Packaging is more than a thoughtful expression of a brand’s individuality. It’s also a vehicle for attracting customer attention, and there’s nothing like the shine of metal to help a beauty brand’s package pop. And whether brands are seeking the gleaming, luxury effect of weighted metal, the eco-appeal of recyclable aluminum, or the understated sparkle of metallized accents and finishes, there’s a spectrum of options for incorporating metal and metallized accents.

“Metal always gives an air of sophistication and personality to the finished package,” says Gilda Mirra Cutri, vice president of operations and business development, Coverpla Inc., a supplier of aluminum and zamac beauty and fragrance componentry.

Anthony Di Maio, COO, Cameo Metal Products, agrees, and adds that metal adds a definite “value perspective” to the end purchaser. “Its weight, feel and overall finishes are what make it stand out against other packaging,” he says. 

Cameo Metal Products has a vast stock line of aluminum closures, jar covers, roll-on caps and more that are all based on stock neck finishes to ensure there’s a closure for each of its standard metal containers. The company also offers a variety of finishing techniques to give high-end value to a product, without some of the higher costs associated with metal parts. 

Cameo recently teamed up with Designworx Packaging to create a custom collar on a screw-down fine mist sprayer provided by Aptar for the brand Drybar. Packaging was created for various SKUs and included assembling the custom metal collar (complete with custom threads and knurls to convey an “industrial” vibe) to a completed pump with a dust cover.

RECYCLABLE ALUMINUM & BEYOND

Aluminum packaging is having a real moment. Prized for its ability to protect formulas from light and oxidation, aluminum is also “infinitely recyclable,” making it a great option for brands hoping to connect with ecologically conscious consumers.

RecyCan is the latest addition to Hoffmann Neopac AG’s EcoDesign portfolio and is suitable for high-quality organic and premium cosmetic and personal care products.

“RecyCan takes a significant step toward closed-loop recycling management, as it represents a food-grade tinplate can made from 100% recycled steel,” says the company’s Cornelia Schmid, head of marketing. “This allows brand owners to proudly feature their packaging as part of their overarching commitment to sustainability.”

 Available with child-resistant options for CBD beauty products or nutricosmetics applications, Schmid says RecyCan guarantees care and traceability at every stage of the closed loop tinplate packaging process. “At its inception, household steel such as cans, caps and crown caps are collected for recycling purposes,” she explains. “Steel parts are first separated and sorted from aluminum and plastic packaging by magnets, then shredded, de-tinned and pressed into packages.

“They are then melted down into raw steel and cast into slabs, which are hot rolled, cold rolled and tinned to produce packaging steel that is printed and formed into new tinplate cans.”

This solution additionally opens new avenues for traceability and transparency. Schmid says a “natural” cosmetics manufacturer recently adopted the package and during the project development phase, a concept was worked out with the supplier to ensure batch traceability.

“In Europe, North America and other important markets, metal cans stand for sustainability because they are a permanent material which is recycled in firmly established recycling streams,” says Schmid, noting that RecyCan’s eco-friendliness does not come at the expense of product protection or aesthetics.

Aluminum is also a classic choice for beauty and personal care tubes, with many brands opting to keep the raw aluminum of the tube body visible to convey the sustainability of the package. And options for decoration abound.

Tubex Aluminum Tubes, the maker of the 100% recycled aluminum Blue Tube Evo, offers options for brands keen on adding extra flair to their aluminum tubes via external lacquers. The company’s colorless lacquer leaves the raw aluminum visible for a sustainable or vintage look, while its metallic lacquers create a more glamorous look with sparkling or high shine finishes in different colors.

The company’s Silke Schedenig, group marketing manager, says Tubex has also developed a new technology for integrating fine pearlescent pigments into the external lacquer to create a special shimmering effect.

Recently, in a separate yet equally eco-conscious vein, L’Oréal’s Biotherm skincare collection debuted a new generation of 100% recycled PP caps executed by Texen that are aesthetically hot stamped across their whole surface without any overlap, “a technical feat using this type of material.” The brand’s logo, created in reserve, offers a peek of the raw material visible at the center. The cap, produced on a dedicated automated production line, reduces the package’s environmental footprint. Thanks to the excellent adherence of the hot stamping on the rPP, Texen was able to avoid the application of protective varnish.

Biotherm is dedicated to Blue Beauty, a responsible beauty movement that lies at the intersection between biotechnology and ethical aquatic responsibility. Biotherm’s Blue Beauty aim is to design circular products that include the use of recycled materials since plastic waste discarded in nature ends up in the world’s oceans. The cap developed by Texen can be adapted for different shapes of jars and for men’s and women’s skincare formulas like Cera Repair and Blue Therapy.

