In Closing: Warming Trend
Icy Beauty's Play&Rewind package delivers cooled skin cream.Smashbox Cosmetics’ new Tokidoki line is playful, yet sophisticated.
By Jennifer Kwok, EditorTwo personal care companies have incorporated self-heating and self- cooling technology in their packaging.
Private-label firm Donovan Industries recently launched a self-heating pouch for a disposable washcloth. Originally designed for the assisted-care industry, the package contains an activation liquid that creates a chemical reaction. This reaction heats the pouch—and subsequently the washcloth—to temperatures up to 150°F. The activation liquid is kept separate from the washcloth so that there is no contact between the two. To trigger the heating mechanism, users must simply press down firmly on the center of the pouch.
“We’re stepping beyond the medical market with this heated wipe and trying to get it into the retail market,” says Tobi Ferguson, general manager for Donovan Industries’ TempTroll division. TempTroll and engineers at the University of South Florida developed the patented package together.
The package offers several benefits. Among them is its intrigue factor. Also, because the washcloth is self- contained, is its hygenic quality.
TempTroll’s Redi+Wash pouch heats up a washcloth.
Ferguson says that TempTroll can tailor its technology to any beauty package. He adds that the company is working next on a self-cooling washcloth.
Self-cooling is the idea behind Icy Beauty’s antiaging skin care cream. According to company cofounder and CEO Fadi Khairallah, cooling the cream causes the product’s lipids to shrink, allowing them to penetrate the skin more deeply. Once within the skin, the lipids warm up and expand, filling out wrinkles.
Icy Beauty worked with the European Space Agency to develop its patented self-cooling package. Two versions of the package were developed for two different product SKUs. The package’s cooling system is activated when users either twist or press the package’s base, depending on which version they have. A water evaporation process, which takes place in a ceramic vacuum chamber, lowers the temperature of the inside of the package and the cream from 72° to 36°F.
Khairallah first shopped his self-cooling product concept around to large cosmetic brands. However, he says, those brands found the idea too progressive.
Whether temperature-changing designs signal a new future for beauty packaging remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, however: They sure are cool.