Anniversary Special: 10 Years in Packaging
In celebration of CPC Packaging’s 10th anniversary, we take a look at some of the cosmetic and personal care packaging milestones of the past decade. We hope that reflecting on how far the industry has come spurs more innovation for the next 10 years.
1996
Innovative Brands Are Born
The following companies are conceived and will grow along with CPC Packaging during the next 10 years: Urban Decay, Cargo Cosmetics, Philosophy, Smashbox, Korres, and Bliss.
The Urban Decay brand begins when founding partner and creative director Wende Zomnir meets Sandy Lerner. “Sandy was very frustrated because she couldn’t find quality makeup in funky colors. Bright-colored makeup could be found at trashy stores, but the product was junk,” Zomnir says.
Cargo Cosmetics’ founder, Hana Zalzal, foresees the need for more-portable packages. From the start, Cargo’s packaging has a new type of aesthetic and looks different from anything else on the market. Its first product is a lip gloss packaged in an undecorated tin. Now, tin has become the brand’s signature packaging material. “It feels wonderful that people are still choosing our products after all these years,” says Zalzal.
1997
A New Resin
Polypropylene emerges on the U.S. market as a relatively new material, and many suppliers promote its advantages for secondary cartons. Suppliers such as Raffypack and Dapy Paris work on improving methods of constructing polypropylene cartons by modifying gluing and scoring capabilities. The material becomes a very popular choice for secondary cartons. In 2001, Escada Beauté switches from PVC to the more environment-friendly polypropylene for the cartons for its Escada Sport fragrance.
An Airtight Compact
Alcan Packaging Beauty launches one of the industry’s first airtight stock makeup compacts, which is intended for new product formulations that are based on silicone and water.
1998
An Innovative Metal Tube
L’Oréal’s Lancôme division launches Vitabolic skin cream. Vitabolic is one of the first skin care products to lead the trend toward more-advanced skin care formulations that contain high concentrations of active ingredients and that need more-sophisticated packaging. The product is packaged in a metal tube that is manufactured by Montebello Packaging, with a cap assembly that is supplied by Crown Risdon.
The Popularity of the Pen
Cosmopak is the first U.S. supplier to mass-produce tooling for cosmetic pens. (The technology for manufacturing pens had existed in Asia since approximately 1988, but until 1998, it had been too cost-prohibitive to bring to the United States.) Soon after Cosmopak’s development, Stila’s Lip Glaze launches. It is packaged in a flow-through pen with a brush-tip applicator. In a few years, other companies will follow suit by using a pen package for a wide variety of products, including cream eye shadows, liners, and concealers.
1999
Modern Design
The DuWop cosmetics brand launches I Gels, colorful discs of cool gel that conform to the shape of the eye and reduce puffiness. The product continues to be a favorite of DuWop’s customers today. I Gels are packaged in blisters sealed with foil lids. The foil lids are the same as those used to seal orange juice cups.
A “Pure” Pump
Rexam Beauty launches its “pure” pump dispensing system, which is designed so that no metal parts come in contact with a fragrance. The ball of the pump is made from glass rather than steel, and the dispenser’s spring is located outside the product pathway. The supplier launches other versions of this pump over the next few years that prove to be instrumental in helping to achieve new designs for many fragrance bottles.
2000
Sticks for Convenience and Portability
Revlon introduced the first blush stick, Face Gleamer, 40 years ago. In the new millennium, this type of cosmetic package enjoys resurgence in popularity as customers crave more convenience and portability in packaging.
Tarte Cosmetics leads the comeback of stick packages when it launches its Cheek Stain gel in a stick package supplied by Lombardi Design & Manufacturing. Over the next few years, these sticks will launch: Stila’s Color Push Ups stick supplied by World Wide Packaging; Tarte’s miniature Cheek Stain sticks; and LuLu Beauty’s Creme Rouge. Suppliers such as Rexam Beauty and Alcan Packaging Beauty begin to offer a greater variety of stock stick packages, including miniature sizes, airtight, and non-airtight variations.
Airspray’s Foaming Dispensers
Airspray International (now Rexam Airspray) is on its way to achieving what will be even greater success for the company in the future. Clinique chooses Airspray’s F2 Finger Pump Foamer for its Acne Solutions Cleansing Foam. Due to the angular design of the pump’s dip tube, the product can be dispensed at any angle. By 2002, there will be a variety of new products on shelves, ranging from baby care to sun care products, in packages using Airspray’s foam dispensers. In 2004, Airspray’s Water Guard foamer will launch.
