Jamie Matusow, Editor-in-Chief03.16.16
Many of the latest breed of skin care and foundation formulations come with descriptors such as “concentrated, targeted, do-it-all, anti-aging, cutting edge,” as well as “precious, exotic and natural.” And let’s not forget promises to “sculpt and tighten, camouflage and brighten.”
Customers in the beauty and personal care markets have become increasingly aware of the high-performance, sensitive ingredients in these potent and/or multifunctional products—and the importance of the dispensing method in how they are applied. Beauty brands and packaging suppliers are seeking improved ways to control dosing and preserve formulations across a variety of products to ensure that contents remain hygienic, and not a drop is wasted.
So whether in a compact that squeezes out a precise portion, a stick that can’t leak or a dropper that delivers the same amount each time it’s squeezed, today’s high-performing facial and skin care products require exacting packaging for delivering the precious goods.
A Morphing Category
Makeup has taken top position in the U.S. prestige beauty industry, powering a jump in sales of 7% in 2015, to reach $16 billion, according to recent research from The NPD Group, but the category has morphed into one of dual-purpose, in which more and more products combine makeup with skin care.
Karen Grant, global beauty industry analyst, The NPD Group—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors—says, “The beauty industry has been growing at a rapid and consistent pace for the last few years, but what is happening below the surface, at the category level, is changing considerably.” She points to how the roles of makeup and skin care are becoming intertwined. “The immediate results of slimming, lifting, tone correcting, and radiance achieved by makeup face products is not only influencing consumers’ relationship with makeup, but also with that of skin care,” says Grant.
Vonda Simon, CEO SeaCliff Beauty Packaging & Laboratories, says she has seen increased interest in both the serum and foundation categories. She says what’s becoming more popular is the combination of a lightweight foundation or tinted moisturizer and a serum in one product, which still offers full coverage like a liquid foundation but with skin care benefits. “These serum foundations are packed with nourishing ingredients just like in your skin care products,” she says, “but in one product; not replacing your skin care but enhancing it.”
Multiple award-winning brand IT Cosmetics offers a variety of foundations and serums, a number of which rely on droppers and airless components for precise and hygienic dosage. Jamie Kern Lima, co-founder and CEO of IT Cosmetics, says airless components that keep ingredients intact, along with bottles that have dropper applicators, are gaining in popularity.
Why the shift? Kern Lima explains, “In the past, most of the options available were thick or pancake-like makeup, especially if coverage was desired. Serum foundations and new texture technologies are popular because they give women the coverage they need, but without the thick makeup look.”
Dropper Packs
Skin care serums have risen to the top as an effective treatment—or addition to facial creams and lotions—as well as a customizable booster for makeup. Serums tend to be lighter, highly concentrated, super absorbable and more effective than heavier formulations. The potent ingredients, however, tend to be delicate and expensive—so it’s important that just a drop or two goes a long way.
According to recent data from analysts Research and Markets, the global cosmetic serum market—led by brands Chanel, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Kao and Shiseido—is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.30% by revenue during the period 2016-2020.
Joanna Milne, sales manager, Virospack, says there is a tendency in the market to present serums and foundations in dropper packs, which have in the past always been associated with the pharmaceutical industry. “Nowadays, she explains, “the cosmetic brands are searching to express the effectiveness and security of the product with a pharmaceutical look, which ensures results, through the packaging, while also transmitting values such as luxury, illusion and fashion, by means of the decoration.”
Kern Lima tells Beauty Packaging, “If the product has a serum texture, a dropper applicator is great because it allows you to apply to the full face or drop one or more drops into another product to customize.”
IT’s No. 50 Serum Anti-Aging Collagen Veil Primer, for example, is a multi-tasking, luxe, concentrated, hydrating primer and serum in one. The formula is quickly absorbed to hydrate skin, and prepares your skin for makeup application all while diffusing the appearance of visible pores and without the product settling into lines and wrinkles.
At Quadpack Group, David Reguill, skin care category manager, says the company saw a rise in requests for droppers in 2015, which they expect will continue in 2016. Reguill notes, “Last year’s skin care packaging was all about formula, and packaging solutions adapted to accommodate the new formulations.”
At SeaCliff Beauty, Simon says there’s been a surge of interest in glass dropper packages, “going back to the tradition of glass that was used typically for serums before the airless system was introduced.” She says, “Serums are anti-aging preventers, promising youth and preservation of the skin over time, so because of this, they are coveted products housed in beautiful packaging.”
Typically, says Simon, serums are priced higher than other skin care categories displayed in the brands. Dropper packages are requested with either traditional bulbs or customized bulbs for a unique look. Decoration, too, plays an important role in perception of the product, notes Simon.
