Clean Beauty, Clean Packaging

To succeed in the highly competitive Color Cosmetics market—which industry data reveals is currently in a cyclical slump behind Skincare—Kayla Villena, senior beauty analyst at Euromonitor International, suggests that brands should first focus on high-growth categories, particularly foundation/concealer, lipstick, and other brow and lash makeup products.

The $9.8 billion absolute value gains from these products will account for 50% of absolute value gains of total color cosmetics in the U.S. from 2018 to 2023, according to Euromonitor data.

Second, Villena says, “Players should inject health-inspired beauty, green, clean and ethical features, and personalization in color cosmetics product lines,” as these trends were cited as having the greatest influence on sales of beauty and personal care in the next five years, according to a Euromonitor survey.

Euromonitor’s findings mirror many of the trends and launches Beauty Packaging found in speaking with brands and suppliers for this article. And despite a slight downward trend, according to data from ADF&PCD Paris, the global cosmetics market is set to reach $344 billion by 2021—spurring the global makeup packaging market, which is expected to surpass $11 billion by 2027, according to a recent report from Coherent Market Insights.

Key Market Growth Factors

While there’s a strong push toward sustainability, it’s not the only factor driving the Color Cosmetics market. Turnkey Development, Speed to Market, Customized Stock Packaging and Indie launches also remain accelerators in the Color category.

Megan Langdon, director of design and innovation, HCT Group, tells Beauty Packaging: “The color cosmetic category as a whole is seeing a ton of growth. We are constantly working with new brands that take advantage of our full service offering. Complexion, lips and eyes remain a mainstay among all of these upcoming brands.”

Cheryl Morgan, creative marketing manager, HCP Packaging, notes a broad range of launches in the category, saying: “We are seeing a real dichotomy within packaging for color cosmetics; on one hand brands are exploring with a sustainable directive, then on the other hand, the luxury market is booming with unique custom designs and highly decorative packaging.”

Sustainable Packaging Leads Trends

Sustainable—or Environmentally Responsible—packaging continues to dominate brands’ criteria for product launches as we enter the second decade of this century. This trend has caused somewhat of a shift in design and a move, in many cases, toward simpler, streamlined forms that use eco-materials, mono materials—or less materials. In addition, there’s more of a necessity for the package to tell a convincing story from the get-go.

It’s a multi-pronged challenge that suppliers continue to pursue, with great success, though it’s not always easy.

At APC Packaging, Robert Bulla, director of engineering and innovation, tells Beauty Packaging: “Sustainability has formed new thought processes across all brands, which has encouraged a fresh new look and even patterns. It isn’t just about how the prodhucts are displayed to clients, it is about the story that the brand is telling their clients. This has led many to look at dual-purpose, refillable and what were common material choices.” He says APC Packaging “is being challenged to bring the wow factor as well as a story, and we are meeting those challenges.”

In addition, Bulla says sustainability and low MOQ requirements have been at the forefront of Indie brands.

HCT Group has made a number of strides with environmentally responsible packaging. Langdon says, “Eco and sustainable packaging is the biggest trend we are seeing in this category [Color Cosmetics]. Every brand is exploring new ways to integrate the eco marketing story into their existing product lines.” The biggest hurdle with this category, according to Langdon, is that there are many limitations in both the decoration capabilities and materials that can be used, so she says HCT is continuing to come up with “a wide range of options that offer clients more choices in this category.”

Mono Materials

One of HCT Group’s latest developments in eco is the EMA Palette—a mono-material eyeshadow palette made from 100% PET. It can also be made with some PCR content. Langdon says mono-material makes the palette super simple to recycle after use. It can also offer high style as this palette can be decorated through laser etching.

HCT’s PP Dropper is also made of a mono material—100% PP that can be used for both color cosmetics and skincare formulas. Langdon says it’s a great option for brands that have liquid formulations.

