Decorating Packaging: Decorative Effects To Elevate & Make An Impact

Package design drives purchasing decisions, while decoration is the tool that can bring a designer's vision to market. Metallizing caps, applying crystal embellishments, spray-coating glass, and foils that can make a carton pop are just a few of the decorating techniques essential for beauty brands—that will elevate a package and make an impact.  

Beauty brands strive to create luxe packaging decorated to attract attention without sacrificing sustainability.

“A premium look influences the consumer’s perception of your brand,” says Charlotte Defoin, marketing and communications manager at Stoelzle. “The use of decorative elements significantly contributes to driving purchase decisions. Package design should mirror the essence of the brand it represents. This alignment is crucial for brands to differentiate and establish recognition,” she explains.

Embellishments are in, experts say. Consumers expect more luxurious designs—but it’s important that a decoration doesn’t prohibit recycling the material. “To stand out in today’s market, beauty brands need an eye-catching look, but using sustainable materials is essential,” says Anthony Grinnell, CEO of Harmony Paper Company. “We offer plastic-free decorating materials that focus on recyclability. We can help reduce a manufacturing facility’s carbon footprint to easily achieve an eye-catching look that is also eco-friendly,” he says.

Brands and designers have to be intelligent with embellishment decisions for packaging, according to the team at Scodix. “There is a distaste for plastics and unnecessary packaging—and consumers are calling for authenticity. Sourcing recyclable materials is critical, and it’s becoming a maze that beauty brands must navigate,” says April Lytle, brand innovation manager at Scodix.

Striking Designs for Packaging

Several recent launches use various decorating techniques in brilliant ways.

Christian Louboutin Beauty

Rouge Stiletto is Christian Louboutin Beauty's new trend-setting slim lipstick line, and its first lip color launch since 2015. Just like Louboutin’s red-soled pumps are an instantly recognizable symbol, the team at Puig created distinctive packaging for the Christian Louboutin Beauty brand. Striking shapes in black and gold are a perfect example of how design makes a brand memorable.

Rouge Stiletto Lumi Matte and Glossy Shine lipsticks in the new “Slimstick” package resembles a glamorous retro cigarette holder. The designer’s signature gold spikes and stiletto heels are engraved in the shiny gold caps.

Van Cleef & Arpels

Van Cleef & Arpels’ new fragrance, Moonlight Rose, shows how the smallest details elevate a design. The elegant black bottle features a silver charm hanging from the brown cord wrapped around the bottle’s neck. The bottle is decorated with a white label framed with silver accents, which coordinate with the white carton’s look.

Clinique

Embellishments are essential for gift-worthy packaging for holiday launches, and Clinique’s new limited edition Black Honey lipstick package is wrapped in crystals. The sparkling decoration remains intact due to the expertise of the Estée Lauder Companies’ package development team.

Dr. Squatch

Prestige cosmetics and fragrances are not the only brands using luxe materials and decorating techniques, as the men's personal care brand Dr. Squatch demonstrates. The Dr. Squatch Harry Potter Collection, developed in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, debuted this month. Four limited-edition bar soaps are inspired by the Hogwarts Houses from the Harry Potter films. Each bar soap features corresponding house characteristics, with a unique color, design, and scent.

The four soaps—Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw—are packaged in a Collector’s Box decorated with foil details and a premium matte finish. “Our carton designs always feature our signature woodgrain pattern with added calendaring texture to help bring the decoration to life,” says Rocky Ponce, senior art director at Dr. Squatch. The texture on the Ravenclaw soap box, combined with the printed pattern, seems to resemble the tartan fabric of the Hogwarts’ school uniforms.

The brand’s fragrance line, Dr. Squatch Spray Cologne, features a custom-designed flask-shaped bottle decorated with a brown matte spray and embossed logo. “It was a collaborative design effort to take our packaging to the next level,” says John Ludeke, senior director of brand marketing at Dr. Squatch. The rigid box is made with a thick, durable board and an insert tray. Silver foil details and premium matte finish complete the look. 

Color is the Ultimate Design Tool

Color is the most basic—and an essential—design tool. Color choice is an important part of a decoration and conveys a message about the brand and product.

Trend forecasting company WGSN advises package designers to use color in ways that “connect consumers to something bigger than themselves, whether it be a sense of healing, heritage, connection or celebration.”

What colors can we expect to see trending through 2025?

