Marie Redding, Associate Editor11.02.15
Lip color and mascara are two color cosmetic categories filled with recent innovations. Beauty trends are inspiring the development of new products—and new formulations are requiring new packaging options.
“After so many seasons of talk about nails, lips and eyes are now becoming the main focus,” says Sandra Hutson, sales & marketing director, Topline Products. She says, “Lip color is going through a revolution right now, with new formulas in both bullet and the latest liquid formats. New formulas include full coverage, lightweight products, and a myriad of different finishes, from the shiniest gloss to the mattest matte.”
Applicators are a crucial part of any package, but especially in lipgloss and mascara, since they can change a product’s performance. Product innovation in these categories is inspiring new designs for applicators that help improve a product’s performance.
In mascara, voluminous looks for lashes are “in,” inspiring the development of new types of brush applicators and double-ended packages.
Portability and convenience are also driving new package designs for both lip color and mascara. New designs include lip crayons, lip pens—and now, a mascara pen.
Packaging Options with Extra Benefits to Show Off Lip Color
One lip color trend, especially for gloss, is bold, vivid color. These products are best showcased in a clear package.
Armour Beauty’s square vials show off the striking colors of its lipgloss. Purple has been a trendy color for lips, and Armour’s Vegan Lipgloss in the popular shade, called “Hi-Way Star,” is shown.
Honest Beauty, the new line by Jessica Alba, uses clear round vials for its new lipgloss line, with stylish silver caps. (More about this new brand, and its Lip Crayons, is below).
Jeffree Star, an indie brand that sells lipgloss in vivid color options, showcases the rich hues in clear packaging. The round bottles are decorated with stars and the brand’s logo.
“The lipgloss colors are very distinctive, and they really pop through this vial,” says Walter Dwyer, president, Cosmopak USA LLC, which supplies the package. “This container is very structured, with clearly defined lines that almost resemble glass. The container’s outer wall slightly magnifies the product color, which looks like it is floating inside the inner vial,” explains Dwyer.
The brand’s founder and CEO, Jeffree Star, says, “We chose this package for our lipgloss because it shows off each shade perfectly. Plus, I like how it feels—substantial and expensive,” he says. The lipgloss has a doe foot applicator, which is bendable at the tip. “The doe foot is also incredibly soft, so it feels comfortable on the lips,” says Dwyer.
Every detail, for even the simplest lipgloss package, makes a difference to the user. Jeffree Star has a large following on social media, and says he often hears comments about this lipgloss, and its package. “Our customers say they especially love our applicator, because it makes applying the lipgloss easy,” says Star.
Dwyer adds, “Overall, this is an excellent execution of a traditional lipgloss container.”
HCP Packaging Group offers numerous options in lipgloss packaging, and many are designed to show off a product color, brilliantly.
HCP’s new stock lipgloss package is called “Fusion Glass,” and it offers excellent clarity.
“It has all the desirable qualities of glass, without the fragility,” says Damien Dossin, president, HCP Packaging USA. The round plastic vial has a sleek, tubular design. “It has a minimalist, luxurious look, which makes it adaptable across different markets, from masstige to prestige. It’s available in standard size or mini, with different applicator options,” Dossin adds.
Mally Beauty wanted a lipgloss package with a glass-like quality— but one that is also squeezable. The brand chose HCP’s Soft Lips Surlyn Pack for its vivid, high-impact formula.
“We hold a license agreement with a specialist machinery manufacturer to produce this soft Surlyn lipgloss bottle technology. This machinery enables us to process DuPont Surlyn,” Dossin explains.
“This technology provides a bottle which combines glass-like transparency and squeezable flexibility. It shows off the product color, including the formula’s pearlescent effects, due to the clarity of the bottle wall,” he adds.
A New Focus on Applicators
As lipgloss formulations change, applicators must evolve as well. “We are seeing an increased demand for lipgloss vial packages with unique applicators, to accommodate popular liquid ‘lipsticks,’” says Topline’s Hutson. Hutson says Topline’s customers have been asking for these options, and the supplier has been delivering.
Albéa has launched Albéa Tips Studio, which is its new division created to meet the rise in requests for new types of applicators. The supplier was always most known for its mascara brushes, but now offers plenty of new options in lipgloss applicators.
Albéa Tips Studio’s newest option for lipgloss is the Love Affair collection. There are two bottles, the square “Appeal,” and a cigar shaped vial called “Delight.” Both have flexible wipers, designed to make applying lipgloss easier.
Albéa’s customers can mix and match the bottles with one of the four applicators in the collection, which are shown: Caress, Kiss, Gossip and Scandal. The applicators are ergonomically shaped, and flocked with an ultra-soft elastomer for comfort on the lips. Each applicator is designed to pick up enough product so that there is no need to reload. Albéa manufactures the applicators in Italy for the European market, in the USA and Mexico for the Americas, and in China for Asia.
