The types and features of commonly used plastic tubes for cosmetic packaging

2025-11-06

The functions and roles of cosmetics are becoming increasingly detailed, and there are more and more cosmetics with comprehensive functions. The differences in grades are very significant, and the packaging forms are dazzling.

At present, the commonly used plastic tubes for cosmetic packaging are mainly composed of aluminum-plastic composite tubes, pull-plastic composite tubes and plastic co-extruded tubes, which can meet various requirements of cosmetic packaging such as hygiene and resistance.

1. Aluminum-plastic composite tube

Aluminum-plastic composite flexible tubes are made from aluminum foil and plastic film, which are processed into plates through pneumatic lamination technology and then processed into tubular packaging containers by special tube machines. The typical structure is PE/PE EAA/AL/PE EAA/PE. Aluminum-plastic composite flexible tubes are primarily used for packaging cosmetics with high hygiene and barrier properties. The barrier layer is generally aluminum foil, and its barrier property depends on the pinhole degree of the aluminum foil.

Aluminum-plastic composite hoses have the following advantages during use:

High barrier properties: Aluminum foil has barrier properties, electrical resistance, water resistance and other blocking functions, preventing external substances from entering the interior of cosmetics, avoiding oxidation and deterioration of cosmetics, and preventing moisture or fragrances and other components in cosmetics from dispersing to the outside through the tube, thereby ensuring the quality of cosmetics.
Low cost. To achieve the same blocking function, aluminum-plastic composite hoses offer less material, lower cost and less economy than all-plastic composite hoses and plastic co-extruded hoses.

2. All-plastic composite hose

All-plastic composite hoses are all made of plastic and are divided into all-plastic non-blocking composite hoses and all-plastic resistance composite hoses. The typical structure of plastic obstruction composite hoses is PE/PE/EVOH/PE/PE.

The advantages of plastic composite hoses include: (1)Environmental protection. Compared with aluminum-plastic composite hoses, all-plastic composite hoses use economical and easily recyclable all-plastic boards, reducing the pollution of packaging waste to the environment. After reprocessing the recycled all-plastic composite hoses, lower-quality products can be produced.

It comes in a wide variety of colors. According to the characteristics of cosmetics and consumer demands, all-plastic composite tubes are made in various colors such as colorless and transparent, colored and transparent, and colorless and opaque, which can bring customers a strong visual enjoyment.
Good resilience: Compared with aluminum-plastic composite hoses, plastic composite hoses have better resilience. After extruding cosmetics, the hose quickly returns to its original shape and always maintains a beautiful and regular shape. This is very important for cosmetic packaging.

The primary advantages of plastic co-extruded hoses include: (1) There is no amplitude change, and its appearance is better than that of composite hoses. It is required for high-end cosmetic tube packaging. (2) According to the extrusion die, various shapes of extruded hoses (such as oval, square, etc.) can be produced to meet the needs of different customers.