Future Dusk, a purple-toned, dark, moody blue, is WGSN’s Color of the Year 2025. “This surreal shade has a celestial and futuristic feel, inspired by the emergence of the second space age,” the forecaster’s report says. “It aligns with themes of moving from darkness to light and dusk to dawn, preparing us for new horizons.”

Other key colors for Autumn/Winter 2025/26 are Celestial Yellow, Retro Blue, Cherry Lacquer, and Neon Flare. WGSN uses Coloro’s color system in its trend forecasts.

Design + Decorating Packaging: Insights from Experts

Partnering with the right suppliers is essential for a beauty brand aiming to create eye-catching decorations for glass, metal, and paper packaging. Each material requires different decorating techniques, processes, and machinery—using foils, paper, labels, and inks to bring a designer’s vision to life. Sustainability is always a concern—and there are many skilled suppliers offering inovative materials and decorations that are also eco-friendly.

The right manufacturing partner will help bring your vision to market, on time and under-budget.

Here, we spoke to several companies with expertise in providing the materials and machinery necessary to decorate packaging for the beauty industry.

Decorating Glass in Eco-Friendly Ways

Packaging suppliers are offering eco-friendly decorating innovations for glass that deliver new ways to create luxe looks. Stoelzle Masnières Parfumerie aims to elevate glass bottle decoration with its new eco-friendly Inner Lacquering technique, which debuted at Luxe Pack Monaco. “We are the sole provider of water-based Inner Lacquering—and the technique marks a remarkable step forward in glass bottle decoration,” says Defoin.

The solvent-free decorating process is ideal for luxury fragrance brands. “Inner Lacquering redefines a glass bottle’s aesthetics by focusing on the interior surface. It allows precise control over the bottle’s shape, depth, and thickness—offering a distinct visual and tactile experience,” explains Defoin.

Stoelzle’s in-house team formulated the lacquer, which coats the bottle’s interior. “Despite direct contact with the liquid product inside, our unique lacquer formulation prevents any fragrance transference, even with alcohol-containing products, eliminating the need for an internal pocket,” says Defoin. The lacquer complies with California Proposition 65 safety standards, and is free from CMRs (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, or Toxic to Reproduction), SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern), and migrating pigments to ensure product integrity.

Stoelzle’s Inner Lacquering technique is available in a range of tones from translucent to opaque, and new color options are in development. “Our technique seamlessly complements various bottle shapes and sizes, and it harmonizes well with other decorating techniques applied externally, such as screen-printing, hot-stamping, digital printing, and embossing,” says Defoin.

Stoelzle also offers another decoration, a solvent-free power artwork called Tigital. “It offers a higher mechanical resistance than ink-jet printing and a more defined quality to highlight details in an outstanding resolution for extremely detailed decorations,” says Defoin. “Its high level of extremely fine detail allows a brand to obtain an aspect never achieved before with a printed decoration,” she explains. The process is also eco-friendly, saving 85% CO2 emissions when compared to conventional screen printing, according to the supplier.

New High Glass also specializes in eco-friendly decorations for glass, including spray frosting and spray coatings. “Our decorating processes dramatically reduce energy use—proving that sustainability and premium packaging can coexist,” says Dave Desai, vice president of sales and marketing.

Indie beauty brands are often drawn to New High Glass, due to its lower MOQs and sustainable, eco-friendly decoration techniques. The company uses UV-cured organic inks for screen-printing. “The cornerstone of our operation is our spray coating line, which uses water-based paints. We eliminate the VOCs associated with solvent-based coatings,” Desai explains. These coatings don’t affect the recyclability of the glass.

New High Glass recently worked with Alpyn Beauty to create a tinted spray frost for its glass jar, containing Ghostberry Repair Cream. Desai says social media is influencing a brand’s design decisions, such as color that fits an “Instagram aesthetic.” Instagram is a visual marketing tool, and has become one of the most important ways to engage with consumers,” says Desai. Choosing a color that will attract attention on social media is often a priority for beauty brands,” he says. 

What's New in Inks, Coatings & Adhesives?

The feel of a carton is just as important as how it looks—and ensures the best “first impression” when the consumer picks up your product. Cyngient, which manufactures inks, coatings, and adhesives, has a new LED/UV soft-touch coating called, Crushed Velvet Feel. “This coating creates a smooth softness—and touching it almost feels like touching a teddy bear,” says Andrew Wasserman, managing partner at Cyngient. “Our new LED/UV tactile coating meets the demand of 40 microns, which is printable and ideal for creating matte and satin effects,” he says. It has an extremely low odor, and it’s abrasion-resistant.