Tin is another mono-material and HCT offers a compact component made 100% from tin. “The best part about using tin,” says Langdon, “is that there are many more eco-friendly decoration effects that can be used such as embossing, debossing, offset printing, coatings and sprays.”

Less Is More

An overall reduction in materials has become another path to environmentally responsible packaging.

Syeira Simon, Cosmopak’s product development and formula innovation manager, says they’re seeing trends toward stock packaging with unique deco, more glass componentry/eco-friendly options, and the “less is more” ideology.

Simon adds, “Much of our Indie clientele looks for unique shapes, and more eco-friendly packaging options like PCR plastics, glass, or even plastic-free.”

At Roberts Beauty, Kristen Corso, director of marketing & product development, sees a move toward using less plastic materials. She tells Beauty Packaging: “With sustainability top of mind for savvy-consumers and brands alike, we will start to see minimized product footprints due to reducing the amount of plastic and parts contained in our packages. While brands will continue to explore refillable/reusable options and post-consumer use resins, until these options find long term positions in brand houses—the simplest path to lessen the environmental impact will be packages that utilize less plastic. Lessening plastic content is easily recognized, understood and celebrated by all levels of the eco-conscious consumer.”

Roberts uses a packaging-product ratio for a number of their components in efforts to use less plastic. For instance, their Brik Stik has a ratio of 23%, while the lipstick tube has a 16% ratio and the Clear Brick Stick falls at a 26% ratio. In general, with the Brik Stik, Roberts is able to achieve a 10% more product versus package ratio to help reduce shipping cubes, retail footprint and related carbon emissions—compared to traditional lipstick. It is also molded in one material so it can go safely into the recycle bin.

Playful, Experiential Packaging

Forms, shapes and deco are also being used to attract attention and relay another genre of compelling stories, especially for social media.

HCT Group’s Langdon says, “Another trend for packaging that we are seeing that is very different from the eco trend, is playful/experiential packaging that offers a more sensorial feeling. Unique packaging with these types of visual and tactile features offers beauty brands an easy way to create buzz and excitement online via social media. This type of buzz can be really important for a new brand entering the saturated market we see today.”

In this vein, Lust For Life Cosmetics (L4L Cosmetics) recently unveiled its new makeup brand ROAR Cosmetics, which combines Swiss precision, Korean technology and Milan runway glam. The first product to launch is the multifunctional, interactive and smart Rock’n’Roar HOT24. ROAR offers what it calls a “high-tech minimized footprint.” The brand says it has introduced “a new reality in makeup rituals that cuts the clutter and streamlines the makeup process with universal and versatile products.”

The full Rock’n’Roar experience starts with the luxurious and sleek packaging infused with digital technology to bring the formula and product to life. Rock’n’Roar high-tech packaging contains a microchip that triggers user information such as keeping track of the lifecycle of the product. The interactive ROAR App unveils personalized digital beauty services such as a digital makeup planner, look suggestions and color and application tutorials, giving customers confidence in their makeup choices.

Roar says its triple+ use formula “empowers the customer to play mix and match on their eyes, cheeks and lips—achieving hundreds of potential timeless combinations in matte, metallic and iridescent finishes.” The high-performance, water-resistant creamy texture can also be used as an eyeliner and eyebrow enhancer. In addition, the brand says the skin compatibility is wide-ranging, and can be used on any skin tone or skin type, regardless of age or gender.

“Our mantra of ‘less is more’ means less fuss, less frill and less time in front of the mirror with professional results,” says Stefania Gazzi, key makeup artist, ROAR Cosmetics.

Sustainable Luxury

Combining luxury with sustainability, Hermes, one of the most premium brands in the world, recently announced an expansion from fine accessories to its first-ever beauty collection set to launch this month—a range of “natural” lipsticks called Rouge Hermès, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. The 24 shades were selected from the French icon’s leather and silk swatch portfolio.

According to WSJ, the tri-color cases were designed to be environmentally friendly. Rather than plastic, they are made of the same metal used for the hardware on the company’s coveted leather goods. They are also refillable.

