Product Category

2013-12-20 10:23:18

Luxe Pack Monaco Shines Brightly

2013-12-20 10:23:18

Vividly hued Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis; tantalizing orange and lemon trees and fuchsia bougainvillea; and prestige store windows laden with glimmering gold baubles and sumptuous fashions. The colorful and opulent nature of the principality of Monaco once again created the ideal setting for the industry’s most prestigious packaging show, which in its 26th year, took place October 23-25, once again, at the Grimaldi Forum, aside the sparkling azure Mediterranean Sea.

Despite continuing global economic woes, the luxury market continues to expand at record levels, and Luxe Pack’s halls of exhibitors (a record 400 this year) paid tribute to the trend. Visitors numbered 7,439 up 6% over 2012. While France accounted for nearly half of this year’s attendees, 77 countries were represented at the very international show, including Italy (19%); rest of Europe (28%); and rest of world (7%).

From golden foils to finely textured porcelain jars, intricate paper filigrees to sparkling jewel-tone anodized metals, packaging seems to be taking on more of a luxurious tone than ever—in fact, inspiring super premium products to aim for an even richer look. What’s driving the momentum? In general, it seems a growing international group of younger consumers wanting to spend on luxury items; and an expanding Chinese and Middle Eastern population with financial wealth and a penchant for the finer things in life. These last two groups are also fueling a healthy rise in Travel Retail—and many exhibitors were displaying products geared to meet these demands, including travel kits and mini fragrance sets. Several suppliers even introduced packaging that they say inspires new, luxurious beauty gestures.

Luxe Pack executive director Nathalie Grosdidier

While the predominant focus of Luxe Pack Monaco remains on beauty, the Spirits category was widely evidenced and the decorative trends on lavishly embellished bottles held a noticeable synergy with highly decorated fragrance flacons—contributing to the cross-pollination approach that Luxe Pack executive director Nathalie Grosdidier says she aims for with every edition of the show.

Grosdidier toldthat Luxe Pack Monaco has become even more international, bringing the opportunity for sharing among continents, from beauty to spirits. She said this year’s show attracted more spirits visitors as well as suppliers, a trend that has been increasing over the last few years. “It’s a good way to expand innovation,” she said. “When you cross ideas it’s richer.” And, in fact, packaging for fragrance and spirits share quite a few commonalities. (Ed note: Watch for an article on this topic in the January 2014 edition of Beauty Packaging.)

Grosdidier noted the continuing rise of suppliers offering decorative techniques, and also, this year, the extension into personalized and “smart” packaging.

Golden Nuggets

Foti Flogeras, a European-based fragrance packaging designer, works with clients in China and the Middle East—two very different markets, he said—and was visiting Luxe Pack Monaco to meet with suppliers and attend trend and educational sessions. He told Beauty Packaging, “The Chinese are just developing their purchasing/consuming habits. You have to win over Chinese consumers with the packaging because often they have no experience with the product—what’s inside.”

He said the Chinese like to buy beautiful packages as presents or to display as decorative objects. “Sheer numbers make it a big market,” said Flogeras. And when it comes to the Middle East? Flogeras says they want “gold, gold and gold.” And their cultural habits are unique as well. Flogeras said consumers in the Middle East like strong aromas and tend to use a heavy hand. “They can go through a 100ml bottle in a week,” he said.

Gold, of course, has always held universal appeal as a symbol of wealth, so it works well to visually translate the richness of a luxury product. Therefore, glints of gold punctuated packaging materials and components throughout Grimaldi’s halls, from luxury papers and foils to hot stamping and printing, adding even more of a touch of glitz and glamour than usual.

Mignotgraphie, for example, was featuring its Discover Metal technique. The French company said the process allows it to offer metallized films in a wide range of colors and effects, via screen-printing, for large formats from perfume bottles to champagne or spirits.

At CTL Tubes, metallic stamping on matte black tubes, called extra attention to its High Stamp Collection.The shiny hot stamping is available in a wide variety of colors, on a range of sizes.

