Online Exclusive: Fragrance in Motion
A new personal and laundry care fragrance product line allows consumers to customize their scents.
By Lisa Samalonis, Associate Editor

When direct-seller, Scentsy Wickless recently launched its Layers by Scentsy personal care product line,

The package design of Layers by Scentsy evokes a feeling of movement and energy.

the company relied on the package design to demonstrate a sense of motion and action while connecting with young family-oriented consumers. The idea: compatible scents can be layered to please the entire family.

With the range, customers can build a signature scent using nine personal and laundry care fragrance products. The line features eight fragrance products, including shower cream, shower gel, body lotion, body butter, body spray, and hand cream, “washer whiffs”—a laundry fragrance additive that dissolves in the washing machine, and “dryer disks”—a reusable, anti-static fragrance enhancer. The company’s solid perfume, introduced last year, also coordinates with the line. Six fragrances, including Coconut Lemongrass, Luna, Quiver, Love Story, Enchanted Mist and Sugar Cookie, are available. Products range in price from $6 to $12.

“After introducing Scentsy Solid Perfume last fall, we started to think about the products we use every day that contain fragrance and how challenging it is to get those fragrances to smell good together,” explains Scentsy president Heidi Thompson. “Your shower gel has one fragrance, your body lotion another, and the laundry products on your clothes have a different fragrance altogether. We wanted to create a way for customers to layer these fragrances in a way that is beautiful and personal.”

Julie Stewart, design manager for Scentsy, provides design insights related to the line. She notes: “We

The curvy shower and laundry product bottles connect to the curved shaped of the Scentsy Bar, the wickless candles which mimic the curve shape of a Scentsy warmer, the company’s flagship fragrance product.

wanted to create a feeling of movement and energy. When fragrance is on a person it becomes an active, living thing, and we wanted to bring that motion to the label design and graphics.”
The black package conveys a high-end feel, and the designers incorporated the color of each fragrance on the label. “This gives the packaging a splash of color while at the same time maintaining cohesiveness between each distinct Layers scent,” Stewart adds.

The product logo visual also employs a layering effect. Added movement comes from the packaging of the shower and laundry scents, which are curvy by design to differentiate them from the lotion scents. The curvaceous bottle was selected to continue the sense of energy while keeping the company’s classic look. “Maintaining a sense of motion and action were key reasons behind the selection of a curvy bottle, but we also wanted to bring in the curved shaped of a Scentsy Bar, the wickless candles which mimic the curve shape of a Scentsy warmer, our flagship fragrance product,” she explains.

Because each product is used in a different way, the designers adapted the packaging to make it functional. For instance, the curved shape of the laundry and shower products is easy to grip with wet hands, whereas the hand cream is packaged in a tube that travels easily and is convenient for use any time. “While the packaging aesthetically sets the lotions apart from the shower and laundry scents, ease of use was also a factor in the decision,” Stewart says.

The packaging design led to some technical challenges. “We use six different Scentsy fragrances for the Layers line, and each fragrance has a corresponding color, ranging from light to very bright, vivid colors. Our goal was to make sure all colors were visible on our chosen background,” she says.
The solution? The group made the base color black, which ensured that all six colors popped. Another challenge was making certain the label rested smoothly on the curvy bottles.

Stewart points out that the goal was to create a product line that everyone in the family would embrace. “Our packaging is sophisticated but with bursts of color. Our intention in the design is to communicate the idea that Layers by Scentsy is fun, but also modern and sophisticated,” she says. “It’s high-end without being unapproachable. It appeals to men and women as well as a younger generation.”