In Closing: Hair Gel Meets Mascara Tube
A mascara wand lets customers apply Tamz hair gel exactly where they need it.
by Jennifer Kwok, Managing EditorElizabeth White has a lot of experience on the supplier end of beauty packaging. By day, White designs packaging for a supplier of brushes and other cosmetic components. Recently, White branched out into the marketers’ end of the business. She and her sister, hairstylist Jacquelyn Stafford, started hair care brand Tamz. This March, Tamz launched its first product, a hair gel designed to groom flyaway and eyebrow hairs. Because the product is meant for spot application, White and Stafford decided that a small-sized brush would make the best applicator.
“We drew inspiration from mascara tubes,” says White. “We went to the drugstore and got every mascara tube out there.”
Given White’s experience in packaging, the sisters knew that packaging would play a vital role in getting their product noticed. In fact, they focused on developing the packaging before they even developed the product. “We knew that packaging sells the product, so we put a lot of our time and energy into developing the design of the bottle,” says White.
From the beginning, the sisters knew that they wanted a bottle more stylish than the standard mascara bottle or tube. “We wanted a bottle that would have a cool curve to it,” says White.
The sisters custom designed the bottle. The bottle features a curve on one side resembling a guppy’s belly, a soft-touch finish, and the blue Tamz logo.
Before deciding on the synthetic-hair mascara brush, the sisters experimented with other applicators. “We had wanted to use the new plastic mascara wands that Max Factor just came out with, but it didn’t hold the product well or put the product where it needed to go,” says White.
The package was sourced from a Taiwanese supplier. “We went back and forth with them a couple of times to refine the design,” says White. “For instance, the way the soft-touch coating was originally applied made the bottle difficult to open and close.”
Tamz’s unusual packaging and product are sure to create a smooth introduction with customers.