The cosmetic container industry is evolving rapidly as pressures to attract consumer attention at crowded retail outlets have prompted many marketers to request increasingly complex decorations on widely varied bottles. Although sales in the fragrance market remain flat, some growth is reported for other cosmetic products, and all marketers seek unique packaging options and shelf-appeal even when utilizing fairly standard bottle shapes.

John Ziemba, account manager for U.S. Screening Corp., Newark, NJ, notes that anti-aging products have been of particular interest to cosmetic companies recently. This trend is likely to continue as the large baby-boom generation grows older and demands more products to preserve and recapture a youthful appearance.

Ziemba also notes that many cosmetic marketers that had moved to plastic packaging have returned to glass with an increased focus on unique container styles. He adds that "Plastic does not convey the image of quality that consumers demand when buying a product that is designed to enhance their appearance."

Cosmetic decorating trends have also been influenced by the CONEG ban on heavy-metal-bearing colors on glass packaging. Although SGCD has worked with CONEG to secure an exemption through at least the year 2000, existing laws in 18 CONEG-member states remain to be amended, and cosmetic container decorators advise their customers to avoid lead-bearing colors. Lisa Contreras, assistant marketering manager for Permanent Label Corp., Clifton, NJ, notes that "as a result of the CONEG restrictions, we have worked with our customers to provide a wide variety of heavy-metal-free inks."

Cosmetic bottle decorators often perform cutting-edge decorating applications to meet demanding customer specifications. Cosmetic marketers will often develop designs that demand extremely tight registrations -- on unusually-shaped bottles. Budgets are often tight for such projects, although a reasonable amount of time is generally allowed to develop the technical wherewithall for a given job, according to Jean-Claude Moreau, president and CEO, Pochet of America, Inc., Wayne, NJ.

SGCD's 1996 Discovery Award in the cosmetic container design category was presented to Permanent Label Corp. for an extremely demanding decorating project. Permanent Label received the award for decoration on the newly-introduced Liz Claiborne Curve fragrance bottles for men and women.

The Curve bottle features a pressure-sensitive label die-cut in the shape of the word "Curve" that is tightly registered to a transparent screen-printed background to provide a shadow effect. To comply with CONEG restrictions, Permanent Label uses an organic ink that is a few shades darker than the color of the bottle as no ceramic inks can be made transparent without lead. A fiber-optic photosensor is used to perform the extremely tight registration necessary to create the shadow illusion.

According to Harry Wasilchak, director of packaging development for Liz Claiborne Cosmetics, "the label was the most difficult part of putting the package together." Permanent Label Corp. accomplished the tricky application at speeds up to 175 inches/minute to meet the high quality standards of Liz Claiborne.

Glass cosmetic containers are generally packaged in a secondary container -- usually a paperboard box -- for final sale. Decorative creativity when designing this package is also important to marketers, with Liz Claiborne packing the Curve fragrance bottles in reusable tins to appeal to a younger, environmentally-aware market. Curve was first sold in September 1996, and sales figures have not been announced to date. Wasilchak does note, however, that "the packaging is so unusual that it will appeal to a new market for Claiborne."

Decorators Adapt to Demanding Orders

Cosmetic marketers generally approach a decorator with a firmly-established design and decoration idea that is rarely subject to adjustment based on technical considerations. Consultant Dennis Newbury notes that some cosmetic marketers have started to work with color suppliers directly to determine what color applications are practical instead of working from general color charts. In several cases, a cosmetic company has approached a decorator and specified the exact color desired as available from a specific supplier.

Many cosmetic marketers, however, do not specify extremely customized bottles, although they still strive to develop a unique, enticing container. Jean-Claude Moreau, Pochet of America, notes that "many cosmetic marketers are customizing basic round or rectangular bottles with frosted or sprayed coatings that give the package a unique appeal."

Gold usage on cosmetic containers has increased as a result of the trend away from lead-bearing colors, according to Hannelore Watson, assistant manager of decorating operations for Carr-Lowrey Glass, Baltimore, MD. She also notes that demand is increasing for colored glass bottles including green, blue, brown and gray varieties.

Most Carr-Lowrey cosmetic container orders are for bottles produced from private molds designed specifically for a certain cosmetic product. This customization is critical to companies that are working to differentiate their products at crowded cosmetic counters.

Heavy-metals and packaging issues have driven Revlon to develop ENVIROGLUV^™ technology which uses heavy-metal-free UV curable colors to decorate glass bottles. During the past two years, Revlon has used its new technology to decorate Revlon R nail enamel and Revlon Age Defying and ColorStay^™ Makeup bottles.

Revlon is also marketing its ENVIROGLUV^™ decorating technology to other glass decorators through its RevTech unit in conjunction with Graphics International Group and Fusion UV Systems. Andrew Schlossman, president of RevTech, notes that cosmetic companies can "use ENVIROGLUV to decorate effectively on demand with in-line decorating and filling, customize bottles in a bottling facility, and conform to 'just-in-time' inventory control."

Trends in cosmetic container marketing are also reflected in the design and decoration of sampler vials. Patricia Metcalf, associate chemist with Kimble Glass, Vineland, NJ, notes that silver and copper metallic interference colors are increasingly used for sampler vials, as marketers seek to match their consumer-size containers. Demand remains strong for these .5 ml. bottles that are produced to entice product trial.

In a related market, decorators for the pharmaceutical industry report that sales remain steady, although the elimination of lead-bearing colors on vials, ampules and other containers remains problematic, according to Metcalf. Specific FDA-mandated information is printed on vials including drug identifications, expiration dates and dosage information, and these are generally printed in colors -- often lead or cadmium-bearing reds and yellows -- which have become identified with certain products and brands through usage and custom.

Although paper or mylar labels are added to drug vials or ampules rather than screen printing, the identification band at the top is also critical to pharmaceutical companies as an internal control when packaging drugs. In many cases, pharmaceutical companies have listed specific colors for identification and control on a New Drug Application, and this would require major bureaucratic efforts to issue changes.

Metcalf notes that Kimble also decorates laboratory glass including beakers and culture tubes, and this industry has remained fairly stable with demand for exact precision remaining constant, and color issues remaining fairly insignificant.

Overall, the cosmetic container decorating industry remains a highly specialized market where practical innovation is often essential to meeting customer design demands. Although the cosmetic and fragrance industry is not expanding, decorators who meet and exceed customer design expectations will continue to thrive and profit.