02.05.08
Single-Serve Beauty
Unit-of-use products walk the line between consumer-friendly and eco-friendly.
By Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor
We are living in an on-the-go age when carry-on luggage is itemized and scrutinized down to the ounce. That said, it’s no wonder that consumers are embracing unit-of-use beauty products. After all, a single day’s worth of lip gloss is easier to slip into a fashionably slim handbag then a full-sized, mirrored gloss compact. Single-use products also preserve the integrity of a formulation, doling out exactly the amount of product needed at each time.
Hana Zalzal, creator of Cargo Cosmetics, explains the appeal. “The product lasts longer—each use is hygienic until needed and opened,” she said. “The product is not meant to replace full-size products but to be a travel-friendly option. The product travels well, is great for sharing (offer a friend a dose of gloss) and is perfect for carry-on luggage.”
Model Co. Cosmetics’ Erase Those Fine Lines skin care serum is marketed to offer “surgery results without the syringe.” Each of the product’s single-use dosages is housed in a package that’s a cross between a syringe and a cotton swab. Depressing a plunger at one end of the product pushes the serum into the shaft and applicator of the product, readying it for application. The company calls the package “hygienic,” because the product’s “measured dose application” and “unique precision applicators contain the exact dosage to target both eyes.”
Similarly, On The Spot by Bare Escentuals delivers quick makeup corrections and eye makeup removal, via 24 soft, cotton-tipped applicators, which are individually filled with a pre-measured amount of skin-conditioning solution to provide easy removal of makeup mishaps.
Also in the skin care realm is Lancome’s Flash Bronzer Self-Tanning Face Petals. Packaged six to a box, the single-application, petal-shaped sponges are filled with just the right amount of the company’s self tanning formula to deliver a sun-kissed complexion. And Powerful Protection SPF 30 from MD Skincare by Dr. Dennis Gross features individually packaged pads that are saturated with UVA/UVB broad-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen—no doubt the pads are much easier to tote around than a leak-prone bottle of sunblock.
The unit-of-use phenomenon even extends into the hair care category. Pocket Redo Freshen-Up Wipes from Jonathan Product, LLC, are travel-friendly, single-use wipes that invigorate and renew the look of hair and skin, while extending the life of a blowout. The company said each wipe is large enough to use all over hair and skin for refreshing, deodorizing and reviving, removing the smell of smoke, transforming greasy hair strands and adding a subtle scent to hair. A product like this is a windfall for any consumer in search of a quick, portable pick me up after the gym, mid-day at work or even on a long flight.
Environmental Concerns
Without a doubt, single-use beauty products are convenient, but they are, on average, more costly than standard-sized package formats. And in a time when more consumers are paying closer attention to their ecological “footprint,” there’s also the question of whether or not the single-use format is environmentally conscious. Increasingly, the answer to that question is “yes,” according to Jim Gabilanes, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Flexpaq Corp., a South Plainfield, NJ-based supplier of unit-of-use and monodose packaging, and the packager behind the Pocket Redo Freshen-Up Wipes.
The “green-ness” of a single-use package is usually decided by formula-to-package compatibility issues. “We must be careful what we package certain formulas in because they are more natural with fewer preservatives,” notes Gabilanes, who goes on to point out other environmentally-conscious packaging options currently available to beauty consumers. “One package advancement is our corn-based structure, some others contain recycled materials. We also recommend things like soy-based inks and other eco-friendly measures to our customers to consider using for the boxes/containers they will use to package the single-use product in.”
For its single-use products, Cargo Cosmetics focused its efforts on reduced landfill space. “As with all packaging, we continue to innovate to be more and more environmentally friendly and we expect that some of the recent advancements in eco-friendly packaging will lend themselves to our highly portable products,” commented Cargo’s Zalzal. “In the case of our foundation pouch, it is the most travel-friendly foundation we found...the lightweight pouch travels well, the package collapses as the product is used (to minimize bulk) and it is more environmentally friendly due to the lightweight nature of the packaging as well as the reduced space taken in a landfill.”
Despite the success of its travel-friendly offerings, Cargo is not planning to create any additional similarly themed products. “So far, other than gloss and shadow, we have not seen a need for single-use products,” says Zalzal. Another popular single-use “printed” lip gloss product, Air Kiss, has also experienced decreased demand. When the company was contacted for the purposes of this article, they declined to comment, saying only that they weren’t going forward with production on the Air Kiss and planned to sell through its remaining inventory.
Do single-use beauty products have a following in the U.S.? It’s a tough question. The niche has been perennially popular in Europe, but hasn’t caught on with quite the same fervor in the U.S. Gabilanes asserts, however, that the tide is slowly turning. “I think it has to do with timing. Going back a few years, there wasn’t such a huge awareness about recycling and sustainability. There’s a lot more momentum—and corporate involvement—that’s developed in the marketplace. Now, the time is right.”