ITW showed a broad array of packaging solutions from its specialty brand identity products, including heat transfer labels and hot stamp films, which can be applied to a wide range of plastic and glass substrates. Heat transfer labels can combine multiple vibrant colors, metallic and textured looks in a single label. A rainbow of hot stamp foils with special reflective coatings gives packaging a mirrored and polished finish—and one that’s also scratch-resistant.

Dreyer Kliche, of Copenhagen, drew a crowd attracted to its intricate, textured, shiny metallic embellishments achieved with its vast assortment of dies and embossing tools.

Kurz also stood out with its wide array of hot stamping foils, applied through vertical stamping or a roll-on process. On display was a shiny carton that flaunted a digital image in its center.

Aluminum caps and collars for perfume and skin care lit up the stand at Saco, which prides itself on keeping 1,500 standard caps in stock at all times. On display was also a new cap for diffusers. With two factories in the north of England, Saco offers embossing and debossing and a large color palette.

Glass Glows with Decorative Techniques

Glass manufacturers were plentiful at Luxe Pack Monaco, with a couple of new suppliers joining the crowd. With glass production unchanged for centuries, the innovation lies mostly in the decoration—and advances have been impressive.

Glass flacons and cosmetic jars often displayed touches of gold, thanks to a plethora of decorative effects—and a wide variety of caps, pumps and closures. Very heavy substantial bases proved prevalent, as did combinations of plastics (such as glass-like Surlyn caps) and metallics with glass bottles.

Bormioli Luigi’s airy booth set the stage for many of its fragrance bottles—as well as highlighting its entry into the Spirits world, especially cognac bottles. As mentioned, the trend was toward a weightiness—with very heavy glass on the bottom and sides. Bormioli’s new flacon for Bentley included these characteristics along with a noticeable purity of the glass. Acqua Essenziale also followed the trend, with crisp angles to boot.

SGD’s compartmentalized showcase held a variety of glass fragrance and cosmetics packages, including a collaborative kit done with other suppliers for a First Class travel set, featuring mini, unbreakable glass items (including a glass roller ball)—thanks to SGD’s plastic coating that wraps around the small jars. Also in cosmetics, metallic pad printing for makeup jars matched the eye shadows inside. When it came to fragrance, Invictus, which looks like a trophy, took the prize. Erwan Pian-Rouzard, marketing project manager, said it was a difficult process to join the thick glass foot to the main part of the bottle, with a one-piece mold. The handles of the cap clip on to the glass.

Solev’s combination of metallization, laser and color work created a subtle patina for a beautiful vintageeffect.

Four-hundred year old glassmaker Groupe Pochet, encompassing Qualipac and Solev, displayed an impressive array of packaging from glass bottles and jars to plastics and metals—with high-end decorative techniques to covet. Many projects were developed using joint skills from the sister companies. Metallic-Millesime, or more pedantically, Vintage Metallization, is a decorative technology that immediately transports the onlooker to another time and place. Solev’s combination of metallization, laser and color work together to create a subtle patina for a “used” effect, which Solev said it accomplished by drawing on the cultural codes of India for sophisticated luxury and elegance.

Reminiscent of the gates in the City Palace at Jaipur, these bottles captivate with a range of colors. Solev does all the finishing for Pochet. This complicated bottle involved a number of decorative techniques including a dark varnish, metallization, laser engraving, metallic brushing and color varnishing. For a final pièce de résistance, a stone can be added.

Vitro, with facilities in Mexico, has been in business for more than 100 years and said it is rapidly increasing market share in Latin America, as well as elsewhere. They built a new facility in 2006. Most of the bottles they provide are custom, such as those for fragrance, miniatures, nail and skin care, and they offer in-house decoration. Victor Rodriguez, Vitro’s global cosmetics director, U.S. container division, said there’s a trend toward more brands using glass for color cosmetics because “many advanced formulations need the inert quality that glass provides.”

Coverpla showed that stock bottles and caps can take on a premium look thanks to decorative techniques such as enamel printing. Gold-faced enameled bottles especially proved the point.

