Marie Redding, Associate Editor09.09.16
Sales figures reveal that consumers most often buy fragrances that aren’t new. The NPD Group’s research reveals the best-selling scents from 2010 through 2015, and they are all designer fashion brands—not celebrity scents.
A.T. Kearney based a recent study on this research and asked 844 consumers about their motivations for purchasing a fragrance. Thirty-four percent of respondents said that the purpose of their latest fragrance purchase was to replenish an empty bottle.
Most of the women’s top-sellers launched before 2003 and included the classic Chanel No.5 (which launched in 1921); Coco Mademoiselle (2001); Beautiful (1985); Chance Eau Tendre (2003); and Light Blue (2001). The men’s top-sellers include Acqua di Gio (1996); Armani Code (2004); L’Homme YSL (2006); The One (2008); Bleu de Chanel (2010); D&G Light Blue (2007); and Gucci Guilty (2011).
Flowerbomb (2004) and Daisy (2007) also made the cut on the women’s list, as top-sellers in 2014 and 2015, respectively, replacing Beautiful for those years. It’s probably not a coincidence that both feature unexpected and unusual bottle designs. The men’s fragrance Polo Red, which launched in 2013, is the newest top-seller on the list. The glass bottle is decorated with an opaque red spray coating.
As brand marketers strive to develop the next eye-catching package to attract fragrance shoppers, some suppliers say it’s the simple, “timeless” bottle shapes that are being requested most often. “A classic, elegant bottle should have an extremely good glass quality and nice thick natural glass distribution. Glass is a viscous fluid so the inside shape should reflect that liquid aspect of the material,” explains Maurice Corrigan, sales/engineering, Heinz-Glas USA.
One of the requests that Lee Batthany, vice president of sales, Zignago Glass USA, hears most frequently is for classic shaped bottles with thick glass distribution as well as flask and apothecary-inspired shapes.
Going a step beyond a thick base, Estal has developed an innovative glass technique, ‘DobleAlto’ (see the photo in the slideshow above). It gives a bottle an elegant double base that increases the overall height of the bottle and brand presence, without increasing the amount of glass needed for manufacturing. (Estal also uses this technique to create candle jars, which is useful if a brand wants a coordinated look like Malin+Goetz, which is shown in the slideshow above and described below.)
At the other end of the spectrum, fragrance bottles decorated in flashy gold and glitter are more popular than ever. “I’m seeing a big demand for gold—shiny gold,” says Gilda Cutri, national sales director, Coverpla. (Prada is one example of a flashy gold bottle, by SGD. It is described below and shown in the slideshow above.)
Richard Engel, president & COO, Decotech, Inc., says, “Every brand wants to launch the next top-selling fragrance, and establishing brand recognition is key.” He explains, “For a new or niche brand, this means sticking to one bottle shape, and using decoration to differentiate.
Once the consumer recognizes a bottle shape and it is associated with that brand, all kinds of benefits follow.”
Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, SGD North America, says that consumers expect more from a fragrance bottle than functionality. “Consumers seek products that are rich with meaning. This is why sensory storytelling has become popular over the last couple of years. A brand can use sensory cues in fragrance packaging such as color, texture and shape to communicate a brand’s DNA to the consumer,” she explains.
Sustainability concerns are still a major issue according to Corrigan, who says, “Sustainability has become more important to consumers, as they make more value-conscious purchasing decisions.” He says, “If consumers care, brands do as well. Heinz offers its customers efficient manufacturing processes, low impact deco techniques and the use of recycled materials in components and shipping materials.
Requests for smaller size bottles are often being made. Dave Desai, director of sales & marketing, Piramal Glass USA, says, “This helps a brand control manufacturing costs. “In Brazil, companies are launching fragrances in 25ml bottles, which we produce with high-cavitation molds to bring the unit cost down,” he explains. Desai says that there is also an increase in requests for 30- and 50ml bottles in the U.S., to sell at lower retail price points.
John Pyrzenski, vice president of sales, Stoelzle Glass USA, says that many customers, large and small, are requesting more options in standards, aka stock bottles.
Suppliers are delivering all of the above—read on for the many stock options and decorations they are offering, along with fall fragrances, new research on the home fragrance market, and the newest eco-conscious brand, Phlur. (Phlur's fragrance collection, in opaque white square bottles, is shown above.)
A Few of the Most Anticipated Launches for Fall 2016
One of the most anticipated fragrance launches for Fall 2016 is the Les Parfums Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand’s first fragrance in 70 years. LVMH is launching the fragrance collection in September - see the bottles here.
The collection focuses on pure floral notes, plus a new note, Louis Vuitton leather. An innovative CO2-extraction method is being used to preserve the essence of the flowers, which include Grasse rose and jasmine. Louis Vuitton recruited Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, a third-generation perfumer born in Grasse, as its first in-house perfumer. Cavallier-Belletrud created L’Eau d’Issey, Lancôme’s Poême and Stella by Stella McCartney.
Prada launched two new fragrances, L’Homme Prada and La Femme Prada, in the U.S. in August. The bottles were produced by SGD in France. Prada La Femme is predominantly gold with a white Saffiano leather cuff on its rounded back, while Prada L’Homme is silver with a black leather backing.
“The bottles, which feature the traditional Prada Milano logo, look symmetrical individually but when they are placed together they form a full circle to highlight the unity of the sexes. Both bottles contain a mirrored surface inside. The Prada name and logo on the bottles have been embossed in the glass using SGD’s 3D laser engraving technique in the molds,” explains Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, SGD North America.
To further highlight the Prada logo, the engraved lettering is decorated using a pad print technique with camera registration technology. “Another challenging aspect of this bottle design was its perfectly flat shoulders, as well as the tight tolerances required for the perfect fitment of the bottle with the accessory,” says Chamlou.
As many brands aspire to come up with “the next Chanel No. 5,” Chanel is literally doing this, for a second time. The brand is reinventing its iconic fragrance for modern consumers, aka Millennials. Chanel No. 5 L’Eau launches in September.
The brand already launched No. 5 Eau Premiere in 2007, but some critics say it was never as popular among younger consumers as expected since it is very similar to the original. No. 5 L’Eau includes jasmine, May rose ylang ylang, like the original, but with lemon, mandarin, bergamot, orange, sandalwood and cedar.
