The Right Applicator

Choosing the correct applicator is vital to a product’s success,
and today’s market offers more variety than ever.

Leah Genuario, Contributing Editor

Call it globulitis. A common concern, it’s readily identified by unsightly clumps in the eyelashes. The condition is related to the unfortunate lip-color-outside-the-lines syndrome and the you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-that-makeup-is-brushed-on-way-too-thick disease. And while none of these conditions will kill the fashion victim, they are sure to kill product sales. Fortunately, all of these problems can be remedied with a functional partnership between applicator and formulation.
    
Brand marketers must remember that when it comes to cosmetics, an innovative formulation is only half of the story. A good applicator that delivers the right amount of make-up to the right area is just as critical to a product’s success.
    

Alcan Packaging Beauty’s Eye Powder Shaker is an all-in-one powder container and applicator.

“If it’s the wrong applicator, the product is going to fail. Does the applicator achieve the purpose of the product?” asks Lou Della Pesca, president of 3C in Hawthorne, NJ.
    
Fortunately, today’s brand marketers are offered numerous applicator choices to ensure that the final product meets desired goals. Della Pesca says that applicator innovations in the past several years have been driven by formulation innovations.
    
With lip glosses, for example, numerous applicator choices are now available, a wide array that was not available even a decade ago. Brand marketers can choose from doe foots, brushes, roller balls, angle heads and multi-holed shower heads to name a few. Tips can come in a variety of widths and in different materials.
    
“Now, options offer you maximum ways to present your product, where before you were limited,” says Della Pesca.
    
To help aid in decision making, suppliers often start the development process by asking clients what marketing claims they intend to make. In the case of mascara, for example, “our customers tell us what the product will deliver as a claim to the customer—volumizing, defining, lengthening, etc.That’s where we start. Based on customer demands we then try to come out with the appropriate applicator,” says Antonio Montoli, product development and intellectual property, Risdon International, headquartered in Watertown, CT.
    
Before final decisions are made on any applicator, it is crucial to test how the applicator performs with the intended formulation. Even if one applicator initially seems perfect, it may produce undesirable results when paired with the chosen formulation.  
    

Wormser’s blush brush made of Taklon feels ultra-soft to the touch.

“Designers consider the look and feel in the hand of the applicator but work in conjunction with product development to ensure it will be truly functional.  It is important the performance is perfect for ease-of-use and for the customer to obtain the best benefits of the product,” says Diane Hammond, vice president package development and sales, Wormser Corporation, Englewood, NJ.
    
In short, “A good brush doesn’t mean anything. It’s a good brush for that package for that bulk,” quips Montoli.
    

The World of Mascara

Nowhere is the correct applicator choice more important than with mascara. And because of the numerous choices available in the marketplace today (not to mention the numerous patented constructions that must be avoided), it can also be the most challenging to find a perfect match.

“The challenge lies in finding the perfect combination of formula, rod diameter, wiper size and brush to provide a product that gives the consumer a specific application characteristic—e.g. lengthening, separation, volumizing,” says Fran Marchiel, application development manager for Alcan Packaging Beauty, New York, NY.
    
The variations are dizzying for newcomers to the beauty packaging industry. In the case of twisted wire mascara brushes, for instance, there are “endless possibilities as to type of fiber, fiber diameter, wire size and fiber density, as well as brush shape and profile,” comments Marchiel.
    
Each specific applicator construction serves a particular purpose. For example, “Mascara applicators whose bristles have an open-core cross-section (hollow) will provide a full-brush appearance and coat the maximum amount of product at the tip’s ends, whereas bristles with a high surface area that are an irregular (natural hairs) shape tend to have great pick up,” says Vonda Simon, president of Newport Beach, CA-based SeaCliff Packaging.  
    
Far from a static area of packaging, today’s mascara applicators continue to evolve. Plastic mascara brushes and combs are currently a trendy choice for brand marketers. The plastic material allows brand marketers the ability to color the tip, further enhancing the brand.
     
Covergirl’s new VolumeExact mascara, for example, features a burgundy tube with a coordinating red-tipped brush. The red-tipped brush, which can be seen by consumers pre-purchase, makes the product readily identifiable on store shelves and increases brand identity.
    
Rimmel recently teamed with Alcan Packaging Beauty to launch Magnif’Eyes with an elastomer brush claiming excellent separation and curling of lashes. Molded in red deep-died LDPE, the plastic brush promises easy application due to the addition of small burrs.
    
In order to accommodate this growing plastic brush trend, Alcan Packaging Beauty has recently announced capabilities to develop an injected mascara brush ready to be tested 15 days after the initial design.
     
“Thanks to a unique process, varying the brush’s shape and flexibility is quick and easy, so different concepts can be tested to achieve the required make-up effect,” says Caroline Defrance, operational marketing manager.
     
Risdon International has also seen the emergence of a new trend concerning mascara applicators.
     
“We are working with customers to come out with very small brushes to target specific lashes,” says Montoli, “Sometimes they are built on double-enders, so you might have one generic brush on one side, and one defining brush on the other side.”

Glam on the Go

The need for convenience, which is driving so much of package design today, has also impacted the world of applicators. Many suppliers point to the popularity of applicators that are good travel companions.
    
“Everyone is working more these days, and there is a need for items that are small, portable, but still have an impact and can do the job needed. A portable applicator is perfect for the busy, multi-tasking consumer,” says Simon.
    
“Convenience continues to be a dominant and current market trend,” says Rebecca Goswell, creative director for UK-based HCT group. “Every woman likes a touch-up during the day and the more convenient the product is to apply, the more attractive a feature it becomes.”
    
