Among the winners of the annual competition sponsored by the National Assn. of Container Distributors were four companies with attention-getting packaging in NACD's Cosmetics and Personal Care category. One of these winners netted the Bernard M. Seid Best of Show Award for Tricor Packaging (St. Louis, MO). Tricor won the prestigious award (see Packaging World, April '98, p. 2) with packaging it provides to Sebastian Intl. of Woodland Hills, CA. Sebastian's Total Indulgence(TM) body care products come in 250- and 400-mL bottles as well as a 125-mL jar. Pet-Pak (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) injection-stretch/blow-molds the polyethylene terephthalate bottles and then sends them to Hanes Erie (Erie, PA) to be frosted and screen-printed in one color. Poly-Seal (Baltimore, MD) compression-molds the 24-mm threaded closures of urea and gives them a matte silver spray. Total Indulgence body splash, however, takes a EuroMist® pump system from SeaquistPerfect Dispensing (Cary, IL). As for the 125-mL jar, it's extrusion/blown of polyvinyl chloride by Poly-Tainer (Simi Valley, CA). Like the bottles in the Total Indulgence line, it's frosted and screen-printed. It's sealed with a 63-mm threaded closure that's also compression-molded of urea by Poly-Seal. Introduced in August '97, the Total Indulgence line is carried in some 150ꯠ salons in 50 countries. Rainbow in a bottle "Imagine a rainbow in a bottle," says Geoff Ficke, general manager of the LeBain Couture line from Dallas-based CBI Laboratories. The eye-catching line of bath products is focused around a bath oil consisting of layered oils differing in color and viscosity. The product is packaged in a "round, flat, concave and convex" bottle, says Ficke, that acts as a prism. The package took home the gold award at the recent NACD awards. Known as a contract packager, CBI went to great lengths to differentiate this first branded line from other bath products on the market. Says Ficke, "Most bath products are traditional, almost Victorian in look. This is Art Deco to ultra-modern. It's very, very different." Made of Eastman Chemical's (Kingsport, TN) Eastar(TM) PETG, the injection-molded bottle wasn't the easiest to develop. Manufacturing was slow and scrap was excessive, says Ficke. But Tricor Packaging (St. Louis, MO) was able to overcome these hurdles and see the project to completion. Representatives there said it was one of the most difficult designs the company had ever executed. The bottles are screen-printed by Custom Decorative Systems Inc. (Dallas, TX) in two colors. Another inherent obstacle came with the oily nature of the products, which often leak with a less-than-perfect seal. To counteract this problem, Tricor helped engineer a PETG closure that Ficke describes as a "high-tech plastic cork." It screws onto the bottle, and consumers flip up a pour spout. Currently in test, Le Bain Couture is sold through professional beauty salons and some department stores in most major cities. Suggested retail price ranges from $15 to $17.50. Shock value If the shocking purple and blue varieties of Nicole(TM) nail lacquers don't attract enough attention, the custom bottle in which they are packaged might do the trick. It caught judges' attention in the recent NACD awards. They gave it the silver award. Introduced in November of last year, the Nicole line marked OPI Products Inc.'s newest venture into the retail market. The North Hollywood, CA-based company is better known by beauticians for its professional line of nail care products. Nicole, however, is sold at retail, like its sister product, OPI nail lacquers. Geared to a younger crowd and named for the owner's daughter, Nicole features "funky, outrageous colors," says an OPI spokesperson. OPI prefers not to disclose its package's makers, though Alico Packaging (Woodland Hills, CA) is the distributor of the uniquely shaped, 1/2-oz, extra-thick flint glass bottle. Decorating is accomplished through applied ceramic labeling. Twenty-four varieties of Nicole are available through salons nationwide. Suggested retail price is $10. Calgon takes it away "Eye-popping!" is how a spokesperson for New York-based Coty, Inc., describes packaging for the Calgon After Bath line. Following an introduction of After Bath Body Mist in late '97, a full line of After Bath, consisting of five product types in nine "flavors," began shipping to mass marketers this February. The package, supplied by Continental Glass & Plastic (Chicago, IL) won a bronze award in the recent NACD competition. Focused on the teenage market, After Bath is packaged into slim 8-oz bottles of polyethylene terephthalate that fit nicely into teenagers' smaller hands. They are said to have been chosen for clarity to ensure that the product color shows through. Closures are colored to coordinate with labels and product. Suggested retail price of most After Bath products is $4.95. The Body Mist and Dry Oil Spray have a suggested retail of $6.50. Gift sets are available, as well.
