Charles Revlon, founder of Revlon Cosmetics, once said: "we are not selling cremes, but hope wrapped up in small boxes". When it comes to packaging of luxurious perfumes and cosmetics, one will immediately think of elegant glass bottles, or stylish tubes and cans of metal, glass or plastic. This kind of packaging is called the primary packaging. Consumers, however, will see the secondary packaging first. Generally, the secondary packaging is a folded box protecting the contents. The more luxurious and expensive the product, the greater the chance one will encounter such secondary packaging. The box itself must reflect all aspects of the brand and, of course, of the product itself. According to various studies, the first contact only lasts for some seven seconds. Therefore, it is crucial to instantly captivate the attention of the customer and to ignite his or her desire for more. A perfume package needs to portray the character of the fragrance by the right choice of color graphics, surface structure, and material used.

 

The global packaging market for cosmetics and toiletries has been estimated to total EUR 9 billion four years ago and to grow to EUR 10.5 billion by the year 2005. Although the market for secondary packaging is dominated by cardboard, plastic usage is increasing. Initially used folded boxes made of PVC and PET allowed for transparent, crystal clear folded boxes. Printing, hot foil stamping, and holograms were used for decoration. Both materials, however, are very rigid and do not have the nice soft touch that polypropylene provides. Now, SML sleeve touch technology has made it possible, for the first time ever, to produce PP sheets in the required thickness gauge to be used for secondary packaging in the cosmetic industry. All optical properties, such as gloss, haze, and transparency, meet the market requirements.

 

Additionally, the PP sheets show excellent processing characteristics for subsequent printing, stamping, and gluing. Furthermore, special surfaces such as frosted or iced images can now be achieved by using mat or partly mat sleeves on the SML sleeve-touch roll stack. Thus, information and product name can be melt-embossed directly onto the PP film, opening up opportunities for completely novel ideas of designers. Easy-to-change sleeves on the SML equipment make it possible to operate short production runs. The sleeves can be stored and used for further orders at a later time. Such partly see-through packages, in combination with the nice haptics of the PP material, do exactly what they have been designed for: they attract attention, convey exclusivity, and create a desire for more. Recent SML sleeve touch technology equipment will definitely have an impact on this market, and more of these products will be seen and touched in the near future.?