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Inside Design: Nailing Design

One-of-a-Kind Caps

Some companies use interesting caps to help their nail polish bottles stand out. SpaRitual and Luscious Cosmetics are two brands that have patented caps that are not only visually distinct, but uniquely functional as well.

SpaRitual is a new brand developed by professional nail-care brand Orly International Inc. (Chatsworth, CA). The SpaRitual bottles feature the patented rubber-coated cap that helped make the Orly nail lacquers famous. The cap isn't merely a visual trademark; it is first and foremost designed to enhance nail polish application. The easy-to-grip rubber makes it easy for customers to twist the cap. This helps solve a common problem associated with nail polish packages—when a cap becomes stuck to a bottle by residual nail polish on a bottle's neck. The plum-colored rubber also features an embossed pattern that makes the cap even easier to grip.

Technically, refining the SpaRitual cap took some time. One difficulty was molding the "SR" initials on top of the cap. "There were some challenges with molding the letters a precise distance apart because we were working with rubber and plastic," says Shel Pink, director of fashion, beauty, and brand development for SpaRitual and Orly. The cap was designed by Jeff Pink, Shel's father-in-law and the founder, CEO, and president of Orly.

The nail polish bottles for Luscious Cosmetics (Capistrano Beach, CA) also sport a patented cap. Like SpaRitual's, the Luscious cap is designed with a unique function. The cap is a two-piece design that features a small screw-on brush cap and an overcap that sits on top of it. The overcap is what makes this package special—it has a compartment that holds small-sized, loose Swarovski crystals. Customers can use the crystals to decorate their nails once they've applied the nail polish.

"The cap makes our product stand out because no one else has one like it," says Charity Vance, president and founder of Luscious Cosmetics. "People have put together packets with crystals, but no one's ever actually put the crystals in a cap so that the nail polish and crystals retail in one package. It's what helped us get in the door with the editors, consumers, and retailers."

To allow customers to access the crystals while applying the nail polish at the same time, the overcap detaches from the smaller brush cap. Customers can unscrew a lid on top of the overcap to get the crystals out of the compartment.

The All-in-One Nail Polish Remover

Innovation in the nail-care category doesn't always have to do with nail polish. In particular, a package for a nail polish remover caught our attention.

Swabplus Inc. (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) has been retailing a cotton swab prefilled with nail polish remover and cuticle conditioner formulas. To apply the product, a user must simply bend one end of the swab until it "snaps." The product is then released and flows onto the swab's cotton, which can then be applied to a user's fingernail to remove nail polish or to the cuticles to condition them.

Benefits of the cotton swab are convenience, portability, and ease of use. "It combines a liquid with a delivery system, so customers don't have to carry cotton swabs or cotton balls and the liquid product separately," says David Horwitz, executive vice president, retail sales and marketing, for Swabplus. In addition, the cotton swab prevents product waste. "The Swabplus is designed to deliver a measured dose of product so you get just the right amount and don't waste any on a cotton ball," says Horwitz.

In January, Swabplus redesigned the cotton swab's packaging. Initially, the cotton swabs were retailed in a flat box. Now, the products are housed in a carton and each cotton swab is individually wrapped in cellophane. First off, the cellophane helps keep the product cleaner and fresher for the consumer. In addition, it provides product identity that makes using the products even more convenient for the customer. "We're now able to print the company and product names on each individual cellophane wrapper," says Horwitz. "With the old packaging, the name of the product wasn't printed on each swab. A customer couldn't really carry a couple of swabs of nail polish remover and cuticle conditioner because she wouldn't know which product was in which swab."

Swabplus's cotton swab is now patented. The company is in the process of developing a similar type of single-dose technology for more-viscous products like creams, lotions, and gels.

The cap is made from clear acrylic to match the look of the rectangular glass bottle supplied by Arrowpak Inc. (Carson, CA). "We built our custom overcap to fit the stock brush-cap that came with the Arrowpak bottle," says Vance. The overcap was designed by Vance's father, Robert Vance, who runs consulting firm Tahoe LLC.

The cap is now a signature component. The brand is now in the process of updating its design. "We're modifying the cap so that it can be used for other types of packages—and for other products other than nail polish and crystals," says Vance. The company plans to launch the updated caps this year. They are all patent pending.

Bottle Trends

Glass still remains the most popular material for nail polish bottles. Joseph Payne, sales representative for Arrowpak, says, "There are very few plastics that are compatible with nail polish formulas."

William Reed, director of cosmetic sales for the The Glass Group (Millville, NJ), agrees. "Materials other than glass are less desirable for packaging nail enamels," he says. "With plastics, for instance, the barrier properties are generally not compatible with nail enamels. There's only one plastic I can think of that could be compatible, but it's an off-color, not clear, which is so important for showing off nail enamel colors."

The Glass Group is a primary supplier of nail polish bottles for brands such as L'Oréal's Maybelline division, Revlon, OPI, Orly, SpaRitual, and Estée Lauder. Reed says that most of these large companies go for custom molds. However, The Glass Group also specializes in stock designs. It offers three stock bottles—a cylinder, a footed round, and a square. "These have pretty much been the basic shapes for years," says Reed.

Arrowpak recently launched a creative stock concept—a double-ended nail polish package. The bottles are glass, and the connector, which can be custom colored and custom finished, has a brush attached to each side. "This package stands out from other nail polish packages because it has the ability to hold two different colors or finishes of polish," says Payne. "Arrowpak is constantly looking for innovative ways to package nail polish. We try to introduce at least six new designs annually, which has kept the packaging fresh and up to date with market trends."

