lanolin in snazaroo probably dissolves plastic

i was reading older posts about snazaroo paints eating through hard plastic. this is probably due to the lanolin in snazaroo, which is an oily wax.

hard, brittle plastic is usually polystyrene (hard version of styrofoam), which is also made of long chains of an oil molecule, styrene. styrene is actually a natural oil, though the large amounts produced to make plastic are synthetic versions.

long story short, oils/waxes will dissolve other oils/waxes because they have similar chemical structures and properties. so, nothing toxic in the snazaroo that's doing this.

Wow! Glad to finally have an answer to this strange problem.

So, if we want to repot Snaz paints into a different container, we have to find a plastic made of a different molecular structure then. This backs what I was reading about Snaz not eating through 'milky' or soft plastics- it must be some sort of plastic other than polystyrene.

I could just avoid plastics altogether and use instead say, tin (thinking of the lining of my Prisma onestroke cakes) Is there any evidence of oils in facepaints reacting badly to tin containers?

Tin reacts to water and it will leach unless coated... you don't want to use tin.

Stick to food safe products/containers.

What about the small altoids tins? They seem to be the perfect size, maybe a bit short. And bonus fresh breath!