Cyngient also launched Hypercolor, a pigmented cold foil adhesive for shrink sleeve applications. It comes in thousands of color options, and utilizes a reverse silver foil process. “The advantage of Hypercolor is it eliminates all fine trap lines and is able to print sharp edges,” explains Wasserman.

Metallic & Holographic Looks That Are Recyclable

Holographic papers capture attention on-shelf, and K Laser Technology offers Viridian, its full-coverage holographic paperboard that’s also eco-friendly. It can be printed on any coated paper stock without the need for lamination. It is also highly durable and scratch-resistant. “Making eco-friendly choices comes into play with design and decorating decisions—but at the same time, a quality feel is crucial in the beauty business,” says Nerissa Ignacio-Littman, creative director at K Laser.

Viridian is available in a wide array of options, including holographic designs that include lenses, metallic effects, and patterns that show movement. “Since it’s laminate-free and the metallic finish’s thickness is less than the average thickness of a strand of hair, it is fully recyclable in almost any paper recycling facility,” says Ignacio-Littman.

For seasonal or limited-edition packaging, K Laser Technology offers custom registered holograms made for paper and folding cartons. “These can be printed on almost any paper stock weight and are an excellent decoration for gift boxes,” says Ignacio-Littman.

Unifoil is another supplier skilled in decorating, and has over 50 years of experience in providing plastic-free metallized substrates. Its eco-friendly products include its coprighted Unilustre, a solvent-free substrate that is fully recyclable. “Unilustre uses less energy and materials to produce, so a beauty company can address its sustainability initiatives and significantly reduce its carbon footprint,” says David Peters, global product development director at Unifoil. “Our trends focus on providing customizable substrates for the perfect bespoke beauty packaging solutions,” he says.

Case Makes also offers beauty brands metallized laminated products that will enhance the shelf appeal of any product. The supplier’s films and coatings are ideal for decorating folding cartons or to use as box wraps for rigid packaging. “We have a variety of films and coatings that can add color, texture, or tactile effects to packaging to help a brand differentiate itself from their competitors,” says Jonathan Hummer, general manager at Case Makes’ Osgood, IN facility.

Case Makes’ LuMet Silver is an eco-friendly decoration certified by Western Michigan University. It is fully recyclable in the SBS recovery stream. Case Makes used its LuMet Silver and created a custom-size Fresnel lens pattern, which was printed by JohnsByrne, for Dunhill’s Century Blue fragrance carton (shown).

Case Makes says its custom holographic effects are popular among beauty brands. “Brands are looking for new ways to elevate a package’s decoration beyond the typical broad metallization or rainbow effect, and we excel at developing custom designs. A designer can take the same holographic pattern, for example, and create two completely different consumer experiences,” says Hummer. “We help take decoration to the next level,” he adds.

More Decorating Options—& Eco-Friendly Glitter

Harmony Paper Company specializes in innovative decorating materials, and offers turnkey services since it can also print and convert its materials into folding cartons, box wraps, bags, labels, tags, backer cards, and more. “Our full-service offerings from concept to finished packages help brands choose the right materials and processes to achieve their desired aesthetic—all while staying within their budgets,” says Grinnell.

The supplier has the manufacturing capacity to work with some of the largest beauty brands, while offering specialty materials with low MOQs that are affordable for indie brands.

Offerings include its Green Collection featuring wood pulp alternatives; EcoFX metallized papers; Diamond Silk Glitter; and its new Pixie Papers. “We have a recyclable, sustainable option to fit every look and budget,” says Grinnell.

When Disney was looking for a plastic-free, certified recyclable paper to mimic the look and feel of glitter for a not-yet-launched product, Harmony Paper provided a solution. The team replicated a spot glitter look without using actual glitter flakes by using embossing combined with white opaque inks. (A similar look is shown.) “We selected our certified recyclable EcoFX holographic glitter sheet in clear, then created a custom embossing pattern to replicate the texture of glitter,” Grinnell explains. “The piece was stunning, recyclable and cost-effective,” he says.

Digital Decorations

Scodix offers a variety of digitally applied applications to help brands stand out. Scodix makes digital presses that combine with its polymer technology to apply embellishments to various substrates, such as coated sheets and thicker boards. “We are the innovators and world leaders in this technology, especially for high-end packaging,” says Lytle.

The digital decorating process is energy-efficient and there’s no need for plates, metal dies or chemicals. The company says it conducted recyclability testing with Western Michigan University, which determined that its embellished sheets are recyclable and de-inkable.

