As the average shopper navigates through a department store’s beauty department, it is hard to miss the islands and islands of fine fragrance bottles beckoning from afar. But what makes a consumer answer the siren’s song of one fragrance or another? Some insist it’s the brand name; others say it’s the packaging, which has seen a variety of innovations this year alone.

Industry experts agree the most prevalent trend is soft-touch elastomer on the outside of bottles, caps and cartons—a fine rubber-like coating that is silky to the touch. Other svelte materials such as velvet and matte are also gaining popularity.

“Outer packages are made to attract attention through color, texture or what I like to call ‘special effects’—tactile materials such as matte, flock, embossing or rubber,” said Mitchell Kaneff, president, chief executive officer, Arkay Packaging, a Hauppauge, NY-based carton manufacturer. “Bottles can be plain, but just as it is the clothes that wrap the person, it is cartons that draw the consumer to the bottle inside.”
Fragrance bottles share many of the new innovations found on cartons. But bottles have long been packaged in glass for several reasons, such as tradition, aesthetic appeal, elegance and compatibility with alcohol-based liquids. Polyethylene (PET) is also being used in fragrance packaging, but is often degraded by volatile alcohol and citrus oils.

Lancôme’s Miracle fragrance grabs attention with its bright pink color.

“Glass is still the best material for fine fragrances, but more bottles have become high-tech with PET dispensers without the use of metal,” said Georges Gotlieb, president of Gotlieb Design & Resources, New York.

Whatever the avenue chosen to house the perfume, companies are looking for a sense of uniqueness to stand out and help consumers identify the brand. Many companies are not looking for anything too different than past years except more simplicity and elegance, said Mr. Gotlieb.

Designer Marc Rosen, president of Marc Rosen Associates, New York, reasoned, “If I am designing an upscale fragrance, I try to get across the image of the fashion designer—his or her work and point of view. Each designer appeals to a certain customer—I try to echo that in the design.”

she’s got the look
Creating a prestige look is achieved at more than surface level. When designing a bottle, several aspects must be taken into consideration to deliver quality and a look and feel that meet consumer expectations. “A few years ago, automobile companies spent millions of dollars to make sure a car has a certain feel when you open or close the door,” explained Peter Arentzen, president and chief executive officer, Augros Inc. “It seems to be the same with caps. A lot of companies want a heavy, weighted feel to caps. Metal is especially effective; it creates a look of high fashion, high quality and value.”

At the same time, caps must be compatible with filling equipment. They need to be designed for ease of use by manufacturers in both a cost-effective and contract filler-friendly manner, said Mr. Arentzen.
The relationship between weight and value can be found in many aspects of the bottle, including upscale designs.

Ellen Tracy’s basic A-line shape follows a recent trend toward the more colorful and adventurous 1980s.

“Heavy glass, frosted glass, a high-quality cap, heavy cap and printing or stamping on the carton itself all give the impression of quality,” opined Mr. Rosen.

The main impetus behind creating a bottle with, for example, frosted glass, a heavy metal cap and a custom-made emblem is that a quality product translates into higher price points. Customers will pay more to have an elegant piece to place on the nightstand or in the bathroom.

“Packaging delivers perceived value,” said Arkay’s Mr. Kaneff. “If an item is priced at $40-50, customers must see the value of what they are paying for, such as wonderful quality and well-executed design. That way, customers feel good about their purchase.”

But the line between mass and prestige brands has been blurred. Mass market brands are jumping on the bandwagon to attract buyers who want an affordable product in a package that imitates prestige designs. Even mass market manufacturers are adding value at lower price points, such as L’Oréal, Neutrogena and Roc, added Mr. Kaneff.

“This trend is feeding this competitive market more and more,” said Mr. Kaneff. “Companies are always looking for ways to advertise, sell, promote and put a product out there. At the same time, they are also adding more value.”

schools of thought
Not only are the definitions of mass and prestige blurring, but in the prestige category itself, there does not seem any consistent opinions on what is hot.

According to Mr. Gotlieb, there are two schools, that of minimalism such as Calvin Klein and Prescriptive’s Magic or the intricate, such as Christian La Croix’s conch shell-like bottle with ornate embossing and linen weaves on the outer packaging. Past designs were the minimalist 1970s, which were again revived in the 1990s; the future is the glitzy 1980s. Designs today represent a departure from high-tech, white, black, plain and severe looks, according to Mr. Gotlieb, and are coming back to simpler shapes that complement the fragrances with more color, he added.

Michael Kors uses many different materials to achieve its end-look.

For example, Lancôme’s new Miracle, housed in a clear bottle with a fluorescent pink fragrance, grabs the consumer’s attention with its flashy color. Victoria’s Secret Pink features a clear, up-side-down A-shaped bottle with hints of dark pink on a same-shaped clear inner cap, outer cap and on the flask’s bottom. Despite the simple and colorful movement, forward-looking designs with color are also compatible.

“This year, there is also futuristic packaging that uses different production techniques,” added Mr. Gotlieb. “It looks different, but is not very functional or user-friendly. It seems to be more for an art gallery than a boudoir.”
“I feel there has been a tremendous renewed interest in designing packages with a sense of luxury,” added Mr. Rosen. “In the nineties, packaging was more spare, ‘less is more,’ simple and almost generic, like CK One. We are now reverting back to the eighties with a more modern way of giving the impression of luxury, such as J’Adore by Christian Dior and Ellen Tracy.”

