Sofia Cosmétiques invests in R&D to innovate and offer brands new solutions. A specialist in suncare products, the company has also launched a research program to improve filters. At the heart of its approach: a genuine commitment to CSR.
AlongsideIndustries Cosmétiquesthe company has launched a podcast devoted to the engineering that drives beauty forward. Those who are designing tomorrow's beauty speak out.
Present at Luxe Pack Monaco, held on September 30, October 1 and 2, 2024, the Albéa Group showcased a wide range of innovations combining desirability, ingenuity and eco-responsibility. Read the full report.
"We are looking both to achieve the 'wow' effect that is essential for creating desirable cosmetic products, and to offer solutions that meet the challenges of traceability, decarbonation and recycling."emphasizes François Tassart, General Manager of the Albéa Group.
Taking user experience into account is also a major concern for the Cosmetics & Fragrance division.
Albéa Cosmetics & Fragrance: innovation and know-how to simplify gestures
Since July 3, 2024, manufacturers have been obliged to make closures integral to plastic bottles containing up to 3 liters of beverage.
With its new Polaris refillable skincare jar, Albéa's Cosmetics & Fragrance division has adopted the same principle: an invisible plastic hinge allows the cap to remain attached to the base. According to Albéa, this system offers easy access to the formula: no more wondering where to put the cap when opening the jar!
The PP-only, refillable jar opens like a jewelry box and can be filled using Albéa's Twirl cup system. "To encourage the adoption of rechargeable solutions, our role is to make them really simple - in other words, intuitive, explains Aline Roland, Marketing Director, Albéa Cosmetics & Fragrance. With our brand new "Polaris" concept, we've taken the next step by combining a unique, sophisticated design with a significant reduction in environmental impact."
Innovation also applies to make-up. Powder Breathe is a container for loose powder designed to deliver just the right dose, limiting material loss and simplifying the user's gesture. A flexible membrane pushes the powder onto the sieve. When closed, the lid pushes the unused powder back into the jar. Albéa's refillable container is available in PP with an elastomer pouch.
Beauty Lab, expertise in brushes, applicators and lip glosses
In Monaco, the Albéa Cosmetics & Fragrance team also presented some of the latest products from its Beauty Lab (formerly Albéa Tips Studio), the company's center of expertise for plastic and fiber brushes and applicators.
With customized solutions for various brands and a portfolio of 600 standard applicators, Albéa Beauty Lab has been demonstrating its capacity for innovation and creativity for 10 years,playing with shapes and materials.
"Our first center of expertise is in Bottanuco, Italy. We are now creating the exact same experience in the United States.says Aline Roland. The idea is to welcome our customers who can, within 48 hours, obtain a specific prototype that meets the brand's marketing brief. "
Albéa Tubes: recyclability, a priority
In creating the ultra-thin EcoFusion Top range, Albéa Tubes reduced the weight of the head and cap part of its packaging by 80 % compared with a conventional flip-top + head solution.
With the EcoTop product range, Albéa Tubes is now accelerating the integration of recycled content into the entire tube. Albéa Tubes has worked on integrating recycled materials into every component of the tube, particularly the caps.
In Monaco, the Tubes division of the French ETI presented the Slight Cap and Basic Cap containing 70 % of PCR PP. Albéa tubes can thus contain up to 60 % of recycled materials, depending on the skirt and head chosen. Capsules are compatible with extruded and laminated tubes.
To make a good impression
The Albéa Tubes division also highlighted its Advanced Decoration By NovaPrint solution. The manufacturer presents this offer as "the most innovative printing solution on the market". because it combines the best of extruded and laminated materials: flat printing and no side seams. Sophisticated, premium and complex designs can be achieved while combining several printing technologies: flexography, cold stamping, overprinted foil, etc.
With a reduced skirt thickness that lowers tube weight, a less energy-intensive production process for a lower carbon footprint than traditional decoration, and the incorporation of 100 % recycled materials (PCR) in the extruded skirt, making it possible to achieve 57 % of recycled content in a tube incorporating the ultralight EcoFusion Top, the Advanced Decoration By NovaPrint solution is sure to appeal to brands looking for a colorful, high-quality rendering with less impact on the environment, especially as the solution is fully recyclable in the HDPE stream.
