of 10g-50g)

  • Essence series: glass bottle + plastic pump head or aluminum pump head (relatively high capacity, usually between 20-100ml)

  • Toner series: glass bottle + plastic inner plug + outer cover (usually above 100ml, can also be combined with a pump head)

  • Essential oil series: glass bottle + inner plug + large or small dropper cap + dropper + aluminum cap


Soft tubes

Soft tubes are divided into single-layer, double-layer, and five-layer tubes, which differ in terms of pressure resistance, impermeability, and feel. The five-layer tube consists of an outer layer, an inner layer, two adhesive layers, and a barrier layer. Features: excellent gas barrier properties, effectively preventing the infiltration of oxygen and odorous gases, while preventing the leakage of fragrance and effective ingredients.


Combination forms:

Soft tubes + outer cover / Soft tubes are usually made of PE plastic. They are divided into single-layer tubes (usually used and cost less) and double-layer tubes (with better sealing performance). They are divided into round soft tubes (usually used and cost less) and flat soft tubes, also known as shaped tubes (requiring secondary joints and higher costs). Common outer covers for soft tubes include screw caps (single-layer and double-layer types, with double-layer exterior caps mostly electroplated to enhance product grade and appearance, commonly used in professional lines) and flip caps.


Plastic bottles

Plastic bottles are usually made of PP, PE, K material, AS, ABS, acrylic, PET, etc. They are usually used for containers with thicker walls, such as plastic foundation bottles, cream bottles, caps, plugs, gaskets, pumps, and dust caps, which are made by injection molding. PET blow molding is a two-step process, with the tube embryo being injection molded and the finished product being blow molded. Other containers with thinner walls, such as lotion bottles and cleansing bottles, are blow molded.


  • PET – PET has high transparency, with some flexibility that allows it to be pinched, but harder than PP.

  • PP – PP bottles are softer than PET and easier to pinch, but less transparent than PET. Therefore, some opaque shampoo bottles are commonly used (convenient to squeeze).

  • PE – The bottle body is basically opaque and not as smooth as PET.

  • Acrylics – thick and hard, acrylics are the most similar material to glass.