Carol’s Daughter, a New York City company specializing in ethnic hair and skin care products, was born in the kitchen of Lisa Price, who began experimenting in the late 1980s with organic ingredients like soy, jojoba, and sweet almond to make beauty products. As her business grew, it received backing from such high-profile investors as Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Mary J. Blige. While the products were well received, its use of stock packaging components relegated it to the mid-range beauty products category.
With its new Monoi Repairing Collection, which employs Tahitian monoi oil, bamboo water, and silk conditioners to strengthen and repair damaged hair, Carol’s Daughter opted for a number of custom packages that could take the 23-SKU line to a more upscale level.
“They wanted to be the first to be at the higher-end retail stores like Sephora, Ulta, and Macy’s with a product that was missing from this market,” explains Jack Corcoran, senior packaging manager at Berlin Packaging, which supplied the custom components.
Harmonizing with the concept of “food for hair,” Carol’s Daughter selected 7-oz white polypropylene jars and 8-oz white high-density polyethylene bullet bottles that evoke jam jars and salt shakers, respectively. The use of a soft-touch resin for the containers lends them a luxurious feel. Custom dark brown twist-top closures are reminiscent of spice-bottle caps and make it easy to open and close the products in the bath.
Paper labels are offset-printed with gold embossing to add to the elegant appearance of the packages. The metallic gold suggests the polyethnic skin color of the brand’s target market, while hand-scripted copy on the labels, similar to notes jotted on a kitchen recipe, highlight key product benefits.
Since its introduction in retail stores such as Sephora, the Monoi Repairing Collection has received excellent feedback from consumers. In 2012, Carol’s Daughter plans to roll out the same custom packages for some of its other products, using different label coloring to identify product families.