"Plastic tube decoration is key to brand differentiation and identity, as well as consumer engagement, but it must not compromise sustainability , explains Caroline Hughes, Albéa Tubes Marketing Director. Advanced Decoration by NovaPrint is a true technological revolution combining sustainability and desirability: it meets customers' needs for desirable, more responsible tubes, but also our shared commitment to reducing plastic consumption and the global environmental footprint."
The Fancy Deco offer also enhances tube decoration possibilities with new printing effects. In particular, the lenticular effect lets you switch from one image to another depending on the viewing angle, while the application of a special varnish gives laminated tubes the effect of movement. The 3D Touch effect adds relief and texture to the tube, thanks to a special thicker varnish and an original application process.
Albéa Cosmetics & Fragrance wins award In Monaco, Albéa's Cosmetics & Fragrance division received a Formes de Luxe award in the "Finishing & Decoration" category. Solicited by Puig, it was rewarded for its work on Christian Louboutin's Teint Fétiche Le Baume de Teint product. In the spotlight: engraving work replacing embroidery previously carried out by hand. Thanks to meticulous work on the mold, an appearance similar to the finely embroidered original piece can now be obtained via an industrial process. "To meet the brand's requirements, we developed specific molds, with a particular engraving method, thanks to our know-how and our network of subcontractors, in order to reproduce the embroidery details as faithfully as possible - all within a very challenging development timeframe! Since 2023, the part has been manufactured in 100 % PETG by our teams of Indonesian experts in Semarang".explains Charlotte Wastyn, Key Account Manager at Albéa Cosmetics & Fragrance. For these Formes de Luxe awards, the Albéa group was also nominated in the "Refill & reload" category for the production of the new Miss Dior Mini Miss solid fragrances, which are nomadic and environmentally friendly.
Three "ETMA Tube of the Year 2024" awards for Albéa Tubes Three Albéa Tubes packages were honored at the ETMA Tube of the Year 2024 awards, a competition organized each year by the European Tube Manufacturers Association (ETMA). The EcoLittle Top flip-top sample tube designed for Clarins won the Sustainable Tube Award. It meets the challenges of weight reduction, recyclability and use of recycled materials. Thanks to the elimination of one component, it offers a weight reduction of 47 % on the complete tube. Made from PE and HDPE, the tube incorporates 45 % of recycled materials, thanks to Albéa Tubes' PCR Max range, making it a single-material tube that can be recycled in HDPE channels. The Greenleaf tube with OctoTop cap, developed for L'Occitane, won an award in the laminate category. This 30-ml hand cream tube combines a Greenleaf multi-layer HDPE envelope with a two-in-one octagonal flip-top cap. This solution is designed to be recycled in France, Europe and the United States, while reducing the tube's overall weight by 23 %. Finally, the PCR Max tube with EcoFusion Top cap manufactured for Decathlon won the prize for best plastic tube. This single-material tube incorporates 70 % of recycled materials. The EcoFusion Top cap is also designed for HDPE recycling.
The second edition of Future Leaders will be held at the Paris Packaging Week trade show on January 28 and 29, 2025, highlighting talented young professionals who represent the future of a fast-changing sector, driven by the challenges of sustainability and innovation. These talents have been selected by a jury of three influential luxury packaging experts.
International, committed specialists
The 'Future Leaders' of the 2025 edition come from countries as diverse as France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the Netherlands. They stand out not only for their technical expertise, but also for their ability to naturally integrate environmental challenges into their professional practices.
"What impressed me most about these young talents was their vision of sustainable development, which they see not as a constraint, but as a matter of course. Where previous generations had to adapt, they have grown up with this reality and are directly asking the question 'How can we do better?'"says Gérald Martines, founder of the In-Signes agency and one of the members of the jury.