Axilone Group offers a wide variety of metal and metallized packaging, including lipsticks, caps and collars for skincare and fragrance, as well as compacts and pansticks. The company’s core expertise is aluminum, and it additionally offers PCR material for metal and metallized packs.

The company’s latest brand partnership was realized in the packaging for Bite Beauty’s Agave Lip Butter Balm. Julie Vergnion, Axilone’s marketing and communication manager, says the product’s lipstick tube package is fully aluminum with zero plastic content and features a crisply embossed logo and champagne pink anodization. “This was developed to meet Bite’s focus of clean beauty and sustainability,” she says. “Once the product is finished, it can be recycled through the household aluminum waste recycling process.”

FOILS, FILMS & PAPERS

Using metallized accents in the form of foils, films and specialty papers is another wonderful way to incorporate the allure of metal on primary and secondary packaging. In addition to boosting a brand’s visual appeal at retail, metallized accents also add a touch of luxe to the consumer unboxing experience in the e-commerce sector.

“Metallic accents on product packaging achieve the goal of grabbing the attention of consumers while they are making decisions on what to buy, but in a cost-effective way for the brands,” comments Anthony Grinnell, CEO, Harmony Paper Company, a manufacturer of high-quality papers for secondary packaging. “Traditionally, metallized and holographic effects on these types of packaging were created using Mylar or metallized PET materials; [however] with the surge and commitment to removing or eliminating the use of plastics in packaging over the last few years, the use of metallized PET has shifted to the use of metallized transfer and direct metallization.” 

He explains that metallized transfer processes take a metallized PET film and transfer the metal layer onto a paper substrate, thereby removing the plastic component from the final paper used for packaging. Direct metallization uses a process in which the metal is directly vacuumed onto the paper substrate and eliminates the use of plastic films altogether.  

Harmony offers both processes, but its central focus is direct metallization with a plastic-free metallized product called EcoFX. “Within this process, we are able to offer everything from gloss to matte metallic and holographic effects, clear holographics without the rainbow coloration, and even white holography rather than the traditional silver base color,” Grinnell says. “We are also in the process of finalizing a metal-free, plastic-free, recyclable, biodegradable and compostable material that will have every bit of the eye-catching aesthetics while being perhaps the most eco-friendly specialty paper in the market.”

One of Harmony’s latest EcoFX options is EcoFX Super Flex, a plastic-free, metallized option that resists cracking on active hinge points, complex fold lines of gift bags, and on thick packaging for heavier products. 

LLFlex has developed a premium, metallized lamination paper and board range called ZeroGauge that’s completely plastic free. “ZeroGauge product was beautifully printed in precision register by CO II Packaging,” says the company’s David Peters, global marketing and communications manager. “Increasing the deep shine and metallic qualities of the base paper really does ensure this premium packaging has maximum retail impact.

LL Flex has also invested over the last nine months in new product innovation using its LLFlex Packaging Trends technology. “Some very exciting products are in development right now using our BoutiqueFlex trend driver [and] including metallic embossed patterns, holographic ‘movement’ effects and precious matte metal experimentation,” Peters says.

Case Makes, which offers a variety of metallized products including metallized polyester, plastic-free, recyclable transfer metallized products, fully re-pulpable aluminum foil and metallized papers, is heeding the sustainability call with a focus on recyclability and the circular economy.

“Case Makes has taken strides to produce materials that are fully recyclable in the SBS recovery stream, undergo testing for re-pulpability on some of our traditional products, trial new finishes such as metallized paper, and explore different metallized inks and coatings,” says the company’s Jonathan Hummer, general manager.

Dunhill recently worked with Case Makes to create metallized cartons for two of its fragrance products. For Dunhill Century Blue, Case Makes laminated a metallic Fresnel lens to a folding box board to create an effect that highlighted the “strength and allure” of the brand’s enhanced packaging. “One of the challenges that was overcome on this particular project was laminating and sheeting in registry with an extremely tight design specification,” Hummer explains.

For Dunhill Icon Absolute, Case Makes laminated a metallized polyester for a carton that was printed and embossed by Diamond Packaging. The package earned an award from the Foil & Specialty Effects Association.

In new product news, North Pacific International Inc. has upgraded its brushed foils and gradation foils for high-resolution graphic printing on plastic, glass and aluminum, with more pattern selection available. May Ogawa, marketing and project coordinator, says glossy or matte or combo finishes are now also available.

LUXURIOUS FINISHES

Metallized stamping and spray finishing also represent ways to imbue packages and componentry with metallic appeal.

ABA Packaging Corp. has raised the premium-look bar higher for metal packaging products with the introduction of premium bottle designs and new decorating options for its Envases line of aluminum bottles and cans.

