Manufactured by RPC beauté, the company says that the design of the new cap helps to emphasize the quality and functionality of this premium skin care range.
RPC says that the caps it has provided for the pacaging 'continue the family image of the Estée Lauder Pure Colour make-up range', giving it an upmarket appearance 'that reflects and complements the high performance of the products'.
The design incorporates Estee Lauder's brand guidelines and identity for the skin care line – key criteria that help to build brand recognition and differentiate products on store shelves.
The design includes a specified metallic gold, a geometrical shape incorporated into the design finish, a multi-layer construction for the enclosure within a thick transparent layer which acts like a magnifying glass to enhance the appearance of the closure, creating a 'jewel-like' effect.
RPC says that particular attention was given to the colour of the cap – with the gold being the 'signature' for the company's identity.
This has been complemented by a blue tint from a transparent layer, which is said to give the product a 'pharmaceutical link that emphasises the product's clinical technical development'.
However, to enhance the packaging's effectiveness, RPC chose to develop a new shade for the electroplacted gold colour especially for the skin line, known as 'Champagne' gold.
Likewise the design of the closures also brought about technical challenges when it came to the construction, which meant using three different materials - including ABS, surlyn and polypropylene - to overmould a plated part that not only ensures visual impact, but rigidity as well.
This overmould process relies on the company's patented technique, which uses a specially developed resin compound instead of traditional ABS, thus avoiding the need for high pressure processing that could damage the plating involved in the process.
When this plating cools, it takes on insulating properties, that slow the cooling process and up the cycle time.
To avoid this RPC developed a process to increasing the cooling time.
Likewise, when the cap is taken out of the mould, it is still soft, which means the company had to develop a handling method which ensured that the cap would not be damaged during this process.
RPC claims that the resulting cap is one of visually high quality, enhanced by a close fit between the plated surface and the Surlyn that enhances surface reflection.
Ultimately the overmoulding process created by the company is claimed to be a cost-effective means of producing a high impact cap for prestige and high-end cosmetic and fragrance packaging.