HELGA HERTSIG-LAVOCAH
Hint Futurology, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

By the year 2100 there will be 11 billion people on the planet, 3 billion more than today (1). People lifted out of poverty into middle class will want beauty & personal care products. Sustainability is therefore the biggest topic in packaging, overshadowing packaging’s role as a protector, container & information carrier. Packaging has been demonised, even weaponised. We speak of it as an addiction. How do we de-escalate this situation? How do we wean ourselves off cheap products? Can we replace materials that have been used since the dawn of the modern beauty era: plastics?

We’ll explore 3 aspects in this article

1. Refill systems & how to wean ourselves off plastic
2. Cross-sensory perception – a new role for packaging in beauty care, linking in with emotional wellness
3. From inert to active – going against the grain.

REFILL SYSTEMS CAN BE SO MUCH MORE
I have long been an advocate of the “beauty barista” model of refills, which unlike the “petrol pump” model, engages and educates the consumer thereby creating a relationship and opportunities for upselling. Petrol stations are transactional – you refill the car, pay and leave, no engagement necessary. Baristas are conversational, you tell the barista what you want, they might nudge you in a new direction etc – even a well programmed robot barista will do this – it’s conversational. In the future, we will have both, for both ends of the market.

Refill systems aren’t new, but they are gaining hold in store for mass market basics like laundry detergent and have the potential to become destination sites – Häxan’s flagship on Götgatan 21 in Stockholm is a great example of this.

While glass and ceramics are nice in theory, they are dangerous in a bathroom when our hands are wet and the floor is hard (dropping a bottle of wine on a carpet isn’t as dangerous as shattering a glass bottle of shampoo in the shower), so therefore plastic and aluminium will rema ...