2001
Marketing to Men
Nivea for Men by Beiersdorf launches as one of the first skin care lines for men on mass-market shelves.
An Unconventional Material for Fragrance
OP Juice for Men by Parlux Fragrances is launched. The bottle is surrounded by a revolutionary thermoplastic elastomer shell. The overshell is made of Versaflex material overmolded on a polypropylene sleeve. Versaflex is similar to the material used on the “grip” of ballpoint pens. Lombardi Design & Manufacturing develops the overshell and the custom cap assembly.
Surlyn for Fragrance Caps
Surlyn now provides a glasslike clarity and is resistant to fragrances. Taking advantage of Surlyn’s capabilities, caps and closures for fragrance bottles are designed in a wide variety of shapes. A few examples: Sentiments by Escada Beauté has a heart-shaped Surlyn cap and Ralph by Ralph Lauren has an oversized, light-blue-colored Surlyn cap. The DKNY Men fragrance by Donna Karan Cosmetics has a Surlyn cap and a tall, rectangular-shaped, steel-blue bottle modeled after a New York City skyscraper. The packaging is decorated with a holographic finish to emulate the effect of the sun shining on the building’s windows. Saint-Gobain Desjonquères produces this bottle, and Crown Risdon supplies its cap.
Luxe Cartons Emerge
Beauty manufacturers start to use more ink, stamping, and coating on paperboard cartons. Processes such as hot-stamping with gold foils and embossing are also used frequently, especially on fragrance cartons. The upscale cartons created for Chanel’s Black and Gold makeup line are early examples of this trend. The cartons have an overall glossy effect achieved by a lamination process developed by Arkay Packaging. The lamination adds to the cartons’ strength by resisting fingerprints as well as potential water damage.
In the future, more-luxurious cartons will be created, including fabric-covered cartons by Cartondruck for the launch of Island by Michael Kors and the Fantasy Britney Spears cartons, which feature unique constructions and advanced printing techniques. The design of the Fantasy Britney Spears’ carton is based on the concept of origami. The cartons are supplied by Arkay Packaging.
2002
Earth-Friendly Designs Emerge
John Delfausse, currently vice president of packaging for The Estée Lauder Companies and responsible for the global packaging of the Aveda, Origins, Bobbi Brown, and Stila brands, becomes a driving force in the industry by advocating the use of postconsumer recyclate (PCR) whenever possible. His ability to find creative solutions to challenges, his dedication to discovering new sources of PCR, and his innovative use of materials will continue to influence the entire industry for years to come.
In 2002, the first tube containing PCR launches. It is produced by CCL Industries, which at the time is the only known supplier in North America to successfully commercialize the PCR tube-extrusion process. The CCL Industries tube was designed for Aveda for the relaunch of its Brilliant hair-styling line. The tube contains 35% PCR in its middle layer.
Aveda also launches its Uruku line of Lip Stains in a package containing 90% recycled materials—a high percentage never before attained in the industry. Crown Risdon molds the lipstick’s cap using natural flax fibers supplied by Teel GRT. The secondary packaging is a unique molded fiber clamshell modeled after an egg crate. It is made of 100% recycled newsprint and engineered by UFP Technologies.
Nail Polish Packaging Innovation
The most useful packaging innovation for nail polish to date, the Gripper Cap, is invented. The idea was conceived by Orly International and was first used on its Professional Nail Lacquer. The easy-to-grip rubber-coated cap is manufactured by Baralan.
Transparent Packages
Clear packaging for cosmetics puts makeup colors in the spotlight. Some of these new transparent packages pose challenges, such as how to fill letter-shaped wells or how to assemble the clear parts of a fragrance package without producing any visible glue marks.
Too Faced Cosmetics launches its Sexy Calling Card compact. The clear acrylic compact and its letter-shaped wells are designed in collaboration with HCT Packaging, whose in-house design team is led by Rebecca Goswell. In two months, the compact sells out of a supply that was expected to last a year.
The Pure Color EyeShadow collection by Estée Lauder launches. Pure Color’s shiny, transparent compacts are shaped like ice cubes. They are molded by Crown Risdon from shock-modified polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).
