2008 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Cosmetics
Smoky Eye Palette
by Stila Cosmetics
Stila’s innovative, patent-pending Smoky Eye Palette is what the brand calls its “Teaching Compact.” When a button on the compact’s cover is pressed, a voice recording of a Stila makeup artist plays, detailing to customers exactly how to apply the compact’s four eye shadow colors—all in less than a minute.
The outside of the compact is decorated with a lenticular graphic of an eye. Lenticular refers to a unique printing process. In this case, it was used to create the illusion of a moving image. As each application step is described by the makeup artist, the lenticular graphic shows each color being applied to the appropriate area of the eyelid.
Jill Tomandl, vice president, global product development and package design at Stila, created this compact. She recalls a meeting with Sephora during which Sephora revealed that its most-asked question from shoppers was, “How do I achieve a smoky eye?” This inspired Tomandl to provide a solution.
Tomandl devised the idea of a compact that would literally speak to consumers through every step of the application process. “I knew that I could combine visual and audio instruction from a virtual professional makeup artist,” says Tomandl, who at the time had already been researching voice-recording technologies. In addition, a lenticular sample sent by Scott Morell of JAMB Packaging was already on Tomandl’s desk at the time. “I was just waiting to use these concepts, and I knew that this was the right project for them,” she says.
The greatest obstacle that Tomandl faced was the fact that Sephora needed a sample within three months. Serge Gander, president of Cyrk, promised Tomandl that he could deliver it in time, and he did. Vents had to be placed on the back of the compact’s platform to allow the recorded voice to be audible. An illustrated pamphlet is also included.
The compact was originally intended to be a limited-edition item for Sephora in the United States, but it has been so successful that other versions have been produced.
CPC Packaging’s awards panelists understand why consumers find this concept so intriguing. “It’s like delivering a makeup artist right to the consumer’s home,” says panelist Alan Bodker, executive director of Origins package development.
Panelists Nicole Smith, environmental director for Design & Source Productions Inc., and Corey Gelman, owner of fragrance brand Chic Baby, say that it’s extremely clever. “I often buy kits and then don’t know what to do with them,” says Gelman. “Even when I read the instructions, I forget. To be able to just press the button for a reminder every time is exactly what women need.”