Chanel No. 5 L’Eau was created by perfumer Olivier Polge, who also created Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb.
The packaging has not been revealed yet, but No. 5 L’Eau is expected to be in the same rectangular glass bottle that has become the iconic shape that other fragrance brands aspire to emulate.
Charlotte Tilbury’s ‘Magic Potion’
Charlotte Tilbury, a UK-based makeup artist with makeup and skin care lines that have grown quickly over the past three years, launched her first fragrance, Scent of a Dream, on her website in mid-August. This month, it rolled out to Nordstrom, followed by Bergdorf Goodman, Net-a-Porter and Beautylish.It is shown in the slideshow above.
The brand states that the fragrance contains “psycho-active magic molecules,” exotic floral extracts and citrus notes, to attract love, success and more. Tilbury stated, “I have been mixing my own secret scent for years and have been fascinated by the idea that one’s perfume can attract others and also change the energy frequency of the people and the environment around you.”
The fragrance is a first-of-its-kind floral-chypre. The nose behind the fragrance is Francois Robert, who is the president of the Technical Commission of the French Society of Perfumers. Robert told UK Vogue that its ingredients “dance together in a new way,” and Tilbury, herself, was closely involved in the development process. It includes tuberose, jasmine, frankincense, violet, patchouli; and “Psycho-Active” pheromone notes of fire tree, iso e super, hedione, and ambroxan.
The bottle looks like a genie might jump out from it. The brand states that its shape is inspired by a “magic potion” bottle from medieval times. The cap looks like a vintage stopper, but it conceals a spray pump. The bottle is molded with a ribbed pattern, which the brand describes as a starburst design, chosen to represent positivity and power, with never-ending lines that represent reaching your dreams.
Decorations That Pop
Brands often choose to use the same bottle shape for several fragrances, whether it is a custom shape (if they invested in custom tooling) or a stock bottle. Each new fragrance launch is given its own look by decorating the bottle and box with a new color or pattern.
Decotech offers a complete suite of domestic decoration services focused on the prestige-level market, which includes various types of spray coatings, in a number of different types of finishes. Often, these types of decorating techniques look more prestige than a label.
When a brand chooses to use a label, ScreenTech/Spraye Tech’s owner John Schofield advises using one with 5-color printing. “It will look significantly more upscale than a label with a more simple look,” he says.
Coverpla specializes in minimalist types of decoration and offers in-house decorating services that include hot stamping, silk-screening, and pad printing. “Some brands are choosing to silkscreen the sides of a bottle, and keep the front clear,” says Cutri, of Coverpla. “Often, all it takes to achieve the look a designer has in mind is a simple decoration to highlight a brand’s logo—and I’m also seeing lots of gold being used,” she says.
Juicy Couture is one brand that is using lots of shiny gold in its fragrance bottles. The brand typically keeps the same bottle shape, and differentiates each new fragrance with a new design.
SGD has produced many of Juicy Couture’s bottles, many of which feature an eye-catching design. “We recently produced several Juicy flankers using innovative lacquering and silk screen finishes in SGD glass and decoration plants in Georgia,” says SGD’s Chamlou.
I Love Juicy Couture is this year’s follow-up to last year’s I Am Juicy Couture. The same bottle is used for both fragrances, except now the golden-hued glass bottle is adorned with black leopard spots. “The striking pattern is an unexpected, playful twist on the sleek and sophisticated I Am Juicy Couture bottle design,” says Chamlou.
Anna Sui is launching the new Romantica Exotica fragrance in September. The glass bottle, shown in the slideshow above, is also the same shape the brand has used in the past, but features new colors. This bottle is a turquoise gradient color with a gold decoration, and it showcases the turquoise color of the juice inside the bottle. The metallic cap has a gold antique finish. The carton features palm trees and tropical birds in an exotic jungle.
Stoelzle Glass USA has also developed and commercialized a proprietary production process known as “IPET,” which creates a brilliant glass surface. “Additional decorating processes can be used with it, to create a luxury finish that is easily distinguishable on-shelf,” explains Pyrzenski. “It looks captivating,” he adds. This glass treatment is used on the bottle for Interparfum’s Jimmy Choo Flash fragrance.
USS Corp. works with customers to create many unique designs, including a complex layered silk screening process that produces a textural effect. “This is done by layering a number of passes in order to build height. It will give a bottle a certain type of feel, which is very difficult to achieve,” says Carlos A. Matos, COO/CFO, USS Corp. According to Matos, this type of decoration is for its most high-end customers, including Bond No. 9 New York.
Executing a layered effect with silk screening requires certain machinery, but more importantly, a certain level of technical expertise. “It is almost like an art, and requires a specific skill set to properly set up and run these machines,” says Matos. “The registration is a challenge, since it requires having to go directly over a surface that was previously decorated, without any movement whatsoever. And if the design includes intricate details, it is very difficult,” he explains. (Read more about Bond No. 9's unisex scents here.)
Matos says he recently worked on a decoration that replicated the look of hand-sewn stitches. Embossing a very detailed logo is also a challenge,” he explains, saying that he is hearing requests from many brands for complex silk-screening decorations. “They like the overall quality look and feel that this type of decoration delivers, and they are willing to pay for it,” he adds.
USS Corp also works with companies with smaller budgets, many of which are choosing to decorate a stock bottle. “The right decoration will significantly enhance the look of any stock bottle, even if it is the simplest shape,” Matos says.
Matos also discusses acid-etching, saying it is an ideal way to enhance any type of decoration. “This technique increases the opacity of a flint bottle, and it will look fantastic when a decoration such as a precious metal is used on top of it,” explains Matos.
Screen Tech/Spraye Tech has a new metallic spray coating that is being requested lately by brands that are looking for an alternative to metallization. “This is a new technique we are doing this year,” says Schofield. “Spraying a stock bottle, rather than decorating it with a label, will often make it look more upscale—especially if the bottle is a simple, classic shape,” he advises.
A metal plaque is another design element that will make any bottle look luxe according to Schofield.
Heinz Glass USA offers a wide range of packaging options, including decorative effects and decorations, including: colored glass, feeder streaks, all types of printing and spray color, metallization, laser removal, laser engraving, assembly/gluing, glitter spraying, inside decoration, micro-engraving and opal glass.