Yves Saint Laurent launched a lipgloss last year, YSL Gloss Volupte, with an applicator that has an interesting look. The patented design has a tip that resembles pouting lips. “The applicator’s tapered tip is designed for precision. It creates a clean edge along the lips’ contours, while its wider, curved mid-section is ergonomically shaped to cover the lips with a single swipe,” explains Caroline Negre, manager, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. “The mini reservoir in its core provides just the right amount of gloss to consistently spread across the lips’ broadest surfaces,” she adds.
YSL’s formula is innovative as well. Lloyd Simmonds, creative director, makeup, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, says, “YSL Gloss Volupté is creamier than a traditional lipgloss, and non-sticky. Its formula contains the essence of a color, infused in an ultra-shiny texture. It gives women a new way to wear gloss, since it is incredibly thin and light.”
Simmonds adds, “It is new-generation formulas like this one that are enabling gloss to regain a prominent position in the makeup world.”
HCT Group has a new patent pending Gel Tip made from PU gel, which offers several benefits over applicators made from other materials, according to the supplier.
HCT’s Gel Tip is ideal for a lipgloss tube, and will improve product application, says Carley Propst, HCT Group, West Coast. “PU gel is also a material that feels unlike any other—it is very skin-like. Using this applicator tip makes you feel like you are applying the product with your finger,” Propst explains. “It is sure to be very popular for lip products,” she adds.
The tip is designed to work well with any type of formulation. Propst says it works better than other soft applicator options on the market, including TPE. “There are other types of tips on the market, and some are very soft, but these often have the tendency to start removing product during application, especially lip color. In contrast, this new tip has the ability to apply a lip color very evenly,” Propst says.
Light-Up Lip Gloss
True Lipz is a new lipgloss brand that also opted for clear packaging, but it has gone a step further in wanting to highlight its product colors—and they literally light up.
The square, clear, double-wall lipgloss bottles in the True Lipz Lustre collection have a button on the top of the cap. Press it, and the entire package will glow with a bright white light, making it easy for users to use the mirror attached to the side of the bottle to apply the product.
We have seen a few small brands use a similar package over the past decade, but True Lipz has also launched another line with an interesting twist—the Flash collection. It has a color-changing light that glows from soft blue to yellow, then turns pink and red, before repeating its blinking pattern.
Lisa Rabinovich, co-founder/CMO of True Science Cosmetics, LLC, says she wanted to launch a lipgloss that would be both fun and functional. “The light in the cap and the mirror on the bottle are the perfect combination. The flashing disco light appeals to our teen customer, while the solid white light seems to be a hit among every age group.”
Cargo’s Stylish Gel Lip Collection
Not to be outdone by gloss, there are some new designs for lipstick packaging. Cargo Cosmetics worked with Topline Cosmetics to give a traditional lipstick case an innovative look. The white cap and base are decorated with a black and gray illustration of the New York skyline.
The lip color is packaged as a bullet, like a traditional lipstick, but the product wears like a balm/gloss combination. The product has a weightless gel textured formulation that is moisturizing, while adding semi-sheer color and a touch of shine.
“Cargo is keeping traditional bullet lipsticks interesting and fashion forward with its new packaging. It tells a story and makes an impact on shelf,” says Topline’s Hutson. The limited edition collection is called Gel Lip Colors, and the four shades, named after NY neighborhoods, are Soho, Tribeca, Chelsea and Brooklyn.
A New Plastic Sleeve Gives Lipstick a New Look
Another way that a brand might give a traditional lipstick case an eye-catching look is by decorating the sleeve that holds the bullet. PT Kemas/Kemas USA is offering brands a way to do this more easily, with its new plastic sleeve designed for lipstick bullets.
Since the sleeve is plastic, rather than traditional aluminum, there are many more cost-efficient design options. “A typical all-metal lipstick sleeve can limit a brand’s decorating options, especially when costs are considered,” says Darren Eade, vice president of sales, Kemas USA.
Plastic sleeves have existed for a long time, but they never looked prestige, according to Eade. “Our new design is a game-changer,“ he says.
Eade explains that plastic sleeves for lipstick are traditionally cylindrically shaped, with a sharp edge at the top. Kemas’ new design has a top edge that mimics the rolled look of an aluminum sleeve. “The way we designed our top edge is a true innovation because it gives a plastic sleeve a more upscale look and feel,” he says.
The plastic sleeve looks identical to an aluminum one, and Eade says the only way to tell the difference is by feeling the temperature of the material. It can be decorated using just about any process, including hot stamping and silk screening. “A brand now has the opportunity to create a striking lipstick package that will look different from everything else on the market. Choosing a clear cap would show off a decorated sleeve in an eye-catching way,” he adds.
Eade says Kemas has been working with brands that plan to use this plastic sleeve, and he expects it to be in production within the next six months—and will probably hit store shelves by the middle or end of 2016.
Pens & Crayons Make Lip Color More Pocket-Friendly
Brands often look for packages that make products more convenient and easier to use. Younger consumers, especially, are always on-the-go. Several recent market research reports and experts have said that Millennials like portable packaging.
