In an extensive practical trial at topac GmbH, a company specializing in print products and carton packaging, Henkel’s new environmentally sustainable metallic-effect UV coating delivered convincing results on a high-end decorative look for cosmetics packages.

Because MiraFoil is a new kind of UV metallic-effect coating, the topac management decided to run extensive line trials, which included a fictitious nature-based cosmetics brand package, in collaboration with Henkel. The glamour factor that MiraFoil brings with its silver, gold and copper varieties is due to micro-thin aluminum platelets in different sizes. During curing under UV radiation, these platelets align themselves into a highly reflective structure similar to that of fish scales. This effect remains even when the coating is overprinted with ink. It gives designers the freedom to create an impressive metallic brilliance with any desired color, says Henkel.

“MiraFoil seemed especially interesting to us because it opens up a completely new approach to finishing. For one thing, the visual impact of a package is the decisive factor at the POS, and MiraFoil already showed its strengths in this respect because of the variety of gloss effects it can produce,” noted Susanne Klose, sales and marketing manager at topac GmbH in Gütersloh, Germany. “The other aspect is that Henkel also turns the spotlight on sustainability with this product. And it is precisely this issue that increasingly tips the scales for or against a particular finishing method. We are already taking this into account through our Top Green Line product group, with which we introduced climate-neutral packaging using FSC-certified materials. There is a very definite focus on sustainable packaging in the cosmetics industry, especially for nature-based cosmetics, but we are also seeing this more and more often in the entertainment sector as well. Here, economics is an equally important factor, and this is where the metallic-effect coating scores once again.”