Luxury and clean beauty are key tenets of Victoria Beckham Beauty. Inspired by Victoria’s signature smoky eye, the sleek Smoky Eye Brick compact is as beautiful and functional as the product it houses. A “unique pressing technology allows all four shades to live in one sleek brass compact for maximum product in minimal packaging and completely plastic free.”  The formula is vegan-friendly.

Clean Beauty, Clean Packaging

Like many trends in Beauty, clean formulas, eco packaging and convenient forms stem from consumer demand—and, in many cases, a focus on a wellness life style.

Elizabeth Forsyth, CEO Sheencolor USA, says: “Consumers are educating themselves and becoming more aware of raw materials, ingredient sources and their environmental impact not only in beauty but in food, beverage and lifestyle. The beauty industry responded by developing the ‘clean beauty’ category. Some brands, take it to the next level by offering transparency to their consumers for raw material sourcing and traceability. Brands are either siloing themselves or a collection in order to have the agility to play in this category.”

At WWP, Megan Gunn, marketing manager, comments, “Multi-tasking products and packaging that simplifies beauty routines continue to be a hot trend with today’s very busy lifestyles. In addition, the demand continues to increase as consumers are demanding more sustainable clean formulas as well as eco-alternative packaging options from their brands.”

For instance, Gunn says, “We’re seeing a lot of demand in the lip category for ‘ath-beauty’ lip products and packaging, for easy on-the-go use from the gym to the office. We also see an emerging trend in lip care-treatment based lip products with clean products and sustainable packaging.”

Thrive Causematics recently launched their Liquid Balm Lip Treatment, an intensive treatment that’s formulated with plant actives that deliver powerful antioxidant protection and lip-reviving, all-day hydration in just one swipe. It’s powered by nutrient-rich Lip Filler to plump and smooth the look of fine lines for softer, fuller lips. Thrive consumers asked for a balm that was not packaged in a jar—so the tube/wand packaging for the Liquid Balm Lip Treatment was a recommendation directly from Thrive’s consumers.

Sue Nichols, CEO, International Cosmetic Suppliers Ltd. (ICS), also cites the wellness trend. She says, “It has had a major impact on the color cosmetics category in the last couple of years leading to a fresh new era of more natural, dewy and organic color cosmetic formulations and fueling sustainable beauty. Consumer demands in 2019 have been based on transparency, natural ingredients and packaging that benefits the wider environment and in 2020 these trends will only continue to gain strength leading to a re-think in design and material choices for packaging to be more sustainable, recyclable and refillable.” Nichols adds: “Packaging shapes are also resembling more organic, natural forms playing with unique tangible and tactile textures.”

The Exclusive Mix and Match Palette from ICS fits perfectly into both the sustainable beauty movement and the speed-to-market movement. The refillable design allows users to simply lift the frame and mix, match or replace pans to combine different formulations. The frame can also be popped out to mix and match frames for different pan configurations and designs to eliminate single-use plastic.

Literal Transparency

For example, Nichols says, “Even the simple finish of transparent packaging which allows consumers to see the color formulation inside makes consumers feel the product is more trustworthy, whilst looking playful and on trend.”

Forsyth, CEO Sheencolor USA, agrees: “Clear lids in packaging to show product, along with eco-friendly options, bioresins and sustainable packaging (recyclable) are all driving the color category in packaging.”

HCP Packaging’s Morgan sees the same trend: “Aesthetically, transparent packaging is a big trend and for Asia, highly decorated designs with metallic finishes, glitter, special labels and intricate foil designs are proving popular.”

The newly released M•A•C Glo Play blush is packaged in a clear lid compact so consumers can easily view the 11 shades for best selection. Each can be worn as a sheer wash of color, or built up and paired for a more vibrant, dimensional pop. Glow Play boasts a bouncy, mochi-like jelly texture that glides onto skin with fingertips for “a fuss-free, from-within glow.”

