Applications: Smart Packaging
For a glossy, high-end look, the jar's base and lid were sprayed with a clear UV lacquer that also prevents scuffing. The top of the lid bears the Estée Lauder logo hot-stamped in gold. Estée Lauder's loose-powder container is a technical engineering feat.
By Jennifer Kwok, Associate EditorWhen developing a package for its Equalizer Smart Loose Powder, Estée Lauder sought a loose-powder container that would be convenient for custom-ers on the go. The company asked Lombardi Design & Manufacturing (Freeport, NY), a plastics packaging design and manufacturing firm, to develop a travel-friendly package. Lombardi Design's solution, a leakproof container, is an innovation in loose-powder packaging.
"A common problem with a conventional loose-powder jar is that powder can leak freely through the powder sifter's holes," says Victor Caracappa, sales manager for Lombardi Design. "When the customer opens a [traditional] jar's lid, the powder particles spill everywhere."
The Equalizer package essentially comprises two containers: a leakproof powder unit, which Estée Lauder and Lombardi Design referred to during development as the engine, and a decorative outer jar. "Most of the [package's] engineering is in the engine," says Harry Bennett, vice president of technical packaging services for Estée Lauder.
Creating the multipart engine required Lombardi Design to develop patent-pending technology. A polypropylene drum serves as the engine's body and features a thin ledge that rims the inside of one end. Sitting flush under the ledge is a narrow polypropylene ring over which a nylon screen is stretched, which serves as the engine's sifter and prevents powder from leaking out of the top of the drum. The polypro-pylene ring is adhered to one end of a tall foam ring that lies flush against the drum's inside wall. To seal the drum, a polypropylene plug press-fits into the drum's bottom end.
The engine components offer several benefits. First, the nylon screen has holes precisely sized to prevent powder from escaping. "Through a series of technical evaluations with Estée Lauder, we were able to develop a screen whose holes best matched the size of the Equalizer's loose powder particles," says Caracappa. "The holes are small enough to contain the particles within the engine and at the same time, are large enough to emit powder when the user presses the sponge applicator to the screen."
When the user presses the sponge applicator down on the screen, the flexible foam liner sinks until the screen touches the loose powder, allowing powder to transfer through the screen onto the applicator. Able to sink down to the engine's floor, the foam ring allows the user to access powder at the very bottom of the drum.
Lombardi Design chose the jar to house the engine because its shape best accommodated the engine's size. "We considered lodging the engine in the base of a compact, but decided that a compact's low profile would be too shallow to fit an engine substantially large enough to provide the user with a lot of powder," says Caracappa. The engine is held tightly inside the jar's base so only the engine's nylon screen remains visible at the jar's mouth. "The engine and the [base] form what looks like a single container," says Bennett.
The sponge applicator that sits beneath the lid and on top of the nylon screen also contributes to the compact's leakproof seal. Designed to be taller than the space between the lid and the screen, the sponge is pressed down onto the screen when the lid is screwed in place. Says Bennett: "The sponge compresses onto the screen, keeping the powder where it belongs." The result is a loose-powder container as spillproof and travel friendly as a pressed-powder compact. "There is true satisfaction on our side in working with a client like Estée Lauder that encourages the highest level of technical engineering," says Carl Lombardi, president of Lombardi Design & Manufacturing.