Beauty Is Only Package Deep?

For some women (and men?) cosmetics are necessary evils. Some would prefer to regard them as guilty pleasures, as daily staples, or as an uncharted territory. For whatever reasons, make ups have carved a niche in our everyday life. Ranging from the traditionally brewed concoction to color the hair, to the high-end super formula cream that can smoothen even a rhino's thick end, we usually put quite a lot of faith in the product we are using. And when it comes to the packaging, it may be the last part we use to judge the effectiveness of the product.

As for me, I noticed that apart for Anna Sui's stuff, my choice of beauty products tend to have more clinical generic packages. Since they don't come that cheap, it's an enigma why big brands such as Clinique, MAC, Kiehl's and L'Occitane don't present their products with more blings and bangs. Even bigger brands such as Lancome, Kanebo, Shiseido, SK II, Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Dior and Sisley sort of uniformly sell their products in rather dullish looking boxes and drab packages.

From Benefit Cosmetics

I did some wondering, if whether or not girls buy some cosmetics solely just because they dig the packages and the images they are projecting. I don't exactly know the statistics for such research, but I know for sure that there are plenty of pretty stuff out in the market that are adorably packaged and wittily marketed, just waiting for unsuspecting customer to get their hands on them.

Benefit Cosmetics from San Francisco is one of the companies that pays some good designers good money to deck out their products quite artfully. When I first laid my eyes on them, I noticed how clever and witty they represent their stuff. Their packages look like something straight out of Marilyn Monroe's boudoir, or a vintage magazine. I guess their aim is exactly that, to appeal to some of those out there who are soft hearted when it comes to "retro", "classic" or "vintage" stuff (I'm guilty as charged). Here are some of their collections.

Got to love that "Beauty Patrol"

Somehow quite similarly designed yet differently targeted, born in the UK, Soap and Glory products have also captured my attentions from some years ago. They stated quite explicitly that their products are targeted for higher age brackets than Benefit, around "moms'" ages. Nevertheless, I enjoy their repertoire of packages adorned with retro pics of ladies straight out of the 50's magazines. And if you notice, they also tend to use lots of powdery pink color. An attempt to appeal maybe to deeply buried females' mother instincts? (you know, ie.: babies are pinkish)

LOL to "Sexy Mother Pucker" lipgloss!

Last but not the least, representing the avant guard country of France, Paul & Joe Beaute is getting hotter by the day. Despite the naming, unlike Dolce and Gabbana, there is neither Paul nor Joe directly involved in this brand (the brand is named after the designer's sons). So this brand has plenty of excuses to be out there looking so adorably cute and softly feminine. Their pouches and novelties are very much sought after in Japan, and with products such as lipsticks carved in the shape of kitties, no such wonder. The designer, whose fashion lines (Paul and Joe Sister, etc) are enjoying a big success, also uses salmon pinkish color quite liberally in her beauty products.

Still no conclusion on whether or not customers are very much tempted to buy beauty products based on their packaging, but I can say such products are very very appealing to the feminine hearts especially when they are aggressively marketed. I guess when it comes to flicking the magic wands, dabbing the colors and applying pouty smackers, prettier wands, bubblier colors, and juicier smackers will lift up our feminine spirits and make us feel a tiny wee bit more special than the rest of the species.
PS: other noteworthy brands include Anna Sui, Too Faced, Urban Decay and Bourjouis.