“We offer most of the decoration techniques currently available that are considered ‘state-of-the-art’ for the glass substrate,” explains Heinz’s Corrigan. The company will be featuring many of these techniques in its decoration sample kit that will be available at Luxe Pack Monaco this fall.
A Design with a Purpose
Niche and luxury fragrance brands often use the same bottle shape, and choose a different type of decoration, often in a different color, to represent the various fragrances in a collection.
Phlur, a new brand founded by Eric Korman (formerly president of global e-commerce at Ralph Lauren) says that “great design follows purpose.” He explains, “For us, that means the bottle should seamlessly assimilate into someone’s life, protect the fragrance itself, and be earth-friendly. This resulted in a modern but timeless aesthetic,” he explains.
Phlur (shown above) launched its first collection of six fragrances at the end of June 2016. Each fragrance is in the same cube-shaped glass bottle, with the same decoration—an opaque white coating that protects the juice from light degradation. The decoration is a vegetable-based paint. “This enables future recycling by our end customer,” says Korman.
The clarity of the glass isn’t an issue with this decoration, so the bottle is made with 20% recycled glass, which Korman says is the highest percentage in the industry.
“Since you cannot see through the bottle, we didn’t have to be concerned with the color of the fragrance,” adds Korman. “This means we were able to avoid using BHT and other stabilizers, which is also extremely important to us,” he adds. The “juice” also doesn’t contain any known skin irritants, parabens, phthalates, or animal products.
Suppliers Offer New Stock Designs
As mentioned, suppliers agree that many brands right now, both large and small, are looking for bottles in simple, classic shapes more often, and then keeping that bottle shape for each new fragrance, for a number of reasons.
Decotech’s Engel says, “By reusing the same glass form, fragrance clients can significantly reduce the lead times on new product developments and launches.”
The lead time for the glass is minimized or eliminated completely when a brand pre-positions a standard glass form. “There is no risk to the brand to pre-produce the glass, since it will definitely be used now or later. Now, the brand has the ability to make decisions on the decoration later,” Engel says. “This late-stage differentiation is where the whole market is moving,” he adds.
Brands, large and small, are also using stock bottles more often. Many suppliers are offering new stock bottles, as Standard Collections, and they look more high-end than ever.
When a brand chooses a stock bottle, the savings on tooling costs is significant, which can be especially critical for an Indie brand. However, larger companies are choosing stock bottles as well. “Years ago, a ‘stock’ bottle meant ‘cheap’—but now there are all types of standards, including many that are high-end,” says Desai of Piramal Glass USA.
In response to its customers’ demands, Piramal recently launched a new collection of Premium Standards. “This collection offers lower costs without the tooling, speed to market, and most importantly, there is no need to commit to a high quantity, since we offer these in pallet quantities,” Desai says. “The market has become so unpredictable in fragrance, so there are more companies—including the larger ones—that are now looking to standards,” he adds.
If you’re hoping to launch the next top-selling fragrance, and need a timeless bottle design, Heinz Glas suggests taking a look at its GlasMeisterWerke collection, which translates to Glass Masterpiece.
“Pair one of our GMW bottles with one of our exclusive decorating possibilities to make your package unique. This stock brand was created to serve the small start-up market segment. The shapes are simple and elegant, and offered in the most common sizes,” says Corrrigan.
All of the bottles in the GMW line are engineered for the spray pumps and collars that are on the market. “We also have complimentary designed stock caps to make it easier—without the commitment of new molds,” adds Corrigan.
Stoelzle Glass USA has launched a new series of 100ml perfumery standards called the “Private Collection,” designed to convey “elegant simplicity.” Customers have the ability to purchase at minimum one pallet.
The collection includes a range of five different bottle molds, to give brands a selection of various shapes. “The bottles are timeless designs, produced in the highest quality glass. The bottles have an increased gram weight, with a substantially thick base,” says Pyrzenski.
Coverpla is also offering its customers new stock bottle designs—Mila, Paty and Felix—in 50ml sizes. “Mila and Paty are very curvy and feminine, with a heavy glass heel,” says Cutri. “A ‘heavy feel’ in the hand ‘screams’ luxury,” she says. “And it is the same for a cap; we offer a few stock caps that are weighted, which gives them a more prestigious feel that our customers love,” she adds.
The Paty bottle has a rounded shape. Mila’s curvy rounded sides showcase the flat, rectangular-shaped surface on the front and back, which are ideal for certain types of decorations, such as a plaque. Felix looks like a more masculine version of Mila, with straight sides and a rectangular-shaped cap.
A brand can view Coverpla’s many different stock bottle shapes on its website, and pair them with different cap and collar styles to see how the various components will look together.
A very well-known glassmaker is Verreries Brosse, which is now part of Zignago Vetro Group, along with the Poland-based Huta Szkla Czechy. “We offer a wide range of bottles at various quality levels; produced at our three European glass factories,” says Batthany, of Zignago Glass USA. “If a brand requires a high quality bottle with impressive glass distribution, they will first look at Brosse’s stock collection. Other launches may need an interesting shaped bottle but at a mass market quality level and I will suggest a Huta standard,” Batthany says.
All three companies offer stock bottle options, at varying price points, as well as in-house decoration capabilities. “In the world of stock packaging, weight is so important,” says Batthany.
“A stock bottle may at first glance look the same from one supplier to the next, but how the bottle feels in the hand is usually very different,” she explains. Batthany gives an example, saying that an 87 gram rectangular bottle is not going to feel the same as a 120 gram rectangular bottle. “There is no comparison. You will notice the difference as soon as you pick it up,” she says. “However, a brand’s retail price could ultimately dictate that a lower cost glass bottle is required,” she adds.
Tips for Indie Brands
Many suppliers are more than willing to work with smaller brands on lower quantities, and offer their years of experience to help guide entrepreneurs through the production process.
Piramal’s Desai often finds himself discussing decorating options for a niche brand. “Often, a brand will mistakenly believe that a spray coating will cover up imperfections,” says Desai. “But when you decorate a bottle with a certain color, you might see every blemish on the glass surface, and even the slightest imperfection will ‘pop,’ “he says.