Ellen Tracy features a clear glass bottle cut to imitate an A-line dress. The rose-colored fragrance can be seen through the glass, accented with a rose-colored metal collar with the Ellen Tracy name etched on it. The bottle is topped with a cylindrical white frosted Surlyn stopper manufactured by Augros. The stopper follows the length of the collar.

With the many new options offered by manufacturers, variety can be found everywhere in the market, according to Eric Vaxelaire, sales manager of perfumery and cosmetics, Valois, a Greenwich, CT-based pump manufacturer.

Unilever Cosmetics International’s Latitude/Longi- tude fragrance marries aluminum and cobalt glass in one package.

“There was not as much choice in the past,” said Mr. Vaxelaire. “Today designs tend to be simple, such as Armani’s Aqua di Gio. Or, designs can be really different—you either like them or you don’t—such as Michael Kors. To reach a large range of customers, sometimes companies must make that choice and take a risk.”
Aqua di Gio features a square frosted glass bottle with a silver cap and logo. Givenchy’s Michael Kors spotlights a square glass bottle and silver cap with hints of triangles in the glass and on top of the cap.
“Everyone is looking for something unique, and whatever it is, it goes,” conceded Augros’ Mr. Arentzen. “For example, Perry Ellis Portfolio for Men uses a long, extended piece of aluminum for the whole container.”

hot stuff
Like the weather, bottle trends change with the season. Many personal care products are highly influenced by catwalk fashions. This year it seems the more touchable the bottle is, the better. But whatever the choice, fine fragrances are often custom-designed to help the bottle achieve the utmost uniqueness.

A growing trend, according to Valois’ Mr. Vaxelaire, is low profile pumps or justified pumps that are custom designed only for that perfume. Most shoppers are looking for that “certain something” which is delivered both in the fragrance and the package which are one-of-a-kind.

“Prestige perfumes not only offer an aromatic quality, but also a visual quality,” said Arkay’s Mr. Kaneff. “The two have always been there, but now the industry is moving to the next level—textiles. During the past one or two years, fragrance packaging has looked to touch most of the senses.”

According to Mr. Kaneff, prestige manufacturers are trying to marry other materials to standard materials. Companies are constantly looking to drive innovation. Right now Arkay is working with a rubber material to make outer packages more unique. Flock, a suave-like velvet, is also gaining popularity, he said.

For example, Perry Ellis’ Portfolio for Men has soft-touch rubber on the sides of the bottle and a steel embossed carton with an aluminum piece. Marc Rosen used black soft-touch elastomer in his design for Nitro. Jean Paul Gaultier introduced a street lantern-like container for Valentine’s Day featuring a velvet bottom holding two miniatures of Classique and Le Male.

Bottle designs have become more visual and tactile, according to Mr. Gotlieb. It is very important for the bottle to feel right in the hand. The bottle must translate as much visually as the fragrance itself and help the customer realize its olfactory effect on sight, he said. Mr. Gotlieb cited Estée Lauder’s Pleasures as a strong example of seamless design from the inside out. Pleasures has clean screen printing on the cap and an opaque matte texture on both the bottle and the carton, simulating its clean and sexy scent of white lily, black lilac, white peony and violet leaves.

Jean Paul Gaultier uses a metal lantern and velvet holder to dress the fragrances.

In addition to packages becoming more tactile, the newest innovations blend materials to make never before-seen combinations. “The mixture of different materials is something really new,” said Valois’ Mr. Vaxelaire. “Michael Kors is a mixture of plastic, metal and glass. Unilever Cosmetics International’s new Nautica Latitude/Longitude is a mixture of glass and metal. There are also different outer packages such as metal boxes, metal cans and boxes lined with velvet.”

Industry experts also point out that plastics are metalized for ease of use and to add the important weight and feel to packaging components. “Augros produces caps in metal, plastic or a combination of the two,” said Mr. Arentzen. “To visualize the colored metal through the plastic, a piece of metal with a unique design is over-molded with plastic. Aluminum is the most common metal and the hottest colors right now include green and red.”

With all these new innovative materials, the options seem endless. This is where the line between mass and prestige is blurring since mass manufacturers can afford to use techniques such as embossing and the use of matte textures.

“I’ve seen a lot of blending of mass and prestige in terms of looks,” opined Mr. Kaneff. “It’s always been mass versus class, but it has become harder and harder to differentiate between the two. Mass products have been looking to do something different. And by adding special effects, they are adding higher perceived value.”

Differences, however, do still exist between mass and prestige fragrances. “In the mass market, the designs are parallel to brand names, such as a romantic brand using a romantic bottle,” said Mr. Rosen. “But designers create quality packaging, whether it is a mass or department store fragrance.”

Trends aside, the main goal behind any bottle is retail success, which underlies all decisions made in bottle appearance. “The trend is to be different and everyone wants to use new materials and designs to reach all generations,” explained Valois’ Mr. Vaxelaire. “The choices of customers in-store are often made at the last minute because they like the look and feel of a product. If a package is not different, the sale is lost.”