The Skinny on Skin Care Packaging

Skin care is one of the fastest growing segments of the beauty industry-and never has packaging played a more important role.

By Leah Genuario, Contributing Editor

Legend has it that Spanish explorer Juan Ponce De León happened upon Florida in 1513 while on his search for the Fountain of Youth. Eight years later-obviously unsuccessful in his mission-he died.
  
And while modern men and women don’t believe in a literal fountain of youth, history does indeed repeat itself. People still look for a way to cheat destiny; searching for an ever-elusive fountain, where vitality doesn’t wane and beauty never fades.
  

Utilized in skin care applications, Chicago Paper Tube’s EcoPak is a 100% biodegradeable primary container.

Today, in this advertising age, the average person is bombarded multiple times a day with images of glamorous, youthful people. At the same time, the United States population is aging. According to the U.S. government, there is a projected 147% increase in the 65-and-over category between the years 2000 and 2050. It is no wonder then, as the population ages, many turn to cosmetics to enhance their appearance and minimize the look of aging.
  
This cultural mindset has fueled enormous growth within the skin care beauty segment. “ABA Packaging has seen a huge trend to skin care packaging in the past year,” says Charles Marchese, vice president of marketing and sales for ABA Packaging, Holtsville, NY. “I believe this trend is due to a generation of customers who are more aware of their bodies and trying harder to look and feel younger.”
  
“Everything we read says skin care has had strong growth and anti-aging drove the growth,” comments Des McEttrick, global marketing director for Emsar, Stratford, CT.
  

This DDF packaging adds a “twist” to the anti-aging skin care category.

“Skin care packaging demand has been robust as of late. New product lines are springing up everyday and consumers are realizing that good skin care products can help reduce the look of aging,” agrees Derek Harvey, co-founder of Fusion Packaging in Dallas, TX.
  
Anti-aging products are not just for the “boomer and above” demographic, however; products are marketed to audiences as young as 20 as a way to maintain a youthful look.

A Tale of Two Trends

Brand marketers are packaging and branding skin care products in a variety of different ways. The looks may vary considerably to differentiate competitors on the shelf, but two distinct, overarching trends have emerged within skin care.
  
“You have this sort of high-tech positioning, with high-tech shapes and a lot of silver and gold,” McEttrick explains. “At the same time, there is a move toward natural and organic in skin care” with “natural shapes, transparency, and completely different colors,” she adds.
  
On one end of the spectrum, Doctor’s Dermatologic Formula (DDF), with its introduction of the DDF Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer, has added a new “twist” to the anti-aging category with a product that features an innovative colored swirl of formula in the midst of a second, translucent formula. The swirl portion features tiny micro particles and a blend of pigments designed to work on a variety of skin tones.
  
The clear package is complemented by silver-colored accents along the bottom rim and on the cap to create a very sophisticated, technologically advanced look. By any account, it’s a show-stopper.
  
On the other end of the trend spectrum, European Soaps has just launched 10 new products to its Shea Butter collection. The line features muted, natural colors and a quaint apothecary look, designed by Washington-based m.doddesign.
  
“The look of the collection is very simple and clean,” states Julie Marks, key accounts coordinator. “As we add new items to our shea butter range, we have maintained a very natural color scheme and minimal packaging. It has been easy to maintain, it is definitely our own unique look—simple, functional and definitely French.”
  
The aluminum tins and tubes are recyclable, as are the boxes and cartons. Some of the packaging is made with recycled fiber and printed with soy ink.

Paperboard Tube

Taking environmentally friendly packaging to an entirely new level, Organic Essence teamed with supplier Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company for its Maximum Moisturizing Organic Shea Cream and Pure Organic Shea Butter.
  
The brand utilized the EcoPak, a 100%, biodegradable paperboard package for its primary container. To make the entire package environmentally responsible, Organic Essence also used an eco-friendly label, printed with soy ink on PCW recycled paper and featuring organic adhesive and glaze.
  
The shea cream is offered in four scents: grapefruit, lavender, lemongrass mint and vanilla orange, and the Pure Organic Shea Butter is fragrance-free. Each SKU utilizes a different colored label.
  
While Organic Essence decided upon an earthy look and feel, EcoPak “can be decorated so it’s natural, simple looking or very high-end, depending upon what your image is,” says
John Dudlak, president of Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company. And although it might not be a fit for every formula on the market today, “the intent is to try and replace plastic and glass wherever it can.”

Taking it Upscale

No matter what the final message a brand marketer is looking to establish, most brands choose to do it in style, intentionally seeking out packaging that looks and feels high-end.
  

Jafra recently revamped the packaging for its Royal Jelly Collection.

“Upscale-looking packaging continues to grow. Even simply natural looking packaging seems to be going in a more upscale direction. As for colors, it seems as though matte silver, white and clear packaging are currently preferred in the skin care areas,” comments Marchese.
  
Jafra, for example, recently completed a packaging re-vamp for its Royal Jelly Collection to complement its new re-formulation. “We have successfully united one of nature’s most superior ingredients with the best of science,” says Janice Jackson, Jafra’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
  
The new packaging initiative was intended to have a “royal, regal quality to it,” says Gladis Issaei, worldwide product marketing for Jafra. “We didn’t feel that the old packaging really conveyed that, so along with the upgraded formulations, we wanted new packaging for the launch.”
  
