Cosmetic bottles are made of soda-lime glass (flint, high-flint, super-flint, crystal-white, and the amber, green and opal coloured grades) or borosilicate / Type I neutral glass for ampoules and vials; both are lead-free by composition. Lead crystal is a separate tableware glass with lead oxide in the batch and is not used for cosmetic bottles, even though 'crystal-white' cosmetic glass borrows the word. The check that matters is the pack as a whole: a third-party laboratory report showing Pb + Cd + Hg + Cr(VI) ≤100 ppm (EU 94/62/EC) on the bottle, its colourants, its printed or sprayed decoration and its closure, with inner-surface hydrolytic resistance to GB/T 4548 for the glass in contact with the formula.
Which glass is in a cosmetic bottle
Three families of glass exist in the beauty supply chain, and only two of them are used for bottles.
| Family | Composition and character | Lead in the batch? | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soda-lime (flint, high-flint, super-flint, crystal-white; amber, green, opal) | Silica, soda and lime; grades differ by iron content (less iron, less green tint); crystal-white uses quartz as the main raw material for brilliance; coloured grades take colourants in the melt | No | Serum, toner, dropper, perfume, cream jars, roll-ons — virtually all cosmetic glass |
| Borosilicate / Type I neutral | Silica with boron oxide; low expansion, highest thermal-shock and hydrolytic resistance; up to ~12% lighter wall for the same strength | No | Ampoules, tubular vials, high-active pharmaceutical-style serums, hot-fill |
| Lead crystal | Silica with lead oxide added for weight, refraction and sparkle | Yes, by definition | Decorative tableware and stemware; not used for cosmetic bottles, which are formed on IS machines from soda-lime batches |
The confusion comes from vocabulary. "Crystal-white" (or crystal-clear) cosmetic glass is a low-iron soda-lime grade chosen for fine fragrance bottles because of its brilliance; it is not lead crystal. Flint, high-flint and super-flint are the same soda-lime chemistry with progressively less iron; high-flint is the skincare default and super-flint the premium colourless choice. The grade table and forming methods are on glass bottle specifications.
Where heavy metals can still enter a glass pack
A lead-free batch does not make a lead-free pack. Four places need the question asked.
- Coloured glass. Amber, green, cobalt and opal grades take colourants in the melt. The mainstream colourants used by cosmetic glassworks are not lead-based, but a made-to-order colour is a batch decision at the furnace, and the heavy-metal report should be per glass batch — which is why the amber swatch is approved per batch on the QC sheet.
- Fired decoration. High-temperature silk-screen inks are fired into the glass surface; historically, some ceramic inks used heavy-metal pigments. Specify lead-free and cadmium-free inks and hot-stamp foils, and have the decorated bottle tested, not the bare one.
- Sprayed and plated components. Spray coatings, vacuum metallising and electroplated caps are separate materials with their own reports. Plated parts must never contact skin or formula, and nickel must not be used on touch surfaces, with nickel-release data requested for EU markets.
- Closures, liners and sleeves. PVC shrink sleeves are a known case: PVC stabilisers can contain lead and barium compounds, so a sleeve on a glass bottle needs its own report or a PET/PETG sleeve instead.