With a focus on travel and trial-size products, requests for sample size dropper packs are also more frequent, according to Lou Della Pesca, president of 3C, Inc, who says he sees an upward trend in packaging of both serums and foundations.
As far as serums, he says packaging requests have been for smaller size containers with spray or dropper dispensers, especially interest in “pharma-look-alikes in size and design.” To meet this demand, 3C is introducing new 3- and 5ml droppers for serums. In addition to skin care, Della Pesca says, “We find hair product companies are making use of serums to help reduce hair damage from tools using heat (i.e, blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons).
Oils as well as serums and, in many cases, liquid foundations, are also better served up in droppers.
Seacliff has provided packaging for many serums in the last several years in either airless pumps or glass bottles with droppers. Recently they produced a complicated package for Chantecaille’s Rose Face Oil. It has a partial frost on half of the bottle. This required a hand-placed masking device to seal off the clear portion of the glass, and then a spray frost was applied, resulting in a clear distinction of frost on one half of the bottle and clear glass on the other half. The dropper closure cap is a custom color and the bulb has a distinct look, feel and shape.
Milne of Virospack, says serums have calmed down somewhat, overtaken by oils—and liquid and treatment foundations have “definitely skyrocketed.” She says there is a wide variety of treatment foundations, primers and liquid colors, which require specific packaging. As many of these require only 3-4 drops to serve their purpose, Milne says the use of an applicator or a pump isn’t the most appropriate dispenser—and this is where the droppers are the best solution.
“The current trend,” says Milne, “is to supply both classic and pushbutton droppers.” She says that Virospack provides the technicalities necessary to enhance the user feel with the use of a very precise application, dosage or wiper interaction. “We have recently been studying the increase of weight of the dropper to offer a more luxurious feel,” Milne explains. With dropper formulations in hot demand, Milne says, “Distinction from the competition is what most brands are requiring—custom coloring, debossing or embossing logos on metal or plastic; fragrance stability is assured with the compatible bulb materials.”
Kristen O’Connell, director of marketing and product development at Roberts Container, tells Beauty Packaging that brands are asking for unique dispensing systems for serums. She says, “Brands continue to look for ‘new and interesting’ packaging, but the feature most often considered is ease of use for the customer.”
She agrees with many of the suppliers surveyed for this article, that serums are definitely leaning towards a “pharma” look. She says, “The cleanliness of artwork and popularity of delicate dispensing systems really evokes a treatment sensation in the end user.”
While droppers continue to be popular, O’Connell says: “More and more we see a trend toward gentle-massaging tip effects.”
Roberts recently developed a delicate glass tear-shaped dropper bottle, with a white pearl spray, metallized collar and simple hot stamp decoration. O’Connell says it is elegant and very feminine, and differs from other dropper packages as, “It presents as a very delicate item that you wouldn’t want to place in your cabinet. You want to leave it out for display—it feels like friendly-luxury.”
Black Tea Age-Delay Firming Serum from Fresh is billed as a “do-it-all serum” that “envelops skin with immediate and continuous moisture that builds over time;” its fast-absorbing fluid texture is said to be ideal for layering under lotions and creams.
The packaging stands out on a number of levels from the refined apothecary packaging to the eye-catching, unique dropper.
Lev Glazman, Fresh co-founder and head of the Fresh Research Lab., tells Beauty Packaging: “Housed in a glass apothecary bottle, even the look of this innovative product conveys the high level of science that went into the formula. It was designed with a unique flexible dropper that you tilt and gently squeeze for the most precise, customizable dosage. Given the unique liquid formula, the dropper is also more effective in dispensing every last drop, as opposed to a pump. Our dispensing mantra is ‘Tilt. Press. Corset-like effect.’ ”
Restore—Don’t Cover Up
As more people show concern for their daily diet and how it affects their health, there’s been a corresponding move from brands to encourage consumers to opt for products that promote healthy skin and, in essence, a glow from within.
For example, Perricone MD’s No Foundation Foundation Serum, available in one universal shade, gets the point across immediately, pledging to simplify treatment and foundation efforts, by retouching and perfecting your complexion for a look of radiant health. All while the multi-purpose product protects skin with a broad spectrum, mineral SPF 30.
bareMinerals has just rolled out its new Skinsorials Skincare line and hero product SkinLongevity Vital Power Infusion—described as “a first of its kind lightweight serum essence designed to reawaken and help maintain skin’s most vibrant look of health.” According to the brand, this line challenges the traditional approach to aging, and reflects bareMinerals’ beauty philosophy “that healthy skin is beautiful skin.”
Leslie Blodgett, creator of bareMinerals, says, “I believe it’s time to focus on making healthy choices every single day that energize you and make you look and feel incredibly vibrant, radiant and beautiful.” She adds, “Until now, the conversation around skin care has always been about reversing the aging process, and anti-aging. That thinking is outdated. It’s time to make feeling beautiful the goal.”
