Rethinking the Packaging of Beauty Sponges
In my business building efforts, (www.beautyspongesachet.us) I came across an online article written by Khushbu Shah regarding the meteoric rise and use of the Beautyblender®. The article stated regarding the Beautyblender® "since first hitting the market in 2007, the
the Beautyblender® has sold well over 6.5 million sponges! (https://www.racked.com/2016/5/17/11513412/beautyblender-makeup-sponges-contouring-rea-ann-silva). The article further highlighted that at $20 per sponge, sales of the Beautyblender® amounted to a staggering $130 million.
As impressive as the success of Beautyblender® is and continues to be, what boggles the mind is the sheer number of pieces of single-use plastic packaging that are introduced into the environment with the sale of each Beautyblender® or any other cosmetic sponge for that matter. A simple visit to your local Ulta, Sephora, MAC, CVS or major department store will reveal that single-use plastic packaging of both disposable and non-disposable cosmetic sponges is the norm.
Moreover, in an interview between the owner of Beautyblender®, People® and Showtime® (https://people.com/partner/showtime?prx_t=o5QCArJwMAF-EPA)
the article highlighted that "17 of these $20 makeup application sponges sell every minute globally." Mull on that for a moment...Annually, nearly 9,000,000 pieces of single-use plastic packaging are introduced into the global environment by a single vendor of non-disposable cosmetic sponges. What of the other vendors of beauty sponges?
Understand that the purpose of this blog is not to shame any company, as many companies, (cosmetic and otherwise) utilize single-use plastic packaging.
However, the reality of the damage single-use -plastic packaging wreaks upon the environment is evident.
Packaging Trends for 2018
Global packaging trends for 2018 according to Mintel market research highlight that "plastic packaging adrift in the world's oceans will become the catalyst driving
brands to rethink packaging in a context consumers can understand and act upon." Mintel market research further highlights regarding the sale of beauty products, that "simply selling a great beauty product will no longer be enough; brands must have personality and purpose that align with consumers' own beliefs in order to win them over." How many more times do we need to see images of land and marine life either living among or ingesting plastics in order to get the point?
Millennials also referred to as the, green generation, are driving the market in many industries, Grace Farrah, SVP of Public Development & Sustainability at Nielsen stated: "Brands that establish a reputation for environmental stewardship among today's youngest consumers have an opportunity to not only grow market share but to build loyalty among power spending Millennials of tomorrow, too."
The Beauty Sponge Sachet is both an environmentally-sustainable packaging system that eliminates single-use plastic packaging associated with beauty sponges and a machine-washable sachet for and containing cosmetic sponges sold as a unit. The environmentally-sustainable packaging system saves water, time and money by permitting the user to wash and dry their cosmetic sponges within a washer and dryer.
The Beauty Sponge Sachet® is a registered trademark and patent pending.