The 10 young packaging specialists selected by the jury are :
Robbert Antony Bouman, Design Director, Innovative Beauty Group (Netherlands)
Romana Guennoud, Packaging Engineer, Huda Beauty (United Arab Emirates)
Jake Inglis, design engineer trainee, Crown Holdings Inc. (UK)
Teresa Vargas Matos, co-founder & head of strategy, Matters To You Studio (Portugal)
Maxwell Williams, Researcher, The Packaging School (USA)
Madison Wright, Project Manager, Pentatonic (UK)
A diversity of talents at the service of sustainable innovation
These young leaders cover the entire packaging value chain, from sourcing to eco-design, recycling and consumer experience. "Our panel of Future Leaders perfectly illustrates the diversity of approaches shaping the future of packaging. Their challenge will be to combine this expertise creatively and effectively, finding innovative solutions that meet the challenges of our time."explains Emmanuelle Bonardi, Director of Operations at jury member AmorePacific.
This new generation of innovators will also be in the spotlight at round tables during Paris Packaging Week, where they will share their vision of the challenges and opportunities ahead for the industry. Thierry de Baschmakoff encourages them to dare to be bold: "The future of packaging lies in our ability to take risks and imagine new approaches. Don't be afraid to pioneer new and radical ideas."
Paris Packaging Week, a flagship event
Paris Packaging Week will be held at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles. This not-to-be-missed event brings together the industry's key players around four major shows: PCD for the cosmetics and fragrances sectors, ADF for aerosol solutions, PLD for premium and luxury beverages, and Packaging Première for luxury products, including fashion, watches, jewelry and delicatessen.
dsm-firmenich, innovator in nutrition, health and beauty, dsm-firmenich aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2045. The group has announced that its short- and long-term climate change targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
SBTi also validated dsm-firmenich's short-term targets to reduce absolute GHG emissions from scopes 1 and 2 by 42 % by 2030, compared with the base year of 2021.
The target of reducing absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel and energy activities, upstream transport and distribution, and waste generated in the course of operations, by 25 % by 2030, compared with the 2021 base year was also approved, as was the target of increasing the annual supply of purchased renewable electricity to 100 % by 2025, and maintaining this level until 2030.
SBTi believes that these targets are in line with the latest climate science and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
"At dsm-firmenich, people, planet and profit are all of crucial importance, and our ambition to become net-zero by 2045 is underpinned by science and decisive action. Subjecting our climate targets to external validation underlines the unwavering importance we place on sustainability. We are delighted to embark on this journey alongside our customers and suppliers, whose partnership is essential to our collective success."commented Dimitri de Vreeze, CEO of dsm-firmenich.
"Our commitment to the fight against global warming goes beyond necessity. With our reach, scale and scientific expertise, we have a responsibility to make an impact that matters. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and helping to solve it is a deliberate choice across our business, our value chain and beyond. That's how we make a difference for people and the planet," said Katharina Stenholm, Chief Sustainability Officer.
The company's climate change activities include operational efficiency improvements, a full transition to renewable electricity, reducing indirect emissions from the value chain in collaboration with suppliers, and working with customers to reduce emissions in their own operations through the solutions and services offered by dsm-firmenich.
SBTi is a collaboration between the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI), CDP and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), which aims to encourage companies to take ambitious action to combat climate change.
L'Oréal's advertising strategy for Q3 2024 (July 1 - September 30) effectively leverages empowerment, beauty innovation and inclusivity to engage diverse consumers. Combining luxury and sustainability with messages about self-esteem and individuality, the French personal care giant uses celebrity endorsement and bold visuals to transcend traditional beauty norms. This multi-faceted approach enables the brand to establish an emotional connection with a broad audience, reinforcing its market leadership and relevance in a competitive landscape dominated by both scientific innovation and cultural sensitivity, according to the Global Ads Platform from data and media analytics company GlobalData.
"L'Oréal has strategically focused on promoting empowerment and self-esteem, leveraging celebrities, highlighting innovation, ensuring cultural sensitivity and incorporating fun, bold appeal into advertising. By adopting this diversified advertising strategy, the company sought to connect with a wide range of consumers, resonate with different cultural backgrounds and remain relevant in a competitive market. This approach has enabled L'Oréal to reinforce its brand values of trust, inclusion and product excellence, while appealing to a wide audience."comments Smitarani Tripathy, social media analyst at GlobalData.