Serums in Airless Packs
As mentioned, many serums are appearing in airless packaging, rather than using the dropper approach.
Dior Prestige Le Nectar, a new anti-aging serum that contains the highest concentration of Dior Science’s star active ingredient—the Rose de Granville Nectar—promises to deliver “extraordinary double action on both skin regeneration and perfection.” According to the brand, Le Nectar’s light, fresh, “fusion” texture allows the extremely powerful formula to penetrate instantly upon application.
Once again, the precise application of the product is stressed. According to Dior, Le Nectar is best applied both morning and night. To boost penetration of the active ingredients and overall efficacy, it’s suggested that the user first warm a few pumps of Le Nectar in between hands, and then apply starting with the neck, and working up to the face, using smooth upward and outward “lifting” movements.
Clarins says its Double Serum is “more than just a serum;” it’s a complete intensive anti-aging treatment. The product features a special bottle to house the unique double formula: a double pump system for an ultra-precise dosage of the two formula phases. Each vial has a separate pump dispenser, ensuring the two formulas are mixed only upon application and always in an ideally balanced ratio.
Shoppers instantly tune in to the benefits of Kiehl’s Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate, as they’re called out right on the front of the bottle. The brand also spells out the plus side of serums, saying the product “utilizes next generation liquid-to-serum technology to intensively hydrate skin’s deepest surface layers.”
Shiseido Bio-Performance LiftDynamic Serum is described as “a multi-benefit innovative sculpting serum that supports skin’s natural restorative powers to help visibly lift and firm skin for youthful-looking density.” According to the brand, “with continued use, your skin appears youthfully tightened and looks more visibly sculpted. By helping to restore elasticity and moisture, skin radiates with vitality.”
A new skin care serum from the Estée Lauder brand may rejuvenate users’ minds as well as their complexions.
The prestige brand says it conducted neuroscience testing for the first time to measure the physiological and emotional responses of women after using New Dimension Shape + Fill Expert Serum.
The results: 91% of the panelists experienced a positive change in attitude after using the product, and felt more enthusiastic about the way they looked; they also indicated feelings of delight and astonishment.
The secret? The serum, used in conjunction with an Expert Liquid Tape, and two custom-shaping “experts”—Shape + Sculpt Face Kit and Shape + Sculpt Eye Kit—help create contours and “a visibly more defined facial shape.”
As 3C’s Della Pesca noted, serums are spreading from face to hair. They’ve also migrated to body products.
EO’s organic body serums, available in No. 01 Revitalizing and No. 02 Restorative, are crafted from exotic plant oils chosen for their restorative and transformative effects to replenish and soften skin. And the brand says its signature blends of essential oils are formulated to enhance both the body and mind. The products are packaged in the brand’s signature recycled blue packaging.
A Pharma Look with Airless—in Plastic
ISPEC has taken a different approach to the dropper, with a syringe-like airless dispenser.
Traditionally, serum has been dispensed from small dip-tube bottles or dropper bottles, explains Chuck Lee, president, ISPEC, Inc. “However,” he says, “we have been producing several different innovative kinds of packages that are specially designed for serum.” He says they are airless packages with built-in applicators from which serum is dispensed. “We call these ‘spot-treatment airless packages,’ or injector type airless packages.”
Lee says these packages fill the bill for customers who desire a prestige look, easy dispensing, compatibility and preservation of formula, and a small capacity of 30ml or less.
While glass bottles and vials dominate many of the dropper-centric skin care serums currently on the market, Epopack has developed a number of solutions in plastic.
Amy Pan, Epopack’s business manager, says, in the past, serums and foundations have mostly been packaged in glass containers. However, Pan says, “As more and more consumers enjoy online shopping, we have learned that brands are looking for safe and eco-friendly packaging, which is unbreakable during transportation—and the packaging material needs to be recyclable or approved by most of the certifications.
Pan explains that because most brands still want to keep the heaviness and the richness of glass bottles, Epopack developed plastic bottles with weight. Thus, she says, “The heavy wall style become a hit in the market.”
When it comes to dispensers, Pan says the “up-spring pump” is in high demand, “as the inside metal spring won’t directly come into contact with the formula and, in this way, can ensure the formula’s purity.”
Epopack recently produced a high-transparency, 30ml PET heavy wall bottle in clear, with one-pass “simple but elegant printing” and black pump and cap. She says the PET material has excellent chemical resistance to protect the formula. “With the perfect wall thickness, the printing has a shadow underneath the logo, and makes the logo look like a 3D effect.” Further, the black pump in the up-spring style “is very powerful so it can also work for a thick/creamy formula.” Pan points out that the bottle size is designed to fit a woman’s hand.