A new decoration technology developed by DuPont and Oriol & Fontanel involves over-molding transparent Surlyn resin on a container adorned with a textile.

Glass lookalikes and enhancements were prevalent at DuPont, where José Boaventura gave an extremely comprehensive explanation of all of the benefits and uses of Surlyn resin, including how to get the look of glass. Surlyn caps can add fluidity to a glass bottle and Surlyn bottles can be over molded with glass for decorative purposes as well as making them unbreakable—and resistant to fingerprints. It can even be made squeezable. In a booth decorated to look like a fancy French boutique, the “Maison Surlyn” collection was unveiled. One of the material’s potentials was highlighted in a new decoration technology developed by DuPont and Oriol & Fontanel. The process, which was used on La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain, involves over molding transparent Surlyn resin on a container adorned with a textile, resulting in an attractive and textural effect, which truly makes the consumer want to reach out and touch it.

Applicators

At Cosmogen, Mylene Meunier pointed out a full set of brushes with a new fiber “that’s very thin” and available in different densities. New slanted complexion brushes—for powder, cream, concealer and eye shadow—feature a new tapping gesture for application. Meunier told Beauty Packaging that nail art will remain hot for next year, with stripes as the next big design rage. Accordingly, Cosmogen had created a new brush—one that will “draw” a series of stripes simultaneously with one brush.

Airless Bottles and Jars

Jamie Matusow and Marc Rosen tour the show floor.

Fusion mixed it up with a number of trends. Airless families, including tubes, were at the forefront, as well as packaging that mixed materials, and glass-like PETG bottles. Fusion’s newest product line, created specifically for foundations, features the marriage of two different resins in a seamless cylindrical style: a polypropylene bottle and a PETG base. It’s also cost-effective, according to Fusion, because the PPL covers the separation, but the customer can see the color through the base. Further advantages in this case of using plastic rather than glass: great decorating capabilities, including applying color on the bottle for branding purposes.

At Promens, the big attraction was Slidissime, a standard, airless jar described as “the new airless ritual designed for touch protection of the hygienic formula.” Slidissime is equipped with what Promens calls a refined “touch & slide” pump, which is meant to follow the natural gesture of a caress. Thus, fully protected cosmetic creams are released by a simple slide, rather than the method used with existing standard airless jars which use piston-airless technology and are equipped with a lateral or central actuator, standard dispenser or pushing membrane.

Sampling

Another new gesture was touted in the sampling category. Livcer debuted its new sampling innovation, Parfum Solide—a small, ultra-thin, resealable compact case that opens to reveal a solid fragrance. “It’s a new gesture in sample fragrance application,” said Aude de Livonniere-Fourgous, director general.” Livcer was also showing TouchKiss, which allows users to apply a lipstick sample to their lips, using their fingertips.

Cosmetics

Albéa has continually increased its offerings over the last few years and thanks to its acquisition of Rexam, offers everything from dispensing systems such as the XD11 low-profile pump to fragrance caps, tubes, compacts, pens and lipgloss, not to mention a growing business in full turnkey beauty solutions. A new product, called the Kiss Liner, done in conjunction with Weckerle, combines two formulas in the same mechanism: a built-in pencil in the bullet’s pointy core enables the consumer to outline and apply in one gesture.

Albéa was also celebrating its 100 years of mascara production, and Nathalie Nowak, executive VP marketing, told Beauty Packaging that the company will invest 6 million euro in mascara in the next two years, expanding and integrating two existing sites just outside Milan.

Geka offered a dazzling array of packages and formulations for lashes and lips.

HCT’s airtight loose powder compact with a silicone sifter controls messiness and is also refillable.

rights were hot thanks to the Neon Collection, meant to extend the feel of summer with sunny colors of their own—designed to add catchy accents and a glow to lips and lashes even in the colder months. Geka’s brand-new runwaySTAR brush features five nubs and an innovative bristle shape that adds rich volume to create an especially intense look. Even the tiniest little lashes are reached thanks to the four-sided bristles at the tip of the brush. The extra large sweetTWIST brush with a spiral shape boosts the curves on lashes. Turning the brush during application heightens the combing and curling effect even more.