“Our options for embellishments are ideal for medium runs, seasonal packaging, and influencer campaigns. They’re great for larger brands who avoided embellishments because of the cost on multiple skus, and for smaller brands who don’t have the budget for decoration,” says Lytle.

TPC Printing & Packaging is one company that uses Scodix technology to create packaging for major brands. “We often utilize various decoration techniques in conjunction with Scodix polymer and/or Scodix foil to achieve award-winning packaging effects, including film laminations and silk-screen coatings,” says Joseph A. Schmissrauter III, president of TPC Printing & Packaging.

TPC produced the Bath and Body Works Wildflower packaging, which won a Paperboard Packaging Council award. It features a budget-friendly carton substrate that is decorated to look and feel like linen. “BBW requested a silkscreen-quality coating relief on linen pattern paper,” says Schmissrauter.

TPC used 70mic Scodix polymer to produce the coating, with a standard folding carton grade paperboard—then applied 10mic Scodix polymer in a linen pattern to achieve a tactile effect. “Both the 10mic and 70mic polymer were produced at the same time in-line, in one Scodix machine pass,” Schmissrauter explains.

Essential Machinery for Eco-Friendly Decorations

Decorations require the right equipment, and Tapematic’s PST Line is the most eco-friendly line of decorating machinery on the market, according to Tony Denning, the company’s president. “It can use up to 100% solid coatings, allowing for reduced VOCs,” Denning says. “Additionally, the power consumption of the line is drastically lower than that of conventional spray/sputtering systems,” he adds. Tapematic is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, and has several key initiatives to mark the milestone year. 

Tapematic is known for its in-line, fully automated UV varnishing and metallization equipment. Tapematic’s lines create molded components, such as a lipstick or mascara tube or cap—and then applies a coating or completely decorates it, using in-line processes such as metallization. 

Tapematic recently launched IDM II, an innovative In-line Hot Stamping Decoration Module. It allows hot-stamp printing in-line with UV coating and has the ability to add variable data.

“The fact that it is in-line with our coating and metallization PST II line is revolutionary because it offers hot-foil and variable data opportunities—but most importantly, this is done immediately after the metallization process and prior to applying the top protective coat. This ensures the entire package and decoration will pass all testing and compatibility requirements,” explains Denning.

Tapematic also recently installed the first PST Line II in Italy at Metal Tech, a company highly skilled in spray coating and decoration for cosmetic packaging.

This year marks a milestone for Tapematic—the company is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. Denning reflects on the company’s achievements, saying, “We are unique in having had the freedom to evolve in ways that profit-driven businesses could never do. When we see a need, we apply our talents and technical know-how to create new solutions that never existed before. The innovations we developed were born from being bold and believing in the power of our technology to revolutionize industries.”

See our Online Exclusive: xxx to read more about Tapematic's plans for marking 50 years in business.

What's Next? Upcoming Design & Decorating Trends

The team at K Laser expects social media to continue to influence design choices. “Solid colors and metallics are key to visual impact, along with textures that evoke a sense of luxury. These effects work well visually on social media platforms, but at the same time there’s an increasing focus on simplicity that we expect to continue,” says Bibler. “Simplified decorations and muted colors can draw the consumer’s eye to the most essential elements of a product,” he says.

The team at Scodix says not to underestimate the power of a package with a statement-making decoration on social media. “Tik-Tok, Instagram—they’ve all played a part in developing a culture of ‘unboxing.’ Brands are finding their evangelists and using packaging to influence consumers and communicate in more ways than we ever thought possible, and we expect to see this grow even more and continue to affect design choices,” says Lytle.

Stoelzle says the growing emphasis on sustainability is increasingly vital, and is focusing its efforts on developing more eco-friendly innovations. Stoelzle offers its exclusive recycled ink for printing sourced from rubber waste—specifically, from tires that have reached the end of their life. It’s currently available in dark black and shades of gray, but more colors are being developed, sourced from other waste streams.

Grinnell says sustainability goals will continue to drive innovation. “Several years ago, material options were limited. Now, luxe eco-friendly materials are abundant, so we are seeing a rapid return to more sophisticated looks,” he says.

He notes how far the beauty packaging industry has advanced, in terms of sustainability. “About five years ago, every metallized package you saw on the shelf was likely a plastic-based paper that was not recyclable. Now there are numerous plastic-free, certified recyclable options for metallized and holographic papers, which is just one of many examples,” Grinnell says, adding, “and as a material manufacturer, you are either hard at work developing new eco-friendly options or you’re going to be out of business.”