Accessible Packaging in 2023: A Year in Review of the Beauty Industry's Top Brands

Cosmac
Nov 16, 2023
6 min read

Written By: Samantha Riga

Date: Thursday, November 16th

Accessibility has been a household term for many years. Everyone is either directly benefited from accessible packaging or knows someone who is. With many groups advocating for more inclusion and accessibility in all aspects of life, many people also agree that accessibility will only benefit society as a whole. In recent years, progress has been made thanks to standards and regulations released by various governments all over the world. For example, the Accessible Canada Act was passed in 2019 with the hopes of making Canada “barrier-free by January 2040” (Government of Canada, 2023). While laws like these are great overall, there is little regulation at the moment for specific industries. The beauty industry, for example, has seen little progress in the production of accessible packaging over the years. While independent companies like Rare Beauty have helped by developing packaging that is easier to use for everyone, the industry standards unfortunately never completely change unless top parent companies begin to shift their production as well.

So are these key stakeholder companies doing anything? Well, they’ve just started. Recently, the untapped market of accessibility in beauty has been estimated to be worth $1.2 trillion (Shah, 2023). This has led some top parent brands to begin developing solutions to more accessibility in cosmetic packaging and the experience overall.

Global Cosmetic News reported their top 50 and 100 brands with a key influence on the beauty industry. From the top 5, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder and Shiseido all developed campaigns within the last year for innovative solutions to accessibility in their packaging and products (Global Cosmetic News, 2023). Today, we’ll go through the very promising products that these companies developed.

L’Oréal - HAPTA

“Self-expression should have no boundaries or limitations” - Guive Balooch, Head of L’oréal Technology Incubator (Leamey, 2023)

The first accessible product launched this year by L’Oréal is a mechanical aid for application. HAPTA was designed in collaboration with Verily Life Sciences who makes technology for Liftware, an accessible brand of robotic utensils for people with mobility issues (Leamy, 2023). HAPTA is a ‘handheld computerized makeup applicator’ that allows for stable application of makeup (Leamey, 2023).

HAPTA was first unveiled earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (L’Oréal, 2023). It was announced as being designed for those who have diseases preventing mobility such as Huntington’s disease, arthritis, Parkinson's disease (hand tremors), and other mobility issues.

This device acts as an extension to your products, meaning that a customer wouldn’t have to specifically purchase from a L’Oréal brand in order to use HAPTA. It is made up of two parts; the easy-to-hold handle bar, and the attachment. The attachment is magnetic and securely sticks itself to the handle while still being able to rotate in 360 degrees and flex in 180 degrees (Shah, 2023). The attachment is made up of magnetic sensors and gravity controls that stabilizes the makeup product being applied (Leamey, 2023). The lipstick applicator was created for the initial launch, and they have just enhanced the attachment to be able to hold a mascara wand as well (L’Oréal, 2023). More enhancements and attachments are projected to be developed in 2024 and 2025.

L’Oreal - 3D shu:brow

“We believe that everyone can express themselves with artistry, and innovation makes it more accessible” - Sandrine Jolly (L’Oréal, 2023)

The shu:brow was made in collaboration with Prinker, a tattoo printer company (L’Oréal, 2023). The product was designed to allow the process of applying eyebrow makeup to be more accessible to everyone. The device pairs with the L’Oréal Brow Magic App, and utilizes AR technology to aid the user (Leamey, 2023).

Using the Brow Magic App, the user will scan their face. The AR-assisted camera within the app will then show different options of brow styles that can be applied. Once the user chooses the style they’d like, they can press the applicator to their face and slowly move it from one side to another. The applicator was designed to print up to 1200 DPI which is dispensed and applied to the face (L’Oréal, 2023). This is how the makeup is ‘applied’.

This product shows how important accessibility is for every user, regardless of ability. The applicator is easy to use and provides aid to users who are new to doing makeup or who need a time-efficient way of applying makeup. Most importantly, users with mobility and dexterity issues can use this tool and can still have a clean application result. Allowing all users to take independent control of their makeup application process.

Estée Lauder

In January of this year, Estée Lauder Companies introduced an AI powered app that aids in the application of makeup. This initiative was started in London, England. It was inspired by a recent study that came out stating 2 million people in the UK live with sight loss (Estée Lauder Companies, 2023). 340,000 people in the UK have also registered as being legally blind or partially sighted. The app was designed as a means for those with visual impairment to take control of their own makeup application without needing to rely on the help of someone else (Wilkinson, 2023).

This app was officially developed by Estée Lauder Companies in the UK and Ireland. The platform is known as a voice-enabled makeup assistant or VMA (Beauty Bytes, 2023). It utilizes augmented reality and artificial intelligence to guide the user through their makeup routine.

The user is visually and audibly prompted as soon as the app opens. Using the camera within the app - the AI engine will aid them in their makeup application by describing steps to them and telling them where/how to place and apply their makeup. This app is completely free and does not require users to purchase new makeup from Estée Lauder’s brand. For the time being, it is available on the UK app store as it is still new. However, the company intends on expanding its availability to all markets in the next few months.

Shiseido - Ease of Use

Shiseido is an excellent example of a brand that was able to implement accessibility into their packaging without sacrificing brand integrity. Here are some notable accessibility features:

Lids and handles of products have a textured pattern which creates a high-quality feel. Additionally, the textures added are bumpy and uneven, this provides grip to the product to allow for ease of opening (Shiseido, 2023).

Bottles and tubes are made with a tapered and flare base. A tube product will have a lid with a flat top, this way the product is able to stand on its own without possibly rolling.

The materials of the packaging for products likely to be used in the shower or near water have been formulated to repel water easily. This allows for the user to easily grip it even when the product is wet.

Products with round designs are not entirely circular. For example, this elixir has a flattened base to minimize risk of rolling. Additionally, while the brand identity for this specific product intended on it to be round, the company opted to create an oval-shape design over a circular one. This promotes ease-of-opening, as an oval is more ergonomically suitable for a hand to easily grip (Shiseido, 2023).

So what does this mean for the beauty industry? There is still a lot of progress to be made. Especially since most accessibility in packaging and products within these companies are still considered novelty. Accessibility should not be considered a novelty thing in packaging, it needs to become the standard. However, that doesn’t mean these innovations are not important. If stakeholders continue to experiment with innovative packaging and products, smaller companies will feel pressured to do the same to stay on top of the market. Slowly but surely, progress within accessible packaging will be made.

References

Leamey, T. (January 7, 2023). L’Oréal Brings Accessibility to the Beauty Industry with 2

CES Prototypes. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/health/personal-care/loreal-offers-

accessibility-in-beauty-industry-with-2-ces-prototypes/

Shah, S. (January 4, 2023). L’Oréal Offersed Motorised Make-Up Applicator For People

with Limited Mobility. The Standard.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/loreal-hapta-makeup-applicator-limited-

mobility-ces-b1050720.html#:~:text=L'Or%C3%A9al%20has%20debuted%20a,flexions%2C%20acc

ording%20to%20the%20company

Wilkinson, L. (June 26, 2023). How Estée Lauder Builds Technology to Foster Inclusivity.

Retail Dive. https://www.retaildive.com/news/estee-lauder-mobile-app-visually-

impaired-technology-accessibility-inclusivity/653408/