The anti-aging line targets 20-somethings and up, and features a specialty formulation with sirtuin activators. To highlight its efficacy, the line utilized white packaging with gold decoration. The gold accents were created using silk screening on the plastic bottles and gold organic printing on the glass bottles for a vibrant look.
  
The custom packaging design for the five-product line originated from the Design Center in Mexico City and was refined by visual artist Peter Schmidt from Germany. Bottles were sourced from Mexico-based Vitro.
  
“The packaging really is a contemporary, yet elegant design,” says Issaei.
  
Intelligent Skin Sense also chose white packaging for an upscale presentation of its newest product, Bag Lady. The white packaging features accents of silver and burgundy and also includes an innovative roll-on freezer pen that doubles as a travel container. The pen aids in alleviating eye puffiness.
  
The burgundy color was a strategic pick for several reasons. It is a “natural earth tone and reinforces the natural theme of the product,” says designer John Grdinich of Parallax Studios LLC, Weston, CT, who also adds that the outer box is made of recycled materials.
  
In addition, burgundy is a “bold color as the product is a serious skin care product which can hold its own against the best of eye products.”

Airless Dispensers Top Pick

Because many skin care products on the market today fit into one of two broad categories—natural or high-tech—airless dispensers have become an immensely popular pick for skin care brands.
  
“Airless packaging is as popular as ever. Keeping the product from oxidizing and dispensing 100 percent of the product is very important to the consumer,” says Harvey of Fusion Packaging.
  
Why are so many skin care brands, in particular, choosing airless? The reason has to do with the ingredients chosen for many skin care formulations. In the case of natural and organic products, “there are less preservatives, making the formula more sensitive to contact with air. Airless dispensers protect these sensitive formulations,” explains Virginie Lemeunier, worldwide product manager lotion, for Rexam Personal Care, Purchase, NY.
  

European Soaps chose a quaint, apothecary look for its Pré de Provence shea butter collection.

High-tech formulas have similar concerns. With the anti-aging trend, “we see more and more sophisticated formulas for better results,” comments Lemeunier, adding that sophisticated molecules also “tend to be more sensitive and need the protection of airless dispensers.”
  
Airless dispensers eliminate contact with the air after the fill process, meaning no drying out of formulas, no contamination and no discoloration. Rexam has recently introduced Prodigio to its airless product portfolio. Prodigio pairs an airless dispenser with clean point technology, an innovative technology that closes the orifice to prevent drying at the nozzle.
  
Rexam has also worked with prestige men’s brand Zirh for its Zirh Platinum Repair Deep Wrinkle Concentrate, Total Re-Charge Moisturizer, and Revive Under Eye Complex. All three of these products use Rexam’s Sof’ Airless assembly, which features the company’s SP343 airless lotion pump.
  
ABA Packaging has also ramped up its airless offering, increasing its stock collection of
airless dispensing systems and jars to meet growing demand.
  
The company works with multiple brands to deliver creative airless packages. For example, it recently developed a project for a West Coast customer that featured a “mauve, acrylic,
hour-glass-shaped airless dispensing package with two beautiful acrylic jars that matched,” says Marchese. “In this case, the customer had a day and night version. We reversed the color
of the package and the decoration of the nighttime package.”
  
And in its response to the growing demand for airless packaging, Fusion Packaging launched Kurve at the HBA show in September, a new line of airless bottles and jars. “We wanted to keep a quaint look and feel for a feminine hand, but we wanted a shape that was unique. The flair of the line is very unique to airless and posed a challenge in engineering,” comments Harvey.

Other Considerations

Aside from the sensitivity of the formulation, brand marketers also take into account the
viscosity and the potential re-activity of its formulation when deciding upon packaging.
  
“Skin care tends to be higher viscosity,” says McEttrick, “You tend to have richer, thicker kinds of creams, which are more difficult to dispense.”
  
“We have seen more viscous products on the market. People like the texture of the products,” says Lemeunier, adding that her company Rexam offers a spray pump for very viscous gels and lotions, enabled by its “turbo insert” technology.
  

Rexam has added Prodigio to its airless product portfolio.

Assuring compatibility between formulations and packaging is also of utmost importance. It doesn’t only matter how great the packaging looks; it must also hold up against aggressive formulas.
  
“In skin care, compatibility is always something we need to keep in mind. Today’s formulas have so many active ingredients that each package must be thoroughly tested,” explains Marchese. The company offers a wide variety of glass packaging for this purpose, in addition to its PETG jars and acrylic packaging selection with inner inserts.
  
Taking the time to initiate and complete testing is a recurring piece of advice among packaging suppliers. It could mean the difference between a successful product and a flop.
  
“Ensuring that the application is compatible with the resin and that the product remains airtight to avoid oxidizing are the two most important things. We always encourage thorough testing prior to going to market,” states Harvey. “Choosing the right skin care packaging is vital to sustaining long term success.”