It isn’t just glass anymore—today’s fragrances are available in a variety of containers and applications that can be tailored to every lifestyle and budget. As consumers demand products which are unique but affordable, designers are drawing on creativity as well as technology to develop containers that suit an ever-changing market.

One of the major changes taking place in the mass fragrance market is the growth in recent years of the men’s sector. No longer primarily the domain of women, men’s mass market fragrances, colognes and talcs have risen steadily in recent years, reaching $479 million for the year ended Sept. 10, a 2.8% increase over last year, according to Information Resources, Inc., Chicago.

This compares to a 1.6% increase in the women’s mass fragrance category (to $663 million), according to IRI. It appears that men are catching up in the fragrance sector, following a general trend toward men’s increasing purchases of personal care goods in recent years.

Men’s gift pack fragrance sales also increased, up 23% to $107 million, while women’s sales in the same category increased by 8.9% to $297 million, according to IRI. Leading the pack was Coty, which dominated the mass market in all four categories: women’s and men’s fragrances and women’s and men’s gift packs.

What accounts for the acceleration in men’s fragrance sales? Steven Nussbaum, director of marketing, The Cosmetic Group (a division of O. Berk Company), suggested: “It has always been easy for women to obtain fragrances. It’s only recently that men have been encouraged in this category to the extent we’re currently seeing.”

Simplification may be the key: “It’s easier now for men to obtain fragrances, and the internet may be one factor,” Mr. Nussbaum suggested. “On the internet, it’s easier and quicker for men to make a purchase. And they are exposed to ads which they would not normally go out of their way to look for.”

Attractive packaging geared toward men’s tastes adds to the appeal of this expanding market. “We’re still seeing a great deal of use with standard containers, especially what is commonly known as the ‘bullet’ bottle,” said Norbert Gaelen, chairman of O. Berk Company, “but we’re also beginning to see a cylinder shape that is very popular with male consumers.”

Packaging & Design Associates, Chapel Hill, NC, is catering to the expanding male fragrance market with Tuscany, which has a soft rectangular shape. “Men are spending more money and time on pampering themselves and are moving away from the traditional oblong shape,” said Julie More, marketing director for Packaging & Design Associates. “The Tuscany bottle feels nice in the hand and fits the style of men of this century.”

beyond glass
Although glass has long been the industry favorite for both men’s and women’s fragrances, alternative materials are being explored in an effort to accommodate manufacturers who desire a smaller run, or who are gearing a specific line toward a consumer who may be more budget-conscious when it comes to personal care. The result has been a narrowing of the gap between mass and class, affording the average consumer the feel and look of luxury and indulgence without breaking his or her budget.

One of the newer industry favorites is aluminum, which can be utilized in a variety of applications, including fragrance sprays and pumps. According to industry experts, aluminum offers a modern look while maintaining attention to economy, and can be tailored for either sex—or in any style—with the use of color, varying caps and creative exterior design. The multiple decorative options with this material make it beneficial to manufacturers and consumers alike.

Mr. Gaelen added, “Metal containers are becoming more widely-used for both pumps and sprays, and today’s platinums are available in the colors today’s consumer wants, in-cluding pastels or silver.”
Cebal Aerosols Europe offers aluminum delivery systems which, according to a company spokesperson, are recyclable, lightweight and resistant to corrosion.

Cebal offers offset and silk screen printing and gold, silver or color hot-stamping for container decoration. The containers may sport a matte, gloss or satin varnish and are available in a wide range of volumes, from 15 to 1000ml.

Packaging & Design Associates’ Phoenix bottle caters to both male and female fragrance markets.

DuPont Paris is exploring yet another avenue with its resins, which offer versatility, said company executives. The company’s unique fragrance bottles include All Of Me by Estelle de Valrose, a cornucopia-shaped resin bottle with a golden philtre and the Christian Lacroix shell-shaped container. The resin bottles combine the clarity and weight of glass without glass’s associated risk and brittleness, according to a company spokesperson.

Plastics are another option: “The private label market is growing,” observed Mr. Nussbaum of The Cosmetic Group. “For high-end fragrances, glass is still preferred, but for moderate-end fragran-ces you will now see PET and plastics as well.” PET is economical and generally requires a much smaller minimum run. “When PET is used, a client can run 5000 pieces as opposed to hundreds of thousands, which is the minimum you would normally expect in glass,” he explained.

systems that deliver
Both ease of application and a sense of economy factor into the use of pump systems for fragrance application, according to Pfeiffer of America, Princeton, NJ. The company combines appeal with efficiency in Ecologica, a 100% recyclable perfume pump. The material is heat resistant to 50ÞC and available in a variety of color combinations. The system contains no metal components, making it suitable for use with most aggressive substances, such as fruit acids.

