In the competition between plastic and glass, cosmetic packaging is one of the most stable positions for glass packaging. With the continuous development of various new plastic materials, plastic packaging with the same transparent texture of glass, with its richer color effect and more convenient processing performance than glass packaging, is quietly entering the high-end cosmetics packaging market, with more abundant The image shows the charm of cosmetics.

A variety of new materials, new technologies and new technologies are emerging, providing a richer choice for cosmetic packaging design. For high-end cosmetics, in order to achieve the desired effect, designers and packaging manufacturers make unremitting efforts to develop the most perfect packaging design.

Transparent texture
Transparent texture is one of the important trends in the pursuit of cosmetic packaging. Crystal clear and crystal-like appearance effects, rich and imaginative shape, so that cosmetics suppliers favor transparent packaging. High-end cosmetics are rushing. Transparent packaging gives a sense of purity and modernity. Special structural designs can also create wonderful results.

Risdon-AMS designed a package for colored eye shadows. The design requires that the cover and bottom of the PMMA insert must be well matched to the color of the eye shadow. Engineers carefully adjust the color of the insert to compensate for the subtle color differences that occur in the two moldings. In the end, the upper and lower inserts are perfectly matched, as if an exquisite sphere floats inside the cube.

The technology involved in the manufacture of this product is quite complex, including secondary injection, ultrasonic welding, hot melt adhesive bonding, hot foil lamination, and custom-tailored automatic control technology. Gerald Martines, European sales manager at Risdon-AMS, said: “Because the wall thickness is too large and the change is severe, it is very difficult to process. We have to strictly control the tolerances to ensure the functionality and appearance of the package.” Although the manufacturing process and process are quite complex , but the results achieved are unparalleled.

In order to provide another similar product to NinaRicci, Toly did not use the overmolding process but chose a lower cost assembly technology. The small package has a transparent outer sole and lid, and the interior has a plated bottom inner lid and inner bottom.

Toly developed a special process to complete the connection of internal and external components. The material used was Eastman copolyester from Eastman. The process first injection molding transparent parts, and then assembled. The welding or bonding method is not used in the assembly process. Because it is not technically feasible to weld electroplated parts, the use of glued joints may affect the transparency.

Transparent packaging is one of the most important trends in the packaging of cosmetics and perfume. Transparent packaging gives a sense of purity, and designers are more modern with such designs. The purpose of Eastman Chemical's development of transparent materials is to achieve "crystal-like aesthetic effects."

The challenge of transparency
The trend toward transparency is a challenge for the entire package. Rexam offers Victonia`sSecret a perfume bottle with a small pump. The pump's plastic actuator and ring use a special material to achieve a transparent effect, and the cap and bottle body that are matched with it are also completely transparent. Dennis Desrochers, Rexam’s vice president of sales, said: “To achieve the level of transparency required by Victonia`sSecret is indeed a challenge. We have never done a previously transparent structure of the pump body, so we had to do different materials. A large number of experiments to achieve the desired results."

Bottle caps can also achieve the noble effect of displaying packaging. Eric Bigotte, vice president of American Axilone company, said: “Chance perfume company wants the ring of the bottle to symbolize a ring, and the bottle cap looks more like a diamond on a ring.” The Chance cap is completed with two injection moldings, and has a beveled angle, similar to Assembled holes for cutting on diamonds.

The assembly of transparent parts is also a huge challenge. It is almost impossible to use traditional bonding methods without affecting transparency. To solve this problem, Risdon-AMS is working with suppliers to develop a UV-curable adhesive that does not affect the transparency at all. According to reports, this kind of material should maintain good transparency even when exposed to the outside, so the chemical resistance is also very important.

Cosmetic packaging to achieve the noble effect of luxury, usually also use gold, silver and other colors, as a transparent packaging decoration. The basic color is mostly milky white. The color that can be achieved by the previous glass packaging is very limited, so plastic packaging becomes the most important choice. There are two main ways for manufacturers to obtain plastic color: one is to spray UV paint or pigment on the surface; the other is to develop a new resin mixture. Toly company has been developing resin products with special properties for many years. Today, Toly can be molded directly from new materials to produce products that have a metallic look or pearl color, or a neon glitter effect. These rich color effects can only be achieved with the use of heavy metal filling when using glass packaging, and the types of colors are very limited.

Early metal or pearl-colored resins can create rheology, and today formula and process improvements no longer cause similar defects. Toly developed a UV-sensitive material that produces different color effects indoors and outdoors. Eastman currently offers new resins with metallic appearance effects such as metal, pearl, fluorescent, stone, and fog. Its polymer product can be colorless and transparent, it can also have bright colors. Today, plastic bottles can realize all the dreams of colored glass bottles.

Electroplating is still one of the most important metallization methods. By increasing its color effect, unparalleled appearances such as black pearl color and silver white color can be obtained.

"No label" effect

Cosmetics labels do not only function as logos, but often sell images while selling cosmetics. Transparent labels can also serve as a product embellishment while delivering clear product information. The product is still the center of the entire package, and the “no-label” effect just becomes the best decoration for high-end products.

On the one hand, the label content plays a role in communicating with consumers. On the other hand, the “no label” effect shows a fresh and attractive feeling in comparison with pure and transparent packaging. The "no label" effect has become a favorite of high-end cosmetic packaging. At present, the label material used to achieve the “no label” effect is a transparent pressure-sensitive film, which is combined with a fine pattern and text printed in flexo or gravure to achieve a “no label” effect.

The balance between practice and aesthetics

No product can be more aesthetically pleasing than packaging. However, in practice, there are still a large number of problems worth considering: cost-saving pressure, providing more protection for products, and high-performance alternative materials.

In fact, even the most upscale cosmetics face the same cost considerations. In the early days, people mainly reduced the cost of the product by reducing the weight of the package and reducing the complexity of the design. Glass dominates the perfume bottle market, but it is mainly plastic caps because plastic is more economical than metal. And plastic instead of glass, cost reduction is actually one of the main factors. Due to the ease of processing of plastics and the promotion of new materials, transparent effects like glass packaging have been achieved, and the formability is better, and the design of complex structures is also easier to implement. New plastic materials can be molded directly and have a unique color effect, resulting in a significant reduction in processing costs. Because of this, the use of plastics in the cosmetics field is gradually increasing.

But for cosmetic packaging, the cost is still second. Physical protection is a more important factor. Many cosmetic products that provide hydrogen hydroxide particles need to retain more moisture. At this time, the package is required to have good air tightness. The content that often needs to be protected may include chemical ingredients, moisture, fragrance, etc., but it is also convenient for consumers to open. The method of protecting the moisture may be adding a layer of PP, or it may be achieved by thickening the wall surface. There are many ways to achieve airtightness, which can be selected according to the composition of different cosmetics.

Plastics are quietly entering the special position of glass in the cosmetics field. However, for high-end cosmetics, the establishment of its own brand and product image characteristics and attractive packaging effect has become the most important factor. Therefore, higher performance alternative plastic materials have become the preferred choice for high-end cosmetic packaging designs.

For cosmetic packaging, the balance between the pursuit of aesthetics and reality is rather subtle. New processing methods, materials and engineering techniques can provide gorgeous quality cosmetic packaging designs with different quality and different price options. In order to achieve the desired results, designers and packaging manufacturers work together to complete the design of the packaging, and to maintain a certain degree of flexibility to achieve the ultimate perfect cosmetics packaging.