Color-shifting tottles make a splash

A colorant used in two-layer HDPE tottles and other containers of Fiji Blend tanning products produces an attention-getting color shift...just like a tan.

Pw 14786 Fiji Group

Fiji Blend, Inc., Santa Monica, CA, needed to make waves with a proprietary line of products for indoor tanning salons that would gain instant attention in a crowded product category.

Chief operating officer Scott Freeman recalled seeing a container with a color effect—Spectrachrome™ from Clariant Masterbatches (Charlotte, NC)—at a personal care products trade show.

“I’d seen a sample bottle that shimmered like jewels,” says Freeman. “That was what we needed—a package that you remembered two days or even two years later. This industry traditionally uses low-end, predominantly brown bottles. That was not the answer for Fiji Blend, especially when we were introducing a brand new line. We needed ‘pop and presence,’ and that is what we got.”

Selective color shift

The shimmering effect results from the Spectrachrome colorant. Based on light refraction, Spectrachrome creates a selective color shift. The special colorant is usually used on the outer layer of coextruded containers. The effect can also be modified by changing the base color in the inner layer, which acts as a light absorber or reflector depending on the shade selected. The package’s colors appear to shift as people walk by.

The nine Fiji Blend products comprise six 10.1-oz high-density polyethylene inverted tubed bottles, or tottles, of dark tanning lotion (suggested retail price is $35-$40); a 6.7-oz polypropylene jar of All-Over Bronzing Balm (SRP is $35); Loss Gloss lip gloss ($12) in an 11-mL plastic vial; and a 1.7-oz coextruded tube of Sun Swept Facial Tanning Crème ($20) in a clear plastic carton. All but the lip gloss features the Spectachrome color-shifting colorant. It is the first time that the Spectrachrome colorant has been used this extensively in a product line.

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