HBA Mass Fragrances Category
Winner: Belara by Mary Kay
Ask Mary Kay Cosmetics who designed Belara, and you'll hear how the group had a few hundred thousand contributors. Mary Kay asked for input from customers and was rewarded with opinions on everything from the fragrance to the carton. They identify with the image of a woman balancing family and career, someone who is feminine yet exudes strength, confidence and energy. The packaging, by Tim Maddy, senior package designer, captured that message.
"The Belara bottle combines simplicity, strength and femininity in design, represented by strong shoulders and soft, flowing curves," says Maddy. "The cap adds a sense of fun and whimsy."
The color is the bottle's most striking feature. The cap, spray, collar and top third of the bottle are a deep violet that graduates to a rich teal as the shoulders of the bottle slope downward. "Consumer color choice played a strong role in the packaging," admits Maddy. "Consumers articulated strong preferences for both violetÑviewed as confident, outgoing, fun and sensuousÑand teal, representing energy and sincerity. These colors merge in a unique and compelling way on the bottle to fully reflect the multiple dimensions of a woman and her ability to find balance and harmony in her life."
The design extends to the custom packaging for the Shower Gel and the Body Lotion. The carton was designed by Kristin Cobb and Lynn Phillips of Mary Kay to further reinforce consumer input. The contemporary layout features a white carton with an embossed violet-to-teal color transition shaped like the bottle and set askew to create a sense of movement. The liner is violet.
Bottles of Belara EDP are supplied by Heinz Glas and Pochet and spray decorated by Course Green. The cap is from Mayet, Pierce de Bresse, France and Niob. The pump is by Emsar and labels are from Integra. The carton is manufactured by Arkay, New York, NY and the liner by Stephen Gould.
The tottle for the Body Lotion is supplied by Owens-Illinois, Toledo, OH. The pump is from Sofab, Stamford, CT. the carton from Arkay and the liner from Stephen Gould. The tottle for the Shower Gel is supplied by Owens-Illinois, the valve closure by Seaquist Closure, Mukwonago, WI, the carton by Arkay and the liner by Stephen Gould.
Finalist: Bijan For Women Holiday 1999, by Bijan Fragrances
Daniela Pakzad, director of design for Bijan Fragrances, likes set boxes. Her more unusual creations include boxes shaped like a typewriter, a jewelry box and a sewing kit. For the '99 holiday season, she added her most colorful set box yet, a Harlequin box for men and women complete with masked-shaped gift card, and in the women's set, a sheer black neck scarf with silver rhinestones.
The set box has a plastic insert molded with cavities for a 1.7 oz. Bijan For Women EDP in the distinctive "ring" bottle and white closure, a three-ml purse spray and a 1.7 oz. jar of body cream. The lid of set box is die-cut around the edge to produce a fringe of diamonds. On each point of the diamonds is a circle on which an image of the Bijan bottle is screened in silver and black.
The set box required precise die-cutting and close print tolerances. Packaging Spectrum, Los Angeles, supplied the boxes for Bijan.
Amazing found a receptive audience: more than 200,000 spiral wound packages were ordered followed by a repeat order for about 250,000. Bill Blass was obviously prophetic in his choice of names for the line.
Finalist: Pavlova by Five Star Fragrances
How does one capture the spirit of ballerina Anna Pavola? Five Star Fragrances attempted to do so with a frosted wedge-shaped bottle decorated with roses. The focal point of the Dawson Messina design is the cap. Made from frosted plastic, the cap is molded in the silhouette of Pavlova in her classic swan pose. 
According to Five Star Fragrance, the packaging captures the spirit of Pavlova in every sense. It is delicate, feminine and soft and plays against colorful, bold and dramatic elements. To help consumers find the fragrance on the cluttered shelf, the traditional carton was replaced with an acetate carton lined with black to create a window effect. The bottom of the carton has an acetate divider to support the bottle.
The bottle is supplied by Pochet and Araidena, Gemenos, France. The dispenser is made by Emsar, the gold cap and collar by Niob and the acetate carton by Shell Container.