PolyOne is helping customers add a new twist to the intensely popular metallic look in cosmetic and personal care packaging with new GLS thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) that combine a lush, soft feel with lustrous metallic effects. At Packaging of Perfume Cosmetics & Design, the company illustrated the impact of soft-touch TPEs with gold, silver, and copper effects and featuring an inspirational portfolio based on the 2017 InVisiO Color Inspiration Wanderlust collection from PolyOne Color and Additives.
Target applications for these eye-catching, metallic effect GLS TPEs include overmolded caps for packages such as perfumes and shampoos, closures for containers such as lotions and serums, and cases for eye shadows and other cosmetics. By selecting different grades that feature silkiness, grippy feel, or even soft-as-skin qualities, packaging designers and brand owners can convey luxury and brand distinction in both prestige and mass market product packaging without the constraints and secondary operations that metals require.
“As the popularity of the metallic look continues to soar, packaging designers are looking for new ways to capitalize on this trend,” says Charles Page, Global Marketing Director, PolyOne GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers. “Our soft-touch TPEs with metallic effects and the latest colors bring together two important sensory aspects—visual and tactile—which strongly influence consumer brand preference.”
PolyOne has produced sample plaques and concept packaging molded from five TPEs that feature the Wanderlust color palette from InVisiO Color Inspirations 2017. Wanderlust focuses on pioneers, explorers, and nomads of all ages aching to find the shared humanity that unites cultures across the globe, featuring nude tones, inky blue, henna, and shiny green. Accented with metallic looks and a range of tactile sensory effects, the samples and concepts at PCD will recall vibrant Indian, Middle Eastern, and Chinese textiles, which are often infused with metallic threads.