Building on Foundations
While a number of foundations are going the dropper or airless route, products range from stick to compact.
Virospack recently developed the Nº7 Airbrush Away Foundation by Boots. It features a glass bottle and a precise dropper with an aluminum sleeve, rubber bulb and wiper—all quality elements to ensure a high-level presentation, explains Milne. An elegant decoration transmits the product concept. The frosted matte vial with a semi-translucent effect shows the foundation color, and the artwork has “a very sharp look.”
3C’s Della Pesca says new formulations for standard foundation products require airtight compacts and the new cushion compacts to protect the product from air contamination. He says the cushion compact allows for a variation of a foundation product to be acceptable other than a standard liquid or pressed powder form.
Della Pesca says he has also seen an increase in demand for airless bottles and airless jars in more sizes for color and skin treatment products.
At HCP Packaging, managing director Jackie Mantle says there’s been more requests for airless packaging, especially for formulas combining serum and foundation into one formula. She says brands are most interested in packaging features including “ergonomic, dosing product function, slim and elegant, and premium feel.”
Working in partnership with a Korean airless system, Mantle says HCP offers cost-effective Chinese manufacturing for the production and finishing of these new packs. This serum pump can be highly decorated utilizing HCP’s in-house refinishing technology.
The premium 10ml version has been designed using an aluminum over sleeve with a “cut out” window on the side of the cylindrical base. This feature allows the consumer to monitor product usage or indicate daily dosage levels.
As an example, Mantle points to Babor’s Skin Glow Illuminator liquid foundation packaged in HCP’s 10ml airless serum pump. Sonia Cerato, makeup category manager, Quadpack Group, says they, too, have seen a rise in requests for products in the foundation category. She tells Beauty Packaging, “Foundation is the biggest face category in makeup and is still growing a lot. It is also the category that was subject to the biggest innovation over the last few years in terms of packaging, with air cushion compacts from Korea. Moreover, foundation formulas are tightly connected to skin care and this connection makes innovation even more natural.”
While cushion compacts have revolutionized the category over the last few years or so, the popular package keeps evolving. FS Korea recently revitalized the offerings with a cushion compact that uses a brush rather than a sponge for application. The brush fits neatly into the domed top.
Cerato says the key trend in makeup techniques at the moment, in foundations, is contouring. She explains, “This means adding contour and definition to facial features using foundation, as well as other products such as powder and concealer.” Related to this, she says, is the strobing technique, which aims for a similar yet quicker result with illuminating highlighter.
Makeup on the Go
Quadpack offers a number of options for foundation packaging from pumps to tubes. Serving a recent need in the makeup category, Cerato says one of the supplier’s newest foundation launches is ideal for contouring—the Double-Ended Stick. “This,” she says, “allows highlighter and contour to be included in one pack, so consumers can select their personal combination and have it with them always—at home or on-the-go.”
The Brush Tube Quadpack developed for Australian brand Natio is another example of the current move toward makeup on-the-go, incorporating an ergonomic, easy-to-use applicator within the pack.
Milk Makeup has also responded in a big way to the call for smaller, totable cosmetic products—but size does not affect the quality of the products or packaging—or the innovation behind them.
Dianna Ruth, chief operating officer, tells Beauty Packaging: “The general philosophy on the packaging is ‘everything you need—nothing you don’t.’ ”
Ruth says, “You don’t need gold hot stamping and added weights to make things feel luxe. We put the money into our formulas and made the packaging chic, light and minimal. The secondaries are all made of recycled materials and our face wipes are biodegradable.”
One of the many standouts in the sleek, minimalist Milk line is the Coverage Duo, in which two products are incorporated into one creamy white compact—just 3-inches tall. Twist off the clear top and gently roll the literally cool metal roller ball applicator over skin to apply one-handed. Flip open the tiny clear pot that’s inserted at the bottom of the “bottle” to quickly camouflage any problem areas—and blend with your fingers.
The design and intent of the package was to house two unique formulas— liquid and marshmallow, according to Ruth. She says offering the customer two formula types in one component is ideal. “The Milk girl is always on the go, so its size and the ability for the small marshmallow concealer pot to pop out is really versatile and ideal for her lifestyle. It fits anywhere, even the smallest pocket in your jeans!”
The Future of Skin Care and Foundation
With so many options for serums and foundation packaging—and the trend toward combining the two in the ever-growing on-the-go makeup category—consumers have a lot to look forward to as suppliers develop even more functional and attractive solutions.
Quadpack’s Reguill, says, “Looking ahead, we expect the high demand for droppers to continue. However, as formulas generally have stabilized, we also foresee brands targeting specific lifestyle trends, which will be reflected in the packaging of their products. These will be concept- rather than feature-driven packs, in other words, packs that tell a story. We have identified a number of these, around which we will be focusing our product offering, including ideas for secondary packaging.”