Coverpla often works with Indie brands, since the company provides turnkey services. “I’m seeing a tremendous increase in niche fragrance brands,” says Cutri. “We offer a complete package, at a fair price,” she says, “and many of our customers feel more at ease buying all the components for a complete fragrance package from one supplier.”
Delbia Do Company is a family-owned business based in the Bronx, New York, that specializes in formulating and manufacturing fragrances for niche brands. “Most of our business is working with smaller brands, but we also work on projects for larger brands as a subcontractor,” says Darryl Do, the company’s president, who is also a trained perfumer.
Do says that a major mistake that a small fragrance company often makes is not understanding regulations. “Many start-ups don’t realize that they can’t manufacture or fill product on their own. Perfumes and cosmetic products need to be made compliant with FDA cGMP and or ISO 22716. There are also IFRA regulations to follow, and regulatory information that must be printed on the packaging. We often have many smaller brands coming to us in a panic over compliance issues,” he says. “We offer full turnkey service, which is a huge help to a smaller brand,” he adds.
A few of the trends that niche fragrance brands are setting right now include using new ‘aromachemicals.’ “I’m seeing more brands move away from using traditional vetiver, sandalwood, rose and jasmine. They want to use new molecules that smell more complex and sophisticated,” he says. “I’m also seeing a trend toward higher quality naturals. A sandalwood from Africa smells very different from the more common sandalwood from Australia. So it’s nice to see more options now in raw materials,” he adds.
As for packaging mishaps for small brands, Do says there is often a lot of confusion around finding components that fit together. “I worked with one customer who wanted a low profile pump, but the over cap didn’t fit, and it wouldn’t crimp properly,” he says.
Pumps & Various Dispensing Options
Aptar is one supplier that offers various options in spray pumps. “The sprayer or applicator is an important part of the overall fragrance experience,” says Des McEttrick, market development director, NA Beauty, Aptar Beauty+Home.
One of the company’s latest developments combines the “long time spray” continuous diffusion technology of Aptar’s Precious, with its La Petite range of super low profile sprayers.
Petite & Precious is ultra compact on the outside, and invisible on the inside with a concealed body. It delivers top quality spray action, actuation with maximum delicacy, and olfactory neutrality with no metal coming into contact with the fragrance. Nina Ricci, Ferragamo and Kenzo have utilized this dispensing system.
Aptar Beauty+Home has also brought back the stopper, with another one of its latest innovations, Note.
Boxes That Shine
Suppliers say that a big trend is more understated looks for bottles, but boxes are shining with all types of effects, such as glitter coatings.
Color Optics, a Division of Phoenix Color, offers Opti-glitter, a decorating process that can simulate glitter on a carton. “A year ago everyone was asking us for matte and gloss finishes, and combining both. Now so many of our customers are asking for glitter,” says Joe Cicci, president, Color Optics. “We recently used the technique on cartons for YSL’s makeup line, and it won an NJPEC award. YSL’s cartons are red, so this decoration really pops,” he adds.
The Opti-glitter process is done in-line, and can simulate the look of an off-line glitter silk-screening process, at no additional cost.
“Always make the substrate you are using work for you,” Cicci says. “Often, a designer won’t realize that the look they are trying to achieve is already a quality that a certain board, such as as a mylar laminate, might have. So the right substrate will offer lots of value at no extra cost, if you know what to do with it,” he adds.
Diamond Packaging offers a Diamond Glitter specialty coating, which Five Star Fragrance Company utilized for its XOXO Eau de Parfum. The pink Diamond Glitter coating on the front and side panels creates shimmering and tactile effects, to capture the consumer’s eye. The logos on the front and top panels were foil stamped and embossed.
“The result is a strikingly visual presentation that stands out in the retail environment and conveys the essence of a luxury brand,” says Dennis Bacchetta, director of marketing, Diamond Packaging.
The carton was converted using Invercote G paperboard, and offset printed with two spot colors, and dense black inks. It was also decorated in-line with Diamond Glitter specialty coating, plus a UV matte coating. The inside was offset printed with two spot colors, in-line with an overall satin aqueous coating.
Coordinating Candles & The Home Fragrance Market
The home fragrances market, which includes candles, wax melts and diffusers, grew by more than 3% in 2015, marking its strongest growth since 2010. Kline reports these findings in its study published in June 2016, Home Fragrances: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities.
Accounting for over 50% of total market sales, the luxury segment registers an even stronger 5% increase.
The largest companies are competing with emerging independent brands, reports Kline. Bath & Body Works is one of the largest and fastest growing brands in the prestige candles category, but smaller brands, including Nest, RibbonWick, Dyptique, and Illume are showing the strongest, double-digit growth.
The impact of the Internet is most prevalent in the prestige candles market in which e-commerce sales account for an estimated 15% of overall sales.
Attractive packaging continues to play a strong role in product presentation, and candles offered in all types of eye-catching containers, shapes, and sizes are the driving force behind the category’s growth.
There is a lot of overlap in the worlds of scented candles and fine fragrances. Many of the glass bottle suppliers also produce glass candle jars.
Malin+Goetz is one company that sells both fragrances and candles, and coordinates these options with complimentary scents—and similar packaging. (The Malin+Goetz Dark Rum fragrance and candle, with packages designed to match, are shown above.)
Malin+Goetz fragrances all feature the same apothecary shaped, clear round bottles, with thick bases and matte silver caps. This bottle shape is in line with some of the trends that many suppliers mention above. The company is launching a new fragrance this fall, Vetiver. The candle jars have straight sides and a slightly thick base as well, which complements the bottle shape.
Yankee Candle makes just about every type of fragrance for use in the home, but no products for personal use. The company’s candles always include limited edition packaging and different scents for all the major holidays, plus there are wax melts, diffusers, room sprays and plug-in fragrance products.
Yankee Candle’s new Honey Clementine candle, shown above, is in a new jar, which is more "sleek and streamlined" the company says.
Candles, the largest segment within home scents, saw an 18% increase in dollar sales and 15% growth in unit sales in the 12 months ending April 2016. The category has grown by over $11 million in the past two years.
“The growth across many different aspects of home scent illustrates the heightened importance of this market, and the opportunity for further development,” says Karen Grant, vice president, NPD Beauty. “This is still a niche in the prestige fragrance arena, and all signs are that home scents still have the upside for even more expansion,” she adds.