Michael Warford, the company’s director of business development, says ABA is now providing in-line hot-stamping that yields extra shiny gold, silver and rose gold finishes.

“The high mirror effect created by the hot stamping adds to the luxury appeal of the products without negatively affecting recyclability and lead-times,” he says, noting that MOQs for hot stamping on most aluminum bottles and cans is 10,000 pieces. “Because the hot-stamping is performed in-line to the manufacture of the aluminum bottles and cans, there are no off-line value-added operations, so the cost increase for this service is very reasonable, [and] all of our hot-stamped aluminum bottles and cans have a protective coating that is designed to help protect these great decorating effects.”

Lumson has broadened its aluminum finishing options to include a new Mirror effect achieved with specialty inks to accentuate its airless glass packaging with a metallic look.

“Thanks to this effect we can create new perspectives; vivid and shiny colors are mixed together with a mirror effect that creates ‘volume’ and optical…perception[s] of depth,” comments Valentina Dragoni, marketing manager.

Separately, but still in the metal realm, Lumson has also launched several metal dispensing options. First are two cream pumps with aluminum collars, actuators and over caps.

The company also added to its airless lineup with the development of a new aluminum outer shell, and a new aluminum pump called CYBER. Two new lipsticks in its makeup range, Almé and Sign, also have aluminum finishes. Almé has a 100% aluminum base and cap, while Sign has a customizable aluminum insert on the cap.

Virospack has expanded its dropper offerings with the addition of a premium metal shell finish for its precision range of child-proof droppers to deliver a luxurious level of security. The cap is composed of two pieces that can be customized with different colors and finishes.

And finally, Tapematic has taken the glow of metal in an exciting new direction with its U.S. and EU patented Photoluminescent Method for Surface Decoration, whereby metal packaging componentry undergoes an in-line decoration process that applies a radiant photoluminescence that looks otherwise metallic in the light, but glows brightly in the dark.

Tony Denning, Tapematic USA’s president, says it’s a great option for anticounterfeiting measures and can comprise an image, logo, pattern or variable data—it might also be a practical solution for helping to locate an elusive lipstick at the bottom of a darkened beauty bag!

Get a Metallic Look with Shrink Sleeve Packaging

The beauty industry faced many challenges when operations in Asia were shut down or curtailed because of the pandemic. In addition to packaging component shortages, the direct deco format was impacted since much of it was produced overseas. Nimble brands were forced to re-think their packaging, and many chose shrink sleeves. 

Shrink sleeves were already a fast-growing segment since they offer many benefits including 360-degree visuals, fill line masking, and are tamper-proof. However, some mid-price and luxury beauty brands were reluctant to embrace sleeves because of concerns that their product would not look high-end enough. 

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Dan Kroger, VP of Sales at Premium Label & Packaging Solutions. “Shrink sleeves have evolved since they first became popular in the 1990s. Advancements in inks, coatings, materials, and equipment have allowed converters to simulate direct to container packaging. Cold foil and tactile finishes offer the same upscale look and feel without the distortion that was present early on.”

Procuring tinted containers has also been problematic. “Exorbitant prices and lead times prompted clients to find an alternative. Our New Jersey plant (Label Graphics) produces colored sleeves that look identical to tinted containers for a much lower price and faster turnaround.”

“Sleeves are ideal to achieve a metallic look. Our Deer Park location (Overnight Labels) just won a Premier Print Award for a copper shrink label embellished with a tactile gold pattern. “As long as you work with an experienced printer, making the switch to shrink sleeves is an elegant solution.”

Premium Label & Packaging Solutions was formed by a group of label converters with decades of experience in the packaging industry. Each location is devoted to the artisanship of printing and shares a passion for innovation and service. For samples, email info@plps.com.

Fitglow Beauty Channels Its Brand Mission in Form and Function

With a self-professed commitment to “effortless beauty built for a sustainable future,” Fitglow Beauty has positioned its most recent product launch to be astutely emblematic of the company’s ethos with a distinctive, metal package.

The Sea Ceramide Toning Mist is housed in a label-free, “forever recyclable” 100% aluminum bottle with a white spray coating and silk screen printing. “Our decoration and design direction on this product has allowed us to introduce our first aluminum bottle into our line with the high-end luxe feel customers have come to expect from Fitglow,” comments Anna Buss, founder and CEO. “We love working with aluminum because it’s both recyclable and light packaging, [which] helps us reduce our CO2 emissions and overall impact on shipping and transportation both to us and our customers.”

The toner is enriched with high-performing plant extracts and made for all skin types and Fitglow Beauty has pledged to donate $1 for each bottle sold to the Save The Manatee foundation.