Luxe Pack proves a launch pad for the new-look Rexam Beauty

Rexam Beauty used last week's Luxe Pack show in Monaco to showcase its most recent beauty packaging launches for the Brazil, China, Indonesia, European and US markets.

Featuring new packaging concepts for the skincare, fragrance and makeup sectors, Rexam Beauty says the launches are part of a series of significant, landmark product lines that are aiming to redefine the company's position in the beauty packaging field.

With impressive growth rates powering the Brazil cosmetic and toiletry market, Rexam has been increasing its involvement with leading players there. South America's largest market for toiletries has grown by 15 per cent in the past three years to reach €5.3 billion and growth rates are expected to increase further in the coming years.

Recent packaging launches from Rexam Beauty in Brazil have included Due fragrance, Aquarela makeup and Monaco bodycare for one of the country's biggest players, Natura. The Brazilian company has a policy to make products that are ethically sound and respectful to the environment.

In line with this philosophy, Rexam Beauty has developed a number of concepts for Natura through its local operations in Brazil. These have included packaging which contains 40 - 60 per cent natural components for fragrance and makeup lines.

To develop these ranges Rexam Beauty employed special technology to allow the use of wood/plastic composite (WPC) in the injection moulding of the base for Aquarela lipstick and the closure for Due, in an effort to use environmentally-friendly and biodegradable materials.

The packaging provider has also taken up on Natura's aim to provide refillable, reusable and recyclable deodorant using smaller amounts of raw material and producing as little waste as possible for end-users.

This has involved using its engineering teams in France, American pump technology and Brazilian production units to provide the deodorant packaging for Natura.

Meanwhile, in the Asia market, the company says that cases, jars, lipsticks and closures made by its divisions in China and Indonesia are now being marketed both internationally and locally across the whole sales circuit, from mass-market to selective retail channels.

Globalisation of the packaging industry means that increasingly packaging companies are making greater use of their manufacturing facilities in developing countries in an effort to maximise on lower operating costs. As part of this trend, Rexam is now increasing its market presence in developing markets, as well as increasing export to developed markets from these divisions.

But developed markets are still a major focus for Rexam, despite the fact that growth rates are dwarfed by those in the developing markets at present. Here the company says it is breaking new ground for upscale products that utilize technologies aimed at greater packaging creativity.

New products that were being previewed at the show included a gem lipstick, a new application routine for perfume and dressing of pump dip tubes for men's fragrance.

On top of that there was also the new Dispenser Tube, a low-cost precision product that includes the SP343A airless pump; together with Sof'n'Touch, a new mini-dispenser aimed at the increasingly popular on-the-go market for liquid cosmetics and fragrances.