The fragrance, Chance by Chanel, is launched. The bottle’s circular shape symbolizes a ring, and its transparent Surlyn cap, which is bi-injection molded by Axilone, resembles a diamond. Because traditional glues leave visible glue marks, Crown Risdon, which supplies the fragrance’s pump dispenser, must work with glue manufacturers to develop invisible, UV-cured glues that make assembly of the transparent parts possible.
The Techno Trend
The Crave fragrance by Calvin Klein sets new standards with a fragrance package that targets young, hip, gadget-loving males. Designer Fabien Baron of Baron & Baron, who works closely with Klein on the package development, designs the package’s technologically advanced look. The bottle is suspended inside a clear outer case. Its large side actuator panel remains stationary, and the bottle moves upward when the actuator is pressed. The innovative spray-from-the-side feature includes a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) trigger system that is designed by Crown Risdon. Eastman Chemical’s The Glass Polymer copolyester is used for the outer casing, enabling the molding of thick walls.
Prestige Oral Care
GoSmile, a portable, luxurious tooth-whitening kit, launches. For the first time, due to its package design, an oral care product’s image is elevated to that of a prestige beauty product. The product is packaged in single-use, hygienically sealed ampules with attached applicators. Soon after, the brand launches toothpaste. GoSmile sparks the creation of a new category of beauty products that Sephora calls “Smile.”
Unusual Colors for Fragrance Bottles
Colored glass is Saint-Gobain Desjonquères’ claim to fame, and in 2002, it is used for many new fragrance bottles. Yves St. Laurent’s M7 fragrance bottle is made with yellow glass. It is the first time any glassmaker produces this type of yellow glass without adding any heavy metals for coloration. Later, Saint-Gobain Desjonquères’ propriety red glass is used for Hugo Boss Deep Red.
Expanded-Text Labels
New FDA regulations for cosmetics containing sunscreen increase the need for expanded-text labels. Suppliers such as WS Packaging–Ampersand Label continue to develop new types of labels to accommodate smaller packages and more text.
2003
Demeter Honored for Design
The Demeter fragrance collection is chosen to be displayed in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s prestigious Triennial exhibition, which looks at the “breaking development and future horizons across the fields of design.” The fragrances’ clear, rectangular glass bottles, pumps, and caps are all stock components from Arrowpak. At the time, perfumer Christopher Brosius is Demeter’s creative director.
A New Decorating Technique
Cerve becomes one of the first companies in Europe to use an automated “thermic transfer” technique to decorate glass. The process is used for the I Love Dior limited-edition fragrance bottle, which launched in the United States in 2003. The bottle’s decoration resembles a label that wraps around the oval-shaped bottle. Bormioli Luigi produces the bottle.
Ingestible Beauty Products
The cosmeceutical category expands to include pills, powders, and beverages that require packaging more commonly used in other industries. Products include SkinCola, which touts itself as the first “beauty beverage,” and Olay Vitamins. This new generation of ingestible beauty products is marketed as beauty products, rather than healthcare products. They claim to deliver a variety of beauty benefits, from clear skin to a suntan. This trend continues today. Sephora stores have a section dedicated to Borba beauty drinks.
Metal Usage Increases
This year, more brands take advantage of the versatility of metal packaging. Accordingly, more suppliers develop decorating techniques and finishes that help make metal look luxurious.
Diane von Furstenberg chooses metal for some of the components in her new cosmetics line. The metal is sleek, and the packages are all finished in a white pearlized coating.
Davies Gate launches its Allspice Sugar Bath. The product’s packaging is inspired by the vintage appeal of a Hershey’s Cocoa tin, complete with an old-fashioned metal-plug closure that must be pried open with a spoon. The old-fashioned tin is modernized using a coating of white paint and high-gloss varnish. The product even makes it onto Oprah Winfrey’s “List of Favorite Things.” The tin is supplied by J.L. Clark.
2004
Alternative Retail Channels
Estée Lauder launches Flirt! Cosmetics under its newly created BeautyBank division, marking the first time an Estée Lauder brand is not sold behind a beauty counter. The line is sold at Kohl’s stores. The self-assisted retail environment greatly influences the direction of package design. All of the cartons are color-matched with the exact shades of the products in order to help customers easily find the right shade. Bellshire manages the color-matching process, which involves more than 250 different SKUs.
A Flat Pencil
The Styli-Style pencil launches in mass-market stores in March. It is modeled after an artist’s charcoal pencil and can be used as both a liner and a shadow.