Consumers’ busy lifestyles have resulted in several trends affecting cosmetic applicators. “There has been an increasing trend for the product and applicator to be contained in one unit for added convenience, something HCT was able to participate in when we worked with Too Faced to launch the Too Faced Magic Wand Pump Pen,” says Goswell.
    
The pen used for the Too Faced project features a large brush on the tip. When a button on the pen is pressed, foundation is dispensed into the middle of the brush, allowing for soft application with seamless coverage no matter where a woman is at the moment.
    

Qosmedix offers a “purse-sized” dial-up applicator tube for a quick, mess-free application.

In keeping with the all-in-one trend, Qosmedix is supplying portable, “purse-sized” dial-up applicator tubes with a variety of caps and tips. The pen-shaped tube holds 2ml of product and the click-dial feature advances the product to the top, offering a mess-free and on-the-go product for glosses, oils or gels. “Dial-up applicators are gaining in popularity because they allow customer-measured amounts of products to be dispensed to the tip.” says Nancy Klimpel, marketing coordinator for Qosmedix, Edgewood, NY.
    
Recognizing the need for portability and no-mess application, along with increased use of make-up powders, Alcan Packaging Beauty has launched a compact Eye Powder Shaker, a completely different all-in-one construction.    
     
“The market has seen the launch of various loose eye shimmer powders, which present the same issue as facial loose powders: dispersion. When applying the powder it scatters under and around the eyelids,” says Defrance.
     
Alcan Packaging Beauty’s Eye Powder Shaker prevents the dispersion of powder with an all-in-one powder container and applicator, featuring a polypropylene cap with a built-in sponge, mini-sifter and a SAN base. When the small, portable package is closed, the sponge seals the sifter, eliminating powder mess.
     
In addition to all-in-one applicator/package constructions, the emergence of retractable brushes is

Risdon’s new FlexTouch applicators promise a softer, more flexible feel when applying make-up.

another travel-friendly applicator to accommodate today’s on-the-go consumers.
     
Retractable brushes “provide convenient tools for quick touch-ups that keep pace with hectic schedules. They also keep the brush clean and the bristles in shape,” says Klimpel. Qosmedix has recently launched petite retractable brushes for lips.
     
Wormser Corporation is now offering brand marketers several retractable brushes with a locking mechanism. “They are very convenient to take in your hand bag for touch-ups throughout the day.  We added a locking mechanism so there is no chance that the brush will open in your bag,” says Hammond.
    
Retractable brushes are becoming increasingly popular among brand marketers. Kevyn Aucoin Beauty recently took advantage of a retractable lip brush supplied by Anisa International,Atlanta, GA, for its Elegant Lip Gloss. The lip gloss is housed in a metal pot and can be worn with or without lip color.
    

Kevyn Aucoin’s Elegant Lip Gloss makes use of a retractable lip brush.

The brush offers several advantages. “A retractable lip brush allows precise application of product to the lips with the benefit of the product actually going on the lips alone,” comments Brenda Ventura, vice president of the New York City-based company. “And, of course, it’s portable. Kevyn insisted that a woman should be able to take her tools with her and be able to make up wherever.”      
    
Suppliers and brand marketers continue to accommodate society’s need for convenience with the introductions of new applicators and package constructions. Perhaps the most popular way to cater to busy customers, however, is by offering dual products with dual applicators, sold together in one container.

Dual-Ended Applicators

It’s a great idea for crammed purses or suitcases: one make-up stick or tube offering two products. A dual-ended applicator can also be a good choice for the color coordinated-challenged.
    
Simon sees lip color and treatments as a big user of dual-ended applicators. As she explains, “Consumers today want the ease of use having a pre-determined lipstick attached to a gloss. It takes the guess work out of the selection. The consumer knows, without a doubt, that the colors they are putting together are complimentary to each other,” says Simon. SeaCliff Packaging is currently developing a dual-ended lipstick/gloss package.
     
Whether it is for portability or ease-of-use, dual-ended applicators are in high demand. “It’s still as popular as it’s been for the last two or three years,” says Della Pesca. “And it can be any combination you can think of—mascara/liner, mascara/comb, lip gloss/stick, even double nail-polish. The variations you can come up with are almost endless.”
     

Tarte’s Lock and Roll features a dual applicator container that instructs users to follow a specific sequence.

Although dual-applicators are not a new idea, Risdon International has witnessed the beginning of a new trend. In the last 18 months, Eric Idec, creative services, has observed products that are meant to be applied in a specific sequence. “You’ll actually have [instructions] on the label, or the primary packaging, that will have a sequence you will follow.”
    
Following this trend, Tarte Cosmetics has recently launched Lock & Roll. A cream shadow/powder shadow duo, Lock & Roll first instructs consumers to brush on the cream shadow, and then roll the loose powder shadow on top. The binding agents in the cream shadow react with the powder to create a smudge-free finish. According to the company, the combination eases the process of make-up application and streamlines the routine.

Nice Touch

Consumers are also responding to a pleasing tactile experience. Suppliers have put an emphasis on enhancing the consumer experience, mainly through offering applicators that provide a softer touch.
    
To this end, Risdon International has launched FlexTouch, an applicator tip with three versions for lip gloss and a forth shape for concealer or eye shadows.
    
According to the company, FlexTouch provides a flexible tip, making the application more comfortable with a softer feel. In addition to the pleasant tactile touch, the flock tip applicators provide more surface area for color cosmetic products.  
    
Wormser has also developed an ultra-soft blush brush made of taklon, where the tips are feathered. “In today’s market we are finding more customers are interested in synthetic materials. Taklon, for example, has a very soft feel and applies makeup smoothly,” says Hammond.