The Glass Polymer™ from Eastman: clear choice for Schwarzkopf & Henkel

Due to inherent properties such as material toughness, aesthetic beauty and chemical resistance, The Glass Polymer™ from Eastman was the choice packaging material for Schwarzkopf & Henkel’s new premium hair care brand, SEAH Hairspa.

When leading health and beauty care product manufacturer Schwarzkopf und Henkel brought their high-quality SEAH Hairspa hair-care brand to market, they sought a totally unique packaging medium to distinguish the products and convey their exclusivity. Package design is crucial to the success of the product’s performance and fragrance - especially in the personal care markets. In addition, good looks on the shelf are very important for customer appeal.

The company found the answer with The Glass Polymer from Eastman Chemical Company. The material proved the ideal container choice because it offered a unique combination of toughness, aesthetic appeal, wall thickness and chemical resistance. Firstly, as a copolyester it has a transparency rate of 91% - significantly higher than alternative plastics formulations. This gives the container high clarity, enabling full appreciation of the contents.

In addition, in order to keep the package robust as well as clear, the container can be made with thicker walls. This gives the polymer almost all the quality attributes associated with glass, without any of the drawbacks. It is designed to stay perfectly in tact when dropped on the floor, for instance. This presents safety advantages, of particular importance for a product to be used in a bathroom or bedroom environment. Furthermore, it is much lighter than glass, making logistics and distribution significantly less costly.

The key to persuasive packaging, in healthcare especially, lies as much in a pleasingly tactile feel as it does in good looks. For this reason the end-user demanded that the container offered a soft touch, a feature easily achieved thanks to the material’s chemical composition.

Changing the colours or shape of the containers is a relatively cost effective way to differentiate between product ranges, compared to using alternative packaging materials. SEAH Hairspa is available in a range of different colours each representing a separate category of products in the range. Pink bottles contain products developed for coloured hair, green for stressed hair and turquoise for normal hair.

SEAH Hairspa is sold only through exclusive salons. The range comprises 200 ml containers – convex for conditioners and concave for shampoos – and a 150 ml jar, for treatments.

Comments Mr. Rolf Mueller Grünow, group leader of international packaging development at Schwarzkopf Professional: “The Glass Polymer design is very effective at communicating the premium positioning of SEAH Hairspa and is a real eye-catcher in the salon. This represents a firm foundation for the brand’s success. The feedback from both the sales force and the retailers to the package design and its tactile feel has been very positive.”

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