For some time now, we have been seeing a very pared down and streamlined approach to product design. In beauty, this move has in some part been driven by the trend for clean, honest, sustainable, natural, organic products and, ergo, a corresponding design. But while in recent uncertain times, brands have inevitably been playing it safe and continuing in this vein of “stylish simplicity,” there has actually never been a better time to get noticed by influencing through the shock of the new. And we are just starting to see a new and more edgy packaging expression coming through as we embrace an altered perception of reality and, once again, find pleasure in the unexpected, the mystical and the fantastical.

Through the Looking Glass

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this trend has become more prominent and popular as several new beauty products have launched on the heels of the recent hype surrounding the movie “Avatar”—Milani Cosmetics’ 3D nail polish and Avon’s Eternal Magic fragrance—and the craze for everything Alice.

Branded products launched to coincide with a film have become hugely popular and are a potentially lucrative—but short-term—money-spinner. However, there is always a danger of losing authenticity and credibility as you tread the line between producing gimmicky movie merchandise rather than creating great packaging design that coherently tells its own story and is relevant and true to the heart of the brand.

I think Disney pulled a stroke of genius when it chose to partner with Urban Decay. The new Alice In Wonderland Book Of Shadows eye makeup palette (supplied by HCT) is a perfectly designed packaging interpretation of the story with its pop-up scene and fantastical illustrations. But, more important, it works perfectly in keeping with the brand heritage and growing portfolio and the vastly different, but still darkly gothic and illustrative style of UD’s previous Vol. I and Vol. 2 Book of Shadows.

Glittery blue Absolutely Alice nail color from OPI’s “Alice in Wonderland” collection

OPI has also created an Alice collection—slightly more tenuous and really just a naming project—but good fun with its glittery blue Absolutely Alice and black multi-glitter Mad As A Hatter nail colors.










Beauty on the Edge

There are other bold brands starting to appear that are not just riding on the Alice skirt-tails but which are proud to stand up for a new edginess in beauty.

Tarina Tarantino’s cosmetics collection (also supplied by HCT) provides varied looks through its combination of girly and gothic.

Tarina Tarantino, a former makeup artist famed for her sparkly and outrageous jewelry collections, has introduced her complete cosmetics collection (also supplied by HCT) designed to take girls of all ages on a fantastical journey and provide many varied and unusual looks. The Victorian Punk Collection, for example, brings together an inimitable blend of gothic style, rich Victorian colors and a nod to ’70s punk rock. It does look a bit “plastic fantastic,” but is refreshingly novel and open to interpretation through its successful combination of girly and gothic.

We always expect new and quirky beauty brands that defy all others to come out of the Far East. The latest Japanese inspired collection of makeup and accessories is Tokidoki. Tokidoki (in the vein of Hello Kitty) is undeniably cute, but also irresistibly edgy, with products such as its Fantastico Lip Ink—a magic marker for lips—and tempora tattoos with the signature Tokidoki heart and crossbones and similar colors to Tarina with purple, black and red hues.

With new structures and delivery systems and a dare-to-be-different psyche, Tokidoki is certainly indicative of the new mood that shows our pushing of the boundaries and a move from the pared down and simple to abundance and design detail.

Potent-ial Potions

Beauty has always been about creativity, experimentation and individual expression. But, ironically, the more advances that have been made and the more products and innovations that have come our way, the more formulaic the sector has become. The orderly—dare we say prescriptive—nature of our brands over the past few years has enabled us to form product routines and feel comforted, cared for and in control of our products. And the popularity of natural products with calming and soothing properties has reflected and strengthened the continuation of this regimen. But, just as we are seeing new edgy brands kick against order in the beauty landscape, we are also seeking the original, unfettered strength of nature and are looking to capture and use it in its original form. A new raw, potent and powerful product and packaging expression is coming through.

We are witnessing a notable return to exoticism and alchemy that sees us combining raw nature and the elements, unusual ingredients and recipes from long-lost civilizations. This harnessing of the raw—and maybe darker side—of nature demands a reappraisal of beauty’s form and communication; and there is a rebel yell coming from the gothic inspired packaging of some more primal, noir-ish brands such as Modern Alchemy. Its Eros fragrance combines the heady scents of “heated skin, ambrette seed and cordova leather,” and the packaging is darkly sensuous with its oversized satin ribbon and embossing.

In the same vein as Eros, Baudelaire is the new arrival from perfume brand Byredo, inspired by Charles Baudelaire and his poem “Les Fleurs du Mal” to create their leathery unisex scent about “. . . a lazy isle to which nature has given singular trees, savory fruits, men with bodies vigorous and slender, and women in whose eyes shines a startling candor . . .”

Anthropologie’s Fringe Alchemy soaps are hand-wrapped and feature an individual gilded design incorporating flora and fauna.

Brands such as Anthropologie are also experimenting with an unusual ingredient base—for its new range of four Fringe Alchemy soaps—with, for example its Fleur de Lys soap featuring a combination of ginger, orange blossom, violet and sandalwood. The ingredients are exotic and heady, but not heavy and sensuous in the same way as Eros or Baudelaire. Therefore, although the packaging is just as effective, it is very different. The unique composition of the soap is communicated through a hand-wrapped and sleeved product and an individual gilded design incorporating flora and fauna.

MOR has also adopted this more feminine and artistic approach. Much admired for its contemporary and geometric designs and structures, MOR’s new collection has gone to the other extreme with a return to heritage colors and Victorian-inspired flounces and frills. Most notable is the Belladonna bath and body collection with the slightly sinister and potent connotation of its main ingredient in no way mirroring the premium, illustrative quality of its design and packaging.

There are no design rules steering this. From dark and dangerous to flouncy and floral to an ultimate “rawness” in packaging as is referenced by Martin Margiela’s new fragrance Maison Martin Margiela which is named (untitled). In keeping with his aesthetic, it is far removed from both the concept of branding and from force fitting nature.

MOR’s Belladonna collection is notable for the premium illustrative quality of its design and packaging.

Overall, it’s still very much about natural materials, but more about the experimentation with them. And it’s not just a trend amongst what could be termed boutique brands as it has already filtered down and entered into the mass consciousness with more weird and wonderful ingredients being used by selected mainstream brands.

Is This the Reality?

Korres has recently launched its Quercetin & Oak Age-reversing Primer. Oak is a fairly unusual ingredient in its own right while Quercetin is actually a plant-derived flavonoid. It looks like the Korres family in that the prime ingredient (oak) is reflected in the block (brown) color of the packaging, but I do think that—in this case—the packaging could maybe better promote the unusual ingredients without losing the family heritage?

This shift from the reigned in, considered, pared down creativity we have been seeing to a new creative expression centered on gothic, noir and surrealism will not, of course, be right for every brand. But, we can all look at the new opportunity and potent-ial for our packaging based on an expression of intensity, detail, sensuality, abundance and edginess. Time to give our brands a reality check?