The Cosmeceutical Craze
It has now become common for skin care products to be formulated with vitamins, antioxidants, and other active ingredients that claim numerous benefits, such as preventing wrinkles, firming, or smoothing the skin. A study by The Freedonia Group Inc. says that U.S. demand for cosmeceuticals will exceed $5 billion by 2007. (In 2002, sales of $3.4 billion were reported.) A new Drug Facts Labeling monograph is written by FDA, and beauty companies must change the labels of “cosmeceutical” products in order to comply. The ruling states that by May 16, 2005, all cosmeceutical packages must carry FDA’s official Drug Facts panel.
In addition to new labels, other types of packaging are now needed, such as airless dispensers. Supplier Lablabo launches its new Verso Double-Ended Cylinder Airless Pack. The package contains two separate pouches with two different dispensing systems. Cospack America Corp. launches a line of stock white polypropylene airless dispensers for skin care products, named “Pure Airless.” The dispensers don’t use a standard dip tube. Instead, they have pistons on the bottoms of the bottles, which push the product up, making the package perfect for high-viscosity products. DDF launches Vitamin C Plus Moisturizer in plastic bottles with airless pumps that are supplied by Arrowpak and Mega Pumps LP.
Other alternative types of packages being used to accommodate cosmeceuticals include amber-colored glass bottles, which are chosen by SkinCeuticals for the redesign of its packaging, and a unique application system used by Elysee Scientific Cosmetics for its Lift ’N Go Instant Wrinkle Smoothing Serum. The Elysee cotton swabs are filled with a light serum that is formulated to temporarily smooth wrinkles. To use the swab, customers must break the seal on one end. The serum then travels down the swab, saturating the cotton tip at the other end. The package is manufactured by Swabplus.
Bling Bling
Swarovski crystals begin to appear on all types of beauty packages. The limited-edition anodized-aluminum holiday compacts launched by MAC Cosmetics are one of the first to sparkle. The name “MAC” is debossed on the outside of the compacts. The MAC packaging division develops a customized gluing process, and the stones are placed inside the logo using the new, patented method of application, which had never been used on a cosmetic package.
Vintage Atomizers
The old-fashioned, bulb-shaped atomizer common on the elegant fragrance bottles of the 1930s is being used again. Current launches include Britney Spears’ Curious scent by Elizabeth Arden (designed with a turquoise sprayer), Bond No. 9’s refillable perfume bottle (which is decorated using floral-printed suede), and Tarte Cosmetics’ first fragrance (which is packaged in a purple faux-leather-covered bottle). The Prada fragrance also launches, mixing modern and vintage elements. It is in an elegant, rectangular clear glass bottle with a deep-purple bulb sprayer.
Super-Low-Profile Pumps
Pump manufacturers compete to develop better ways of hiding a pump’s engine and reducing its stacking height. New super-low-profile pumps now allow pump engines to be hidden from view on a bottle. Valois of America, Saint-Gobain Calmar (now MeadWestvaco Calmar), and Pfeiffer of America all launch new super-low-profile pumps. Eight years prior, Rexam Dispensing Systems launched its first low-profile pump. Although it is now about a full millimeter taller than the competition’s new super-low-profile pumps, Rexam’s pump was one of the very first to set low-profile pump standards for the rest of the industry.
An Advanced Material
Eastman Chemical’s The Glass Polymer copolyester continues to be instrumental in enabling manufacture of innovative packaging designs. The material retains clarity and has a high resistance to breakage, even when used to mold thick-walled packages. The most notable launches that feature the material are Alexander McQueen’s Kingdom Shower Gel by YSL Beauté and the Ocean Pacific fragrance by Parlux Fragrances.
2005
The Mascara Comb
The Magic Wand brushless mascara by i.d. Bare Escentuals launches. It is followed by other brushless mascara launches from other brands. The Magic Wand’s soft gel formula works with a special applicator that is designed to enable users to get to the base of the lashes.
Hard Candy’s 10-Year Birthday
Part of Hard Candy’s original nail polish collection is relaunched as the Limited-Edition Vintage collection. The brand’s pastel nail polish is packaged in the same square bottles that first helped propel the brand to success. The bottles are supplied by Arrowpak and are adorned with the brand’s trademark jelly rings around the bottles’ necks. This iconic package is still referred to by industry experts as the perfect example of a value-added package.