L'Oréal's ads, particularly those in the "You're Worth It" campaign, focus on messages of empowerment and self-esteem. From celebrity endorsements such as Alia Bhatt to more general themes aimed at breaking down societal expectations, the brand continually encourages self-confidence and individuality. The famous slogan "Because You're Worth It" reminds us that beauty is not just about appearance, but about self-respect and empowerment.
L'Oréal frequently partners with world-famous celebrities, such as Eva Longoria, to create aspirational value. These sponsorships bridge the gap between luxury and accessibility, associating the brand with iconic figures who embody confidence and success. This enables L'Oréal to effectively tap into both Western and Indian markets, leveraging celebrity influence to reach a wider audience.
L'Oréal campaigns also often emphasize product innovation, focusing on scientific advances in skincare and make-up. Ads like those for Crème Eau Revitalift highlight ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, offering consumers tangible benefits such as hydration and anti-aging. This blend of science and beauty keeps the brand relevant and trustworthy in a competitive market.
L'Oréal adapts its advertising to local audiences. In the case of India, for example, product lines such as Revitalift hyaluronic acid cream are promoted with messages adapted to Indian skin types, fostering a sense of inclusion. The ads celebrate beauty in all its diversity, enabling the brand to adapt to all cultural backgrounds.
Finally, lhe L'Oréal make-up ads, like the one for Infallible Matte Resistance lipstick, use bold, fun visuals to emphasize that beauty is an expression of individuality. The light tone, playful messages and bright colors appeal to young consumers who see make-up as a means of expression. Lipstick campaigns balance sophistication with a sense of liveliness and accessibility.
TechnicoFlor, an independent, family-owned French fragrance house, has been supplying the biggest names in perfumery, cosmetics and hygiene for over 40 years. Its fragrances are used in a wide range of applications worldwide, including eau de toilettes, body and face care products, shower gels, shampoos and hydro-alcoholic gels.
To his credit: a brand-new collection of six fragrances called "Artopia", previewed at the Beauty World Middle East trade show in Dubai, held from October 28 to 30, 2024. The idea: to imagine and design tomorrow's perfumery at the crossroads of the arts and emotions!
A new interpretation of tomorrow's perfumery
The Artopia collection is the fruit of an original collaboration between TechnicoFlor perfumers and Gigi Gorlova, an artist with expertise in digital art (design, production and 3D animation). Based in Dubai, a city emblematic of digital transformation, the British artist offers unique, colorful, futuristic content.
Imagined as olfactory works of art, the fragrances in the collection, which combine digital and olfactory art, explore uncharted territories, leaving room for the imagination. Each fragrance is an innovative sensory experience.
"Through this collection, TechnicoFlor offers immersion in a universe where technology and emotion intertwine to reveal new facets of the future of perfumery".the company says.
Six original fragrances
After months of discussion and design, six TechnicoFlor perfumers (Jérémy Sabater, Bertrand Duchaufour, Bérengère Bourgarel, Pierre Flores, Sofia Bardelli and Vincent Ricord) each co-created, with artist Gigi Gorlova, a fragrance embodying their vision of tomorrow's perfumery, a true reflection of their artistic sensibility.
For example, Utopia (fruity, floral and citrus notes) represents "the captured essence of an imaginary world where pop nature and magic intertwine".says perfumer Vincent Ricord.
Interstellar (a fragrance with chypre, ozonic, aldehydic and smoky notes) is a "An ode to space exploration, celebrating the discovery of a mighty planet in the heart of a galaxy sparkling with stardust.says perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour.
Volcaris (a fragrance with amber, fruity and oud notes) symbolizes, for its part, "a fragrance with amber, fruity and oud notes". the infinite power of the Earth, this unique gemstone, born of a volcanic eruption, embodies the creative force of the elements".according to Jérémy Sabater.
"This collection is a true sensory exploration, where each fragrance becomes a living tableau. The combination of artistic vision and olfactory mastery has enabled us to push back the boundaries of what is possible, offering creations that are as daring as they are original."stresses Christopher Sabater, Global Strategy Director at TechnicoFlor.