A.T. Kearney based a recent study on this research and asked 844 consumers about their motivations for purchasing a fragrance. Thirty-four percent of respondents said that the purpose of their latest fragrance purchase was to replenish an empty bottle.
Most of the women’s top-sellers launched before 2003 and included the classic Chanel No.5 (which launched in 1921); Coco Mademoiselle (2001); Beautiful (1985); Chance Eau Tendre (2003); and Light Blue (2001). The men’s top-sellers include Acqua di Gio (1996); Armani Code (2004); L’Homme YSL (2006); The One (2008); Bleu de Chanel (2010); D&G Light Blue (2007); and Gucci Guilty (2011).
Flowerbomb (2004) and Daisy (2007) also made the cut on the women’s list, as top-sellers in 2014 and 2015, respectively, replacing Beautiful for those years. It’s probably not a coincidence that both feature unexpected and unusual bottle designs. The men’s fragrance Polo Red, which launched in 2013, is the newest top-seller on the list. The glass bottle is decorated with an opaque red spray coating.
As brand marketers strive to develop the next eye-catching package to attract fragrance shoppers, some suppliers say it’s the simple, “timeless” bottle shapes that are being requested most often. “A classic, elegant bottle should have an extremely good glass quality and nice thick natural glass distribution. Glass is a viscous fluid so the inside shape should reflect that liquid aspect of the material,” explains Maurice Corrigan, sales/engineering, Heinz-Glas USA.
One of the requests that Lee Batthany, vice president of sales, Zignago Glass USA, hears most frequently is for classic shaped bottles with thick glass distribution as well as flask and apothecary-inspired shapes.
Going a step beyond a thick base, Estal has developed an innovative glass technique, ‘DobleAlto’ (see the photo in the slideshow above). It gives a bottle an elegant double base that increases the overall height of the bottle and brand presence, without increasing the amount of glass needed for manufacturing. (Estal also uses this technique to create candle jars, which is useful if a brand wants a coordinated look like Malin+Goetz, which is shown in the slideshow above and described below.)
At the other end of the spectrum, fragrance bottles decorated in flashy gold and glitter are more popular than ever. “I’m seeing a big demand for gold—shiny gold,” says Gilda Cutri, national sales director, Coverpla. (Prada is one example of a flashy gold bottle, by SGD. It is described below and shown in the slideshow above.)
Richard Engel, president & COO, Decotech, Inc., says, “Every brand wants to launch the next top-selling fragrance, and establishing brand recognition is key.” He explains, “For a new or niche brand, this means sticking to one bottle shape, and using decoration to differentiate.
Once the consumer recognizes a bottle shape and it is associated with that brand, all kinds of benefits follow.”
Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, SGD North America, says that consumers expect more from a fragrance bottle than functionality. “Consumers seek products that are rich with meaning. This is why sensory storytelling has become popular over the last couple of years. A brand can use sensory cues in fragrance packaging such as color, texture and shape to communicate a brand’s DNA to the consumer,” she explains.
Sustainability concerns are still a major issue according to Corrigan, who says, “Sustainability has become more important to consumers, as they make more value-conscious purchasing decisions.” He says, “If consumers care, brands do as well. Heinz offers its customers efficient manufacturing processes, low impact deco techniques and the use of recycled materials in components and shipping materials.
Requests for smaller size bottles are often being made. Dave Desai, director of sales & marketing, Piramal Glass USA, says, “This helps a brand control manufacturing costs. “In Brazil, companies are launching fragrances in 25ml bottles, which we produce with high-cavitation molds to bring the unit cost down,” he explains. Desai says that there is also an increase in requests for 30- and 50ml bottles in the U.S., to sell at lower retail price points.
John Pyrzenski, vice president of sales, Stoelzle Glass USA, says that many customers, large and small, are requesting more options in standards, aka stock bottles.
Suppliers are delivering all of the above—read on for the many stock options and decorations they are offering, along with fall fragrances, new research on the home fragrance market, and the newest eco-conscious brand, Phlur. (Phlur's fragrance collection, in opaque white square bottles, is shown above.)
A Few of the Most Anticipated Launches for Fall 2016
One of the most anticipated fragrance launches for Fall 2016 is the Les Parfums Louis Vuitton, the luxury brand’s first fragrance in 70 years. LVMH is launching the fragrance collection in September - see the bottles here.
The collection focuses on pure floral notes, plus a new note, Louis Vuitton leather. An innovative CO2-extraction method is being used to preserve the essence of the flowers, which include Grasse rose and jasmine. Louis Vuitton recruited Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, a third-generation perfumer born in Grasse, as its first in-house perfumer. Cavallier-Belletrud created L’Eau d’Issey, Lancôme’s Poême and Stella by Stella McCartney.
Prada launched two new fragrances, L’Homme Prada and La Femme Prada, in the U.S. in August. The bottles were produced by SGD in France. Prada La Femme is predominantly gold with a white Saffiano leather cuff on its rounded back, while Prada L’Homme is silver with a black leather backing.
“The bottles, which feature the traditional Prada Milano logo, look symmetrical individually but when they are placed together they form a full circle to highlight the unity of the sexes. Both bottles contain a mirrored surface inside. The Prada name and logo on the bottles have been embossed in the glass using SGD’s 3D laser engraving technique in the molds,” explains Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, SGD North America.
To further highlight the Prada logo, the engraved lettering is decorated using a pad print technique with camera registration technology. “Another challenging aspect of this bottle design was its perfectly flat shoulders, as well as the tight tolerances required for the perfect fitment of the bottle with the accessory,” says Chamlou.
As many brands aspire to come up with “the next Chanel No. 5,” Chanel is literally doing this, for a second time. The brand is reinventing its iconic fragrance for modern consumers, aka Millennials. Chanel No. 5 L’Eau launches in September.
The brand already launched No. 5 Eau Premiere in 2007, but some critics say it was never as popular among younger consumers as expected since it is very similar to the original. No. 5 L’Eau includes jasmine, May rose ylang ylang, like the original, but with lemon, mandarin, bergamot, orange, sandalwood and cedar.
Chanel No. 5 L’Eau was created by perfumer Olivier Polge, who also created Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb.