Portable and convenient packaging in the lip category includes pens and crayons, which are a great alternative to the more traditional packaging formats for lip color. Suppliers are offering more of these options now, and brands are taking notice.
L’Oréal Paris is the first mass market brand to use a pen for lip color. The brand’s new super-pigmented lip colors include two product lines, each named after its finish and texture—L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche La Lacque and Colour Riche Le Matte Lip Pens.
The formula is non-drying, comfortable to wear and provides maximum color pay-off, according to the brand. The convenient pens allow the user to apply the color precisely.
Crayons are another trendy option that Honest Beauty, Jessica Alba’s new brand, is using with its new lip color line called Truly Kissable Lip Crayons. Honest Beauty, part of The Honest Company, with its personal care and baby products, has its own distinct look, with 17 skin care products and 66 makeup items.
Honest Beauty’s Lip Crayons don’t require sharpening, and have rounded tips that are designed to line and fill in the lips with one swipe. The color is contained inside a silver outer shell, which matches the silver accents on the rest of the packaging in the color cosmetics line.
Mascara Brushes Designed To Deliver Bigger, Bolder Lashes
Just like in lip color, new types of mascara formulations are trending, and influencing packaging. A mascara’s performance, as well as the look it creates on the lashes, is almost completely dependent upon on all aspects of its package—especially the brush.
Product developers and package engineers work together toward the goal of ensuring that a mascara brush, wiper and bulk are all in sync. These efforts are typically focused on preventing clumping, but that’s not the case anymore. “Clumpy lashes” is a trendy look this season.
Fashionistas say the look is reminiscent of the 1960s. But perhaps Twiggy’s lashes looked like this because mascara brushes and formulations weren’t advanced enough yet to have that much lengthening and volumizing power without causing some clumping?
Still, what was once a major mascara mistake is now a sought-after look. Fashion followers say the trend began with makeup artists backstage at Prada and Gucci, during the designers’ Fall 2014 runway shows. (And The Cut called the look 'Tammy Faye' lashes).
Several brands are marketing mascara that promises to deliver a chunky, spidery, or doll-like look. Options include L’Oréal Paris’ Miss Manga, with its 360 Flexor brush, and its Voluminous Butterfly Intenza, with a molded wing brush.
Maybelline’s Volum’ Express Colossal Chaotic Lash mascara promotes the “clumpiest” look yet. It’s in a bright yellow package, with a twisted wire “Teaser” brush that has a curved tip, to pick up and deliver even more of the bulk onto each section of the lashes.
Lancôme has recently brought to market its first patented mascara wand, the “Swan Neck” applicator, developed for its Grandiose Wide-Angle Fan Effect Mascara. The product claims to deliver with exceptional length, lift and volume, for a wide-eyed doll look. The brush’s bent stem resembles the curve of a swan’s neck, making it easy to reach every lash, from one corner of your eye to the other.
Other mascara brands are betting that their customers don’t follow every beauty trend, and don’t want clumpy lashes. Nars Cosmetics has launched Nars Audacious mascara, which has a red molded brush that contains more than 200 criss-crossing bristles designed to hit every lash. This brush is designed to separate the lashes, rather than clump them together, a more traditional fluffy, feathered look. The sleek black bottle has bright red on the top of its cap.
Urban Decay’s Decorative Designs Suit Its Formulas
Earlier this year, and just before the “clumpy lash” trend went mainstream, Urban Decay came up with a clever lash separating solution—Mascara Resurrection. The clear liquid formulation is still useful for anyone who might go overboard when attempting to create a “clumped” look.
The curved fiber brush works like a comb to apply the serum to the lashes, which will break down some of the product that has been applied to make the lashes more pliable. The purple bottle has a silver sparkle, to match its silver cap.
Urban Decay’s Cannonball Ultra Waterproof mascara is housed in a black bottle, with a turquoise blue cap, and shiny turquoise blue foil on its logo that looks like it has an ocean wave pattern. The light gel formula won’t cake, like traditional waterproof formulas often do, due to its dense, fuzzy brush that is designed to work in sync with the formula’s microcrystalline wax ingredient.
Multi-Purpose Mascara in Double-Ended Packages
Brands are also marketing mascara that claims to deliver multiple benefits with one product, and sometimes this is accomplished using a double-ended package that has a different type of brush on each end. “Multi-purpose and multi-effect claims are definitely ‘hot news’ for cosmetics, and the trend includes mascara,” says Topline’s Hutson.
Ulta’s Twice as Nice mascara, manufactured by Topline, is in a double-ended package with two unique brushes. “The brushes are cleverly designed, to produce a double volume effect,” says Hutson.
The package features a small “micro brush” on one end, which is designed to add curl, volume and definition to the lower lashes. There is a larger, conical shaped brush on the other end. “The larger conical brush creates maximum volume on the upper lashes. Its lower part is wider, to coat the outer lashes perfectly. This brush gets more narrow at the tip, and is designed for a more precise application on the inner part of the eye, where smaller lashes can be hard to reach,” Hutson explains.
