When we asked our readers to vote for our Beauty Company of the Year, Excellence in Packaging, Drunk Elephant earned enough votes to claim the title.

Ranking up the next highest votes were four companies, with impressive packaging. Here they are, in alphabetical order—e.l.f. cosmetics, Huda Beauty, Murad, and Smashbox. 

Take a look at the slideshow above, and here's more abouit each, below. 

e.l.f. Cosmetics 

e.l.f. Cosmetics is celebrating a milestone in sustainability —the company’s 'Project Unicorn' program is streamlining its packaging footprint. The brand eliminated an estimated 650,000 pounds of packaging material.

The brand removed secondary cartons, vacuum-formed trays, and paper insert cards. el.f. also slimmed down secondary packaging, designing a patented approach to tamper-proof products. In total, packaging for over 200 SKUs has been reduced across multiple categories.

“We’ve entered an exciting new phase where we’re mapping long-term sustainability planning," says Ashley Rosebrook, chief creative officer, e.l.f. Beauty. "Through Project Unicorn, we will continue to drive material and process reduction while we develop solutions to reach our goals along our sustainability roadmap."

Rosebrook continues, "When we started this journey, we had many packaging experts tell us that our vision couldn’t be executed, but we didn’t take no for an answer. Working at 'e.l.f. speed,' we took it in-house with our own samples and designs, to show that anything is 'e.l.f.ing' possible!"

Rosebrook adds, "I am so proud of the team, we all worked together to think outside the box—and ultimately get rid of the box.”

In addition to its sustainability goals, Project Unicorn was designed to elevate e.l.f.’s product assortment, presentation, and navigation on-shelf. The company received three design patents, as well as one utility patent that is pending—and they say they’re just getting started.

Ride or Die Lip Balm was one of e.l.f. Beauty’s star products of 2020—and was designed with ‘the learnings’ from Project Unicorn, using minimal packaging and no boxes.

For its design, the brand used a French pharmacy cap to make an impact at shelf. The logo and text are not printed on the tubes—translucent, tinted colors, like the balms themselves, are screened. This allows the tube itself to function as the silver text color.  

Ride or Die was the first product in which the brand amped up their cruelty-free and 100% vegan messaging, which is on the back of the tube itself to engage consumers as they use the product.

Huda Beauty

Huda Beauty, the billion-dollar company founded by mega-entrepreneur Huda Kattan, topped 2020’s Cosmetify Index for global demand, and also attracted more than 53 million social media followers.

The brand aims to keep things simple and consumer-friendly by designing intuitive packaging that is equal parts ‘sophisticated and fun.’ Community is key, and the brand says the experience and satisfaction with their products is most important during development.

Kattan loves square packaging with clean, straight lines; she feels it is visually appealing and easy for the consumer to focus their eyes on. In 2020, Huda honed in on launching lighter and brighter packaging that stands out on a consumer’s vanity and in-store on gondola. She says she continues to gravitate toward packaging that is portable and light enough to be thrown in a makeup bag, so her consumers don’t have to worry about lugging anything heavy around.

Huda Beauty’s Legit Lashes are full-size mascaras, in one easy-to-use component. The pack was engineered so the two bottles, with two different formulas and brushes, are tightly secured and perfectly aligned with a middle connector and a click-resistance mechanism. The color and finish were matched across two different materials, which is not an easy feat. 

Wendy Annonay, senior director of packaging design and development, at Huda, says: “We see our packaging as the first true reflection of our brand’s DNA. It’s important that from the moment our consumers experience our product, that they feel welcomed into our beauty community."

Annoyay adds, "Through packaging, we’re able to spread our mission of changing the game through innovative, high-quality and high-performance products that our consumers love and want.”

Murad

In 1989, dermatologist and pharmacist Dr. Howard Murad founded Murad, Inc. as "the first modern doctor brand for clinical skin care products"—setting a new standard for high performance skin care. Since then, Murad says it has been committed to developing clinically proven products “that meet the meticulous standards for safety, efficacy and care you’d expect from a doctor.”

In 2020, Murad introduced its Vita-C Glycolic Brightening Serum—a gold-stabilized Vitamin C and Glycolic-infused skin solution that helps to improve the look of hyperpigmentation and uneven tone for “dramatically brighter, healthier-looking skin.”

The formula relies on a dual-chamber packaging apparatus that separately houses the Vitamin C complex and Glycolic Acid. With each pump of product, the chambers dispense a concentrated, fresh dose of Vitamin C and Glycolic Acid, free of degradation from air or light exposure.

Kristen Robinson, senior director of new product development, says: “Murad develops formulas with proof—not percentages—in mind. We start with clinically proven ingredients, then develop innovative technologies to enhance their efficacy. Our multi-action formulas do not just consider the symptom or target a skin concern; rather, we address the entire health of the skin.”

Smashbox

Smashbox always has impressive packaging—combining eye-catching looks with sustainable components. 

Jill Tomandl, vice president, global product development and innovation at Smashbox, says the brand put sustainability at the forefront of the 2020 Holiday Collection package design with bright red, refillable, reusable, keepsake boxes and recycled PET inserts.

“The boxes are decorated with illustrations by ‘fashion’s favorite artist,’ Donald Robertson @Drawbertson, so no gift wrap is required,” says Tomandl, adding, “Donald was inspired by the brand’s photo studio heritage featuring founder and celebrity photographer, Davis Factor creating iconic images on set.”  

Smashbox Always On Cream to Matte Lipstick is another recent launch—and it's formulated to stay on your lips without getting onto your face mask.

Tomandl spoke to us about developing this hit product, and says, “Smashbox listened to consumers. We took all the high performance, beloved benefits of liquid lipstick and solved the pain points to create this product.”

Saturated color is “Always On” your lips with this vegan, cruelty-free, long-wearing formula. “You can feel confident the lipstick won’t move when you take off your mask, since it is transfer resistant,” explains Tomandl.

She continues., “The product glides on and feels weightless and comfortable with the infusion of Primer Oil Complex. The supported case is shaped like a drop of Primer Oil, so the pointed tip makes precision application easy for the consumer."

In addition, the lipstick case is airtight to maintain product efficacy. "Smashbox collaborated with Birds of Prey and created custom packaging featuring Harley Quinn and her signature, red lip,” Tomandl adds.