Pfeiffer also offers Side Acutation, a side-spraying pump system for easy consumer handling. The system is typically available with a glass bottle but may be customized with a metal or plastic bottle, according to company executives.

Side Actuation can be utilized for liquids, gels and lotions and incorporates a lever mechanism that transforms the horizontal movement into a vertical one, with the nozzle positioned either on the side or top of the spray.
Techpack and Valois have merged their airless system capabilities with Airlessystems, which was developed to protect products from external contamination and can potentially increase their effectiveness by safeguarding their purity, Valois executives said.

Fragrance applications for the line include the piston system, which delivers controlled doses of product and can be obtained in clear, opaque or frosted containers. The piston systems range from 5 to 75ml.
The Mini-Mist pump system is also capable of controlled fragrance dosages. Developed by Risdon-AMS, Naugatuck, CT, Mini-Mist consists of a pump utilizing the crimpless dispensing system and can be contained in plastic- or metal-finish containers.

According to a company spokesperson, the core of the pump is transparent and utilizes a plastic-seal system exclusive to Risdon-AMS which can eliminate common problems with fragrance/material incompatability.
The Mini-Mist system is designed for small products such as gifts and promotions and is available in a variety of colors to suit a company’s individual needs.

she’s got style…and so does he
Amid the creative new materials and delivery systems, glass is still widely used for fragrance packaging. However, the current trend toward individuality is encouraging many fragrance manufacturers to infuse attitude, style and creativity into their newest glass packaging lines.

Mixing of packaging materials is more widely seen, from the more traditional glass bottle/aluminum cap system to more complex designs including multi-colored or frosted glasses, resins and metals. This variety affords manufacturers not only more opportunity for personalization in packaging, but often a less expensive run overall.

“You will still see a lot of glass being used for fragrances because of the high alcohol content of the product,” Mr. Gaelen opined, “but also for the ‘heft’ that glass gives the product. Consumers like the feel that a glass bottle gives in the hand.” Packaging & Design Associates agrees, and uses glass for the three to four new packaging lines it releases each year, according Ms. More. Among its newest lines, the company recently introduced Apollo and Crystal in order to fill the nostalgia niche, with a modern twist.

“The Apollo and Crystal lines are based on the classic shapes—round, triangular, square and oval—but we have elongated them into elegantly-styled bottles for a new look,” explained Ms. More. “The bottles are the first of this new generation.”

Other new lines for PDA include Symphony, with a soft, luxuriously feminine design and Phoenix, a fresh new style with a “custom-packaged” look and a specially-designed overcap. “Phoenix can be used for both men’s and women’s fragrances,” noted Ms. More. Apollo, a tall, elegant cy-linder shape, also offers appeal to both male and female sectors and is appropriate for skin care and other products as well as fragrances, according to company executives.

PDA utilizes glass for these new additions, which along with an individually-selected cap, sprayer and overcap complete a package that will suit the customer’s needs, Ms. More said. The bottles are created by International Bottle Company, for whom PDA is the exclusive North American representative.

Arrowpak, Richmond Hill, NY, also offers stock glass bottles which offer the dual benefit of availability and individual designs. The company offers immediate shipments and complete decoration capabilities.
The company, whose Manuela line went international following a successful sample launch, has added Magda and Alexis to its list of fragrance-container styles. The bottles may be coupled with in-stock complementing accessories to achieve the desired effect.

Bormioli Luigi Corporation, Langhorne, PA, combines glass with unique caps and materials to produce an individualized appearance with a creative bent. Released recently by the company were Rykiel Rose, a colored bottle in a pullover design celebrating French fashion; Pure Wish, a decahedron-shaped bottle with a heavy glass base; and O.Zone Tacchini, a specialty-designed container which gives the appearance of a half-bubble suspended in transparent glass and which communicates lightness and transparency, according to a company spokesperson. Other designs include pure Wish, a sophisticated decahedron and Michael Kors, created for Givenchy’s first U.S. fragrance launch.

O. Berk Company also stands at the ready with updated looks for its bottle lines. “We offer standard glass bottles in newer colors, such as cobalt blue and pastels, which are readily available and give a very distinct look to the product,” said Mr. Gaelen. “Frosted and colored glass are a great way to give a product a ‘unique’ look and please the consumer as well as the manufacturer.”