L’Oréal Paris recently launched its first primer and mascara combination, in a double-ended package. It’s called Voluminous Superstar Mascara, and claims to deliver “super-volumized, super-extended, superstar lashes.”
The primer is on one end, along with an hourglass-shaped twisted wire brush designed to build volume. On the other end is a mascara topcoat with a curved twisted wire brush designed to lift and lengthen the lashes.
Multiple Benefits Delivered by the Same Brush
Brands are also marketing mascara that claims to deliver multiple benefits with just one brush. It’s usually the twisted wire type, not molded—or a combination of the two. “Recently we have seen a very strong trend back to twisted wire brushes for mascara,” says HCP’s Dossin.
David Chant, founder/CEO, Mascara Plus agrees. “We’re seeing a single brush deliver much more in terms of functionality now. This is due to design. It looks like one brush to the consumer; however, these are often two different brushes that are combined,” he explains. “They have different sections that are made for different purposes, with different characteristics,” he says.
Mascara Plus offers several types of mascara brushes like this, which deliver multiple benefits. “We have combined a brush that is designed for volumizing benefits with a brush made for lengthening and separating the lashes. Multiple benefits are achieved by using asymmetrical cuts, as well as using different fiber densities in different areas on the brush,” explains Chant.
HCP worked with Clarins to produce its Instant Definition mascara. It has a patented dual-purpose brush that is part twisted wire, and part molded. The top quarter of the brush near the tip is the white molded part, and it is designed to reach the smallest lashes when its stem is held up to the eye vertically during application. “The lower part of the brush creates volume, while its smaller top part allows the user to apply the formula with accuracy, for perfectly separated lashes,” explains Dossin.
Clarins’ square metal bottle and cap are gold. The package is decorated using a combination of matte and shiny anodization in gold and black. “We assembled ABS red plates onto the aluminum clad bottle base with the brand’s iconic “C” emblem stamped into a leaf shape, cut out on the side of the cap,” says Dossin.
HCP also worked with the French brand, L’Atelier du Sourcil (The Eyebrow Workshop), to launch its cosmetics range, L’Atelier Maquillage, which includes Eyebrow Mascara. The package is HCP’s stock Comb End Mascara package. “With the help of the clever, retractable comb housed in the cap, eyebrows are treated to a well-groomed, fuller appearance using brown/black or taupe tinted gel mascara,” says Dossin.
HCP has invested in the necessary machinery, and plans to keep producing innovative designs for mascara applicators, especially twisted wire brushes. “We have made sizable investments in precision equipment from Germany. This machinery allows us to manufacture brushes in complex shapes, which are able to deliver a higher level of both combing and volumizing effects,” explains Dossin.
HCP’s new mascara brush designs include “Roller Coaster,” which features a double “V” shaped groove twisted to 180 degrees; “Tornado,” a double “V” groove twisted to 480 degrees; and “Quasar,” which features five “V” shaped grooves twisted clockwise 90 degrees.
“The Quasar brush demonstrates the versatility of HCP’s new machines. This tip has been cut with five feed grooves, which allow for maximum loading plus multiple surfaces for improved combing and lengthening. The clockwise twist generates a slight taper for a powerful, defining performance,” says Dossin.
The First-Ever Airless Pen for Mascara
Pens have been around for a long time for lip color, but up until now they couldn’t be used for a highly volatile formulation like mascara. Cosmopak is changing the game with its new airless pen for mascara.
“The package consists of a brush with an airtight chamber, which is designed very differently than every other mascara on the market,” says Cosmopak’s Dwyer.
To make this new pen possible for mascara, Cosmopak designed and patented a new valve system, which allows the pen to contain a highly volatile formulation. The applicator works more like a comb than a brush, but is very effective for brows as well. “This design completely changes the way a mascara performs,” Dwyer explains.
Since the applicator doesn’t sit inside the formula, there is much less chance for contamination. Dwyer says that Cosmopak has conducted independent testing to show that there is no chance of bacteria getting into the formula, and this can be a big selling point for a product made for the eye area. “We have also proven, statistically, that this type of package works with a more natural formulation—one that contains less preservatives,” he says.
Looking Ahead
Suppliers say designs for new types of mascara brushes will continue to evolve, in an effort to deliver the performance characteristics brands expect.
“I would say twisted wire brushes will continue to become even more complex. They will feature more groove variations, with different fiber densities. We are already seeing this, and the trend will continue,” says Mascara Plus’ Chant.
And for lips? Softer formulations are also a continuing trend for lip color. Due to this, suppliers are working on bringing better packaging solutions to market for these types of products, such as better stability and support for lipstick bullets that have a buttery consistency. Some suppliers say new solutions are in the works, but cannot be announced yet.
Experts also predict we’ll see more natural formulations, which may require more protective packages, such as airless. We’ll also see lip products in more intense colors, as well as products that combine color with skin-care benefits.