For most companies, one of the biggest concerns with nail polish bottles is that they not tip over. While designing its nail polish bottle, SpaRitual made sure that the proportions of its bottle were correct. "It was a delicate process figuring out how wide the bottle's diameter could be," says Pink. "We didn't want the bottle to be unstable and tip over on a manicurist's counter." In fact, SpaRitual worked for three years with the designers who also design Ferrari sports cars to fashion the bottle, which Pink says combines midcentury modern design and Far East-inspired elements.

Deborah Lippmann, celebrity manicurist and founder of the Lippmann Collection brand of nail-care products, also had the same concern with bottle stability. As a result, Lippmann's trademark square bottle features a unique pedestal that prevents the bottle from tipping over. "It is very balanced and sturdy, and therefore, it doesn't spill," says Lippmann. Lippmann also took special pains designing the no-drip brush, which she says is customized to allow for three full strokes of polish or treatment product on each nail.

One particular trend slowly happening in nail polish bottles is a move towards a smaller capacity. "Bottles used to be a 0.5-oz size. Now, more companies are going for a 0.45-oz or smaller size," Reed says. "Companies are giving away less product."

Lippmann comments, "In Europe, a big trend is to provide smaller amounts of products in bottles, but I'm not sure if that idea has caught on in the United States yet. However, I do not think it is such a bad idea. Do you really ever finish a whole bottle of nail polish?"

Creative Complements

Secondary accessories are another tool that companies use to make their nail polish bottles distinct. Hard Candy Cosmetics (Costa Mesa, CA) took advantage of this tactic from the start. The first product launched by the niche brand in 1995 was its nail polishes. Besides the nail polishes' unusual colors and names, what caught editors' and customers' attention were the colorful jelly rings placed around the base of the bottles' caps.

"When Hard Candy launched its nail polish bottle with the jelly ring ten years ago, it really revolutionized that segment of the cosmetics industry," says Amy Zunzunegui, product development manager for Hard Candy and Urban Decay. "It was the first brand to add such an accessory to a nail polish bottle. It gave the customer a reason to take notice of the product as well as the entire brand. It put Hard Candy on the map and made it the iconic brand it is today."

Inspired by Nail Polish Bottles

This spring, several companies have launched products that aren't nail polish, but that are packaged in containers that look like they were inspired by nail polish bottles.

In March, Benefit Cosmetics (San Francisco) relaunched its Glamazon liquid bronzing tint. The product, which the company says has somewhat of a cult following, had been off shelves for the past two-and-a-half years so that the company could reformulate and repackage it. The product now comes in a 1-oz round glass bottle, complete with a cap with a brush attached. "Glamazon has always been in a round bottle that kind of looks like a nail polish bottle," says Alison Haljun, Benefit's associate director of public relations.

"To give our new Glamazon a more updated feel, we printed a leopard print on silver foil, which was wrapped around the cap to give the product more shine and drama," says Hannah Malott, associate art director for Benefit.

To celebrate Glamazon's relaunch, Benefit also created three limited-edition liquid-to-powder glimmering creams for the lips and cheeks. Called Jewels of the Amazon, the new products are housed in 0.4-oz bottles similar to the Glamazon bottle. "The Jewels of the Amazon are packaged in mini versions of the Glamazon bottle, with the same print on the cap," says Malott.

Benefit isn't worried that customers will mistake the products for nail polish. Haljun says that customers today are much more used to seeing non–nail polish products in these types of bottles. "At first glance, they might look like nail polish bottles," she says. "But there are so many products today that are packaged in such unique ways that I think the customer is getting a lot more savvy. We've sold our famous Benetint lip and cheek stain for more than 20 years. In the beginning, women did think it was nail polish. But now this type of packaging is quite common for stains and liquid-type products, so I think women aren't as confused anymore."

In 2001, Hard Candy experimented by changing the glass bottle and the ring. Instead of the square-shaped 0.5-oz stock bottle with a white cap it had been using from Arrowpak, it switched to a larger rectangular bottle from Brosse USA. The company also started using a plastic ring with a Swarovski crystal in it. This year, the company switched back to the original Arrowpak bottle, as well as the trademark jelly rings. "We wanted to go back to the bottle that helped make Hard Candy a cult classic," says Zunzunegui. "It's a smaller, cuter bottle that really represents the original roots of the Hard Candy image."

Zunzunegui says that the rings help to accessorize an otherwise streamlined bottle. "The actual nail polish bottle is a simple, straightforward design, but the addition of the ring almost makes it a collectible item for our customers," she says.

Hard Candy is considered the forerunner for the ring concept. Other companies, however, have found similar ways to accessorize their bottles. For instance, Peek Cosmetics (Richmond, KY) added a polka-dot fabric bow to its nail polish bottles, which are supplied by Arrowpak.

"Over the last 10 years, there have not been a lot of other brands following this trend; however, a few are starting to pop up in the market," says Zunzunegui. "I think each brand is trying to come up with something that differentiates it from the next brand, especially for nail enamel. You have to add a little something extra if you want the customer to buy from you versus the mass brands."

For the Lippmann Collection, accessorizing comes in the form of secondary packaging. To house the brand's recently launched An American in Paris travel-sized French manicure set, the company chose a playful clear plastic bag adorned with plush baby-blue cotton.

Looking Forward

As these companies show, innovation is still happening in nail polish packaging. We certainly hope to see more of it in the future. "Too many people are using the same type of packaging, which I think needs to change," says Lippmann. "There needs to be more innovation and brand definition in the packaging on the market today."

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