The limits a brand can write into the spec
| Requirement | Value | Applies to | Source of the figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaging heavy metals | Pb + Cd + Hg + Cr(VI) ≤100 ppm (mg/kg) combined | Bottle, colourant, decoration, closure, sleeve — each component, and the assembled pack | EU 94/62/EC packaging directive; on our QC standards page |
| Stricter per-element schedule some brand specifications apply to direct-contact components | Pb 0.2 · Cd 0.1 · Hg 0.02 · Cr(VI) 0.5 · Cr 1.0 · As 0.2 · Sb 30 · Ni 1.0 · Co 1.0 · Cu 25 mg/kg | Component surfaces in contact with the formula | Brand-side direct-contact carrier limits used in the China supply chain (packaging knowledge base extract) |
| Inner-surface water (hydrolytic) resistance | Within the hydrolytic class for cosmetic contact | Glass in contact with the bulk | GB/T 4548 |
| Migration and SVHC | Phthalates and SVHC per REACH; USP Class VI where the market or client asks | Plastic components, liners, gaskets | REACH; USP |
| Laboratory | CNAS / CMA / ISO 17025 accredited third party | All of the above | Report on file per order; not an in-house claim |
The 100 ppm figure is a packaging-level limit, and it is the one most brand and retailer questionnaires reference. It is also the one partner factories keep on file for every glass programme. The per-element schedule is far stricter and is aimed at the surface that touches the formula; a brand selling into a retailer with its own restricted-substance list should ask which schedule applies before the glass batch is confirmed, because the test is run on the finished, decorated bottle from that batch.
How to verify: the four documents
- Glass composition statement. A one-line declaration from the glassworks of the glass family (soda-lime or borosilicate) and grade. It should say lead-free by composition; it is not a test result.
- Third-party heavy-metal report on the decorated bottle. Pb, Cd, Hg and Cr(VI) with the ≤100 ppm result, from an accredited laboratory, referenced to the glass batch and the decoration lot. A report on a bare clear bottle does not cover the printed amber one.
- Component reports. Closure, liner, pump or dropper, sleeve — each is a different material with a different supplier. Ask for each, or for one report on the assembled pack.
- Hydrolytic resistance to GB/T 4548 for the inner surface, alongside thermal shock to GB/T 4547 and annealing to GB 4545, on the standard glass QC sheet.
Hand-held XRF at incoming inspection is a useful screen on a coloured or decorated lot, not a certificate; the laboratory report is what a retailer accepts. A heavy-metal pass is a packaging result, not product approval: formula stability and market safety assessments stay with the brand's formulator and safety assessor.
Soda-lime or borosilicate for your bottle
| Factor | Soda-lime (flint to super-flint, coloured grades) | Borosilicate / Type I neutral |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical contact | Inert for cosmetic bulks; amber blocks UV below ~450 nm | Highest hydrolytic resistance; the choice for high-active, pH-extreme or pharmaceutical-style serums |
| Thermal shock | Tested to GB/T 4547 (55°C to 20°C water) | Low expansion; suits hot-fill and sterilisation |
| Weight | 2–3× the weight of an equivalent plastic bottle | Up to ~12% lighter wall for the same strength |
| Shapes and decoration | Full range of moulded shapes; frosting, spray, print, hot stamp | Mostly drawn tube: ampoules and vials Ø10–Ø30 mm; limited decorative shapes |
| Cost and tooling | Stock shapes from about 500 undecorated, 2,000 printed; made-to-order 30,000–200,000 at RMB 4,000 ≈ USD 555 per cavity | Higher unit cost; tooling lead time on any non-standard shape |
For almost every serum, toner, oil and fragrance, the answer is soda-lime in high-flint or amber, with the heavy-metal report on the decorated bottle. Borosilicate earns its cost on ampoules, single-dose vials and formulas that punish ordinary glass. Both are lead-free; neither is a substitute for the report.
Stock grades and formats are on glass bottles; the compatibility rules that decide when glass is mandatory — ethanol above about 30%, acetone, pH below 4, essential oils — are on the formula × packaging compatibility matrix; the four inspection gates and the heavy-metal line are on our QC standards; market rules for the US, UK, EU and Australia are in the cosmetic packaging compliance guide; and the documents to ask a glass supplier for before a deposit are in how to evaluate a China packaging supplier.
Vella is a Guangzhou-based beauty packaging solutions provider — a sourcing partner working with vetted partner factories operating to ISO 22716 / GMP — and helps brands connect with accredited third-party laboratories so that the heavy-metal report on file matches the decorated glass batch that ships. Glass formats for a full range are on skincare packaging solutions.
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