One-on-One with MetPack: The Student Perspective on Accessibility in Cosmetics

Featuring: Isabel Jordan, Kamesha Abraham, Anji Persaud and Manya Ganju of MetPack

Written By: Claire Tran

November 9th, 2023

In a beauty focused society, cosmetics are some of the most commonly purchased products to date! But not often do we think about the user experience and how we interact with what we buy, particularly accessibility.

In this exclusive interview with the women in the MetPack Packaging Association at Toronto Metropolitan University, we talk about all things: cosmetics, packaging trends and what accessibility looks like for the younger generation!

While talking with the MetPack girls, the interview raised important questions regarding current trends in the cosmetic packaging industry, and reasons as to why accessibility is not a top priority.

“What are some beauty brands you use often and are fond of? Amongst these products, what can you say is a current trend for cosmetic packaging?”

A recurring topic mentioned was user experience and inclusivity and sustainability. Relating to user experience, it can be seen with a lot of cosmetic brands that use user experience and aesthetics are a major focus for bigger companies.

Isabel Jordan, Marketing Associate for MetPack, notably mentioned that one of her favorite brands, Glossier, focuses a lot on branding and eye-catching packaging for their consumers. Jordan further explained how her own user experience in relation to Glossier was relatively positive with a lot of emphasis on “a visually pleasing” and luxurious unboxing process.

As agreed upon by all members of MetPack, the cosmetic industry likes to focus on YOU, aka the consumer and making the consumer feel special, confident and beautiful. And this is achieved through strategic design choices over functionality.

Cosmetics as a concept aim to make individuals feel like they are beautiful. Manya Ganju, VP of Marketing said something that resonates heavily with popular cosmetic brands today: “Cosmetic brands love communicating that BEAUTY for everyone”. On that thought, let’s look at some beauty brand slogans!

• “Be Bold.” - M.A.C. Cosmetics

• “Every beauty tells a story.” - Charlotte Tilbury

• “Because you’re worth it. “ - L’Oreal Paris

• “Beauty has no limits” - NARS Cosmetics

Building on Jordan’s and Ganju’s statements, MetPack President Anji Persaud voiced that she thinks cosmetics focus a lot on appearance over actual functionality and ergonomics. After all, being inclusive to all users, in ways other than empowerment, is important as well.

On that note, Persaud made sure to mention that SUSTAINABILITY is a huge movement in all packaging industries. In her own experience at MetPack and working at LUSH, a British cosmetics retailer, eco-friendly packaging solutions are all the rage. Some excellent examples mentioned by our interviewees include:

• LUSH: aiming for Algae and Soy based packaging

• New movement for FC approved inks and packaging for sustainable alternatives

But what about ACCESSIBILITY?

“What does ACCESSIBILITY look like to YOU? Do you know of any brands that incorporate accessible features in their packaging?”

One brand name that continuously popped up was Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez. Popular on social media, the brand made headlines with its packaging considerations related to ease of opening.

(Lin, 2020)

Small details such as a circular bulb on top of each applicator is able to help with ergonomics of opening and closing. Even something as simple as a spherical shape to help grip can make a huge difference in user accessibility. As agreed upon by all MetPack members, Rare Beauty has gained monumental popularity and praise for its considerations to those with weaker grip strength.

These factors in mind, here are characteristics the MetPack members look for in regards to accessibility features:

Manya Ganju’s Preferred packaging features:

• Lightweight, small and compact

• Minimalist designs that are easy to read

Kamesha Abraham’s Preferred packaging features:

• Easy to take around for travel purposes

• Transparent materials to be able to see the product

• Simple and straightforward text/explanations

Anji Persaud’s Preferred packaging features:

• Ease of Opening

• Something that is easy to open and utilize for people with shaky hands

• Easy closures and nice feeling materials

• Colour management and contrast: being able to see the brand colours and design under different lighting conditions

Isabel Jordan’s Preferred packaging features:

• Grip friendly and textile materials

• Easy closures that indicate when fully closed: specifically closures that click shut and that audibly signal full closure

“What are some reasons you think accessibility features are not currently feasible/incorporated in cosmetic packaging designs?”

As much as accessibility is very important for packaging design, we have to consider the many discrepancies in why accessibility isn’t feasible currently.

The biggest factor listed was COST EFFICIENCY. For many brands, altering their manufacturing process is extremely costly. Why change something that already works? Changing your stock, rebranding all current products and investing in new materials and maybe even new equipment is only the start of the list of changes to be made.

Manya further made emphasis on brand image and the importance of recognition on the store shelves. To be able to keep loyal customers and to have an easily recognizable brand can be hard to maintain if constant changes are being made such as tweaks in favor of accessibility.

Another important factor is the issue of HIRING EXPERTS. Kamesha Abraham and Manya Ganju made an excellent point on the fact that hiring experts in fields related to accessibility may be a reason bigger companies are unable to make significant changes. Just like how sustainability has just begun to make a rise in the packaging industry, hiring experts in sustainable packaging and environmental substrate studies has become an essential. In this regard, it’s very likely that having expert employees in charge of accessibility analysis has not crossed the minds of many managers out there.

Even looking at the general population who use cosmetics, catering to accessibility can be seen as a waste of resources and time, due to the fact that this “niche” group of consumers is not nearly as lucrative as the majority. Overall, until accessibility becomes more of a larger movement, it can be said by myself and the members at MetPack that there are major difficulties in incorporating these kinds of features into current cosmetic packaging.

In a general summary, accessibility in cosmetics is still in the process of having its own breakthrough. By gaining perspective from students, as well as experts from the MetPack Association at Toronto Metropolitan University, it can be seen that the industry is more so focused on catering to current loyal consumers. The scarcity of accessible features in cosmetic packaging is definitely a topic worth looking into, and even more interesting to hear the perspective of packaging experts! All in all, this avenue of packaging engineering is something predictably big in the future, but still under the radar for now.

References

Lin, D. (2020, September 4). Rare Beauty – Packaging Of The World. Packaging Of The

World. Retrieved November 9, 2023, from

https://packagingoftheworld.com/2020/09/rare-beauty.html