No matter what the next trendy lip and mascara looks are, it seems suppliers will be ready to deliver packaging that performs even better.
“After so many seasons of talk about nails, lips and eyes are now becoming the main focus,” says Sandra Hutson, sales & marketing director, Topline Products. She says, “Lip color is going through a revolution right now, with new formulas in both bullet and the latest liquid formats. New formulas include full coverage, lightweight products, and a myriad of different finishes, from the shiniest gloss to the mattest matte.”
Applicators are a crucial part of any package, but especially in lipgloss and mascara, since they can change a product’s performance. Product innovation in these categories is inspiring new designs for applicators that help improve a product’s performance.
In mascara, voluminous looks for lashes are “in,” inspiring the development of new types of brush applicators and double-ended packages.
Portability and convenience are also driving new package designs for both lip color and mascara. New designs include lip crayons, lip pens—and now, a mascara pen.
Packaging Options with Extra Benefits to Show Off Lip Color
One lip color trend, especially for gloss, is bold, vivid color. These products are best showcased in a clear package.
Armour Beauty’s square vials show off the striking colors of its lipgloss. Purple has been a trendy color for lips, and Armour’s Vegan Lipgloss in the popular shade, called “Hi-Way Star,” is shown.
Honest Beauty, the new line by Jessica Alba, uses clear round vials for its new lipgloss line, with stylish silver caps. (More about this new brand, and its Lip Crayons, is below).
Jeffree Star, an indie brand that sells lipgloss in vivid color options, showcases the rich hues in clear packaging. The round bottles are decorated with stars and the brand’s logo.
“The lipgloss colors are very distinctive, and they really pop through this vial,” says Walter Dwyer, president, Cosmopak USA LLC, which supplies the package. “This container is very structured, with clearly defined lines that almost resemble glass. The container’s outer wall slightly magnifies the product color, which looks like it is floating inside the inner vial,” explains Dwyer.
The brand’s founder and CEO, Jeffree Star, says, “We chose this package for our lipgloss because it shows off each shade perfectly. Plus, I like how it feels—substantial and expensive,” he says. The lipgloss has a doe foot applicator, which is bendable at the tip. “The doe foot is also incredibly soft, so it feels comfortable on the lips,” says Dwyer.
Every detail, for even the simplest lipgloss package, makes a difference to the user. Jeffree Star has a large following on social media, and says he often hears comments about this lipgloss, and its package. “Our customers say they especially love our applicator, because it makes applying the lipgloss easy,” says Star.
Dwyer adds, “Overall, this is an excellent execution of a traditional lipgloss container.”
HCP Packaging Group offers numerous options in lipgloss packaging, and many are designed to show off a product color, brilliantly.
HCP’s new stock lipgloss package is called “Fusion Glass,” and it offers excellent clarity.
“It has all the desirable qualities of glass, without the fragility,” says Damien Dossin, president, HCP Packaging USA. The round plastic vial has a sleek, tubular design. “It has a minimalist, luxurious look, which makes it adaptable across different markets, from masstige to prestige. It’s available in standard size or mini, with different applicator options,” Dossin adds.
Mally Beauty wanted a lipgloss package with a glass-like quality— but one that is also squeezable. The brand chose HCP’s Soft Lips Surlyn Pack for its vivid, high-impact formula.
“We hold a license agreement with a specialist machinery manufacturer to produce this soft Surlyn lipgloss bottle technology. This machinery enables us to process DuPont Surlyn,” Dossin explains.
“This technology provides a bottle which combines glass-like transparency and squeezable flexibility. It shows off the product color, including the formula’s pearlescent effects, due to the clarity of the bottle wall,” he adds.
A New Focus on Applicators
As lipgloss formulations change, applicators must evolve as well. “We are seeing an increased demand for lipgloss vial packages with unique applicators, to accommodate popular liquid ‘lipsticks,’” says Topline’s Hutson. Hutson says Topline’s customers have been asking for these options, and the supplier has been delivering.
Albéa has launched Albéa Tips Studio, which is its new division created to meet the rise in requests for new types of applicators. The supplier was always most known for its mascara brushes, but now offers plenty of new options in lipgloss applicators.
Albéa Tips Studio’s newest option for lipgloss is the Love Affair collection. There are two bottles, the square “Appeal,” and a cigar shaped vial called “Delight.” Both have flexible wipers, designed to make applying lipgloss easier.
Albéa’s customers can mix and match the bottles with one of the four applicators in the collection, which are shown: Caress, Kiss, Gossip and Scandal. The applicators are ergonomically shaped, and flocked with an ultra-soft elastomer for comfort on the lips. Each applicator is designed to pick up enough product so that there is no need to reload. Albéa manufactures the applicators in Italy for the European market, in the USA and Mexico for the Americas, and in China for Asia.
