Mintel research shows that consumers around the world agree that the food they eat influences the way they look, thus putting significant emphasis on healthy diets and more attention to the use of food-related ingredients. Food-based beauty products indeed appeal to consumers’ acceptance of the benefits of healthy eating, but there are opportunities to make food-inspired packaging designs more functional and sensorial rather than only visually eye-catching.

According to Mintel’s “Facial Care Women vs. Men China 2015” report, 69% of consumers aged 20-49 who used facial skin care products in the last six months believe in using skin care products to look beautiful. But at the same time, 64% of consumers think that eating a more balanced diet will help too. Similarly, in other parts of the world, such as in the UK, 66% of female consumers consider diet the most important factor in determining the appearance of the skin, according to Mintel’s “Women’s Facial Skincare UK 2015” report.

It is also common for beauty care consumers to make their own products of the most common food ingredients found in the house with 8% of U.S. consumers who use facial skin care products doing so. We are also seeing a growing consumer interest in food product claims on beauty packaging with 28% of U.S. consumers finding gluten-free claims on personal care products important.

Based on product launches in Mintel’s Global New Product Database, some brands have leveraged packaging for their food-based products to an extent that it could drive purchase based on pack alone, not just the product inside. Bubble T Cosmetics in the UK packaged their bath products in tea bags that have to be infused in the bath. La Chaise Longue in France made its strawberry-flavored bar of soap look like an ice cream bar which creates an appealing package design. Tony Moly in South Korea makes beauty product packaging look like whole fruit or vegetables, which adds a fun element but also brings novel shapes and materials to the category.

These and many other examples demonstrate how brands are transferring food-based beauty product attributes to packaging, emphasizing their natural benefits. However, beyond making packaging that looks like a product that could be easily found in the food aisle, some brands are also using packaging formats that are common in food categories, but are new in the beauty segment. For example, Amend RMC System Q+ Gold-Black Shampoo in Brazil retails in a pack that resembles a beer can, with the difference being that the shampoo bottle is made from plastic.

Consumers’ high awareness of the effects of a healthy diet on their appearance extends to their preference for beauty and personal care regimens that include food-based products. Brands are creating visually and tactilely stimulating packaging as a way to demonstrate a point of difference on shelf and communicate to consumers the benefits of food-based ingredients. Novel ways of using the beauty products that remind consumers of the routines they experience in food categories create true differentiation on shelf. Going further, packaging could offer even more opportunities to capture healthy ingredients and create a sensorial experience with the product. Packaging that resembles a food ingredient and yet is intuitive in its application, would likely have strong shelf presence and would differentiate within the category.