Beauty & Packaging: Our top stories featuring packaging and design news in the cosmetics industry

1 – The reality of sustainability: Head of Ales Groupe encourages cosmetic companies to embrace transparency​

The President and CEO of Ales Groupe believes corporate transparency is the key to helping consumers understand the reality of sustainability and the complexities that lie behind the subject​.

“We all agree on the importance of eco-responsibility but the thing is... do we really consider what is behind it? I don’t think consumers understand exactly what they are asking for,” said Raphaël Yousri, president and CEO of Ales Groupe.

He elaborated: “For instance, consumers will buy a completely biodegradable product for $5 online and get it shipped 600km, increasing the carbon footprint. Things like that show that there are bigger issues behind the trends and behind the marketing.”

Limitations of biodegradable plastic solutions​

Recently, Phyto overhauled its packaging in honour of its golden jubilee. This included using 100% recyclable aluminium for its tubes and replacing its iconic cylindrical aluminium bottles with lighter, square-shaped eco-friendly plastic bottles.

2 – Making a comeback: Crabtree and Evelyn plans Asian expansion after brand relaunch

Bath and body care brand Crabtree & Evelyn has relaunched​ in Singapore after closing all its stores in January, and now plans to expand across Asia.

The brand unveiled a new e-commerce website as well as two new bath and beauty collections: Evelyn Rose, a rose-scented collection, and Crabtree, its first genderless range.

Reaching ‘Zillennials’​

The brand is also sporting a new identity and ethos – ‘Born Curious. Grown Wild’, which was inspired by its founder, Cyrus Harvey.

“We knew we had to reconstruct everything – our brand, our products, our business model – to be welcomed into that community, and to be authentic there could be no half-measures,” said David Stern, CEO of Crabtree & Evelyn.

3 – Kao’s Molton Brown unveils personalised, ‘unrestrained’ fragrance collection as it pushes for Asian expansion​

Fragrance specialist firm Molton Brown is set to launch a new range of 27 fragrances in September as part of its fragrance-first strategy​ to strengthen brand recognition and expand business operations in Japan and Asia.

The new collection will consist of Molton Brown Eaux de Parfum and Molton Brown Eaux de Toilette.

Molton Brown offers a range of high-end lifestyle products, including bath and shower gels, hand washes, hair care products, with a focus on bold fragrances and stylish packaging.

With the launch of the new luxury fragrance collection, Kao aims to re-establish Molton Brown as a fine fragrance house in Asia.

“Based on the concept of ‘made by individuals, for individuals’, the scents were created purely with an individual wearer in mind, unrestrained by traditional concepts of age, or gender,” said Kao in a statement.

4 – Sustainable beauty packaging ‘a bit piecemeal’ despite urgent need for change

Beauty has made sustainable packaging advances but nothing widespread enough​ to align with consumer expectations and the urgent need to save the planet, says a beauty industry commentator.

Imogen Matthews, beauty industry commentator and MD of consultancy firm IM Associates, said there was plenty more to be done in driving sustainable packaging across the global beauty sector.

Speaking to CosmeticsDesign-Europe ahead of chairing the upcoming Beauty Forum at Packaging Innovations London 2019 in Olympia London next month, Matthews said: “In my opinion, I think the beauty industry has more than a long way to go before we see true sustainability in terms of packaging. And that’s in terms of recycling, from the point of view of the consumer, and also materials used in beauty products.”​

She noted industry had started to change, implementing certain sustainability initiatives with plenty coming from Indie Brands. But, for the large part, efforts remained very gradual, she said.

5 – Sulapac: the startup making biodegradable, plastic-free beauty packaging a reality

The company Suvi Haimi and Laura Kyllönen founded in Finland in 2016 has been gaining accolades, winning awards, and making headlines while continuing to innovate for a plastic-free future. This year, Sulapac announced that its Universal Recipe material can be used with existing injection molding infrastructure.​

Earlier this month, eu-startups.com named Sulapac as one of 10 “promising circular economy startups” for the work the company is doing to “redefine the packaging industry.”

In 2018, Wired UK included Sulapac on their top 100 list of the “hottest startups in Europe.” And the year after the company’s launch, Luxe Pack Monaco recognized Sulapac with the award for “best green packaging solution;” and that same year Sulapac also won Ecovia's Sustainable Beauty Awards in the Green Packaging.

When it seems every cosmetics and personal care brand, manufacturer, and packager is shifting toward cleaner, greener materials, a company like Sulapac stands out for good reason.