Savvy tips: get the most out of your skincare tubes

In the big green beauty wave, getting the most out of your skincare is an absolute must. If you look closely, it isn’t exclusively about maximising your beauty routine with the correct steps, layering and combination of treatments. What I’m going to show you is incredibly easy, a priceless savvy tip…

 

There’s a savvy tip to get the most out of your skincare tubes and packaging. Save product and money immediately and in the long run with a pair of scissors.

For this broke girl (me), squeezing the very last blop of toothpaste wasn’t enough! It was by pure chance that I found out how much product I’ve been wasting every day without even knowing it! Arm yourself with a pair of scissors to be surprised, because you won’t believe what you’ll find in your ’empties’…

 

What you’ll need to save your skincare:

• empty or recycled cosmetic jar containers (clean and dry)
• a pair of scissors
• a spatula or a knife
• plenty of paper towels
• gloves (if possible)
• antibac wipes (optional).

The key concept behind this green beauty ‘savvy tip’ is: getting everything, as much as possible, from your empty tubes and packaging! When you squeeze a tube, you may think you’ve done a great job and got everything you could get from it. Nope! You may squeeze and wring it to the impossible, but there’s still some precious product inside! At the very top of the package (the flattened and sealed edge), its sides and inside the nozzle. This is particularly true for those products with unusual packaging and design, such as pump dispensers and roller balls for cooling eye treatments.

 

I selected two skincare products of this kind – a face cream and an eye cream – and I destroyed them to show you the potential wastage in these hygienic packages…

 

How to get the most of cosmetic tubes

Before getting started, be sure your worktop is clean, and you have enough space because this tutorial is going to be messy. Make sure your scissors and spatula (or knife) are squeaky clean too. Your jars should be empty and clean. Sterilise them in a pot with boiling water. Pick the up with the help of a kitchen tongue; let them dry and cool down on some kitchen towel.

Note: while perspex containers can stay longer in boiling water, plastic jars can only stay a couple of seconds in contact with piping hot water. Pick them up before they melt miserably!

1. Cut the tube at the top edge;

2. Scrape away and take the product from the inside with your spatula or knife;

3. Collect the product in your clean jar;

4. Cut the next portion away to reach the bottom of the tube (where the opening is);

5. Reach the trickiest areas with your spatula and take all the leftovers;

6. Collect everything inside your pot.

7. Store your precious cosmetics in a cool place or, better, your fridge.

While you proceed, keep your tools and your hands clean to avoid any contamination, and use gloves if possible. 

 

The amount of product you’ll find depends on its texture and also the particular packaging. You can’t really guess until you cut the package open! For example, I was sure I run out of my snail serum face cream; I earned 13 grams of product… that’s impressive!

If this tip won’t drastically change your life; at least, it will save you some money. Just consider that this snail face cream is £17.90!

 

What to do next: for how long can I use my rescued products?

Use your products, of course! You may have days of applications ahead, but the best practice, in my opinion, is storing your jars in the fridge and using your treatments as soon as possible. Be sure to have clean hands and fingers every time you take the product you need.

 

Savvy Tips #2: which cosmetic products can you save from a half-empty tube?

Not all types of skincare and body care are suitable for this rescue tip. Some can’t last longer, keep the same texture or efficiency once you open their original package. I would recommend saving creamy, fluid and semi-fluid products. Avoid storing gels (such as face cleansers, gel eye treatments, and jelly primer) which tend to become patchy before drying up. Avoid also thicker creams and masks (particularly clay masks), which will dry pretty fast. Of course, you may cut a tube of face mask and use it once. Unfortunately, what’s left is doomed to be binned.

 

Savvy Tips #3: When to throw away your cosmetics?

Once you open the tube, your cosmetics come in contact with air and more easily with some contaminants like germs. Time to play savvy, smart and safe: remember the Colour-Consistency-Odour rule. If your products have changed their colour or texture in the meantime, condensation has developed inside the new container or you can detect an unusual smell, it’s time to say farewell and bin what’s left.

How much can you save with this tip? I know you’re dying to know so go and grab your scissors!

Valentina Chirico aka Valens