SUN CARE PACKAGING
T
here is a lot of pressure on sunscreen makers: first and foremost, the product has to perform in real-life conditions. While a formula will, of course, have been vigorously tested to ascertain the protection factors on its label, no laboratory can account for variables like wriggly children running off mid- application, not to mention holiday makers who know they should reapply sunscreen post-swim, but don’t. To ensure optimal consumer compliance, it is vital that applying sunscreen be a pleasure, rather than a chore – and both the formula and packaging play a role here. Moreover, the choice of pack should be optimally suited to the type and texture of protective product. “A sun care formula can have different textures and galenics, for example, lotions, oils, water mists or foams,” note Aptar Beauty + Home’s Madalina Dragan, Director of Marketing, Personal Care & Home Care, and Florence Roullet, Applied Sciences Director, who stress the need for “an adapted pack for each galenic”, be this airless, lotion pump, spray pump, a closure or aerosol.
Useful attributes, according to Dragan and Roullet, include “targeted application and a controlled dosage” with a narrow or large diffusion spray, depending on the skin areas requiring protection, which will differ for the face and body, and for targeted areas, such as scars or tattoos. Additional must- haves, meanwhile, encompass being “on-the-go, e-commerce capable, sustainable [and] convenient to use even with greasy fingers”, they say. In October, science company Royal DSM and packaging supplier Albéa announced a collaboration under which DSM will provide the industry with sun care formulation prototypes in tubes supplied by Albéa.
As Mathilde Delaune, a Formulation Expert at DSM, explains: “Sun care formulations usually need opaque packaging to protect from photo-instability [and] strong internal coating to resist against some chemical components, such as UV filters or solvents.
“The size of the opening is
key, depending on the viscosity of the formulations,” she adds. “Finally, the formats are meant to be easy to use: on-the-go,
cosmeticsbusiness.com
La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios (left) comes in a partially cardboard-based tube from Albéa; this same concept is now available as Metamorphosis
compact, light and hygienic. That’s why tubes are meaningful for such applications.”
Caroline Hughes, who is Marketing Manager for Tubes at Albéa, adds that its customers are “focusing on making their sun formulations more environmentally-friendly”, as well as experimenting with “different types of formulations or formats, such as milk, spray, cream, stick or on-the-go”.
TUBES ON TOP
It was for this reason that DSM’s photoprotection team, which formulates eco-friendly formulas, contacted Albéa, a cosmetic packaging supplier that shares the “same strong engagement for sustainable solutions” to form a “win- win” partnership co-branding eco- conscious formulations in the sun protection area, according to Delaune. Albéa’s Hughes tells Cosmetics Business: “Depending on the formula’s properties, we offer a wide range of solutions designed to reduce the environmental impact. “The SP32A airless spray pump adapts to most formula viscosities and enables 360-degree application to reach areas like the back or legs easily. The weight reduction of the packaging, resulting from the combination of tube plus spray, provides a lower carbon impact.”
She adds: “Our eco-
designed flip-top caps, which are available with plastic and laminate tubes, as well as with many orifice size possibilities, offer an easy and convenient use of sun care formula. The cap will stay on the tube while the formula flows through the central orifice.”
The company offers Slim Cap, a flip- top option in PE, said to be one of the lightest caps on the market. It is available in a 50mm diameter for both laminate and plastic tubes.
Its Basic Cap flip-top version is now available in 100% PE, which can be used in
conjunction with a PE sleeve and head for a fully-monomaterial option for easier recycling. Finally, she explains that Albéa offers a wide range of post-consumer recycled (PCR) tubes in its portfolio. According to Hughes, the integration of a high content of recycled material is “an excellent option for sun care products”. Here, Albéa’s new Timeless laminate tube range is said to combine recycled plastic with weight reduction, incorporating 40% of recycled material in total (with 60% in the sleeve and 70% in the shoulder).
PAPER DREAMS
Sustainability is, as mentioned, a driving force behind a lot of recent sun care product packaging decisions – and here we are witnessing a shift towards materials not traditionally associated with SPF products. With the eco-led trend for solid products not bypassing the sun category and brands including Supergoop!, Shiseido and La Roche- Posay’s Anthelios offering stick format protection, paper and card has become a viable option.
Mktg Industry now offers its cardboard and paper- only Eco Beauty Stick in a new Oval version, which is said to be an especially good option from the supplier for anhydrous sunscreen products, as well as for deodorants and body balms. To use the monomaterial packs, the formula can be slid up by applying pressure to the cardboard sliding chip at the base. Meanwhile, the inner wall is covered with food grade, greaseproof waxed paper, which functions as an oils and fats barrier, and helps the sunscreen to smoothly slide out. The greaseproof paper also allows for the formula to be hot poured into the packaging.
A limitation when using standard paper or card to pack sunscreen is its lack of water resistance. A strong packaging contender for an eco-friendly urban defence product might be less attractive as a pack designed to be brought on a beach holiday. Suppliers, however, are innovating here too. For example, Kosé Corporation’s Suncut Mild Cream SPF30
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