Personal Care Feature: The Road to Wellness
A square is the inspiration for the packaging of Jules & Jane skin-care products. Simplicity is the message for the complex all-organic formulations.Packages for aromatherapy products can put consumers on a path to healthful benefits.
By Lori BryanPersonal care companies understand their customers' attraction to aromatherapy. What appeals to them, generally speaking, is not the science of extracting essential oils from herbs, plants, and fruits, but rather the mental and physical benefits that the derivatives can provide. For instance, a person feeling stressed may pour lavender oil into a warm bath, releasing an aroma that can soothe the senses. Someone else may seek grapefruit oil for its rejuvenating scent.
Because these positive effects on mind and body are what consumers want from aromatherapy, personal care companies are creating packages for their products that start delivering the benefits instantly. The feel-good properties of the therapeutic products are communicated through the design of their packaging, enabling customers to begin feeling better right in the store, at first sight of a product, before they even have the opportunity to experience the advantages of the organic formulation itself.
The Benefits of Being Square
Sometimes less is more, as the no-frills packaging for the Jules & Jane (New York City) organic skin-care line attests. A square is the inspiration for the plastic bottles, which contain such skin treatments as Tonic and Powder Wash. The edges of the bottles are subtly squared, and a bright red square with black lettering appears on the products' front panels. The simple squareness of the design creates a no-fuss, neoindustrial, unisex look that makes the all-organic formulations easily accessible despite their complexity.
"The ingredients in our products are complex," says Jules & Jane cofounder Jane Schub, who also designed the packaging. The principles of the company are based on aromatherapy and ayurveda. Leaves, stems, roots, and flowers grown organically in such places as India, France, and Morocco are blended to create balancing formulations, which are packaged for consumer friendliness and ease of use.
The square that influences the packaging reinforces this notion of simplicity. "We want people to be comfortable with our products and to use them as a simple skin-care ritual," says Schub. The straightforward, eye-catching design of the packaging, she says, helps the consumer cultivate a positive attitude toward selecting a skin-care system that is healthy for the skin and mind.
Also a positive aspect of the packaging is its "superhygienic" design. "We didn't want our customers to contaminate the products" with bacteria that could jeopardize their safety or efficacy, says Schub. For this reason, the company elected not to use jars, which people could dip their fingers into. "All the triple-layered plastic bottles feature a pour spout or spray, to keep the products pristine inside their packaging." These dispensers also enhance the travel friendliness of the packages, she says, eliminating the need for consumers to pour products into other containers for use on the go.
Terranova's Lavender Calm products are labeled with ingredient names and "benefit" words But the benefits don't stop there, says Schub. The packages are recyclable and fully biodegradable, to ease the burden on the environment and put the ecologically minded customer more at ease. The Jules & Jane brand "inspires a more-conscious, holistic, joyful lifestyle," and the packaging plays its part in conveying that positive message.
Maintaining a Positive Image
Terranova (Berkeley, CA) had a healthy reputation to uphold when it launched its Wellness Aromatherapy Collection at the Ex-Tracts trade show, held earlier this year in New York City.
The branded retail line of parent company A.K.A. Saunders Inc., a natural bath and body care company, Terranova has been marketing products for the pampering of body, mind, and spirit for more than 30 years. The company didn't disappoint its established customer base and likely attracted new fans with the collection's two new sensory blends in packaging designed to jump-start the consumer's positive experience.
The packages for Wellness blends Citrus Awakening and Lavender Calm reflect the products' physiological benefits, according to Kathy Saunders, vice president of Terranova. The aromatic blends are housed in glass apothecary-style bottles featuring labels with ingredient-specific and benefit-specific information. For example, labels for both the body cream and the aromatic cologne mist in the Lavender Calm collection bear a light-purple-colored picture of the flowering lavender plant. Surrounding this central image are the names of the ingredients—lavender, calendula, chamomile, and rose—as well as the "benefit" words: tranquility, sanctuary, harmony, and comfort. Together, these elements create a positive experience that starts prior to any interaction with the product inside the packaging.
The highly communicative design is the work of Spotted Dog Graphics (San Francisco). "Terranova is well known for its scents," explains Spotted Dog creative director Sandra Murray. "We wanted to reflect the experience of the lavender and citrus scents on the labels." In addition to providing ingredients and benefits information, the design firm also used colors and their popular associations to connect with customers. "We used bright yellow and orange tones for Citrus Awakening, to create an [energized] feeling for the products," says Murray. "For Lavender Calm, we chose a soft purple that has a calming, soothing effect."
A number of packaging suppliers helped Terranova execute Spotted Dog's design for the Wellness line. They include Alpha Plastics for the 8-oz PET bottle; Wheaton for the cologne bottle; New High Glass for the .25-oz bottle for ethereal essential oil; Moldrite Plastics for the 24-400 white, ribbed cap; Calmar for the 24-400 white, ribbed pump; Tech Industries for the 13-415 silver cap; and ABA Packaging for the actuator-pump-overcap trio.
