Color Cosmetic Packaging: Past, Present, and Future
Three niche cosmetic lines take inspiration from different time periods.
by Marie Redding, Senior EditorMany beauty brands often find inspiration in vintage packaging. Others favor more contemporary designs. Bésame Cosmetics, Tarte Cosmetics, and Håkansson are three niche makeup brands, each of which features packaging influenced by a different time period. Each brand tells its story through packaging.
Vintage Glam
Bésame Cosmetics is a collection inspired by the vintage makeup colors and glamorous packages used during the 1920s–1950s. The company was founded in 2004 by Gabriela Hernandez. Hernandez had always found herself drawn to her grandmother’s old pressed-powder compacts and lipstick containers from the 1930s. “I wanted to recreate the idea of makeup as a keepsake,” says Hernandez.
The line launched in New York’s Henri Bendel last October. “We started out in the middle section of the store where they try out new lines. Now, we have a permanent spot in the counter area. For a small company, we’re really holding our ground,” says Hernandez.
Many of the packages in the line feature gold metal. “Extra copper was used in the molds to achieve a warmer shade of gold,” says Hernandez. A round gold compact the size of a half-dollar is used for Alluring Eye Shadow and Alluring Rouge. This compact can also be used as a keepsake box when empty of makeup. Hernandez designed the packaging herself and found the compact’s supplier outside of the cosmetic packaging industry. Cashmere Pressed Powder comes in a larger, flatter gold compact housed in a red velvet pouch.
All of the compacts have mirrors beneath the lids. The outside of each lid is embossed with the Bésame logo, a chrysanthemum flower. “The chrysanthemum has an old type of feeling to me—plus, it’s my birthday flower,” says Hernandez. The makeup pans are all refillable and held in place by a magnet at the bottom.
Another product in the line is Souffle Foundation, which is a mousse formula packaged in a 1950s–style clear glass jar with a red lid. When the makeup is finished, the jar can be reused to hold other items. The jar’s SAN lid is produced with a soft-touch finish, and it is supplied by World Wide Packaging. “The soft-touch lid gives this package a more luxurious feel,” says Kimyon Holmes, vice president of West Coast sales for World Wide Packaging.
Creating the Enchanting Lipstick container was most difficult. Hernandez wanted to find a lipstick package slightly smaller than the traditional size used today. She finally found a stock lipstick package that is three-fourths the size of most lipstick containers. It is also supplied by World Wide Packaging. “We tooled a new custom, domed cover,” says Holmes. A vintage bullet shape was chosen for the lipstick instead of the normal fishtail shape commonly used today. The bullet has two slanted sides with a sharp edge at the top that can be used to create the defined lip shapes that were popular in the past.
Designed for Today’s Trendy Consumer
While Bésame was inspired by the past, the team at Tarte Cosmetics is always inspired by the latest fashion trends. Tarte Cosmetics is based in New York City and has been satisfying the needs of “urban fashionistas” since 2000. Alexis Mezzina, communications director for Tarte Cosmetics, tells us that knowing customers’ tastes is most important in order to create packaging that will meet their needs. “The new colors we launch and the way our packages are decorated are both in-line with current trends, and this is appealing to our customer. Packaging that is easy to use and portable is another requirement,” she explains.
Tarte’s new spring collection is called Miss Fix-It. It is designed for the customer who loves a “quick-fix,” according to Mezzina. “Every product we created for spring aims to solve beauty dilemmas,” she says. For example, the Little Blot Book contains blotting papers and translucent powder. “Women rarely carry both of these items, but they work best when used together,” says Mezzina.
The Miss Fix-It Tri-Fold Book exemplifies how Tarte’s packages continue to become smaller but are packed with more products. The compact contains 4 eye shadows, 2 lip glosses, a gold highlighter, and 2 applicators—all of which are tucked inside a small, portable palette that folds up.
Tarte’s Brow Know-How Eyebrow Kit is a small, portable, all-in-one package.
