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How far will you go to get the last bit of a product out of its container?
How far will you go to get the last bit of a product out of its container? Any tips or tricks?
I’ll open up the packaging by unscrewing caps, but I don’t usually cut tube packaging myself. You can cut it across so you can see inside and get all the last bits out, though. With some bottles, depending on what it is, you can add a little water to get the rest off the sides (I do this with shower gels).
Thanks to Andrea for today’s question!
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I really only go crazy with the pricier products like foundations (unless they’re in harder packaging, like glass). Most products I don’t even have to go far to get all of the product out, it just happens. But I buy a lot of products in soft plastic tubes (BB cream, CoverFX & Smashbox primers, etc) and I’ll definitely cut them open and scoop out the last bit with a little cosmetic spatula. I cut open my mom’s BB cream last week because she thought she was out and we ended up filling two 5g jars! She’ll be able to get another 2 months out of it. It gets expensive to ship that stuff from Korea, so every little bit helps! We don’t waste 😀
I add water to bath products too, even a bit to thick lotions. For liquids I turn the container upside down. Lipsticks I scoop out the insides in the tube, there’s usually at least 1/3 left!
But I don’t cut things open, like how people cut the old bottles of UD primer potion open. I’m too cautious about the possibility very small pieces of plastic will come off onto the knife or fall off the edge being cut, and mix with the product. I had dirt on a contact once scratch my eye, so now I’m super careful about these kinds of things.
I try to use up as much of the product as I can. I’ll cut open tubes, add water to get the remaining shampoo out of the bottle, etc. I’ve heard about a product called the beauty spoon (or something similar) that’s akin to a mini spatula. It can be used to remove product out of thin-necked glass containers!
There’s also the classic trick for almost-finished lipgloss:
Put a tightly closed tube of lipgloss in a mug of hot water, with the gloss end down. Any product stuck to the sides of the tube will collect at the bottom of the tube, ready to be scooped up by the applicator!
@BooBooNinja I forgot about that one! It works for concealers & UDPP, too.
If it’s fairly easy to cut/open, I’ll do it (and I mix water with shampoos and body wash too)–but if I have to like crack something or really go out of my way, I forget about it. I’ve taken the rubber stoppers out from around the rim of lipglosses that I’ve loved and have been discontinued, but that’s about the farthest I’ll go
I turn containers upside down, squeeze soft sided containers and clip them to try and get as much out as possible. I don’t cut things open, though, and I don’t really like adding water to liquids. But I’m always looking for the next thing, so half the time I am *almost* done when I go on to something new anyway.
I’ll cut the “crimp” off the bottoms of plastic tubes. It is amazing how much of a product is left when you think you’ve squeezed out ever last bit. I usually find there’s one to 2 weeks’ worth of face or eye cream left. I use a large butterfly clip to close it up and a spatula to “reach inside”. With my Clarins night time eye cream – which is really pricey – I get my husband to remove the pump assembly thing and, again, there’s usually 1 to 2 weeks’ worth of product (if not more) still inside the “airless” pump and at the price of this stuff, I want to use what I’ve paid for. I’ll add water to the dregs of a large shampoo bottle to get the last and I’ll use a clean chopstick to reach into tall bottles of body lotion to get as much out as I can. It really is outrageous how much product can be left inside an “empty” container
If it’s in a tube, I’ll cut it open to get the last bit out 🙂 You’d be surprised how much product is still in there! I get at least an extra week’s use out of my daily moisturizer when I cut the tube open. I just put tin foil over it to keep it clean and prevent it from drying out.
