The sustainable development direction of mainstream packaging worldwide is to reduce the use of fossil based native plastics, increase the application of recycled plastics, and promote circular economy. The third is to promote 100% recyclability, reusability, and substitutability of products, which means increasing the number of resource reuse.

2022 is an extraordinary year, with significant changes taking place in the cosmetics industry, and packaging materials constantly evolving under the impetus of various changes.

01

Definition of Common Packaging for Cosmetics

Color box: Color box - refers to a folding paper box and a micro corrugated paper box made of two materials: cardboard and micro corrugated cardboard. The enterprise that produces paper boxes is called a color box printing and packaging factory, abbreviated as a color box factory.

Membrane bag roll material/membrane bag: Aluminum foil bag is a bag made by combining various plastic films and using a bag making machine to package cosmetics, daily necessities, etc.

Label: A common self-adhesive label in cosmetics, also known as self-adhesive self-adhesive material, is a composite material made of paper, film, or other special materials as the fabric, coated with adhesive on the back, and coated with silicon protective paper as the backing. Non drying adhesive is a general term for materials with such properties.

Cartons: Cartons are the most widely used packaging products, with different specifications and models depending on the materials used, including corrugated cardboard boxes, single-layer cardboard boxes, etc. There are three or five layers commonly used in cardboard boxes, while seven layers are less commonly used. Each layer is divided into inner paper, corrugated paper, core paper, and face paper. The inner and face paper are made of tea board paper, kraft paper, and the core paper is made of corrugated paper. The color and feel of each type of paper are different, and the paper (color and feel) produced by different manufacturers are also different.

Plastic bottles: Plastic bottles are mainly made of materials such as polyethylene or polypropylene and added with various organic solvents. Plastic bottles are widely used as raw materials, including polyester (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP). After adding corresponding organic solvents, they are heated at high temperatures and then blown, extruded, or injection molded into plastic containers through plastic molds.

Glass bottle: The manufacturing of glass packaging containers is made by calcining and melting silicate materials such as quartz sand and limestone at high temperatures, reaching a temperature of nearly a thousand degrees Celsius (1600 degrees Celsius), turning them into liquids, forming them through molds, and then undergoing annealing and cooling processes

Hoses: Cosmetic hoses have the characteristics of lightweight, easy to carry, sturdy and durable, recyclable, easy to squeeze, good processing performance and printing adaptability, and are favored by many cosmetics manufacturers. They are widely used in cleansing products (such as facial cleansers) In the packaging of cosmetics such as skin care products (various eye creams, skin moisturizers, nutrition creams, snow cream and sunscreen, etc.) and beauty products (shampoo, hair conditioner, lipstick, etc.).

Penicillin bottle: also known as borosilicate glass or sodium calcium glass injection bottle, it is a small bottle sealed with a rubber stopper and an aluminum plastic combination cap. In the early days, penicillin was often used for packaging, hence the name penicillin bottle. In cosmetics, it was often used for packaging freeze-dried powder.

Ampoule: originally meant to concentrate essence in English, it is often used for packaging efficacy essence liquid.

02

National makeup packaging materials roll up appearance value

According to the prediction of global market research firm Marketsand Markets, the global cosmetics packaging market size will reach 436.6 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.03%.

As a major packaging country in the world, China's packaging industry has an annual output value exceeding 2.5 trillion yuan. There is a large amount of packaging materials used in the market, with a wide variety, and they are at a leading level internationally. Most of the cosmetics containers in the world are produced in China. In the future, China may surpass the United States to become the world's largest cosmetics packaging market.

With the rise of China's cosmetics industry in recent years, there has been a simultaneous development not only in the research of content and materials, but also in the domestic packaging material market from various aspects.

Firstly, there is the appearance design. New and emerging domestic beauty brands such as Huaxizi and Huazhi, which have emerged strongly in recent years, owe a large part of their success to recognizable and high appearance packaging.

On the one hand, national style elements such as micro sculpture and ceramics are integrated into the "Oriental Aesthetics" of packaging; on the other hand, popular elements such as cuteness and retro style are implemented into the "ultimate girl heart" of packaging. The packaging style of China-Chic cosmetics is different from that of foreign brands, and targeted at the young consumers of Generation Z.

Secondly, there is cost. The majority of low-priced national makeup packaging materials use non environmentally friendly plastics such as PP and PE, with a unit price ranging from 0.6 to 1 yuan; The price of plastic packaging materials such as acrylic and PETG used by mid to high-end brands is around 3-10 yuan. And the above quotation is retail price. If the price is lower for large-scale procurement, it meets the demand for high cost-effectiveness and cost reduction of national cosmetics.