Customers in the beauty and personal care markets have become increasingly aware of the high-performance, sensitive ingredients in these potent and/or multifunctional products—and the importance of the dispensing method in how they are applied. Beauty brands and packaging suppliers are seeking improved ways to control dosing and preserve formulations across a variety of products to ensure that contents remain hygienic, and not a drop is wasted.
So whether in a compact that squeezes out a precise portion, a stick that can’t leak or a dropper that delivers the same amount each time it’s squeezed, today’s high-performing facial and skin care products require exacting packaging for delivering the precious goods.
A Morphing Category
Makeup has taken top position in the U.S. prestige beauty industry, powering a jump in sales of 7% in 2015, to reach $16 billion, according to recent research from The NPD Group, but the category has morphed into one of dual-purpose, in which more and more products combine makeup with skin care.
Karen Grant, global beauty industry analyst, The NPD Group—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors—says, “The beauty industry has been growing at a rapid and consistent pace for the last few years, but what is happening below the surface, at the category level, is changing considerably.” She points to how the roles of makeup and skin care are becoming intertwined. “The immediate results of slimming, lifting, tone correcting, and radiance achieved by makeup face products is not only influencing consumers’ relationship with makeup, but also with that of skin care,” says Grant.
Vonda Simon, CEO SeaCliff Beauty Packaging & Laboratories, says she has seen increased interest in both the serum and foundation categories. She says what’s becoming more popular is the combination of a lightweight foundation or tinted moisturizer and a serum in one product, which still offers full coverage like a liquid foundation but with skin care benefits. “These serum foundations are packed with nourishing ingredients just like in your skin care products,” she says, “but in one product; not replacing your skin care but enhancing it.”
Multiple award-winning brand IT Cosmetics offers a variety of foundations and serums, a number of which rely on droppers and airless components for precise and hygienic dosage. Jamie Kern Lima, co-founder and CEO of IT Cosmetics, says airless components that keep ingredients intact, along with bottles that have dropper applicators, are gaining in popularity.
Why the shift? Kern Lima explains, “In the past, most of the options available were thick or pancake-like makeup, especially if coverage was desired. Serum foundations and new texture technologies are popular because they give women the coverage they need, but without the thick makeup look.”
Dropper Packs
Skin care serums have risen to the top as an effective treatment—or addition to facial creams and lotions—as well as a customizable booster for makeup. Serums tend to be lighter, highly concentrated, super absorbable and more effective than heavier formulations. The potent ingredients, however, tend to be delicate and expensive—so it’s important that just a drop or two goes a long way.
According to recent data from analysts Research and Markets, the global cosmetic serum market—led by brands Chanel, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Kao and Shiseido—is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.30% by revenue during the period 2016-2020.
Joanna Milne, sales manager, Virospack, says there is a tendency in the market to present serums and foundations in dropper packs, which have in the past always been associated with the pharmaceutical industry. “Nowadays, she explains, “the cosmetic brands are searching to express the effectiveness and security of the product with a pharmaceutical look, which ensures results, through the packaging, while also transmitting values such as luxury, illusion and fashion, by means of the decoration.”
Kern Lima tells Beauty Packaging, “If the product has a serum texture, a dropper applicator is great because it allows you to apply to the full face or drop one or more drops into another product to customize.”
IT’s No. 50 Serum Anti-Aging Collagen Veil Primer, for example, is a multi-tasking, luxe, concentrated, hydrating primer and serum in one. The formula is quickly absorbed to hydrate skin, and prepares your skin for makeup application all while diffusing the appearance of visible pores and without the product settling into lines and wrinkles.
At Quadpack Group, David Reguill, skin care category manager, says the company saw a rise in requests for droppers in 2015, which they expect will continue in 2016. Reguill notes, “Last year’s skin care packaging was all about formula, and packaging solutions adapted to accommodate the new formulations.”
At SeaCliff Beauty, Simon says there’s been a surge of interest in glass dropper packages, “going back to the tradition of glass that was used typically for serums before the airless system was introduced.” She says, “Serums are anti-aging preventers, promising youth and preservation of the skin over time, so because of this, they are coveted products housed in beautiful packaging.”
Typically, says Simon, serums are priced higher than other skin care categories displayed in the brands. Dropper packages are requested with either traditional bulbs or customized bulbs for a unique look. Decoration, too, plays an important role in perception of the product, notes Simon.
With a focus on travel and trial-size products, requests for sample size dropper packs are also more frequent, according to Lou Della Pesca, president of 3C, Inc, who says he sees an upward trend in packaging of both serums and foundations.