A Foundation Pouch
Cargo Cosmetics packages its new liquid foundation in a silver pouch that is reminiscent of a juice pouch often found in a child’s lunchbox. Cargo’s pouch has a spout that dispenses the product.
Upscale Hair Care Bottles
Products by IV Cosmeceuticals, a hair care line marketed as the first cosmeceutical line for hair, are packaged in white bottles with graphics inspired by the pharmaceutical industry. Design firm Dossier Creative Inc. designs the packaging, while TricorBraun handles engineering and execution. The bottles are molded using a soft-touch resin that gives them a more upscale feel. The bottles’ caps have dripless valve closures. A custom overcap is engineered with a shutoff valve by the team at TricorBraun Engineering.
A Faux-Wood Decorating Technique
Crown Risdon uses a new decorating technique called hydrographics for the first time. It is used to simulate the look of real wood on a Surlyn cap and is used for the launch of the Tommy Bahama men’s fragrance by Gemini Cosmetics.
Digital Printing for Labels
Grassroots, the personal care brand launched by Estée Lauder’s BeautyBank division, arrives in Kohl’s stores. The wide range of products in the line is mainly packaged in opaque white bottles and tubes. A four-color printing process is used to digitally print vibrantly colored photographic images on the polypropylene labels. Photographic resolution was achieved without the use of plates. Dow Industries uses a digital HP printer to create these labels.
New Developments for Aerosols
New technology gives suppliers such as CCL Container and Crown Aerosol Packaging, a subsidiary of Crown Holdings Inc., the ability to shape aerosol cans from the cans’ tops to within 20 mm of their bottom. Another supplier, Power Container, launches an innovative new bag-on-valve dispensing system that allows users to apply products in a continuous spray at any angle.
Taking advantage of the latest developments, manufacturers develop new product categories for aerosols. Coppertone’s Continuous-Spray sunscreen was named by Business Week as one of its Best New Products of 2005.
New Fragrance Samplers
The industry’s first single-use atomizer launches. It is used in magazine ads celebrating the 10th anniversary of the iconic fragrance Pleasures by Estée Lauder. The sampler is called Imagin, and it is developed and produced by Valois.
Arcade Marketing also launches a brand-new technology for sampling fragrances in the pages of magazines called the Mini Liqua Touch. It is used first by Coty Prestige for the launch of the Calvin Klein Euphoria fragrance. Mini Liqua Touch comprises a swab that is saturated with fragrance. The swab is then sealed in a foil packet.
2006
Wind Power Is Used for Cartons
Mohawk Papers has been using windmills to harness one of the most natural, renewable forms of energy—wind. The first beauty cartons are produced at Mohawk Paper’s wind-powered factory for the Origins brand. Origins’ new line, Dr. Weil Skincare, makes its debut on store shelves in these cartons. Today, the Origins packaging team is looking into the possibility of having all Origins cartons produced using wind power.
Another Environment-Friendly Alternative
Industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson recently discontinued using PVC clamshells because the material only meets EU/CEN recycling standards on a limited basis. This has caused many European and Asian countries to levy additional taxes and other restrictive policies on use of the material.
MeadWestvaco Corp. creates a solution that is designed to be an alternative to the PVC clamshell. It is a paperboard-blister hybrid called Natralock. The bulk of this package is derived from trees. A clear amorphous polyester (APET) “bubble” is designed to contain a marketer’s product. The APET used to make the bubble falls under today’s acceptable requirements for recycling.
Packaging Derived from Corn
After 10 months in development, AGI Klearfold launches the first polylactic (PLA) plastic carton that is ready to be commercialized in North America. In addition, shrink-sleeve converter Gilbreth works with Plastic Suppliers Inc. to create PLA shrink sleeves and tamper-evident bands.
These products are made using NatureWorks PLA, a corn-based polylactide polymer. For years, this polymer has been touted in the packaging industry as a 100% renewable, environmentally sustainable material. However, it hasn’t been used by many packaging suppliers. PLA’s raw material is dextrose, a natural sugar derived from the starch in kernels of corn. The dextrose is fermented and distilled into lactic acid, which is transformed into PLA resin pellets.
Beauty companies are currently working on incorporating these new materials into new packaging, and more suppliers are searching for ways to incorporate PLA into their packages. We hope to see many more earth-friendly packages on shelves in the future.