The Mystery Of The World’s Biggest Glitter Buyer

Glitter is a must-have component of both kids’ birthday parties and adult playgrounds like festivals and clubs. Debates rage about the detriment to the environment caused by the playful decoration, however. Glitter never degrades, so all those parties are glittering up only to fill the oceans with it and kill the fish with microplastics. 

Besides the ecological issues caused by glitter, there seems to be some suspicious business going down. When we think of our everyday uses for glitter (car paint, credit cards, makeup) it all seems reasonably harmless, but some mystery arises when the largest glitter company, Glitterex, was asked who their biggest buyer is. 

In an interview with The Cut, a representative of Glitterex, Ms. Dyer was asked this question and gave an odd response, refusing to disclose where most of their income came from. When they asked her if she knew who the buyer was, she replied “Oh God, yes.” and laughed nervously, cutting the conversation short by saying “And you would never guess it. Let’s just leave it at that.” According to her, they can’t share this information because the company doesn’t want people to know that they’re using glitter under any circumstances. 

Some theories exist, including fillings for bombs, toothpaste, or car paints. Rocket fuel was also mentioned. Apparently, this could make partial sense as it can serve as a replacement for ammonium perchlorate, but it would also be a fun send-off for a rocket. 

Whatever the answer is, we can only hope that the glitter is adding another level of fabulous to the product.