@Kiss and Makeup The same is true for me. There is always so much left and not to use it would feel like throwing money in the trash. At least for me. 🙂
When it comes to actual makeup, I’ve never gotten to the point where I’ve had to try to get the last bit out. I can’t even think of one product where I’ve even hit pan on (unless you count powder products that have crcked or broken). Since I *always* use a lipbrush for lipstick, anyway, I suppose I would just continue to use the same method to get out the remainder. I have also bent the doe foot applicator on UDPP, and manipulated the wand to get more product out, but I haven’t cut it open. When I get low on foundation, I just store it upside down. When I run low on hair products in a non-aeresol spray bottle, I’ll just pour the remaining bit into the new bottle I’ve started (sometimes it’s not even the exact same product), or I’ll pour it into my hands and rub it through my hair. Shampoo & conditioner have water added to the bottle, and I pour it into the bath (a trick I picked up from a fashion mag many years ago), and it really softens the skin. I do the same with lotions and body oils in lieu of bath oil. Wow, I never really ever gave this a thought, but I really don’t waste anything, LOL.
I’ve also sccoped the remaing bits out of my Max Factor PanStik foundations, since I can’t easily buy more.
Dudes..if it is an expensive facial product like a serum, I will go to ANY length to get the last bit out. Especially those darn pump bottles that miss a lot of product when they start pumping out air and squirting product out in obscene ways. LoL… *giggle*….
For something like lotion, I put the bottle in a bath of hot water until it pours out easily.
I sawed a genie bottle of Urban Decay’s primer so I can get more.
I’m not afraid of busting out a pair of scissors to cut open my origins products.
In the 50’s and 60’s my aunt used to cut her tubes of hand cream open and slide one part down over the other to make sure she got all the product out. I thought she was cheap then…but when I started to fall hard for some expensive brands, I found I use that technique on all the plyable plastic tubes I have to get out what is a huge amount of product left behind. Other types of packaging…forget it. The ones I really hate package wise are those that are with a pump that never is the right pump for the product. I tend to hang on to the screw caps for car travel and also to store these upside down so I can get the product out.
I think I’ll go pretty far. If I run low on a pan makeup product, I’ll smash it up and add rubbing alchohol to level it out again, cut tubes open, if it’s expensive I will saw open the container(eg high end glass packaging foundation), open up spray bottles if possible and pour onto my hand, I won’t add water to shampoos conditioners or lotions though, I will use up as much as I can, pretty much.
Ill turn things upside down but that’s about it. I usually have thing I want to move on to so I don’t go to the extremes of cutting things open because I want to start the new stuff :)! Or I get tired of if.
I usually avoid things like pump bottles and lip gloss wand type packaging for exactly this reason–you cant reach all of the product. The most stressful item was a very expensive $150 Caudalie face cream, it comes in this gold pump bottle thats solid, not see through and there’s no way to open up the cap or cut open the packaging because its plastic. To things like cleansers and body washes I add water too, mix it up and pour it out because I hate wasting product.
I’ll do anything I can think of! I cut open bottles and tubes if I can (I haven’t gone farther than scissors, but I’d definitely consider it for something like UDPP), scoop out lip products…. and one thing I don’t see people mention often is removing stoppers.
(I don’t add water to body washes or shampoos, though, since I don’t want to use a watered-down version. I thought that was just what my brothers did when they didn’t feel like finding a new one, to be honest.)
The only product that I fight to the end is my facial cream which is part of my skincare routine. It comes in a soft, plastic tube, so I just cut the end and scrape the rest of the cream out with a plastic knife. I put the product into a ziplock bag, and it lasts me at least another week which gives me time to purchase another tube. That cream costs too much and works too well for me not to use it to the last drop! With any other product, I am too lazy to fight with packaging, so I just throw it away and start over with a new one.
I really dislike gimmicky packaging where a company KNOWS you can’t get to all the product and doesn’t do anything to help. My favorite things of all for this are vacuum pumps and jars/tubs (not the most sanitary, but make getting to every bit of product a breeze). But for things that can’t be helped/are standardized like bottles or lip glosses I don’t mind adding a bit of water to (e.g. shower gel, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner) or removing a wand wiper from (gloss, concealers that come in lip-gloss type containers). In addition, I keep little containers for any pressed-type powder products (e.g. blush, bronzer, eyeshadow) to use in the instance that I use up the center part and there are hard-to-get-to bits in the corners left (or they start to crack). When I’m low on several products I’ll just scrape them into a small jar to get a unique ‘homemade’ cheek color or loose shadow 😛