Although the packaging appearance is widely praised and the cost is low, there are many problems with the green and environmental friendliness of domestic beauty packaging materials.

Professor Weng Yunxuan, Dean of the School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering at Beijing Business University and Secretary General of the Degradable Plastics Professional Committee of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, once stated that although China's packaging materials are at a world leading level, there is still a distance from some top countries.

In contrast, although China's packaging materials are relatively comprehensive and vast in terms of variety and volume, there is still room for improvement in some high value-added and high-end products.

For example, the packaging materials for cosmetics bottles include metal, glass, plastic, etc. Our production capacity is sufficient for more popular bottles, but for some high-end plastic bottles, their raw materials and equipment, such as BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene film equipment), still need to be imported. "Weng Yunxuan pointed out the crux.

At present, there are not many enterprises that prioritize the research and application of environmentally friendly packaging materials. At present, domestic beauty products are still in the stage of low price competition, and the demand for packaging materials is more focused on aspects such as appearance and texture, making it difficult to balance environmental protection.

However, in recent years, the Chinese packaging industry has begun to research the transformation and application of scientific research achievements in green new materials, such as natural polymer pulp molding, which is a three-dimensional papermaking technology. It uses waste paper as raw material and uses special molds to shape paper products in a certain shape on a molding machine.

In addition, many packaging companies are also accelerating the development and use of green biodegradable materials to reduce the application of non recyclable plastic materials, such as bio based raw materials and biodegradable materials, replacing non degradable fossil resource source materials.

Brands are also beginning to value the environmental friendliness of packaging materials. For example, Yiye facial mask is made of recyclable environmental protection packaging materials, Youshi Yanneng series products are packaged with recyclable sugarcane paper, and many products are printed with soybean ink that can reduce environmental pollution.

Taihe Group's PMU inorganic · biodegradable material is a new environmentally friendly material developed by the company that can naturally degrade without the need for composting and combustion.

03

Overseas packaging material coil environmental protection

Environmental protection and low-carbon have become one of the main trends in packaging iteration among domestic and foreign cosmetics giants.

In April 2022, LVMH Beauty announced to establish a strategic partnership with Origin Materials (a world leading listed company of carbon anode materials) to develop low-carbon packaging for the perfume and cosmetics industries.

In December 2022, Kirin Holdings collaborated with FANCL to develop cosmetic packaging using by-products of beer production. In this project, both parties will use plant raw materials instead of petroleum raw materials to reduce carbon emissions and slow down global warming.

Keyan has developed an empty bottle recycling program with the world's leading innovative waste treatment enterprise, Terui Environmental Protection. Keyan's products have always tried to use biodegradable raw materials and simple and environmentally friendly packaging, and even many products do not have paper outer boxes to reduce resource waste and environmental pollution.

In addition to the efforts of major brands in sustainable packaging, new and cutting-edge brands are also focusing on packaging to attract consumers' attention. For example, the Korean brand WakeMake has launched an environment-friendly bio based air cushion powder, which is made of bio based biodegradable plastics PHA and PLA to reduce the harm of traditional plastics to the environment.

In addition, legislation has been enforced in many countries and regions, requiring packaging to have sustainable characteristics. Some European and American countries have implemented tax reduction policies for using 20% -30% environmentally friendly materials to encourage enterprises to practice environmental protection. Countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Sweden have implemented "plastic ban orders", and all cosmetics containing plastic particles have been removed or replaced in relevant countries.

There are many institutions, brands, and factories abroad that are developing new technology packaging materials that are more environmentally friendly.

For example, APC Packaging, a packaging company in the United States, has designed containers and droppers using the latest clarity technology, which is more transparent than traditional glass. At the same time, the company has also improved the chemical corrosion resistance of the container by using NX UltraClear enhanced polypropylene (PP) design, overcoming the common environmental challenges of multiple materials and non recyclability in the market today.

This patented single material dropper and container was also born taking into account consumer demand. "To ensure that consumers can experience a positive impact on the environment, we further simplify the handling of single materials, so that the dropper and bottle can be recycled as a whole," explains Robert Bulla, Director of Engineering and Innovation at APC Packaging.

Another case is Raphael Makeup Brushes, the oldest fine bristle brush manufacturer in Europe, which also uses innovative and sustainable materials for its makeup brushes. The brand's latest ecological brush, with a handle made of 50% shells and 50% bioplastics.

It is worth mentioning that this bioplastics is recovered from a plant called castor, and the shells come from oyster waste along the Atlantic coast. The brush head is made of 65% recycled fiber (made from PET bottle waste) and 35% raw fiber.

