– Joseph Gubernick Chief Marketing Officer at Estee Lauder made us laugh, Suzanne Grayson pronounced Celine Dion (and most of the brands wrong), Lancome marketing team pulled a no-show!
For those of us that do both beauty and fashion public relations – I think we can all agree the second week of September is always the hardest. Olympus Fashion Week sweating it out in the tents. Followed by Health & Beauty America HBA where every product manufacture is in town wanting to have desk sides with beauty editors while meeting with their chemists and bottle creators. They are both the exact same time. Our friends at Reed Exhibitions decided this year to tack on The Spa & Resort Expo for this weekend. I think the Pierce Mattie beauty and fashion teams might get a day off say in December!
Seriously, though the dinner portions were small, drink refills were scarce and the cocktail party had no air-conditioning there were some awards given out tonight that were right on target. And others, that well we all looked at each other at the table and were simply dumfounded. Let's not forget that the award for Best Originality went to a condom in a cosmetic compact called; Just In Case.
Keep in mind cosmetic professionals that there are hundreds of products that get submitted for these awards. And according to Suzanne Grayson from Grayson Associates those that do win are because they had the best ‘how to use’ type photo in their submission kit.
Products that I agreed should and did win are:
1. Volume Shocking Mascara by L’Oreal – neatest tube for lash lacquer on the market
2. DiorShow Powder by Christian Dior – simple and elegant Dior always does it best!
3. Spongelle – Beyond Cleansing – finally someone got a clue on how to package a sponge, great job Spongelle!
Products that used stock-like packaging and the group fell silent when they were announced as unique are;
1. Dr. Jeffrey Dover’s Skin Effects (ever look at SamPar, Bullie, etc. they all have the same packaging, not award worthy)
2. Missioni Profumi (we think Alien Light by Thierry Mugler was “oh so much” better)
3. None of the professional skin care brands that were nominated (except Glytone) were truly professional. If you want to call this category ‘start up brands’ or ‘not sure what their distribution is brands’ then go for it. But do beauty professionals in the industry know and love; Korner, Somme Institute, Malous, etc. I don’t think so. Where was BioElements, Murad – the real players? This was a good first college try in this category for the HBA but come on, let’s get the real guys at least nominated. Let’s not forget Neostrata, Pevonia, La Roche Posay, SkinMedica and many more. Maybe next year HBA should partner with the editorial team at American Spa magazine or Dermatology Times to find out who is really professional.
Drum roll please for the winners
The 7th Annual International Package & Design Award Winners Are:
Cosmetics: Mass
Volume Shocking Mascara by L’Oreal
Cosmetics Limited:
Diorshow Powder by Christian Dior
Fragrance Mass:
Sonia Kashuk Solid Perfume Palette by Target
Fragrance Limited:
Missoni Profumi by Estee Lauder
Personal Care Mass:
Tag Body Shots
Personal Care Limited:
Songelle – Beyond Cleansing by SpongeTech
Skin Care Mass:
Skin Effects by Dr. Jeffrey Dover
Skin Care Limited:
Secret De Vie by Lancôme
Professional Beauty:
Mobile by Somme Institute
Professional Hair Care:
Chi Helmet Head Sprtiz by Farouk Systems