The packaging has not been revealed yet, but No. 5 L’Eau is expected to be in the same rectangular glass bottle that has become the iconic shape that other fragrance brands aspire to emulate.
Charlotte Tilbury’s ‘Magic Potion’
Charlotte Tilbury, a UK-based makeup artist with makeup and skin care lines that have grown quickly over the past three years, launched her first fragrance, Scent of a Dream, on her website in mid-August. This month, it rolled out to Nordstrom, followed by Bergdorf Goodman, Net-a-Porter and Beautylish.It is shown in the slideshow above.
The brand states that the fragrance contains “psycho-active magic molecules,” exotic floral extracts and citrus notes, to attract love, success and more. Tilbury stated, “I have been mixing my own secret scent for years and have been fascinated by the idea that one’s perfume can attract others and also change the energy frequency of the people and the environment around you.”
The fragrance is a first-of-its-kind floral-chypre. The nose behind the fragrance is Francois Robert, who is the president of the Technical Commission of the French Society of Perfumers. Robert told UK Vogue that its ingredients “dance together in a new way,” and Tilbury, herself, was closely involved in the development process. It includes tuberose, jasmine, frankincense, violet, patchouli; and “Psycho-Active” pheromone notes of fire tree, iso e super, hedione, and ambroxan.
The bottle looks like a genie might jump out from it. The brand states that its shape is inspired by a “magic potion” bottle from medieval times. The cap looks like a vintage stopper, but it conceals a spray pump. The bottle is molded with a ribbed pattern, which the brand describes as a starburst design, chosen to represent positivity and power, with never-ending lines that represent reaching your dreams.
Decorations That Pop
Brands often choose to use the same bottle shape for several fragrances, whether it is a custom shape (if they invested in custom tooling) or a stock bottle. Each new fragrance launch is given its own look by decorating the bottle and box with a new color or pattern.
Decotech offers a complete suite of domestic decoration services focused on the prestige-level market, which includes various types of spray coatings, in a number of different types of finishes. Often, these types of decorating techniques look more prestige than a label.
When a brand chooses to use a label, ScreenTech/Spraye Tech’s owner John Schofield advises using one with 5-color printing. “It will look significantly more upscale than a label with a more simple look,” he says.
Coverpla specializes in minimalist types of decoration and offers in-house decorating services that include hot stamping, silk-screening, and pad printing. “Some brands are choosing to silkscreen the sides of a bottle, and keep the front clear,” says Cutri, of Coverpla. “Often, all it takes to achieve the look a designer has in mind is a simple decoration to highlight a brand’s logo—and I’m also seeing lots of gold being used,” she says.
Juicy Couture is one brand that is using lots of shiny gold in its fragrance bottles. The brand typically keeps the same bottle shape, and differentiates each new fragrance with a new design.
SGD has produced many of Juicy Couture’s bottles, many of which feature an eye-catching design. “We recently produced several Juicy flankers using innovative lacquering and silk screen finishes in SGD glass and decoration plants in Georgia,” says SGD’s Chamlou.
I Love Juicy Couture is this year’s follow-up to last year’s I Am Juicy Couture. The same bottle is used for both fragrances, except now the golden-hued glass bottle is adorned with black leopard spots. “The striking pattern is an unexpected, playful twist on the sleek and sophisticated I Am Juicy Couture bottle design,” says Chamlou.
Anna Sui is launching the new Romantica Exotica fragrance in September. The glass bottle, shown in the slideshow above, is also the same shape the brand has used in the past, but features new colors. This bottle is a turquoise gradient color with a gold decoration, and it showcases the turquoise color of the juice inside the bottle. The metallic cap has a gold antique finish. The carton features palm trees and tropical birds in an exotic jungle.
Stoelzle Glass USA has also developed and commercialized a proprietary production process known as “IPET,” which creates a brilliant glass surface. “Additional decorating processes can be used with it, to create a luxury finish that is easily distinguishable on-shelf,” explains Pyrzenski. “It looks captivating,” he adds. This glass treatment is used on the bottle for Interparfum’s Jimmy Choo Flash fragrance.
USS Corp. works with customers to create many unique designs, including a complex layered silk screening process that produces a textural effect. “This is done by layering a number of passes in order to build height. It will give a bottle a certain type of feel, which is very difficult to achieve,” says Carlos A. Matos, COO/CFO, USS Corp. According to Matos, this type of decoration is for its most high-end customers, including Bond No. 9 New York.
Executing a layered effect with silk screening requires certain machinery, but more importantly, a certain level of technical expertise. “It is almost like an art, and requires a specific skill set to properly set up and run these machines,” says Matos. “The registration is a challenge, since it requires having to go directly over a surface that was previously decorated, without any movement whatsoever. And if the design includes intricate details, it is very difficult,” he explains. (Read more about Bond No. 9's unisex scents here.)
Matos says he recently worked on a decoration that replicated the look of hand-sewn stitches. Embossing a very detailed logo is also a challenge,” he explains, saying that he is hearing requests from many brands for complex silk-screening decorations. “They like the overall quality look and feel that this type of decoration delivers, and they are willing to pay for it,” he adds.
USS Corp also works with companies with smaller budgets, many of which are choosing to decorate a stock bottle. “The right decoration will significantly enhance the look of any stock bottle, even if it is the simplest shape,” Matos says.
Matos also discusses acid-etching, saying it is an ideal way to enhance any type of decoration. “This technique increases the opacity of a flint bottle, and it will look fantastic when a decoration such as a precious metal is used on top of it,” explains Matos.
Screen Tech/Spraye Tech has a new metallic spray coating that is being requested lately by brands that are looking for an alternative to metallization. “This is a new technique we are doing this year,” says Schofield. “Spraying a stock bottle, rather than decorating it with a label, will often make it look more upscale—especially if the bottle is a simple, classic shape,” he advises.
A metal plaque is another design element that will make any bottle look luxe according to Schofield.
Heinz Glass USA offers a wide range of packaging options, including decorative effects and decorations, including: colored glass, feeder streaks, all types of printing and spray color, metallization, laser removal, laser engraving, assembly/gluing, glitter spraying, inside decoration, micro-engraving and opal glass.
