With the introduction of Kiss & Tell(TM), Fragrance Int'l, Youngstown, OH, has not only designed an innovative package to catch a consumer's eye, but it has given the consumer two or three choices about what scent she will be wearing. Kiss & Tell, introduced last December, is literally two fragrances in one.
The use of a dual-chamber bottle allows two fragrances, one a lighter, airier version of the perfume, to be housed in one container. Many fragrances have come up with a lighter version to satisfy customers who like the scent but who want something that can be worn during the day.
"Opium(TM) is a heavier scent, too heavy to be worn during the day, so they came out with Opium light," says Brad Levy, co-owner of Fragrance Int'l. "When we worked with customers, we would see that they would play with fragrances. We wanted to be able to have both that day and night scent and also the interaction of both. We were able to go ahead and achieve that with this bottle."
The bottle, which is really a bottle within a bottle, was designed and manufactured by Robert Du Grenier Associates (Townsende, VT). Levy says several other vendors told him it couldn't be done. Du Grenier says it took almost three years to develop the bottle. Du Grenier makes the bottle in a semi-automatic process.
"The bottle is hand-blown, although there are molds that the glass is blown into," says Du Grenier. "It's not a machine blowing the bottle, it's actually a human mouth." Levy and Du Grenier wouldn't explain the exact process of how the bottles are made other than saying there is a mold for the bottle-in-bottle shape. The bottle has a pump at each end, allowing the consumer to choose which fragrance she wants to wear.
Levy and Du Grenier worked closely together to develop the bottle and the outer packaging. "We wanted to create something that wasn't just another paperboard box that sat on the shelf," says Du Grenier. "We wanted it to have some kind of form that reflected the container inside." The outer package consists of two pedestals in which the bottle sits and a frosted plastic tube that connects the two ends.
Levy chose the frosted plastic tube so that the consumer could see there was something inside. The tube is extruded of glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate from Eastman Chemical (Kingsport, IN) by Petro Packaging Co. (Cranford, NJ). The frosting and the two screen-printed, gold stripes at each end of the tube are executed by Hanes Erie (Erie, PA).
Levy says he wanted the outer packaging to be multifunctional. Not only did he want something that would hold the bottle, but something that enhanced the look of the product. "Because you can see through the packaging, there is more strength to the packaging," says Levy. "It's multifunctional because you can see the product, and yet it protects the product and keeps the richness of the packaging."
The end pedestals are made of two separate pieces. The outer pieces are paperboard covered with blue flocked paper applied and formed by Fuller Packaging (Central Falls, RI). Fuller also hot-stamps the Kiss & Tell logo in gold. The inner pieces, which actually hold each end of the bottle, are 3-mil blue flocked polystyrene that's vacuum-formed and then die-cut by Rapid Plastic (Jersey City, NJ).
The outer packaging also aids in shipping. "We were able to have a module system, so the vacuum- formed ends really suspend the bottle," says Levy.
The final addition to this bottle's uniqueness is that it has neither a top nor a bottom. rather than use a dip tube, each end is fitted with a reservoir pump, made by Valois of America (Greenwich, CT), which collects six squirts of the perfume. Levy felt the dip tube would intrude on the lines of the bottle.
Each end of the pedestal can be used as a display to hold the bottle. "Its more than 'open it up and throw the package away.' There are elements of the package you keep," says Du Grenier.
Kiss & Tell is available exclusively at Sephora, a perfumery, in the U.S. and throughout Europe. It comes in four styles: a 2-oz for $65, a 4.5-oz for $120, a 5.13-oz perfume and lotion for $120, and a 4.7-oz for $250. All four sizes feature the unique, two-chamber bottle and outer packaging.