The result of the overall design effort is a positive image for the Wellness products that mirrors the positive attitude of the brand. "The look is," according to Terranova, "colorful, clean, fresh, and reflective of the mood that each fragrance enhances within [the customer]."
A Call to Action
When Michael Blake founded an organic skin-and-bath-care products company earlier this year, it was because he wanted to provide products for people who are interested in the ingredients they apply to their skin. And to get their attention, he created a brand and packaging that encourage them to take care, to feel well, for their health.
Packages for the UBH line are designed for a clean, modern look. Enter creative director for UBH Jean Govoni. A designer with a background in advertising, Govoni was well prepared for the task of creating a positive brand identity for UBH. "The goal was to give people healthful [products] with a clean, modern look," says Govoni. Blake adds, "We wanted to bridge the gap between paper-bag-style packaging and the look of high-end brands." Together, Blake and Govoni met the challenge, with frosted glass bottles, white caps and pumps, and white boxes offset-printed with photographs of the ingredients. The packages symbolize the therapeutic qualities of the products they contain.
The offset-printed white boxes convey the brand's positive attitude to consumers with two life-affirming symbols: the heart and the sun. A heart-shaped rose blooms on the front panel of the rose-scented Nourishing Facial box, and a sun-shaped bunch of calendula flowers shines as the central image on the Renewing After Sun blend. This symbology of life, of beauty and happiness, says Govoni, is "the visual twist that makes UBH products distinct from other organic skin-care lines on the market."
Color is also an important element of the packaging, says Govoni. "We made the ingredients prominent on the packages by giving them striking colors," she says. For example, warm yellow accents on the carton for the Soothing Bath Salts call attention to the product's grapefruit peel ingredient.
"Michael was very sensitive to the aesthetics of the line," says Govoni. Several packaging suppliers helped to make his vision a reality. Wheaton supplied the bottles, and Brooklyn Box provided the boxes. Silk-screening was done by Vetrolab. Pump suppliers included Calmar, Emsar, and Pfeiffer.
The UBH skin-care line, which is currently available on-line at http://www.4ubh.com, will be in stores this fall, according to Blake. When the products hit the shelves in carefully positioned packaging, they promise to command attention.
Be happy. Be healthy. Be beautiful.
Positively Packaged
Companies packaging essential oils and organic blends for the aromatherapy market are wise to do so with a positive approach. By designing packages that convey the therapeutic benefits of the products they house, companies can engender a feeling of well-being in their customers—one that takes hold in the store, when the customer first spots a product on the shelf. This connection can move product off the shelves and into the hands of customers who can benefit. And benefits are what aromatherapy is all about.
On the Supply Side
What are your vendor-partners doing to keep pace with the increasing demand for fresh, functional aromatherapy packaging? Plenty, it seems. Here's a sampling of what some suppliers have in store.
Stock bottles, tottles, and jars from Dieter Bakic (Munich) send a clear message. "Transparency is so important for aromatherapy," says Eric Firmin, director of sales and marketing for the company. "[Clear packages] put the spotlight on the product, with 360° of visibility."
Transparent packaging for aromatherapy products by Dieter Bakic Glass bottles from Carow Packaging (Crystal Lake, IL) offer a solution for essential oils requiring precise dispensing. "Using the dropper insert, [consumers] can dispense a controlled drop into a diffuser ring, an electric diffuser, or a carrier oil used for massage, or apply it directly to their hands," says vice president of sales Steve Carow.
Also designed with functionality in mind are Brad-Pak's (Garwood, NJ) stock glass roll-on bottles for no-mess application of body oils. They come in 1 1/4-, 3- and 1-oz sizes.
Putting aromatherapy products on display is the idea behind the Westport bottle from Berlin Packaging (Chicago). The glass cork-and-bottle package is designed to show off colorful bath salts or other feel-good bath products.
Presentation is also a focus at Cin-Made Packaging Group (Cincinnati), a supplier of convolute paper cans. The secondary packages offer an alternative to bags, tins, and boxes, and come in various shapes and sizes. "The tops and bottoms of the containers are plastic, so as to be compatible with salt products" and other wellness formulations, says sales manager Mary Royse.
Orlandi Inc. (Farmingdale, NY) also stresses the importance of shelf appeal. "We offer a wide array of packaging options for both point-of-purchase and in-store displays," says Gina Shaughnessy, marketing manager. These options are available for the aromatherapy products the firm manufactures, which include aromatherapy drawer liners, air fresheners, and sachets.
These suppliers and others are working to keep up with the demands of the growing aromatherapy market. With the choices they're providing, it's likely that your product's needs can be met. Now, all you have to do is choose.