After working with Stoelzle Masnières Parfumerie on the Mercedes-Benz Parfums brand, and then AMG, whose fragrances were unveiled at the end of 2023, INCC Parfums once again called on the French glassmaker, a subsidiary of the Austrian Stoelzle group, to shape the first Mercedes-Maybach fragrance collection with its emblematic bottle, the creation of which required real expertise.
An automotive brand with a distinctive, luxurious and sophisticated design, Maybach wanted a fragrance collection that features a luxurious glass design, in keeping with the brand's DNA.
"Each of the six fragrances was created with the same thirst for extraordinary beauty and refined perfection as a Mercedes-Maybach automobile, under the direction of world-renowned master perfumer Anne Flipo.says Stoelzle Masnières Parfumerie. Every detail of the design has been meticulously conceived and crafted, like those of a Mercedes-Maybach car, pushing perfection to the limit. The bottle takes on an elegant and inspiring shape, where straight lines and rounded edges combine to create a distinctive futuristic ambience."
At the heart of this bottle, the engraved Maybach logo is intended to embody the perfect symbiosis of brand sophistication and craftsmanship, a project presenting a technical complexity: to achieve a razor-sharp, uniform engraving at the center and edges of the bottle. Thanks to subtle, invisible adjustments, Stoelzle Parfumerie & Cosmétique was able to meet this challenge.
The design of the bottle base also required expert control of the initial design to ensure harmonious thickness and perfect visual stability. "The result is a bottle that embodies both robustness and finesse, true to Maybach's exacting standards. With this bottle, Stoelzle Masnières Parfumerie once again demonstrates its commitment to producing unique creations that meet the expectations of the most prestigious brands."emphasizes the glassmaker.
The sides of the bottle are clad in shiny aluminum, engraved with the Maybach logo and fragrance name-a clean, luxurious finishing touch that evokes the gleaming chrome of a Mercedes-Maybach vehicle.
Finally, each fragrance is sold in a distinctive, refined ivory box bearing the house logo.
Spain's Quadpack and France's PSB Industries announced plans to merge Quadpack and Texen, PSB's main subsidiary, in July 2024. The merger has been successfully completed, placing both companies under the umbrella of PSB Industries. Quadpack Industries SA will be delisted from the Euronext Growth market in Paris.
The new group is set to become one of the world's top five players in cosmetics packaging, offering customers ready-to-use and customized solutions, production plants in six countries, an expanded network of suppliers and access to collective know-how in sustainable packaging design and engineering.
Texen and Quadpack will operate as independent companies. At the same time, a strategic plan will be drawn up to develop synergies between the two entities and accelerate innovation. The ultimate aim is to become a leader in the ecological transition of cosmetics packaging.
Alexandra Chauvigné, CEO of Quadpack, has been appointed CEO of the Group by the PSB Industries Board of Directors, chaired by François-Xavier Entremont.
"We are delighted with this new stage in our development, in which our shareholders see great potential for growth. We are convinced that with Alexandra at the head of the Group, and thanks to her significant experience in the packaging sector, the value created by the Group will be considerably amplified, with a very positive knock-on effect for all stakeholders", saidFrançois-Xavier Entremont.
"I'm delighted to be taking over the management of the new group. Texen and Quadpack form a perfect union, with highly complementary business models and the potential to create numerous opportunities and synergies. By combining our strengths, we aim to bring even greater value to all our partners, emphasizedAlexandra Chauvigné.
Marion Chambon is the winner of the Jeunes Talents France L'Oréal-Unesco prize for women in science, which has been awarded to 35 women scientists every year since 2007.
A doctoral student at the University of French Polynesia, after studying at the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences (ISPB) in Lyon and then at the University of Nantes, the young researcher is assessing the benefits of plants used in traditional medicine.
Her project: improving skin care with Polynesian plants. Her subjects: five local plants - Tamanu (Calophyllum inophyllum), Turmeric or Rea (Curcuma longa), tiara flowers (Gardenia taitensis), the roots of Aura (Ficus prolixa) and the green leaves of Tou (Cordia subcordata).