HCT featured products from cosmetic packaging to airless jars to silky brushes. The custom packaging range for Marc Jacobs’ cosmetics line stood out at HCT’s stand. The components, made of materials including ABS and SAN, were designed to be compact and comfortable, like a pebble in the hand, and each item comes with a fabric pouch, tying the beauty products to the designer’s fashion roots. Two-in-one airless jars made it possible to offer two formulations—or an applicator and a foundation—in one jar. An airtight loose powder compact with a silicone sifter controls messiness and is also refillable. Launching at the show was a line of “cashmere” brushes, which Cindy Lim, VP global brush division, said are the “softest on the market—equivalent to natural hair.”

HCP’s components for Japonesque were especially appealing with a watercolor look.

HCP’s stand was filled with colorful options for makeup ranges, including the multiple new trends collections for autumn/winter 2014-15. These collections are designed to take stock ranges and tie them together with themes such as Warrior Woman and Escapism. The components for Japonesque were especially appealing with a watercolor look, with multicolor swirls. The tops of the compacts look like enamel, but they’re actually gel; each component varies for a unique handcrafted, artisanal look. Jackie Mantle, managing director, HCP, told Beauty Packaging: “I see mass and prestige coming together, so premium has to up its game.”

At DB Packaging, a multi-well color cosmetics compact opened to show a screen on which the consumer can follow a video of a makeup lesson. The idea being that a customer may be able to follow a counter consultant at the time of purchase, but may forget about the exact application details once at home. Change the makeup? Change the instructional. Any type of video can be downloaded to the refillable compact. A liquor bottle at DB featured interchangeable luminous labels.

Trend Spotting with Marc Rosen

Written by Jamie Matusow

The bottle for Victoria’s Secret Night is the first commercial application of Inside, Bormioli Luigi’s new technique forinternal coating.

Since decorative techniques were clearly preponderant at Luxe Pack Monaco, international renowned packaging designer Marc Rosen led me on a pursuit of some of the finer processes exhibitors were displaying. “The devil’s in the details,” he said.

At Bormioli Luigi, we admired the new bottle for Victoria’s Secret Night, which launched just a fortnight before the show. This bottle is the first commercial application of Inside, Bormioli’s new technique for internal coating. The flacon is heavy, with a thick bottom glass distribution magnified by the deep color inside. A thin hot stamping on the front and a screen printing on the back round out the decoration—along with the striking collar and cap.

At C+N, the plastic cap for the new Ermenegildo Zegna Uomo fragrance matched seamlessly and identically to the glass bottle. A special coating makes the plastic smoother to the touch.

At Heinz, a special metallization technique provided a batik-like effect. An over coating is applied to the glass, then a laser screen is used to remove the coating.

Pressed glass caught our eye at Pochet. The technique creates patterns and textures directly in the glass—and “best of all,” said Rosen, “it doesn’t cost anything to put a pattern in glass; it’s a freebie.” The trend for thick and heavy glass was also noted at Pochet, particularly with the flacons for Jour d’Hermes and the beautiful editions of La Vie Est Belle, in which hot lacquering in the bottom creates a prismatic effect.

Meanwhile at Solev (both Qualipac and Solev are divisions of Pochet), a technique for premium compacts uses tampo printing and electroplating to leave gold on only some surface areas. The process is called void electroplating.

Careful detail and decorative techniques are also incorporated in mascara packaging, and even in sprays. At Albéa, it was interesting to note three new brightly colored mascaras, with new techniques—and brush details that were likened to using different hairbrushes for different purposes. Even the spray on Albéa’s lowest profile pump offers three different levels of spray.

At Cartondruk, paperboard held nearly endless options. Details included gradation, subtle texture, spot techniques, soft touch and perforation, in which tiny holes are micro drilled in the carton.

Details abounded wherever we looked. “Today,” said Rosen, “with competition so fierce, cosmetics houses are realizing that the details, subtle or overt, make the consumer pick up and purchase. It’s all about the X+ factor of those special details.”