Yves Saint Laurent launched a lipgloss last year, YSL Gloss Volupte, with an applicator that has an interesting look. The patented design has a tip that resembles pouting lips. “The applicator’s tapered tip is designed for precision. It creates a clean edge along the lips’ contours, while its wider, curved mid-section is ergonomically shaped to cover the lips with a single swipe,” explains Caroline Negre, manager, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. “The mini reservoir in its core provides just the right amount of gloss to consistently spread across the lips’ broadest surfaces,” she adds.
YSL’s formula is innovative as well. Lloyd Simmonds, creative director, makeup, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, says, “YSL Gloss Volupté is creamier than a traditional lipgloss, and non-sticky. Its formula contains the essence of a color, infused in an ultra-shiny texture. It gives women a new way to wear gloss, since it is incredibly thin and light.”
Simmonds adds, “It is new-generation formulas like this one that are enabling gloss to regain a prominent position in the makeup world.”
HCT Group has a new patent pending Gel Tip made from PU gel, which offers several benefits over applicators made from other materials, according to the supplier.
HCT’s Gel Tip is ideal for a lipgloss tube, and will improve product application, says Carley Propst, HCT Group, West Coast. “PU gel is also a material that feels unlike any other—it is very skin-like. Using this applicator tip makes you feel like you are applying the product with your finger,” Propst explains. “It is sure to be very popular for lip products,” she adds.
The tip is designed to work well with any type of formulation. Propst says it works better than other soft applicator options on the market, including TPE. “There are other types of tips on the market, and some are very soft, but these often have the tendency to start removing product during application, especially lip color. In contrast, this new tip has the ability to apply a lip color very evenly,” Propst says.
Light-Up Lip Gloss
True Lipz is a new lipgloss brand that also opted for clear packaging, but it has gone a step further in wanting to highlight its product colors—and they literally light up.
The square, clear, double-wall lipgloss bottles in the True Lipz Lustre collection have a button on the top of the cap. Press it, and the entire package will glow with a bright white light, making it easy for users to use the mirror attached to the side of the bottle to apply the product.
We have seen a few small brands use a similar package over the past decade, but True Lipz has also launched another line with an interesting twist—the Flash collection. It has a color-changing light that glows from soft blue to yellow, then turns pink and red, before repeating its blinking pattern.
Lisa Rabinovich, co-founder/CMO of True Science Cosmetics, LLC, says she wanted to launch a lipgloss that would be both fun and functional. “The light in the cap and the mirror on the bottle are the perfect combination. The flashing disco light appeals to our teen customer, while the solid white light seems to be a hit among every age group.”
Cargo’s Stylish Gel Lip Collection
Not to be outdone by gloss, there are some new designs for lipstick packaging. Cargo Cosmetics worked with Topline Cosmetics to give a traditional lipstick case an innovative look. The white cap and base are decorated with a black and gray illustration of the New York skyline.
The lip color is packaged as a bullet, like a traditional lipstick, but the product wears like a balm/gloss combination. The product has a weightless gel textured formulation that is moisturizing, while adding semi-sheer color and a touch of shine.
“Cargo is keeping traditional bullet lipsticks interesting and fashion forward with its new packaging. It tells a story and makes an impact on shelf,” says Topline’s Hutson. The limited edition collection is called Gel Lip Colors, and the four shades, named after NY neighborhoods, are Soho, Tribeca, Chelsea and Brooklyn.
A New Plastic Sleeve Gives Lipstick a New Look
Another way that a brand might give a traditional lipstick case an eye-catching look is by decorating the sleeve that holds the bullet. PT Kemas/Kemas USA is offering brands a way to do this more easily, with its new plastic sleeve designed for lipstick bullets.
Since the sleeve is plastic, rather than traditional aluminum, there are many more cost-efficient design options. “A typical all-metal lipstick sleeve can limit a brand’s decorating options, especially when costs are considered,” says Darren Eade, vice president of sales, Kemas USA.
Plastic sleeves have existed for a long time, but they never looked prestige, according to Eade. “Our new design is a game-changer,“ he says.
Eade explains that plastic sleeves for lipstick are traditionally cylindrically shaped, with a sharp edge at the top. Kemas’ new design has a top edge that mimics the rolled look of an aluminum sleeve. “The way we designed our top edge is a true innovation because it gives a plastic sleeve a more upscale look and feel,” he says.
The plastic sleeve looks identical to an aluminum one, and Eade says the only way to tell the difference is by feeling the temperature of the material. It can be decorated using just about any process, including hot stamping and silk screening. “A brand now has the opportunity to create a striking lipstick package that will look different from everything else on the market. Choosing a clear cap would show off a decorated sleeve in an eye-catching way,” he adds.
Eade says Kemas has been working with brands that plan to use this plastic sleeve, and he expects it to be in production within the next six months—and will probably hit store shelves by the middle or end of 2016.
Pens & Crayons Make Lip Color More Pocket-Friendly
Brands often look for packages that make products more convenient and easier to use. Younger consumers, especially, are always on-the-go. Several recent market research reports and experts have said that Millennials like portable packaging.