Speed-to-Market

In addition to environmental issues, Speed-to-Market has become perhaps the most influential overarching trend in the beauty world when it comes to product launches, and has been a major influencer in product and packaging design and development.

Forsyth of Sheencolor USA tells Beauty Packaging: “Speed to market is changing the demand in packaging. Custom tooling has long and costly lead times, and brands are leaning on suppliers to be creative in their stock packaging options not just limited to primary packaging, but also secondary packaging.” She says printed cardboard and paper primary packages are an easy way to have a customized package at little to no investment.

Sheencolor USA recently launched a series of palettes for a celebrity makeup artist. Forsyth says their uniqueness was “trend driven by paper palettes offering the agility to the brand to be artistic and build its DNA through the packaging artwork and the formulas.” The challenges, she says, “are always to bring the best quality to the market at competitive cost of goods and lead time.”

Indie Vs Legacy; Custom Vs Stock

Are Indie brands looking for different packaging attributes than legacy brands?

According to HCT Group’s Langdon, Indie brands and legacy brands are following many of the same trends when it comes to both products and packaging. The biggest difference between the two, she says, are that legacy brands often prefer to opt for more custom packaging in comparison to Indie brands that tend to stick with stock packaging that is ready to go as is. “Both types of brands (legacy and Indie) are looking to get to market more quickly, so legacy brands that opt for more custom packages still strive to differentiate but with minimal tooling and fewer parts,” explains Langdon.

“The packaging of Indie brands,” says ICS’s Nichols, “is often much more stylized and niche with innovative designs to reinforce their brand story and can range from simple effortless packaging for the on-the-go Millennial or more unique shapes, finishes or themes for the independent, confident urbanite. The unique and innovative packaging, decoration and finishes of Indie brands help them to stand out more in the market and help provide a more ‘Instagram-able’ product to capture consumers’ attention.”

According to HCP’s Morgan, “We’re seeing more and more brands requesting stock packaging—at all marketing levels; mass through to prestige. This is the beauty of stock packaging—it is highly versatile, and the timeless designs can be reinvented time and time again. Decoration capabilities are also key here, and HCP is able to quickly adapt aesthetics for brands to customize and differentiate their ranges.”

In addition, Morgan notes: “We are also finding that more ‘classic’ well-established brands are wanting to connect to consumers more by releasing highly decorated packs for limited edition launches for a real wow factor.”

Cosmopak’s Simon says clients skew more toward stock packaging versus custom packaging, typically due to time, and are utilizing more paper options.

Stock Packaging—with Customization

Both Stock Packaging and Turnkey Development—are two key avenues taken to meet the challenges of Speed to Market.

Increasingly, brands from legacy to Indie, opt for stock packaging, but the choices are anything but plain vanilla. Suppliers have developed a wide range of decorative techniques to customize components and express a brand’s personal DNA.

According to WWP’s Gunn, “The speed to market factor has definitely altered how brands develop their products and packaging. The development and innovation process is working at the speed of light in today’s market.” She says quality stock packaging with opportunities for custom deco and branding continues to be attractive to brands looking to increase their go to market speed.

Gunn adds that customized stock options continue to have strong appeal to Indies as well as legacy brands, with speed to market being so vital for all.

APC’s Bulla concurs: “Speed to market is always at the forefront of a brand’s launch.” He says this is being realized with easily customizable stock components. One of the first ways this was done, he explains, was through the use of a common cover and base compact with the only tooling required would be a custom pan well.

Easy customization is expected and required for a lot of the emerging brands, says Bulla. “As an example,” he says, “APC had one client who required a compact and eye liner package. Customization was essential for them—from being able to pick the brush fiber color for the eye liner to the color of the cling film on the compact mirror.”

“The demand for speed-to-market is causing brands to think outside the box when it comes to packaging decoration in the color cosmetics area,” according to ICS’s Nichols. She says utilizing classic packaging options or stock packaging with a unique second process or decoration can transform the product to grab consumers’ attention.

