FUN and FUNCTIONAL

Beauty companies are putting the fun back in functional when it comes to their cosmetic packaging, creating a new crop of whimsical items to house favorite products. Industry executives say these items can create excitement at counter, lure young or new consumers to a brand and help ring up additional sales.

In some cases, these ancillary items take their cue from current pop culture trends (i.e., how can I carry my iPod and my lip gloss together?). But ingenuity has also led to unusual, yet functional packaging that addresses unmet consumer needs for portability, customization and quantity control (see side bar on page 79).

However, most of these unique products are just plain fun (i.e., a trendy ring with a secret compartment for product), which is good for the cosmetic packaging industry, which since the 1990s has seen a steady flow of no-nonsense, no-frills packaging.

“There seems to be a return to having some humor to makeup. Make up is fun,” says New York City-based designer Marc Rosen, who notes that these items can often serve as an entree to beauty for novice users. “It brings the younger consumer in; it’s good for industry,” adds Rosen.

You Wear It Well

While the connection between the two industries is hardly new, much of today’s offbeat cosmetic packaging is inspired by jewelry design. Beauty companies are creating rings, bracelets and necklaces that do double duty. They look cool and house favorite cosmetics.

Among those dabbling in this trend are sister trend-setting companies Hard Candy and Urban Decay.

Hard Candy offers the Charmed Lip Gloss Bracelet, a cuff-style charm bracelet that carries two snap-off mini lip gloss vials with applicators. Launched at holiday last year and now available via the firm’s web site for $16, the bracelet is available in Sky, which features nude and glittering watermelon glosses, and Pussy Kat, which includes sheer grape and shimmering peach glosses.

Meanwhile, Urban Decay has unveiled its new limited edition Poison Ring for holiday 2006. Sold with three interchangeable shades of the brand’s XXX Shine Gloss and housed in a faux snake-skin box, the face of the ring features a one-of-a-kind design that the company bills as punk rock meets “Wuthering Heights.”The entwined design features a cryptic skull (a signature of past Urban Decay Poison Rings), flowers, butterflies and fish magnified by a clear dome top. The sterling-silver plated ring, which retails for $50, was made by Ma Cher, according to company officials.

It’s not just funky niche brands exploring jewelry-inspired packaging. High-end fashion and cosmetics house Christian Dior offers Gourmette, a silver charm bracelet with the Dior logo that houses two shades of its Addict ultra gloss. Although much steeper in price ($70 at Sephora) than other makeup packaging disguised as jewelry, Gourmette offers status-seeking consumers a more affordable entry into Dior couture.

But does the average cosmetic customer really want these products? Industry pundits see value. “I think there is great interest in these items in the younger markets,” says packaging design consultant Robert DuGrenier. “If the item is done well, like the Dior bracelet, it has broader appeal.”

Still, DuGrenier warns that regardless of price, quality matters when it comes to an item’s design and function. “If the product is designed well, high-quality and functions well, it will definitely help attract customers to a brand,” says DuGrenier, whose Townshend, VT-based firm has developed lighted LED cosmetics cases. The Litelips collection, which can be used for lipstick, mascara, nail polish or lip gloss, features two LED lights in the base of the case and a larger mirror on the side of the case. “You can apply make-up in the car, restaurant, club and other low lights areas,” notes DuGrenier, adding that “major companies” have placed orders for the lighted components, with launches scheduled for the fall.

You Can Take It With You

Items that enable users to travel light are very much welcome in our portable, on-the-go culture. To make it easier to carry favorite cosmetic products (especially when a pocketbook isn’t necessary), companies need to think outside the handbag. Hard Candy, Avon’s mark. and Sugar Cosmetics offer lip gloss key chains, while other firms offer products that latch on to today’s absolutely necessary high-tech accessories. For example, Delux Beauty offers Leash Delux, a pouch that holds its lip gloss and a MP3 player, while Bourjois Paris’ Effet 3D Mobile High Shine Lip Gloss Cell Charm, offered at approximately $9, is a mini version of its best-selling lip gloss that attaches to a cell phone.

Elizabeth Arden, too, is dabbling in the portability trend with its Luck in Love Heart Charm lip gloss, which is part of the Britney Spears Beauty line. According to Jean Antretter, senior design director who created the packaging for Curious, the young artist’s fragrance, the look of the heart-shaped charm plays into the scent’s packaging. To house the strawberry-scented, pink shimmer lip gloss, Antretter combined a stock
base and jewel-like
custom lid.

Often, the link between celebrity-themed products and these whimsical offerings is strong, say experts in the field. “With celebrity themed fragrance/makeup it makes more sense; it takes on the personality of the celebrity,” notes Rosen.

The limited-run Britney Spears charm, which came to market approximately five months ago, has been well received so far. “It has matched our expectations, given that it’s an ancillary item,” said Karen Huntoon, director, global marketing, fragrance, with Elizabeth Arden. “The goal was to have something animated at counter, to keep the customer coming back to check out the line.”

Industry experts suggest uniquely packaged products — even if created for a promotion or limited run only — can keep customers coming back to the counter, and offers an alternative means to entice spending than the traditional gift-with-purchase concept (GWP).

“It’s a better way to promote than GWP,” says Rosen, “because you are selling.”

Your Daily Dose

Rings and key chains are unique ways to package cosmetics, but companies are also thinking beyond the basic tin to create unusual but functional items that addresses unmet consumer needs for portability, customization and quantity control. Often, these products inspire “why didn’t someone think of this sooner?” reactions from customers.

A leader in this area is Cargo Cosmetics and its founder Hana Zalzal. A civil engineer, Zalzal has created — and patented— some of the market’s most functional packaging, much of it inspired by her own experience with basic cosmetic packaging.

“The last frontier of customization is quantity. You should be able to take as little or as much as you need,” says Zalzal, who, after a trip to Florida began to work on a more portable way to transport lip glosses. Her creation: DailyGloss, a 30-day supply of three different shades of lip gloss housed in the ubiquitous blister pack, a mainstay of the pharmaceutical market. Users can break off a single dose to tuck into their back pocket, or tear off as many units as needed for a long weekend getaway. Individual doses also offer a more sanitary supply for professional makeup artists or for sharing a favorite shade with a friend.

According to Zalzal, Cargo’s aim is to be a solution provider. “We don’t do packaging for attention getting. It has to make sense. It has to be easier and better for our customers,” she says.

Other examples from Cargo’s portfolio include foundation sold in a flexible pouch that collapses as the user depletes the product inside and ColorCards, single-use eye shadows that women can stow in their wallets.The Toronto-based company is also using its unique approach to packaging to give back to the community. Cargo will offer a new collection of GlossyGreetings, a series of gift cards and tags that include single doses of lip gloss, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to charity.

While Zalzal contends Cargo was the first to go the blister pack route in the gloss sector, she recognizes other companies are following suit. Says Zalzal, “It was a trend that was going to happen, regardless of who did it first.”

As companies look to expand cosmetic packaging beyond the basics, they expect suppliers to move with them. Yet, it isn’t always easy.According to Zalzal, Cargo had to look elsewhere when its current supplier wasn’t on board for what she called an upcoming “innovative” project due out in spring 2007.

Still, overall, Zalzal said it is easier to find suppliers today than it was a decade ago when she founded Cargo. “It’s getting easier,” she says. “They are taking us seriously. They see that our ideas aren’t crazy.”