As far as serums, he says packaging requests have been for smaller size containers with spray or dropper dispensers, especially interest in “pharma-look-alikes in size and design.” To meet this demand, 3C is introducing new 3- and 5ml droppers for serums. In addition to skin care, Della Pesca says, “We find hair product companies are making use of serums to help reduce hair damage from tools using heat (i.e, blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons).
Oils as well as serums and, in many cases, liquid foundations, are also better served up in droppers.
Seacliff has provided packaging for many serums in the last several years in either airless pumps or glass bottles with droppers. Recently they produced a complicated package for Chantecaille’s Rose Face Oil. It has a partial frost on half of the bottle. This required a hand-placed masking device to seal off the clear portion of the glass, and then a spray frost was applied, resulting in a clear distinction of frost on one half of the bottle and clear glass on the other half. The dropper closure cap is a custom color and the bulb has a distinct look, feel and shape.
Milne of Virospack, says serums have calmed down somewhat, overtaken by oils—and liquid and treatment foundations have “definitely skyrocketed.” She says there is a wide variety of treatment foundations, primers and liquid colors, which require specific packaging. As many of these require only 3-4 drops to serve their purpose, Milne says the use of an applicator or a pump isn’t the most appropriate dispenser—and this is where the droppers are the best solution.
“The current trend,” says Milne, “is to supply both classic and pushbutton droppers.” She says that Virospack provides the technicalities necessary to enhance the user feel with the use of a very precise application, dosage or wiper interaction. “We have recently been studying the increase of weight of the dropper to offer a more luxurious feel,” Milne explains. With dropper formulations in hot demand, Milne says, “Distinction from the competition is what most brands are requiring—custom coloring, debossing or embossing logos on metal or plastic; fragrance stability is assured with the compatible bulb materials.”
Kristen O’Connell, director of marketing and product development at Roberts Container, tells Beauty Packaging that brands are asking for unique dispensing systems for serums. She says, “Brands continue to look for ‘new and interesting’ packaging, but the feature most often considered is ease of use for the customer.”
She agrees with many of the suppliers surveyed for this article, that serums are definitely leaning towards a “pharma” look. She says, “The cleanliness of artwork and popularity of delicate dispensing systems really evokes a treatment sensation in the end user.”
While droppers continue to be popular, O’Connell says: “More and more we see a trend toward gentle-massaging tip effects.”
Roberts recently developed a delicate glass tear-shaped dropper bottle, with a white pearl spray, metallized collar and simple hot stamp decoration. O’Connell says it is elegant and very feminine, and differs from other dropper packages as, “It presents as a very delicate item that you wouldn’t want to place in your cabinet. You want to leave it out for display—it feels like friendly-luxury.”
Black Tea Age-Delay Firming Serum from Fresh is billed as a “do-it-all serum” that “envelops skin with immediate and continuous moisture that builds over time;” its fast-absorbing fluid texture is said to be ideal for layering under lotions and creams.
The packaging stands out on a number of levels from the refined apothecary packaging to the eye-catching, unique dropper.
Lev Glazman, Fresh co-founder and head of the Fresh Research Lab., tells Beauty Packaging: “Housed in a glass apothecary bottle, even the look of this innovative product conveys the high level of science that went into the formula. It was designed with a unique flexible dropper that you tilt and gently squeeze for the most precise, customizable dosage. Given the unique liquid formula, the dropper is also more effective in dispensing every last drop, as opposed to a pump. Our dispensing mantra is ‘Tilt. Press. Corset-like effect.’ ”
Restore—Don’t Cover Up
As more people show concern for their daily diet and how it affects their health, there’s been a corresponding move from brands to encourage consumers to opt for products that promote healthy skin and, in essence, a glow from within.
For example, Perricone MD’s No Foundation Foundation Serum, available in one universal shade, gets the point across immediately, pledging to simplify treatment and foundation efforts, by retouching and perfecting your complexion for a look of radiant health. All while the multi-purpose product protects skin with a broad spectrum, mineral SPF 30.
bareMinerals has just rolled out its new Skinsorials Skincare line and hero product SkinLongevity Vital Power Infusion—described as “a first of its kind lightweight serum essence designed to reawaken and help maintain skin’s most vibrant look of health.” According to the brand, this line challenges the traditional approach to aging, and reflects bareMinerals’ beauty philosophy “that healthy skin is beautiful skin.”
Leslie Blodgett, creator of bareMinerals, says, “I believe it’s time to focus on making healthy choices every single day that energize you and make you look and feel incredibly vibrant, radiant and beautiful.” She adds, “Until now, the conversation around skin care has always been about reversing the aging process, and anti-aging. That thinking is outdated. It’s time to make feeling beautiful the goal.”
