Master the essence of cosmetic packaging

In the cosmetics and beauty packaging industry, it’s small packaging that’s big business. Plastics play a big role in every market segment, from premium to luxury.

In the market for highly personal products such as perfume, lipstick, and skincare, discerning customers place great emphasis on emotion and beauty, but performance and functionality remain important, and sustainability (especially “all-natural cosmetics”) continues to grow in importance.

A recent 150-page market research report titled “Global Cosmetics Market Research Report – Forecast to 2022” forecasts that the global cosmetics packaging market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% from 2016 to 2022, reaching $35.6 billion by then. The report notes that while this includes all materials and product categories (e.g., bottles, jars, tubes, boxes, pouches, powder bars, roll-ons, pump bottles, etc.), “the presence of plastics is the biggest factor affecting the market.”

Plastics are the “material of choice” from the perspective of ensuring packaging durability and maintaining the product’s key ingredients and chemical properties, the report says. The report also states that “innovative, attractive packaging” is the main driver of cosmetic packaging, and specifically points out its importance as a product marketing attribute.

Yu Plastic Packaging Products Co., Ltd. has a deep understanding of this. Cosmetic packaging designers need to have a keen sense of shape, color, workmanship and materials, and need to understand how to integrate these elements. How different effects will the materials have after being polished in different ways, and how much will the impact on the feel. At the same time, some seemingly simple products (especially luxury goods) can actually be extremely complex. For example, a Marc Jacobs powder box may have six to eight parts, including buttons, springs, top covers, bottom plates, etc., as well as extremely fine curves, slopes, colors (such as closely matching matte duck green and champagne silver), and precisely controlled high-end secondary polishing.

Glass has long been the material of choice for luxury packaging because of its purity, gloss, thickness and first-class feel. But performance is its major shortcoming. “The biggest problem with glass is that it is fragile,” said Renske Gores, Eastman’s market development manager for specialty plastics in the EMEA region based in Norway. “It was the big brands that were looking for unbreakable, more durable packaging that opened the market for our material,” adding that another advantage is that it’s lighter.

Consumer habits are also changing. On-the-go consumers prefer lightweight, durable, easy-to-carry products, even for products like perfume and cosmetics. As more consumers shop online, brand owners and retailers are turning to unbreakable plastic containers to reduce shipping costs and reduce recalls and waste caused by damage.

It’s clear that innovation in all forms of materials, processes, functions, and designs continues to emerge in the cosmetics packaging space.