The brand is also actively promoting the low-carbon and environmentally friendly trend of packaging materials. As early as 2009, Unilever's products have been "slimming down" from bottled to bagged, greatly reducing the use of plastic packaging materials. In 2021, Unilever Japan's Lux shampoo packaging introduced environmentally friendly single materials, and the small bag style packaging design used a single material PET film that is easier to recycle.

In July 2021, Procter&Gamble announced a partnership with paper bottle company Paboco to launch the first paper bottle packaging for its Lenovo brand, which was piloted in Western Europe in 2022.

It can be seen that the low-carbon and environmentally friendly packaging of cosmetics has become a future goal jointly promoted by major suppliers and brands. With the recovery of the cosmetics industry after the epidemic, environmentally friendly and low-carbon packaging materials may become the next driving force for brand development.

04

Future Trends and Trends of Cosmetic Packaging Materials

Looking forward to the future development and trend of cosmetic packaging materials, there may be such a trend of change.

The first trend: digitization and intelligence

In the past three years of the epidemic, the internet era has been rapidly advancing for more than five years, and digital life and the digital era have arrived. Digitalization and intelligence are two inseparable topics. Without digitization, there can never be intelligence, and intelligence is also built on big data.

How to digitize packaging and formula development? That requires digitizing all packaging and formula functions. In this way, the formula data and human perception data of the product can be summarized by machine learning and the logic behind it can be displayed, revealing patterns that we cannot see.

In the face of big data, people are dull, and the relationship logic behind the data cannot be seen through at a glance, but machines can learn it. At present, the formulation and packaging development in our industry seem to be a black box, and many evaluations rely on human senses and sensations.

How to make the beauty of this feeling, the beauty of ambiguity, and the design of the formula and packaging truly achieve the ultimate in the product. Digitalization and intelligence are the most important means of implementation. Yang Jian's divine power lies in his third eye, which can see clearly. How can cosmetic developers also have transparent eyes? By generating a large amount of data through various instruments and equipment, and analyzing and intelligentizing big data, we can draw logical relationships and conclusions that were previously impossible to draw, which will give R&D personnel Yang Jian's sacred third eye.

The second trend: enhancing the experience

In just thirty years, China has rapidly caught up with and surpassed the world's development for two to three hundred years. Therefore, the Chinese brain receives a large amount of strong stimuli, which concentrate the stimuli developed by people in other places for 200 to 300 years and release them within 30 years. The intensity, diversity, and sustainability of this stimulus are beyond the reach of people in other regions. So we have extremely high requirements for the appearance and user experience of the product.

Many products regard the moment of opening the packaging box as the core time point that affects the consumer experience, and then upgrade the five sense experience of materials, feel, and decoration to the extreme. This upgrade is still constantly enhancing, developing from static stimulation to dynamic stimulation, from static externalization to dynamic change in appearance, from single convenience of use, to the full product elements and the entire use process full of ritual and superiority in packaging and formula.

The third trend: loose, slow, and scattered

Our brain needs strong stimulation to maintain it, but a large number of people will become tired of this strong stimulation, become tired of 996, and become troubled by the excessively fast and stressful work and life rhythm.

Cosmetics, as an indispensable step in modern life, have begun to bear an important demand for slow living. The use of cosmetics is a brief process of enjoyment for a person. Bathing, facial cleansing, and facial preparation have surpassed their inherent functionality. If the experience time and superiority during the use of cosmetics can be extended, it will further strengthen people's demand for cosmetics.

Although the demand for relaxation may seem opposite to the demand for strengthening stimulation in the second point, the effect produced is consistent. Throughout the entire process of product use, there is a feeling of slowness, looseness, confidence, and fearlessness, thereby enhancing overall self-worth and reflecting a sense of superiority that elevates oneself and controls oneself.

So the feeling of using our products and the connotation of our packaging design should revolve around this looseness. The second trend emphasizes intensity, while the third trend emphasizes duration. By continuously extending the product experience time, consumers can feel the superiority and sense of control in controlling their own time initiative.

Fourth trend: sustainability

When we enjoy control and a sense of superiority, we generate a large amount of environmentally harmful waste. This is a huge challenge facing humanity on a global scale.

The famous Paris Agreement aims to control the range of global warming at 1.5 ℃, which is a very difficult goal. Major companies around the world are actively advocating for this goal, and the Chinese government is also actively promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

At present, the sustainable development direction of mainstream packaging worldwide is to reduce the use of fossil based native plastics; The second is to increase the application of recycled plastics and promote circular economy; The third is to promote 100% recyclability, reusability, and substitutability of products, which means increasing the number of times resources are reused.

These are all aimed at achieving carbon neutrality, controlling the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, and curbing the trend of global warming. The mainstream formula