Today’s cosmetic products do more than just deposit color on the skin, just as modern moisturizers deliver more than just conventional humectants. Contemporary beauty and personal care products are pulling double duty and delivering sophisticated treatment benefits. But skin-enhancing actives like retinol, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants are fragile and can lose potency and efficacy when exposed to elements like air and sunlight.

That’s why airless packaging configurations have become a go-to choice for beauty brands, offering the protection that sensitive formulas need as well as the added benefits of contamination-free metered dosing and enhanced product shelf life.

“Airless cosmetic packaging systems are technologically sophisticated packages that require precise molding and assembly,” explains Emma Narayan, Marketing Manager, PKG Group. “A mechanical pump engine with a dispensing actuator button is on the top of the package [and] at the bottom of the package is a piston or plastic disc.

“When the button is pushed, it actuates the pump engine which creates a vacuum inside the container,” she continues. “This vacuum pulls the piston up from the bottom as it dispenses product through the pump engine.”

Protection has been the primary focus of airless packaging for beauty since its early beginnings in the 1970s, explains Cécile Pompili, Strategic Marketing Manager, Lumson, when delicate, high-end formulas required packaging that provided a high oxygen barrier. As cosmetic and personal care products have evolved to become more sophisticated, the need for protection has also continued to evolve. “Over the years, airless packaging has become crucial for formula distribution because it is also a form of packaging that allows the dispensing of very thick textures with optimal restitution rates,” Pompili comments.

Lumson developed and launched its first airless system in 2009, when the need for protecting formulas from external agents was starting to gain traction on the market. Lumson’s system pairs a high-end, internal pouch technology with containers that are specifically created with materials chosen for their exceptional barrier properties. Together, this combination works to protect formulas from possible contamination with air and other external agents.

The company’s latest airless offerings have broadened to keep pace with market demand, with options including bottles and jars in materials such as glass, plastic, aluminum, and paper, with sizes ranging from 15- to 100ml.

“Lumson airless systems have also become synonymous with technology and elegance expressed to the fullest, thanks to a wide range of decoration techniques specifically studied on the airless range,” says Pompili. “Technologies able to transform standard solutions into remarkable, unique results, such as the inner lacquering technique that perfectly draws the lines of the glass bottle from the inside, emphasizing the depth and the refined look of the packaging.”

The company’s latest airless brand collaboration involved the development of a challenging, 50ml glass airless bottle with pouch technology for Supremÿa La Nuit’s The Supreme Anti-Aging Skin Care product. Pompili says the resulting package reflects Lumson’s expertise and aesthetic research combined with Sisley’s allure.

“Through the use of decoration technologies, gold reached its highest level of expression, both on the gold pump and over cap, which were covered in brushed gold aluminum with debossed logo to give the bottle a truly elegant allure,” she comments. “For the airless glass bottle, a dedicated ‘mirror-effect’ inner lacquering technique was realized on the inside, combining it with an external lacquering in shaded semi-transparent shiny gold with UV screen printing on the outside to enhance the lines and the preciousness of the glass.”

Airless Sustainability

Manufacturers and providers of airless solutions are making great strides in combining the benefits of eco-conscious packaging options with airless technologies.

With a hero line that’s 100% PE and 100% recyclable, WISTADTS offers a versatile airless range in several options including rigid tubes, flexible tubes, a Pump airless system and Sage airless system for products 8- to 75ml from low-to high-viscosity formulas.

“It is a complete range of airless packaging that allows cosmetic brands to design new projects, product lines or collections with different formats, while meeting different needs of formulas and still being completely sustainable,” says Teresa Vargas Matos, Marketing and Business Manager, WISTADTS Europe.

The company’s Ruby airless solution is 100% recyclable and made with the same family of polyolefins (PE and PP). Ideal for multifunctional products, the configuration incorporates an airless system that can be filled with challenging formulas with active ingredients such as organic, vegan or microencapsulated, that maintain their integrity until they meet the skin.

“Ruby’s design was developed for recyclability, to be elegant and versatile, to fit any skincare or makeup line, and to have multiple creative decorations available due to its transparency capabilities,” Vargas Matos says, noting that the product has a Ø30 [cylindrical diameter] and is available in 15- and 30ml sizes. 

Dermalogica, a Unilever Prestige portfolio brand, selected WISTADTS’s Pump Airless System tube for its multitasking, microencapsulated sunscreen, Porescreen Mineral Sunscreen SPF40, which required a challenging high-quality airless system to preserve and optimize the performance of the formula.

“Aware of the challenges that multifunctionality products can bring to product development, this innovative product required an airless sustainable packaging capable of supporting the challenging formula while maintaining and ensuring functionality, performance and product experience,” explains Vargas Matos. “In collaboration with WISTADTS, it was possible to overcome these challenges by providing 100% recyclable and mono-material packaging, with an airless system that allowed them to use an innovative and challenging formulation and meet sustainable packaging goals.”

FusionPKG offers an expansive selection of top-quality, sustainably focused airless packaging with guidelines that align with the most progressive standards in the industry including those of Credo, Sephora, and Ulta.

With an extensive investment in “catalog renovation,” Lesley Gadomski, President of Sales, says FusionPKG provides more than 175 recycle-ready airless packaging options integrated with APR-certified mono-material pump engines offering the same advantages of airless dispensing available in a range of outputs from 0.09- to 1.0ml.

From traditional piston systems to innovative airless valve jars and mono-material pump engine technologies, Gadomski says the company has a deep understanding of the relationship between product and package suitability, with more innovation in the pipeline. “On the horizon, we are in the final stages of development of our newest recycle-ready PET airless system, which will allow for bottle shape flexibility with unmatched clarity to push the boundaries of ordinary airless packaging,” Gadomski says.

