Ceepackaging

Events

The versatility of glass

In its international display of trends and ideas, the Group illustrates the
weightlessness of glass transparency and displays undreamtof
colouring and finishing highlights such as mysterious
black glass and the aristocratic aura of ivory. Marketing and
design experts from all segments of the cosmetics industry
will find much to interest them in Halle Ravel (Stand RC 14).
This year again the extremely attractive display is staged primarily by
the Gerresheimer plants in Momignies in Belgium and Tettau in
Southern Germany, its leading European glass production centres for
cosmetics. The Gerresheimer Group operates globally, with
production plants not only in Europe but also in the USA and China,
and is without doubt one of the most multi-facetted suppliers in this
field. Very few manufacturers serve both the select sector and the
broader mass market – and very few have the know-how and
technical repertoire from development through to production to
enable them to exploit really all the possibilities of shape, colour and
finishing. Asked about the objectives of this year’s presentation,
Burkhard Lingenberg, Director of Corporate PR and Marketing for
the Gerresheimer Group says: “Glass packaging is the most
important marketing instrument of all for cosmetics and at the same
time an ideal protection factor for the product. We want to
communicate really new ideas from both these viewpoints – to show
everything that is actually achievable with this material.”
Visitors to the Gerresheimer stand can indeed expect a thoroughly
absorbing tour d’horizon. The glass spectrum covers the entire range
of exclusive perfumes and fragrances, skincare cosmetics and bodycare
products. In addition, it caters for health and beauty products
such as aromatherapy and nail varnish, and extends even to samplers. And it is no longer the world of fine fragrances and decorative cosmetics alone which adorns itself with aesthetic appeal:
the trend towards individual marketing through the packaging has
further increased right across all care sectors and generally in the
field of men’s cosmetics. It may be a striking glass texture or perhaps
a subtle veil of frosting on smooth glass, alluring colouring or
elaborate appliqués which make cosmetics glass a real experience –
the fascination lies in the wide range of variations between
transparency and opacity.
From several hundred exhibits just three very different examples
may be taken here. One of the most striking new appearances in the
Gerresheimer show cases is certainly MUM Deo Roll-on (Doetsch
Grether). This deodorant brand with a very rich tradition has its
roots in the Philadelphia of the nineteenth century. In 2006 it
launched a revival with six products in interestingly textured and
alluringly shaped miniature bottles – five in clear glass and one in
pitch black. The flacon for the men’s fragrance Flyback (Jacques
Evard) is characterised by an unusual combination of lightness and
satisfying optical weight: the complete transparency of a clear, half
rounded pillar is united in elegant harmony with the chrome gleam
of an opulent closure system which covers the entire upper area of
the flacon like a heavy setting.

Façonnable femme (Nordstrom) is also characterised by contrasts – although in a spellbinding feminine
way with gossamer delicacy: partial acid etching of the otherwise
gleaming glass, cheeky little details in the otherwise simply designed
shape and the delicate tint of the perfume itself make this flacon a
real feast for connoisseurs.
A particularly surprising highlight is presented by the Gerresheimer
Cosmetic Group this year with opal glass. Anyone who in the past
may have doubted (possibly correctly) the emotionality of this
opaque glass type will have the pleasure in Monte Carlo of finding
out how wrong they were. As a magical contrast to the customary
blinding snowy white, the Group is presenting for the first time
flacons and jars in OpalNuance, a natural-coloured variant in a
delicate ivory tone. The alluring possibilities opened up by this glass
are demonstrated by unique high-gloss and acid-etched prototypes
created by Gerresheimer especially for Luxe Pack in Nouvelles
Verreries de Momignies, where the Group operates the largest opal
glass furnace in the world.
The extremely aristocratic and feminine appearance of OpalNuance
is likely to set a sustained new trend particularly in the more upmarket
skincare segments – although its unique aura may well arouse enthusiasm among perfume designers as well. From a purely rational viewpoint, opal glass offers – in addition to the
imperviousness and neutrality characteristic of glass – protection
against light for sensitive ingredients, which makes colour coating
unnecessary in many cases.
It doesn’t take the foresight of a prophet to predict that the trend
towards high-value individual glass packaging will accelerate even
more in the future, says Lingenberg. In practically every segment of
the cosmetics market an attractive product get-up as a minimum is a
fundamental requirement for credibility, he adds. And a more
beautiful strongroom than glass simply doesn’t exist.