Bésame Cosmetics, a small family-run makeup brand that honors a luxe, glamorous, vintage Hollywood style, was created in 2004 by cosmetics historian Gabriela Hernandez. The Made in the USA, California-based brand prides itself on being environmentally friendly by being low waste, using recyclable materials and having natural ingredients, and Hernandez says she works closely with the chemist “to ensure we’re not only meeting but exceeding these clean beauty standards.” She adds, “The brand’s simple yet luxurious formulations are “made with pride and a labor of love, each one being 100% cruelty-free and created for sensitive skin.”

Hernandez has created detailed and imaginative collections for brands from Disney and Marvel, and honored memorable women throughout history, including Lucille Ball—and the latest collection, which pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe.

A favorite of Hollywood professional makeup artists, Bésame Cosmetics has appeared in Mad Men, American Horror Story, Feud, Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood, Marvel’s Agent Carter, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and many more.

All Bésame products are created to be long-wearing, minimal waste, and “packaged to be displayed proudly.” Every product is gluten, paraben, mineral-oil, phthalates, formaldehyde, and cruelty-free.

Evolving to Refillables

Hernandez says the brand is constantly evolving to offer more refillable and low-waste products. Bésame’s signature Refillable Compact, Cream Rouge and Brown Cake Mascara are two of the brand’s latest achievements in this area. The Signature Compacts are $68 while the compact refills are $18.50. The Cream Rouge is $20. The Brown Cake Mascara is $20 and the refill is $25.

The Cream Rouge is not only made out of 100% natural ingredients like all of the makeup crafted by Bésame Cosmetics, but it comes with a foam liner to ensure the makeup arrives in perfect condition. After receipt, the foam can be added to the soil of potted plants helping flora to grow and thrive.

The Brown Cake Mascara uses fewer resources while still meeting the customers’ needs. Consumers can continue using the original tin it shipped in because Bésame Cosmetics offers a refill.

The brand’s Signature Refillable Compact, featuring Aurora and Soft Focus, are low waste due to the tin pan being recyclable. And upon ordering a refill for your compact it will be shipped to you in a recyclable paper bag.

Hernandez tells Beauty Packaging, “I wanted to make this compact for several years, but did not have the right manufacturing partners to make it a reality. Last year, I began working with a group that could make my vintage compact reproductions and the first compact I reproduced with my 1928 Art Deco design. All vintage compacts were refillable, so it was natural to make them for our line.”

She says it was a challenging design to produce because of the many facets in the octagon and the stair-step design in the lid. Keeping the weight down was also a priority, since the pieces are molded in solid zamac. “For the top,’” she says, “we need the surface to be flat with the inlaid flower in gold, so we chose to use a ground enamel technique to make the top super smooth and the gold a high shine polish. For the interior, we used a large central magnet attached to a center column, that provides stability for the pan without adding the extra weight of a full cavity magnet.”

The brand used gold plated zamac for the base and top, with ground red enamel on the top. Hernandez says on other compacts they designed for launch this year, they also used brass. The compact was produced by Metal Dynamics.

What about secondary packaging? Hernandez says, “For the compacts, we made a hard board keepsake box, similar to a jewelry box, that is lined with satin and also includes a velvet fabric pouch. The refills come in recyclable paper bags, since they keep the product safe from breakage but also do not have excess packaging and waste.”

“Our signature compact is a culmination of several years of research and development,” says Hernandez,  “so I am very proud to bring this compact to the market. I am also working on more innovative refillable compacts to be released later this year and next year.”

Hernandez says they are expanding the compact series with several licensed collections that use this type of compact, and special editions this year. “We are also adding more refills to our line, so customers will have ten choices of powders, highlighters or blushes to refill their compacts.”