"The specificity of this Polynesian flora is that it is endemic to more than 60 %, and has been little studied from a chemical or biological point of view".said the young woman in an interview with France Bleu, before going on to explain that she was interested in the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, healing and anti-cancer properties of plants, and then in their chemical composition, to find out which molecules make them up.
This work could be transposed from laboratory to industrial scale to develop cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.
A partner to luxury brands, the French company Metapack has developed expertise in zamac, a material that can be recycled ad infinitum, according to its CEO and co-founder Annette Der Minassian-Manoukian.
Monday, September 30, 2024. The setting for the press conference is unusual. The speech is militant.
Annette Der Minassian-Manoukian, CEO and co-founder of Metapack, spoke to journalists on the special Luxe Pack TGV, a train privatized for the show to enable visitors to travel to Monaco with a reduced carbon footprint while exchanging ideas with their peers. A flagship material for the French SME specializing in high-end primary packaging. A recyclable material, according to the CEO.
"Metapack was co-founded by three players in the high-end costume jewelry sector. We launched our business in 1998, offering luxury promotional items to perfume and cosmetics houses. We introduced zamac - an alloy already used in the perfume industry, but which had been abandoned in favor of ABS - and developed a zamac range produced in China. Very quickly, we encountered a craze for this material: zamac meets all the codes of luxury with its cool touch, a wide range of finishes adapted to very high-end products and the possibility of developing complex shapes through injection and demolding. Brands have found Metapack to be a laboratory for their creations, which has enabled us to move from promotional items to catalog packaging.she explains.
A non-ferrous metal alloying zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper, zamac has become emblematic of luxury. Metapack, which also works with other materials such as brass, steel, aluminum and leather sheathing, has made it its material of choice. The SME, which has been recommending refillable and reusable solutions to its customers since 2006, has since 2008 been offering a whole range of customizable standard packaging made from zamac refills (caps, travel sprays, cases, lipsticks and sticks).
What about environmental constraints? "It's not widely known, but zamac is infinitely recyclable".emphasizes Annette Der Minassian-Manoukian. To counter preconceived ideas and answer various questions, in 2022 Metapack tested the recycling of its parts in collaboration with an environmental engineering consulting agency, a manufacturer of metal waste sorting machines, a domestic waste sorting center and a glass manufacturer. "We worked with Veolia and Derichebourg and went on site to check recyclability. Zamac sorts very well: we experimented with tracing our products and obtained an excellent capture rate of over 90 % on certain parts.says the company's founder with satisfaction.
The study also revealed the importance of shape and size in capturing end-of-life products. "Thanks to our study, we have covered the life cycle of zamac and demonstrated that this material can be detected in existing channels, recycled and transformed - in its original raw material - ad infinitum. Without losing its quality. Without losing its properties. We have also proved that advanced techniques and know-how for sorting and separating different materials exist in France and around the world. These techniques vary from one geographical area to another.
Another part of Metapack's study is starting this year, with the aim of offering an alternative sorting channel for zamac and other metals to the yellow bins. The red bins, dedicated to metal collection, are to be studied for household metal waste. With this in mind, the company intends to work closely with Ademe (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) to guide consumer sorting.
Operational relocation Since 2005, thanks to its network of partners, Metapack has been able to offer European production for its products. Some 15 % of its sales come from this relocation. "We are able to offer the same technologies we use in Asia by orchestrating partners in Europe. We produce zamac in Italy, brass and stainless steel in France, and aluminum in Portugal, using galvanizing or PVD technologies".says Annette Der Minassian-Manoukian, CEO of Metapack.
New products showcased at Luxe Pack Metapack took advantage of the Luxe Pack trade show, held in Monaco on September 29, October 1 and 2, 2024, to present its innovations. Timeless is a make-up case available in round or square formats. Made from zamac, it is refillable, reusable and recyclable, contains no magnets and can be customized by laser engraving or labels. The case's integrated tigelle clasp is based on a patented innovation. Made entirely of aluminum, with no plastic or magnets, the Infinity bag spray is a travel accessory for perfume or skincare formulas. It is refillable and recyclable. For the home fragrance sector, Metapack also offers Transparency, a pressed glass candle lid that can be customized by sandblasting, laser engraving or labels.