“We offer most of the decoration techniques currently available that are considered ‘state-of-the-art’ for the glass substrate,” explains Heinz’s Corrigan. The company will be featuring many of these techniques in its decoration sample kit that will be available at Luxe Pack Monaco this fall.
A Design with a Purpose
Niche and luxury fragrance brands often use the same bottle shape, and choose a different type of decoration, often in a different color, to represent the various fragrances in a collection.
Phlur, a new brand founded by Eric Korman (formerly president of global e-commerce at Ralph Lauren) says that “great design follows purpose.” He explains, “For us, that means the bottle should seamlessly assimilate into someone’s life, protect the fragrance itself, and be earth-friendly. This resulted in a modern but timeless aesthetic,” he explains.
Phlur (shown above) launched its first collection of six fragrances at the end of June 2016. Each fragrance is in the same cube-shaped glass bottle, with the same decoration—an opaque white coating that protects the juice from light degradation. The decoration is a vegetable-based paint. “This enables future recycling by our end customer,” says Korman.
The clarity of the glass isn’t an issue with this decoration, so the bottle is made with 20% recycled glass, which Korman says is the highest percentage in the industry.
“Since you cannot see through the bottle, we didn’t have to be concerned with the color of the fragrance,” adds Korman. “This means we were able to avoid using BHT and other stabilizers, which is also extremely important to us,” he adds. The “juice” also doesn’t contain any known skin irritants, parabens, phthalates, or animal products.
Suppliers Offer New Stock Designs
As mentioned, suppliers agree that many brands right now, both large and small, are looking for bottles in simple, classic shapes more often, and then keeping that bottle shape for each new fragrance, for a number of reasons.
Decotech’s Engel says, “By reusing the same glass form, fragrance clients can significantly reduce the lead times on new product developments and launches.”
The lead time for the glass is minimized or eliminated completely when a brand pre-positions a standard glass form. “There is no risk to the brand to pre-produce the glass, since it will definitely be used now or later. Now, the brand has the ability to make decisions on the decoration later,” Engel says. “This late-stage differentiation is where the whole market is moving,” he adds.
Brands, large and small, are also using stock bottles more often. Many suppliers are offering new stock bottles, as Standard Collections, and they look more high-end than ever.
When a brand chooses a stock bottle, the savings on tooling costs is significant, which can be especially critical for an Indie brand. However, larger companies are choosing stock bottles as well. “Years ago, a ‘stock’ bottle meant ‘cheap’—but now there are all types of standards, including many that are high-end,” says Desai of Piramal Glass USA.
In response to its customers’ demands, Piramal recently launched a new collection of Premium Standards. “This collection offers lower costs without the tooling, speed to market, and most importantly, there is no need to commit to a high quantity, since we offer these in pallet quantities,” Desai says. “The market has become so unpredictable in fragrance, so there are more companies—including the larger ones—that are now looking to standards,” he adds.
If you’re hoping to launch the next top-selling fragrance, and need a timeless bottle design, Heinz Glas suggests taking a look at its GlasMeisterWerke collection, which translates to Glass Masterpiece.
“Pair one of our GMW bottles with one of our exclusive decorating possibilities to make your package unique. This stock brand was created to serve the small start-up market segment. The shapes are simple and elegant, and offered in the most common sizes,” says Corrrigan.
All of the bottles in the GMW line are engineered for the spray pumps and collars that are on the market. “We also have complimentary designed stock caps to make it easier—without the commitment of new molds,” adds Corrigan.
Stoelzle Glass USA has launched a new series of 100ml perfumery standards called the “Private Collection,” designed to convey “elegant simplicity.” Customers have the ability to purchase at minimum one pallet.
The collection includes a range of five different bottle molds, to give brands a selection of various shapes. “The bottles are timeless designs, produced in the highest quality glass. The bottles have an increased gram weight, with a substantially thick base,” says Pyrzenski.
Coverpla is also offering its customers new stock bottle designs—Mila, Paty and Felix—in 50ml sizes. “Mila and Paty are very curvy and feminine, with a heavy glass heel,” says Cutri. “A ‘heavy feel’ in the hand ‘screams’ luxury,” she says. “And it is the same for a cap; we offer a few stock caps that are weighted, which gives them a more prestigious feel that our customers love,” she adds.
The Paty bottle has a rounded shape. Mila’s curvy rounded sides showcase the flat, rectangular-shaped surface on the front and back, which are ideal for certain types of decorations, such as a plaque. Felix looks like a more masculine version of Mila, with straight sides and a rectangular-shaped cap.
A brand can view Coverpla’s many different stock bottle shapes on its website, and pair them with different cap and collar styles to see how the various components will look together.
A very well-known glassmaker is Verreries Brosse, which is now part of Zignago Vetro Group, along with the Poland-based Huta Szkla Czechy. “We offer a wide range of bottles at various quality levels; produced at our three European glass factories,” says Batthany, of Zignago Glass USA. “If a brand requires a high quality bottle with impressive glass distribution, they will first look at Brosse’s stock collection. Other launches may need an interesting shaped bottle but at a mass market quality level and I will suggest a Huta standard,” Batthany says.
All three companies offer stock bottle options, at varying price points, as well as in-house decoration capabilities. “In the world of stock packaging, weight is so important,” says Batthany.
“A stock bottle may at first glance look the same from one supplier to the next, but how the bottle feels in the hand is usually very different,” she explains. Batthany gives an example, saying that an 87 gram rectangular bottle is not going to feel the same as a 120 gram rectangular bottle. “There is no comparison. You will notice the difference as soon as you pick it up,” she says. “However, a brand’s retail price could ultimately dictate that a lower cost glass bottle is required,” she adds.
Tips for Indie Brands
Many suppliers are more than willing to work with smaller brands on lower quantities, and offer their years of experience to help guide entrepreneurs through the production process.
Piramal’s Desai often finds himself discussing decorating options for a niche brand. “Often, a brand will mistakenly believe that a spray coating will cover up imperfections,” says Desai. “But when you decorate a bottle with a certain color, you might see every blemish on the glass surface, and even the slightest imperfection will ‘pop,’ “he says.
