Lip balm adheres to the packaging

Wasteful – The Austrian Association for Consumer Information found in tests that part of the contents of many lip care products goes to waste.

The Austrian Association for Consumer Information (VKI) criticizes that a lot of lip care products often remain stuck in the packaging. It tested 23 products. Buyers of Kneipp’s Lip Care Holunder Karité and Elisabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream Lip Protection Stick LSF 15 have the most to throw away – more than one third of the cosmetic product. Kneipp explained in response to the VKI’s enquiry that this was unavoidable for technical reasons. The two products with the highest usable share are also sold in Germany: eos Lip Balm Sweet Mint and Labello Labellino Coconut Water & Aloe Vera.

“Packaging can easily be designed in such a way that the product can be used up completely or except for a negligible residue,” says VKI chemist and cosmetics expert Birgit Schiller. Consequently, the test results are annoying. “In some cases, almost 20 percent of the contents are lost. In the case of the most expensive cream, the equivalent of almost ten euros ended up in the garbage. Still, our test led some manufacturers to offer their products in a now more customer-friendly packaging.”

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In the current test, the expert analyzed the residual quantities left behind in lip care products. “From consumer complaints and from my own experience I know that the packaging of lip care sticks in particular is designed in such a way that a certain share cannot be used if you do not want to break the stick.” Schiller bought 21 different lip care sticks in drugstores and cosmetics stores in Austria. In order to find out whether the packaging plays a role, she additionally picked two products that are offered in a container (pods) instead. In order to obtain a standard value, three specimens of each product were checked.