Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Personal Care
Aveda’s Scalp Remedy
by The Estée Lauder Companies
When designing its Scalp Remedy package, Aveda faced a challenge—how to make a unit-dose package that was still environmentally friendly. “We were concerned with using disposable, single-use packaging. Our environmental mission is always primary,” says John Delfausse, vice president of packaging for The Estée Lauder Companies. Thanks to its experience, Aveda was able to reduce the amount of materials used and incorporate sustainable, recyclable materials so that the package passed the company’s rigorous standards.
Why did Aveda choose a unit-dose package in the first place? The company says it conveyed the product’s customized aspect. (Scalp Remedy comes in three versions, and a hair stylist will choose a single dose of the version that best suits his or her client.) Aveda considered various packages, including a syringe that must be filled with product from a larger package.
The final package is a custom design. It features a prefilled glass vial and a detachable plunger, similar to one found on a syringe. The polypropylene plunger snaps onto one end of the glass vial, which is sealed with a nitrile rubber plug. The plunger pushes down on the rubber plug, which in turn pushes product through the vial and out of an orifice on the opposite end. The orifice is shaped like the tip of a dropper and applies product directly to the scalp without getting it all over the hair. When the vial is not in use, a vulcanized thermoplastic cap seals the dropper end.
Each carton contains six prefilled vials. The plunger piece is sold separately and can be reused for many vials. “One reason we didn’t choose a syringe is that we didn’t want the entire syringe to be thrown away each time,” says Delfausse. “This way, you only have to throw out the glass vial, which can be recycled. So even though we’re using individual doses, I think we got the environmental aspect that’s important to Aveda back in the picture.”
A supplier called Virospack engineered the package, which required five new molds. One of the challenges was finding materials that were compatible with all three versions of the oil-based product.
Extensive testing was also done on the end cap and the plug to ensure a tight seal with the glass. “There are no threads on this package at all,” says Delfausse. The plug was designed with special rings that provide a tight seal but that also allow the plug to move smoothly in the vial.
Like all of Aveda’s cartons, Scalp Remedy’s is earth-friendly. It comprises 77% postconsumer recycled content, an improvement over Aveda’s previous level of 55%. Soy inks were used, and the carton’s supplier, Johnson Printing and Packaging Corp. of Minneapolis, employs 100% wind power to operate its machinery.
On the final package, awards panelist Hana Zalzal, president of Cargo Cosmetics, says, “The packaging implies that you’re getting something very medicinal and professional.”
“This product needs to be applied in a very specific way, and I think this package does it well,” adds awards panelist George Kress, vice president of corporate package innovations for The Estée Lauder Companies.
“I applaud the fact that they’ve tried to make delivery of the product more effective,” says panelist Peter Hargraves, section head for Procter & Gamble global packaging and device development, cosmetics. “You can have a great formula, but if you don’t have an effective delivery system, then it’s all for nothing.”
In fact, Delfausse says that Aveda was so dedicated to this design that even when the product’s launch was delayed twice due to packaging, Aveda president Dominique Conseil rejected reverting to a more standard package like a dropper or a packette. “[Conseil] said, ‘I think that the uniqueness and innovation of the design is worth pursuing,’ ” says Delfausse. “So we ended up postponing the launch twice and launching the package we wanted. I think that was kind of unusual. A lot of other companies wouldn’t have done that.”