Coverpla often works with Indie brands, since the company provides turnkey services. “I’m seeing a tremendous increase in niche fragrance brands,” says Cutri. “We offer a complete package, at a fair price,” she says, “and many of our customers feel more at ease buying all the components for a complete fragrance package from one supplier.”
Delbia Do Company is a family-owned business based in the Bronx, New York, that specializes in formulating and manufacturing fragrances for niche brands. “Most of our business is working with smaller brands, but we also work on projects for larger brands as a subcontractor,” says Darryl Do, the company’s president, who is also a trained perfumer.
Do says that a major mistake that a small fragrance company often makes is not understanding regulations. “Many start-ups don’t realize that they can’t manufacture or fill product on their own. Perfumes and cosmetic products need to be made compliant with FDA cGMP and or ISO 22716. There are also IFRA regulations to follow, and regulatory information that must be printed on the packaging. We often have many smaller brands coming to us in a panic over compliance issues,” he says. “We offer full turnkey service, which is a huge help to a smaller brand,” he adds.
A few of the trends that niche fragrance brands are setting right now include using new ‘aromachemicals.’ “I’m seeing more brands move away from using traditional vetiver, sandalwood, rose and jasmine. They want to use new molecules that smell more complex and sophisticated,” he says. “I’m also seeing a trend toward higher quality naturals. A sandalwood from Africa smells very different from the more common sandalwood from Australia. So it’s nice to see more options now in raw materials,” he adds.
As for packaging mishaps for small brands, Do says there is often a lot of confusion around finding components that fit together. “I worked with one customer who wanted a low profile pump, but the over cap didn’t fit, and it wouldn’t crimp properly,” he says.
Pumps & Various Dispensing Options
Aptar is one supplier that offers various options in spray pumps. “The sprayer or applicator is an important part of the overall fragrance experience,” says Des McEttrick, market development director, NA Beauty, Aptar Beauty+Home.
One of the company’s latest developments combines the “long time spray” continuous diffusion technology of Aptar’s Precious, with its La Petite range of super low profile sprayers.
Petite & Precious is ultra compact on the outside, and invisible on the inside with a concealed body. It delivers top quality spray action, actuation with maximum delicacy, and olfactory neutrality with no metal coming into contact with the fragrance. Nina Ricci, Ferragamo and Kenzo have utilized this dispensing system.
Aptar Beauty+Home has also brought back the stopper, with another one of its latest innovations, Note.
Boxes That Shine
Suppliers say that a big trend is more understated looks for bottles, but boxes are shining with all types of effects, such as glitter coatings.
Color Optics, a Division of Phoenix Color, offers Opti-glitter, a decorating process that can simulate glitter on a carton. “A year ago everyone was asking us for matte and gloss finishes, and combining both. Now so many of our customers are asking for glitter,” says Joe Cicci, president, Color Optics. “We recently used the technique on cartons for YSL’s makeup line, and it won an NJPEC award. YSL’s cartons are red, so this decoration really pops,” he adds.
The Opti-glitter process is done in-line, and can simulate the look of an off-line glitter silk-screening process, at no additional cost.
“Always make the substrate you are using work for you,” Cicci says. “Often, a designer won’t realize that the look they are trying to achieve is already a quality that a certain board, such as as a mylar laminate, might have. So the right substrate will offer lots of value at no extra cost, if you know what to do with it,” he adds.
Diamond Packaging offers a Diamond Glitter specialty coating, which Five Star Fragrance Company utilized for its XOXO Eau de Parfum. The pink Diamond Glitter coating on the front and side panels creates shimmering and tactile effects, to capture the consumer’s eye. The logos on the front and top panels were foil stamped and embossed.
“The result is a strikingly visual presentation that stands out in the retail environment and conveys the essence of a luxury brand,” says Dennis Bacchetta, director of marketing, Diamond Packaging.
The carton was converted using Invercote G paperboard, and offset printed with two spot colors, and dense black inks. It was also decorated in-line with Diamond Glitter specialty coating, plus a UV matte coating. The inside was offset printed with two spot colors, in-line with an overall satin aqueous coating.
Coordinating Candles & The Home Fragrance Market
The home fragrances market, which includes candles, wax melts and diffusers, grew by more than 3% in 2015, marking its strongest growth since 2010. Kline reports these findings in its study published in June 2016, Home Fragrances: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities.
Accounting for over 50% of total market sales, the luxury segment registers an even stronger 5% increase.
The largest companies are competing with emerging independent brands, reports Kline. Bath & Body Works is one of the largest and fastest growing brands in the prestige candles category, but smaller brands, including Nest, RibbonWick, Dyptique, and Illume are showing the strongest, double-digit growth.
The impact of the Internet is most prevalent in the prestige candles market in which e-commerce sales account for an estimated 15% of overall sales.
Attractive packaging continues to play a strong role in product presentation, and candles offered in all types of eye-catching containers, shapes, and sizes are the driving force behind the category’s growth.
There is a lot of overlap in the worlds of scented candles and fine fragrances. Many of the glass bottle suppliers also produce glass candle jars.
Malin+Goetz is one company that sells both fragrances and candles, and coordinates these options with complimentary scents—and similar packaging. (The Malin+Goetz Dark Rum fragrance and candle, with packages designed to match, are shown above.)
Malin+Goetz fragrances all feature the same apothecary shaped, clear round bottles, with thick bases and matte silver caps. This bottle shape is in line with some of the trends that many suppliers mention above. The company is launching a new fragrance this fall, Vetiver. The candle jars have straight sides and a slightly thick base as well, which complements the bottle shape.
Yankee Candle makes just about every type of fragrance for use in the home, but no products for personal use. The company’s candles always include limited edition packaging and different scents for all the major holidays, plus there are wax melts, diffusers, room sprays and plug-in fragrance products.
Yankee Candle’s new Honey Clementine candle, shown above, is in a new jar, which is more "sleek and streamlined" the company says.
Candles, the largest segment within home scents, saw an 18% increase in dollar sales and 15% growth in unit sales in the 12 months ending April 2016. The category has grown by over $11 million in the past two years.
“The growth across many different aspects of home scent illustrates the heightened importance of this market, and the opportunity for further development,” says Karen Grant, vice president, NPD Beauty. “This is still a niche in the prestige fragrance arena, and all signs are that home scents still have the upside for even more expansion,” she adds.