Related: New Frontiers in Sustainable Packaging Materials

One of the company’s recent partnerships was with Oui The People to expand the brand’s body care assortment. The All Over Body Renewal travel set includes Cheat Sheet Resurfacing Body Serum, which is packed in FusionPKG’s North American-made, 30ml Hero Airless bottle. Leveraging Fusion PKG’s local supply chain, Oui The People achieved swift market entry into 266 Sephora locations without compromising aesthetics or performance.

Another of the company’s recent collaborations was with Follain on their newest lineup of Credo-clean skincare formulations. The sustainably chic packaging was designed with over 80% PCR featured in FusionPKG’s 15-, 30- and 50ml Mod Airless bottles and integrated with Airless-One mono-material pump engine technology alongside their lightweight 50ml Tru Jars “to impress with less.”

Airless componentry can play an important role in the efficacy of a complete package. For Elcos, an airless componentry and technology specialist, refillable componentry goes hand in hand with the recyclable ethos. 

Elcos’s latest innovation, EAP-416RK, is a refillable and recyclable product made entirely of glass and recyclable plastic. “What sets this product apart from others is not only the airless technology being incorporated into it, but also the user experience of using, refilling, and recycling this new bottle,” says Howard Kim, International Sales and Marketing, Elcos America. “Elcos has considered the usability of the consumer and means of simplifying the refill process as much as possible to allow for an easier transition and learning curve of the users.

“In this instance,” he continues, “the intuitive inner bottle in just simply dropped into the outer bottle rather than the now traditional screw-on/off method of the currently available bottles.”

Waste Not, Want Not

At a time when sustainability is the rule instead of the exception, airless packaging has the unique ability to cleanly dispense nearly 100% of a formula, making airless configurations top-contending options for brands big and small.

“Say goodbye to the frustration of trying to extract every bit of your favorite serum or lotion from traditional bottles,” exclaims Amy Pan, CEO, Epopack. “With airless packaging, the piston mechanism ensures that customers can effortlessly access every drop, reducing waste and enhancing usability. For brands committed to delivering a great user experience, this accessibility is a game-changer.”

Epopack offers airless bottles in PP and PET, each with unique options to suit specific needs. “Both our PP and PET options offer exceptional quality and performance, aligning with the brand’s commitment to excellence and environmental responsibility,” Pan says. “Additionally, our PET options (T30 and T33 series) come with PET over caps, and we also offer material alteration options for 100% PCR PET for those looking to upgrade to sustainable packaging solutions.”

The company’s new PET T33 series combines style with functionality with a metal base for a touch of luxury. Epopack executed two mockups to demonstrate the customizable flexibility of this package, including a T33 bottle with a green injection color with a hot stamping window, designed to captivate customers’ attention, accented by white text printing to deliver a touch of elegance and clarity to the packaging.

A second mockup was executed to convey a sleek and luxurious look. In this presentation, a silver bottle design features a clear bottle wrapped with a full surface “hairbrush effect” hot stamping. An open window framed by a shiny silver hot stamping box adds a dynamic contrast of textures, creating eye-catching appeal. The shiny silver logo and quality white text printing further enhance the premium look of the packaging.

“These designs are ideal for prestige beauty products, doctor brands aiming for a high-tech/professional image, and luxury natural products,” Pan says. “They offer a blend of sophistication and innovation, perfect for brands looking to make a statement in the market.”

Beyond the Bottle

There’s a lot of technical sophistication and precision required to create an airless container. And while airless bottles are well-suited to handle a variety of formula needs, newer configurations like jars and tubes are offering brands broader opportunities to convey the benefits of airless packaging.

PKG Group’s manufacturing partner, Yonwoo, has been manufacturing airless packages for more than 40 years and was the first to introduce an airless pump in South Korea. PKG Group/ YonwooPKG now offers a wide variety of top-quality airless packages spanning not only bottles, but also tubes, jars, compacts, and dual-chamber packages. These packages are capable of dispensing watery, low-viscosity products and high-viscosity products like toothpaste.

One of the partnership’s newest innovations is a metal-free “one material” pump engine that’s recycle-ready and compatible with a majority of their bottles, airless tubes, and standard dip tube pumps, as well as a new Eco Up & Down package, which is available with two different types of refillable options.

Another of the partnership’s innovative and sustainable airless introductions is the Eco Shut Off Tube, which is equipped with a novel feature that prevents product from drying out in the nozzle. This package has been recognized by both the WorldStar Global Packaging awards and the Korea star award programs.

APC Packaging just launched its ERAJ EcoReady Refillable Airless Jar which boasts a uniquely airtight, double-wall structure to preserve product integrity and help extend shelf life. “Tailor-made for high-viscosity formulations, ERAJ is the paragon of precision—dispensing the ideal dose with every pump, while maintaining product cleanliness,” comments Jennifer Lehto, Senior Business Development Manager at APC Packaging. “As part of this revolutionary system, ERAJ includes refillable inner cups, offering the choice of a pressure-sensitive closure or service cap for added convenience.”

One of APC Packaging’s latest brand partnerships centered on a start-up brand that sought airless packaging for the launch of two products, a skincare cleanser and a serum. Lehto says the brand chose APC’s HP airless pump, due to the elegant shape of its actuator, the sleek overall feel of the bottle, and its eco-friendly material. “We were able to produce the custom color, hot stamp, and silk screen print exactly as they required,” she remarks. “It is always so rewarding to be a part of bringing our client’s vision to reality and market!” 

In addition to offering airless pumps, APC Packaging also provides airless jars and bottles that can incorporate PCR, refillable components, or with no metal spring incorporated into the actuator to increase a brand’s sustainability efforts. 

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