Serums in Airless Packs
As mentioned, many serums are appearing in airless packaging, rather than using the dropper approach.
Dior Prestige Le Nectar, a new anti-aging serum that contains the highest concentration of Dior Science’s star active ingredient—the Rose de Granville Nectar—promises to deliver “extraordinary double action on both skin regeneration and perfection.” According to the brand, Le Nectar’s light, fresh, “fusion” texture allows the extremely powerful formula to penetrate instantly upon application.
Once again, the precise application of the product is stressed. According to Dior, Le Nectar is best applied both morning and night. To boost penetration of the active ingredients and overall efficacy, it’s suggested that the user first warm a few pumps of Le Nectar in between hands, and then apply starting with the neck, and working up to the face, using smooth upward and outward “lifting” movements.
Clarins says its Double Serum is “more than just a serum;” it’s a complete intensive anti-aging treatment. The product features a special bottle to house the unique double formula: a double pump system for an ultra-precise dosage of the two formula phases. Each vial has a separate pump dispenser, ensuring the two formulas are mixed only upon application and always in an ideally balanced ratio.
Shoppers instantly tune in to the benefits of Kiehl’s Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate, as they’re called out right on the front of the bottle. The brand also spells out the plus side of serums, saying the product “utilizes next generation liquid-to-serum technology to intensively hydrate skin’s deepest surface layers.”
Shiseido Bio-Performance LiftDynamic Serum is described as “a multi-benefit innovative sculpting serum that supports skin’s natural restorative powers to help visibly lift and firm skin for youthful-looking density.” According to the brand, “with continued use, your skin appears youthfully tightened and looks more visibly sculpted. By helping to restore elasticity and moisture, skin radiates with vitality.”
A new skin care serum from the Estée Lauder brand may rejuvenate users’ minds as well as their complexions.
The prestige brand says it conducted neuroscience testing for the first time to measure the physiological and emotional responses of women after using New Dimension Shape + Fill Expert Serum.
The results: 91% of the panelists experienced a positive change in attitude after using the product, and felt more enthusiastic about the way they looked; they also indicated feelings of delight and astonishment.
The secret? The serum, used in conjunction with an Expert Liquid Tape, and two custom-shaping “experts”—Shape + Sculpt Face Kit and Shape + Sculpt Eye Kit—help create contours and “a visibly more defined facial shape.”
As 3C’s Della Pesca noted, serums are spreading from face to hair. They’ve also migrated to body products.
EO’s organic body serums, available in No. 01 Revitalizing and No. 02 Restorative, are crafted from exotic plant oils chosen for their restorative and transformative effects to replenish and soften skin. And the brand says its signature blends of essential oils are formulated to enhance both the body and mind. The products are packaged in the brand’s signature recycled blue packaging.
A Pharma Look with Airless—in Plastic
ISPEC has taken a different approach to the dropper, with a syringe-like airless dispenser.
Traditionally, serum has been dispensed from small dip-tube bottles or dropper bottles, explains Chuck Lee, president, ISPEC, Inc. “However,” he says, “we have been producing several different innovative kinds of packages that are specially designed for serum.” He says they are airless packages with built-in applicators from which serum is dispensed. “We call these ‘spot-treatment airless packages,’ or injector type airless packages.”
Lee says these packages fill the bill for customers who desire a prestige look, easy dispensing, compatibility and preservation of formula, and a small capacity of 30ml or less.
While glass bottles and vials dominate many of the dropper-centric skin care serums currently on the market, Epopack has developed a number of solutions in plastic.
Amy Pan, Epopack’s business manager, says, in the past, serums and foundations have mostly been packaged in glass containers. However, Pan says, “As more and more consumers enjoy online shopping, we have learned that brands are looking for safe and eco-friendly packaging, which is unbreakable during transportation—and the packaging material needs to be recyclable or approved by most of the certifications.
Pan explains that because most brands still want to keep the heaviness and the richness of glass bottles, Epopack developed plastic bottles with weight. Thus, she says, “The heavy wall style become a hit in the market.”
When it comes to dispensers, Pan says the “up-spring pump” is in high demand, “as the inside metal spring won’t directly come into contact with the formula and, in this way, can ensure the formula’s purity.”
Epopack recently produced a high-transparency, 30ml PET heavy wall bottle in clear, with one-pass “simple but elegant printing” and black pump and cap. She says the PET material has excellent chemical resistance to protect the formula. “With the perfect wall thickness, the printing has a shadow underneath the logo, and makes the logo look like a 3D effect.” Further, the black pump in the up-spring style “is very powerful so it can also work for a thick/creamy formula.” Pan points out that the bottle size is designed to fit a woman’s hand.
Building on Foundations
While a number of foundations are going the dropper or airless route, products range from stick to compact.