Portable and convenient packaging in the lip category includes pens and crayons, which are a great alternative to the more traditional packaging formats for lip color. Suppliers are offering more of these options now, and brands are taking notice.
L’Oréal Paris is the first mass market brand to use a pen for lip color. The brand’s new super-pigmented lip colors include two product lines, each named after its finish and texture—L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche La Lacque and Colour Riche Le Matte Lip Pens.
The formula is non-drying, comfortable to wear and provides maximum color pay-off, according to the brand. The convenient pens allow the user to apply the color precisely.
Crayons are another trendy option that Honest Beauty, Jessica Alba’s new brand, is using with its new lip color line called Truly Kissable Lip Crayons. Honest Beauty, part of The Honest Company, with its personal care and baby products, has its own distinct look, with 17 skin care products and 66 makeup items.
Honest Beauty’s Lip Crayons don’t require sharpening, and have rounded tips that are designed to line and fill in the lips with one swipe. The color is contained inside a silver outer shell, which matches the silver accents on the rest of the packaging in the color cosmetics line.
Mascara Brushes Designed To Deliver Bigger, Bolder Lashes
Just like in lip color, new types of mascara formulations are trending, and influencing packaging. A mascara’s performance, as well as the look it creates on the lashes, is almost completely dependent upon on all aspects of its package—especially the brush.
Product developers and package engineers work together toward the goal of ensuring that a mascara brush, wiper and bulk are all in sync. These efforts are typically focused on preventing clumping, but that’s not the case anymore. “Clumpy lashes” is a trendy look this season.
Fashionistas say the look is reminiscent of the 1960s. But perhaps Twiggy’s lashes looked like this because mascara brushes and formulations weren’t advanced enough yet to have that much lengthening and volumizing power without causing some clumping?
Still, what was once a major mascara mistake is now a sought-after look. Fashion followers say the trend began with makeup artists backstage at Prada and Gucci, during the designers’ Fall 2014 runway shows. (And The Cut called the look 'Tammy Faye' lashes).
Several brands are marketing mascara that promises to deliver a chunky, spidery, or doll-like look. Options include L’Oréal Paris’ Miss Manga, with its 360 Flexor brush, and its Voluminous Butterfly Intenza, with a molded wing brush.
Maybelline’s Volum’ Express Colossal Chaotic Lash mascara promotes the “clumpiest” look yet. It’s in a bright yellow package, with a twisted wire “Teaser” brush that has a curved tip, to pick up and deliver even more of the bulk onto each section of the lashes.
Lancôme has recently brought to market its first patented mascara wand, the “Swan Neck” applicator, developed for its Grandiose Wide-Angle Fan Effect Mascara. The product claims to deliver with exceptional length, lift and volume, for a wide-eyed doll look. The brush’s bent stem resembles the curve of a swan’s neck, making it easy to reach every lash, from one corner of your eye to the other.
Other mascara brands are betting that their customers don’t follow every beauty trend, and don’t want clumpy lashes. Nars Cosmetics has launched Nars Audacious mascara, which has a red molded brush that contains more than 200 criss-crossing bristles designed to hit every lash. This brush is designed to separate the lashes, rather than clump them together, a more traditional fluffy, feathered look. The sleek black bottle has bright red on the top of its cap.
Urban Decay’s Decorative Designs Suit Its Formulas
Earlier this year, and just before the “clumpy lash” trend went mainstream, Urban Decay came up with a clever lash separating solution—Mascara Resurrection. The clear liquid formulation is still useful for anyone who might go overboard when attempting to create a “clumped” look.
The curved fiber brush works like a comb to apply the serum to the lashes, which will break down some of the product that has been applied to make the lashes more pliable. The purple bottle has a silver sparkle, to match its silver cap.
Urban Decay’s Cannonball Ultra Waterproof mascara is housed in a black bottle, with a turquoise blue cap, and shiny turquoise blue foil on its logo that looks like it has an ocean wave pattern. The light gel formula won’t cake, like traditional waterproof formulas often do, due to its dense, fuzzy brush that is designed to work in sync with the formula’s microcrystalline wax ingredient.
Multi-Purpose Mascara in Double-Ended Packages
Brands are also marketing mascara that claims to deliver multiple benefits with one product, and sometimes this is accomplished using a double-ended package that has a different type of brush on each end. “Multi-purpose and multi-effect claims are definitely ‘hot news’ for cosmetics, and the trend includes mascara,” says Topline’s Hutson.
Ulta’s Twice as Nice mascara, manufactured by Topline, is in a double-ended package with two unique brushes. “The brushes are cleverly designed, to produce a double volume effect,” says Hutson.
The package features a small “micro brush” on one end, which is designed to add curl, volume and definition to the lower lashes. There is a larger, conical shaped brush on the other end. “The larger conical brush creates maximum volume on the upper lashes. Its lower part is wider, to coat the outer lashes perfectly. This brush gets more narrow at the tip, and is designed for a more precise application on the inner part of the eye, where smaller lashes can be hard to reach,” Hutson explains.