Turnkey Development: A Fast Beauty Approach

Turnkey development, with its many advantages, including shorter development times and lean supply chains, has become a fairly standard way of doing business in the cosmetics industry for Indie brands as well as, in many cases, legacy brands.

At HCT Group, Langdon says, “Many customers are looking for a supplier than can offer a full-service experience as it streamlines the process and allows them to get to market more quickly.” She explains: “HCT Group is a leader in turnkey solutions and can offer both custom and stock formulations that can be tailored to our wide selection of innovative packaging options as well as special tools, applicators and accessories. This makes it easier for our clients to get exactly what they are looking for.”

Forsyth, CEO of Sheencolor USA, says turnkey development has impacted the color cosmetic category, and is partly responsible for the emergence of Indie brands. She says turnkey can speed up development by as much as 50% due to the consolidation of timelines. “The turnkey supplier is presenting stable compatibility-tested formulas, so the brands can accept the supplier’s testing versus an in-house resource costing them time and money.”

In addition, Forsyth says Indie brands are leaning towards one source for package and formula, customizing stock packaging through various decoration options, including metallization, specialized varnishes, over-label, clear components, additional deco through the formula using a slurry, glitter, 3D, embossed, debossed or multi-pressed formula. “MOQs are more realistic for Indie brands with a turnkey approach,” she says.

Nichols of ICS agrees, saying, “In the fast-moving beauty industry, concept to shelf-ready delivery is increasing in demand in order to capture the latest trends and consumer needs.

The industry has thus adopted a fast-beauty approach to color cosmetics with many brands racing to be the first to launch new trend-based lines as a result of turnkey development.”

Cosmopak’s Simon adds: “Turnkey has given Indie brands the ability to fill gaps in the marketplace that legacy brands have missed.” She adds, “Products get to market faster, creating an abundance of trends and options for consumers.”

Turnkey brings about a lot more lab and stock readily available componentry, according to APC’s Bulla. “This allows more mainstream or commodity looks that can be simply decorated to give brand designation,” he explains.

Multi-Functional Packaging

With a number of benefits, from simplification of number of components to ease-of-use, multi-functional packaging has grown in popularity.

WWP recently developed a multi-functional package for a client’s new launch. They wanted something dual-purpose with a sleek modern design. Gunn says the Lipview package was a perfect fit for what they were looking for.

WWP’s customer, Molly Hart, founder & CEO, HIGHR Collective, says: “When conducting customer development interviews for HIGHR, we realized that lipstick requires a secondary tool for application—a mirror—so this component gives us two products in one. The sleek shape of the tube mixed with the tactility of the logo makes for a truly modern component.”

TreStique’s recently launched clean shimmering shadow line showcases a new formula. The package features “lasting sophisticated shimmering shades” and a built-in blending brush for a smoother crease-free finish.

Foundation & Skincare

Foundations, which were tagged by Euromonitor as a “high-growth category,” never seem to get old as new formulations evolve to meet consumers’ individual facial needs.

ICS recently worked with BITE Beauty on their Changemaker Primer and Foundation range. “BITE Beauty is a clean beauty brand that is not afraid of high-power color and their sleek and clean packaging finishes are a key representation of the current trends within color cosmetics,” explains ICS CEO Nichols.

The foundation is available in 32 inclusive shades and has a transparent tube finish to reveal the foundation color formulation within. “This clear tube design reassures consumer demands for transparency within the cosmetics industry, whilst also highlighting their extensive foundation color range for all skin types,” says Nichols.

Next 5 Colorful Years

In a market that’s neck-in-neck with Skincare, and experiencing a slight dropoff, Euromonitor International’s Villena, predicts that it may take at least five years for the Color Cosmetics segment to rebound, once players incorporate megatrends like healthy living and personalization and skincare-like benefits in color cosmetic products.

In the meantime, she points out that “international expansion in promising color cosmetics markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America can be a place of growth for players frustrated by slower sales in the U.S.”