Virospack recently developed the Nº7 Airbrush Away Foundation by Boots. It features a glass bottle and a precise dropper with an aluminum sleeve, rubber bulb and wiper—all quality elements to ensure a high-level presentation, explains Milne. An elegant decoration transmits the product concept. The frosted matte vial with a semi-translucent effect shows the foundation color, and the artwork has “a very sharp look.”
3C’s Della Pesca says new formulations for standard foundation products require airtight compacts and the new cushion compacts to protect the product from air contamination. He says the cushion compact allows for a variation of a foundation product to be acceptable other than a standard liquid or pressed powder form.
Della Pesca says he has also seen an increase in demand for airless bottles and airless jars in more sizes for color and skin treatment products.
At HCP Packaging, managing director Jackie Mantle says there’s been more requests for airless packaging, especially for formulas combining serum and foundation into one formula. She says brands are most interested in packaging features including “ergonomic, dosing product function, slim and elegant, and premium feel.”
Working in partnership with a Korean airless system, Mantle says HCP offers cost-effective Chinese manufacturing for the production and finishing of these new packs. This serum pump can be highly decorated utilizing HCP’s in-house refinishing technology.
The premium 10ml version has been designed using an aluminum over sleeve with a “cut out” window on the side of the cylindrical base. This feature allows the consumer to monitor product usage or indicate daily dosage levels.
As an example, Mantle points to Babor’s Skin Glow Illuminator liquid foundation packaged in HCP’s 10ml airless serum pump. Sonia Cerato, makeup category manager, Quadpack Group, says they, too, have seen a rise in requests for products in the foundation category. She tells Beauty Packaging, “Foundation is the biggest face category in makeup and is still growing a lot. It is also the category that was subject to the biggest innovation over the last few years in terms of packaging, with air cushion compacts from Korea. Moreover, foundation formulas are tightly connected to skin care and this connection makes innovation even more natural.”
While cushion compacts have revolutionized the category over the last few years or so, the popular package keeps evolving. FS Korea recently revitalized the offerings with a cushion compact that uses a brush rather than a sponge for application. The brush fits neatly into the domed top.
Cerato says the key trend in makeup techniques at the moment, in foundations, is contouring. She explains, “This means adding contour and definition to facial features using foundation, as well as other products such as powder and concealer.” Related to this, she says, is the strobing technique, which aims for a similar yet quicker result with illuminating highlighter.
Makeup on the Go
Quadpack offers a number of options for foundation packaging from pumps to tubes. Serving a recent need in the makeup category, Cerato says one of the supplier’s newest foundation launches is ideal for contouring—the Double-Ended Stick. “This,” she says, “allows highlighter and contour to be included in one pack, so consumers can select their personal combination and have it with them always—at home or on-the-go.”
The Brush Tube Quadpack developed for Australian brand Natio is another example of the current move toward makeup on-the-go, incorporating an ergonomic, easy-to-use applicator within the pack.
Milk Makeup has also responded in a big way to the call for smaller, totable cosmetic products—but size does not affect the quality of the products or packaging—or the innovation behind them.
Dianna Ruth, chief operating officer, tells Beauty Packaging: “The general philosophy on the packaging is ‘everything you need—nothing you don’t.’ ”
Ruth says, “You don’t need gold hot stamping and added weights to make things feel luxe. We put the money into our formulas and made the packaging chic, light and minimal. The secondaries are all made of recycled materials and our face wipes are biodegradable.”
One of the many standouts in the sleek, minimalist Milk line is the Coverage Duo, in which two products are incorporated into one creamy white compact—just 3-inches tall. Twist off the clear top and gently roll the literally cool metal roller ball applicator over skin to apply one-handed. Flip open the tiny clear pot that’s inserted at the bottom of the “bottle” to quickly camouflage any problem areas—and blend with your fingers.
The design and intent of the package was to house two unique formulas— liquid and marshmallow, according to Ruth. She says offering the customer two formula types in one component is ideal. “The Milk girl is always on the go, so its size and the ability for the small marshmallow concealer pot to pop out is really versatile and ideal for her lifestyle. It fits anywhere, even the smallest pocket in your jeans!”
The Future of Skin Care and Foundation
With so many options for serums and foundation packaging—and the trend toward combining the two in the ever-growing on-the-go makeup category—consumers have a lot to look forward to as suppliers develop even more functional and attractive solutions.
Quadpack’s Reguill, says, “Looking ahead, we expect the high demand for droppers to continue. However, as formulas generally have stabilized, we also foresee brands targeting specific lifestyle trends, which will be reflected in the packaging of their products. These will be concept- rather than feature-driven packs, in other words, packs that tell a story. We have identified a number of these, around which we will be focusing our product offering, including ideas for secondary packaging.”