Another new item Tarte is launching is the Brow Know-How Eyebrow Kit. It was designed in collaboration with HCT Packaging. “We teamed up with HCT to design a brow kit that has everything yet was still easy to travel with,” says Mezzina. The rectangle-shaped kit contains an amazing amount of product in a small yet functional package. A pan slides out from underneath and contains brow powder and brow wax. The kit’s four main compartments hold a full-size tweezer, a brow pencil, a brow gel in a bottle with an applicator brush, and an angled eyebrow brush. A mirror is included under the lid. Three brow stencils are also enclosed.
Getting all the details right in order to create the Eyebrow Kit was not an easy task. “We were absolutely resolute about having a pair of tweezers that actually work because it’s so frustrating to get those mini tweezers that won’t grab onto one hair,” says Mezzina. “Also, the brow pencil had to be sharpened to an extremely fine point. If it had been too soft or too thick, it would have created an unnatural, harsh look.”
Tarte Cosmetics seems to have found the perfect combination of style and portability. Customers looking for products that are easy-to-use, functional, and that don’t take up a lot of space are sure to be pleased with the Miss Fix-It line this spring.
A Minimalist Design for the Future
Shaped like an iPod, Håkansson’s The Color compacts are compact and comfortable to hold.
Instead of creating portable packaging filled with lots of different products, Katarina Håkansson, professional makeup artist and founder of Håkansson Skincare, decided to streamline the way makeup is used. The Color line by Håkansson Skincare launched last fall. Håkansson herself specifically developed all of the lightweight cream-based formulations with natural waxes that last on the skin for up to 12 hours.
The Color line is a collection of five sleek, white rectangular compacts. Each of The Color compacts resembles an iPod. It is a flat, credit card–sized stock compact with a sleek, white surface and a mirror inside. Its softly defined edges make it comfortable to hold. “The idea was that this packaging had to be slim enough to fit anywhere,” says Håkansson. “As a makeup artist, I am always traveling and always need to have a wide variety of colors with me. I wanted this collection to be neat and tidy, with everything in small proportions.” The majority of Håkansson’s customers are professional makeup artists.
The compact is extremely thin and light. It feels like a very modern, high-tech object. “I’m from Sweden, and I think this collection just reflects a clean, simple, Scandinavian approach to design,” Håkansson says.
Håkansson’s packaging is sure to appeal to trend-setting customers who love the look of their iPods and Razr phones. It may also be a glimpse into the future style of cosmetic packaging.
A Revolutionary New Mascara Brush
Procter & Gamble is the first to market a revolutionary new mascara brush that is designed to provide extremely precise application. It is being used for the new Cover Girl LashExact mascara, launched in January, and the Max Factor Lash Perfection mascara, launched last November.
The brush is made using a patent-pending molding process. “This new patented brush technology replaces traditional wire brushes. The process has been in development for four years,” says Jerry Sapienza, president, Geka-Toly USA (Edison, NJ). Geka Brush supplies this package.
The brush’s soft touch thermoplastic elastomer bristles are injection molded and precisely positioned. This helps the brush provide the best application possible because the bristles can easily reach each and every lash. The injection-molding process ensures that every brush produced is exactly the same and that each bristle is intentionally placed and spaced evenly, with no variation.
According to P&G, the mold is also designed to create offset bristle rows that produce a dual combing action that detangles and separates lashes as mascara is applied. The brush’s tapered shape and its individually tapered bristles have the ability to reach into areas between each lash for optimal lash separation.
Because the brush is a polymer, it can be tailored—when combined with different chemistries—for different results, according to the experts at P&G. The mascara formula for Cover Girl LashExact has been designed to facilitate its transfer from the brush to the lashes, ensuring a clump-free application. “The formula contains lash-building polymers that help increase flexibility and that thicken upon drying, resulting in a strong, flexible, smudgeproof look,” explains Sarah Vickery, senior scientist, P&G Beauty.
The brush can be molded in any color. Cover Girl’s is lavender, and Max Factor’s is bright yellow. To help the consumer take note of the new type of brush on store shelves, the mascara bottle is covered with a temporary cap, which is meant to be replaced with the regular applicator cap before using the product for the first time. This allows the bottle and the regular cap to be placed side by side in the clear package, so that the brush is visible to the consumer.