Cosmoprof 2002: The World’s Beauty Market

The 35th Cosmoprof opened its doors in Bologna on March 8 as the largest event in Europe to gather together all segments of the beauty business. A total of 1,777 exhibitors for cosmetic and fragrance products, gift items, equipment and furnishings for salons and perfumeries, products for hairdressers, publications and associations, as well as packagers and contract manufacturers spread their wares over 71,941 square meters of space. By the time Cosmoprof ended 129,827 visitors had passed through the fair gates, of which 28,212 were foreign visitors. The total was down slightly from last year’s 130,122. Show organizers attributed the decline to a change in scheduling in which Cosmoprof was held almost a month earlier than previously.

A Show within a Show

Most packaging suppliers and contract manufacturers were gathered into Cosmopack, a two-hall area featuring 267 exhibitors, 188 of which were from outside Italy. The following is an alphabetical review of what a few of the exhibitors were showing.

• Abbiati & Fabbri, an Italian cosmetic packaging supplier, had several innovative products. LipandGloss is a solution for every woman who combines a lipstick and a lip gloss and must juggle the two containers. It consists of a traditional lipstick case at one end and a plastic container at the other that, depending on the applicator,can hold lip gloss, lip liner, eye shadow or concealor. Abbiati & Fabbri has also found a way to mold a compact with a clear window at once with the rest of the piece, saving the time and cost of handling to assemble separate parts. Both lines are available through 3C Inc., Hawthorne,NJ.

•Airspray International is continuingto see demand increase for its Table Top foamer and its Elegant Foamer line. Robert Brands, president of Airspray International, Pompano Beach, FL, said that the next step willbe a bottle equipped with a foamer pump that will be suitable for shower use.

• Cameo Metal Products Inc. came all the way from Brooklyn, NY, to show its metal caps and components at Cosmoprof. Vito DiMaio, company president, explained that the show is a good way to build a presence in the global beauty industry and also provides a way to meet potential customers from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

• Cebal, a division of Pechiney with U.S. base in Norwalk, CT, show­ed its aerosol cans and tubes. François Beaugrand, director commercial Eur­ope, said that the latest advances in tube technology are Cebal’s airbackless tubes and the dual tubes. The airbackless tubes are constructed to prevent air from being sucked back into the tube, which can contaminate some formulas. The dual tube is a construction that combines two tubes, each with a different formula, in one. The two formulas are only combined at the instant of dispensing.

• Emsar displayed its wide range of finger pumps for fragrance and personal care products. Recent innovation fromEmsar include its GS line of twist and lock pumps and the Nozzler, which can spray at any angle and the BSNG, a pump for products used in the shower, which is designed to keep water fromgetting inside the pump.

• HCT Packaging, with U.S. offices in Bedminster, NJ, has restructured its Europeanoperation. HCT (UK) now becomes HCT (Europe) and is based in London. The company supplies a broad range of cosmetic packaging including custom and stock lines.

James Thorpe, managing director of HCT (Europe), explained “Since the London Office is the home of our design initiatives—not only for Europe, but also the U.S.A., Far Eastern and other markets—it made perfect sense for our European operation to be located here. We have strengthened our representation throughout the European mainland and now have offices in Belgium, Germany, Israel, Italy and Spain. France is now well served by our newly opened Paris office.”

HCT has recently created packaging for Urban Decay, MAC, Avon and The Gap in the U.S. Many of the company’s latest launches are clear kits that hold several shades of eye shadow or lip color and modern compacts in clear of opaque finishes.

• Heinz Glas, which manufactured the bottle for Unilever’s recentlaunch of the Vera Wang fragrance, has added a Quendoline, new glass stock bottle with a graceful, slight tear-drop shape. Made in 50 and 100ml sizes, Quendoline is available in clear or acid etched glass and can also be sprayed for other color effects.
Paul DeBiasse, director of package engineering for Linden, NJ-based Heinz Glas USA, said the company also has a new line of seamless jars that are made in a mold with a slight taper. The Change line is a group of bottles made in plastic and glass, which can be sprayed to look identical.

Heinz has “mastered extrusion blow molding so that as many as three different plastic layers are possible at once,” DeBiasse said. The added layers are for protection or to add various finishes to the container.

Lumson packaging Division showed off several new plastic bottle lines including Pinta with a silhouette that is wider at the shoulder than the base. Dario Moretti, sales director for Lumson, said that the companyis working on a new dispenser andtreatmentpump aswell as restyling the entire line with new covers and new pumps.

• Qualipac’s latest is Galaxy, a full range of cosmetic containers including compacts, lip sticks, nail enamel containers and mascara wands, with a metallic look that are made in the company’s Korean plant. In the U.S., Qualipac is based in Whippany, NJ.

• Rexam Beauty & Closures, based in Torrington, CT in the U.S., introduced Metareflect, a metallisation technique developed and patented by Rexam Reboul. Metareflect, a semi-transparent, semi-metallicised effect, has a different look depending on the angle of vision. The effect has been chosen by Dior for its Addict brand lipstick. Seen from one angle, the case seems to be blue-steel coated; seen from another it appears to be transparent. Rexam also showed a clear, stackable lipstick container that could hold four shades and Sof’Push, an airless dispensing system that can work on containers as small as 4ml for single dose packaging or sampling.

• Techpack of Groupe Pechiney, had a busy stand full of new products for fragrance, skin care, makeup and special promotions. The Click-pen is equipped with dispensing system that is activated with a click. The flow of product is then regulated by the number of clicks. The company also showed a Dispensing Brush—a brush and talc shaker in one in which the powder is held in the base and dispensed through the bristles. Part of the handle can be clear to show the color of the powder. In the U.S., Techpack is bsed in Yaphank, NY.

• Valois’ Click and Dream sampling system was recently chosen by Unilever for the launch of its new Truth fragrance in the U.S., according to Jerry Whalen, director of sales for Valois of America, based in Congers, NY. Whalen added that Valois’ Airless systems are also becoming more in demand as the market moves to more oxygen sensitive formulas and hence protecting the contents from air is more important.