L’Oréal Paris recently launched its first primer and mascara combination, in a double-ended package. It’s called Voluminous Superstar Mascara, and claims to deliver “super-volumized, super-extended, superstar lashes.”
The primer is on one end, along with an hourglass-shaped twisted wire brush designed to build volume. On the other end is a mascara topcoat with a curved twisted wire brush designed to lift and lengthen the lashes.
Multiple Benefits Delivered by the Same Brush
Brands are also marketing mascara that claims to deliver multiple benefits with just one brush. It’s usually the twisted wire type, not molded—or a combination of the two. “Recently we have seen a very strong trend back to twisted wire brushes for mascara,” says HCP’s Dossin.
David Chant, founder/CEO, Mascara Plus agrees. “We’re seeing a single brush deliver much more in terms of functionality now. This is due to design. It looks like one brush to the consumer; however, these are often two different brushes that are combined,” he explains. “They have different sections that are made for different purposes, with different characteristics,” he says.
Mascara Plus offers several types of mascara brushes like this, which deliver multiple benefits. “We have combined a brush that is designed for volumizing benefits with a brush made for lengthening and separating the lashes. Multiple benefits are achieved by using asymmetrical cuts, as well as using different fiber densities in different areas on the brush,” explains Chant.
HCP worked with Clarins to produce its Instant Definition mascara. It has a patented dual-purpose brush that is part twisted wire, and part molded. The top quarter of the brush near the tip is the white molded part, and it is designed to reach the smallest lashes when its stem is held up to the eye vertically during application. “The lower part of the brush creates volume, while its smaller top part allows the user to apply the formula with accuracy, for perfectly separated lashes,” explains Dossin.
Clarins’ square metal bottle and cap are gold. The package is decorated using a combination of matte and shiny anodization in gold and black. “We assembled ABS red plates onto the aluminum clad bottle base with the brand’s iconic “C” emblem stamped into a leaf shape, cut out on the side of the cap,” says Dossin.
HCP also worked with the French brand, L’Atelier du Sourcil (The Eyebrow Workshop), to launch its cosmetics range, L’Atelier Maquillage, which includes Eyebrow Mascara. The package is HCP’s stock Comb End Mascara package. “With the help of the clever, retractable comb housed in the cap, eyebrows are treated to a well-groomed, fuller appearance using brown/black or taupe tinted gel mascara,” says Dossin.
HCP has invested in the necessary machinery, and plans to keep producing innovative designs for mascara applicators, especially twisted wire brushes. “We have made sizable investments in precision equipment from Germany. This machinery allows us to manufacture brushes in complex shapes, which are able to deliver a higher level of both combing and volumizing effects,” explains Dossin.
HCP’s new mascara brush designs include “Roller Coaster,” which features a double “V” shaped groove twisted to 180 degrees; “Tornado,” a double “V” groove twisted to 480 degrees; and “Quasar,” which features five “V” shaped grooves twisted clockwise 90 degrees.
“The Quasar brush demonstrates the versatility of HCP’s new machines. This tip has been cut with five feed grooves, which allow for maximum loading plus multiple surfaces for improved combing and lengthening. The clockwise twist generates a slight taper for a powerful, defining performance,” says Dossin.
The First-Ever Airless Pen for Mascara
Pens have been around for a long time for lip color, but up until now they couldn’t be used for a highly volatile formulation like mascara. Cosmopak is changing the game with its new airless pen for mascara.
“The package consists of a brush with an airtight chamber, which is designed very differently than every other mascara on the market,” says Cosmopak’s Dwyer.
To make this new pen possible for mascara, Cosmopak designed and patented a new valve system, which allows the pen to contain a highly volatile formulation. The applicator works more like a comb than a brush, but is very effective for brows as well. “This design completely changes the way a mascara performs,” Dwyer explains.
Since the applicator doesn’t sit inside the formula, there is much less chance for contamination. Dwyer says that Cosmopak has conducted independent testing to show that there is no chance of bacteria getting into the formula, and this can be a big selling point for a product made for the eye area. “We have also proven, statistically, that this type of package works with a more natural formulation—one that contains less preservatives,” he says.
Looking Ahead
Suppliers say designs for new types of mascara brushes will continue to evolve, in an effort to deliver the performance characteristics brands expect.
“I would say twisted wire brushes will continue to become even more complex. They will feature more groove variations, with different fiber densities. We are already seeing this, and the trend will continue,” says Mascara Plus’ Chant.
And for lips? Softer formulations are also a continuing trend for lip color. Due to this, suppliers are working on bringing better packaging solutions to market for these types of products, such as better stability and support for lipstick bullets that have a buttery consistency. Some suppliers say new solutions are in the works, but cannot be announced yet.
Experts also predict we’ll see more natural formulations, which may require more protective packages, such as airless. We’ll also see lip products in more intense colors, as well as products that combine color with skin-care benefits.
No matter what the next trendy lip and mascara looks are, it seems suppliers will be ready to deliver packaging that performs even better.