She adds that “the cyclical demand of skincare and color cosmetics also suggests that skincare will decelerate eventually, giving way for color cosmetics to rebound, but only after being transformed to align with consumers’ expectations.”

Sophie Maxwell, global futures director for Pearlfisher (see Sophie’s column on the future of Cosmetics at BeautyPackaging.com), sees Color Cosmetics evolving as a bridge with nature. She tells Beauty Packaging: “The increasingly preferred active and new natural ingredients we are seeking in our chosen formulations will also inform different color palettes.

We won’t just be seeking nudes and earthy tones, we will be looking for more blues, and greens, as we feel inspired by the oceans and landscape as we try to better re-connect with the world around us and make a better planet. It’s definitely a marked shift to think of brands as being the medium through which we experience nature, but in a world where we now spend 90% of our lives indoors, there is a huge move to bring the outside in and this is a huge opportunity for beauty.” 

Which Leads Growth in Color? Lip, Eye, Face?

While reaction among suppliers varied, indicators show all 3 offer plenty of activity.

Syeira Simon, Cosmopak’s product development and formula innovation manager, says “Lip has taken back over.”

“For HCP, lips are seeing huge growth,” says Cheryl Morgan, creative marketing manager, HCP Packaging, “both for twist-up sticks and also lip gloss packs that can be used for shiny or matte formulas but also as concealers.”

Robert Bulla, director of engineering and innovation, APC Packaging: “We are seeing more of a shift from Lip to Eye. Whether it be extensive compacts with every color palette imaginable to the growing lash serum & extension world, the 2020 focus seems to be on eyes.”

At Sheencolor USA, Elizabeth Forsyth, CEO, says: “Growth is significant in the eye category. It’s the best entry point product for brands (influencers, Indie brands) in the color category. Launching one SKU can represent the whole brand, providing a large surface area with custom artwork and multiple formulas. The eye category allows for mixing of shades, formulas and textures in one palette. Palettes are a creative way to build a brand DNA.”

Sue Nichols, CEO, ICS: “With the power of the wellness movement, skincare is taking center stage as consumers see skincare as an investment in their wellness. The Face category has also seen huge growth with multiple brands launching universal foundation colors for all skin types. Lips, Cheek and Brows remain steady with more dewy, glassy features and natural feathered brows, utilizing packaging with innovative applicators.”

Color Cosmetics Volume and Growth Trends

Influenster Review Analysis: (January 2020)

Influenster is a product discovery platform where millions of consumers research and review products, and where brands can connect with ‘highly engaged and empowered shoppers.’ With a community of over 6 million members, Influenster boasts 40 million reviews and is growing by 1 million reviews monthly.

Beauty Packaging asked the Influenster team for analysis on review volume and growth trends, for a variety of Color Cosmetics products including lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, concealer, eyeliner and bronzer.

They pulled some growth trends and then listed which products had the highest review volume and highest review growth for the past 90 days (prior to press time).

Following is a sampling of what they provided.

Here is the full analysis: Color Cosmetic Volume & Growth Trends

Lipsticks/stains/gloss

Top products based on review volume (past 90 days)
1. Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick
2. NYX Lip Lingerie
3. FENTY BEAUTY by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer
4. M•A•C Cosmetics Lipstick
5. Kylie Cosmetics Kylie Lip Kit

Eye Shadow

Top products based on review volume (past 90 days)
1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eye Shadow Palette
2. Morphe x Jaclyn Hill Eyeshadow Palette
3. Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Palette
4. HUDA BEAUTY The New Nude Eyeshadow Palette
5. Urban Decay Naked Palette
6. Morphe 35O—35 Color Nature Glow Eyeshadow Palette

Foundation

Top products based on review volume (past 90 days)
1. Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation
2. KAT VON D True Portrait Foundation
3. Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup
4. Maybelline Fit Me Dewy + Smooth Foundation
5. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation