PCD Awards picks out the bold and the brave from 2008

A highlight of the PCD Congress, the awards recognize packaging innovation and the marriage of brand image, formulation and packaging in products launched on the European market in 2008.

Big year for mascara​

In what jury member and Santé-Beauté journalist Evelyne Dreyfus called a ‘big year for mascara’, Givenchy won recognition for Phenomenon Eyes.

Abandoning the classical design for mascara, the brand created a round brush that gives women total freedom to apply the make-up from all directions. The Givenchy team said the brush creates “panoramic results” by allowing users to reach otherwise inaccessible eyelashes.

Another winner in the eye category was Exceptional from Chanel which was a more classic design but featured a small ball at the end of the brush, again, to enable women reach small, hard to find eyelashes.

Bold innovations were also on show in other categories. In the lip category Bourjois won for its Sweet Kiss lipstick that featured a new click, slide up packaging design. Shimmer Brick Compact from Bobbi Brown won in the complexion category for its shock absorber system that helps protect the case from being pushed around and jostled in handbags.

Compact case becomes jewellery​

Staying with a product that would normally be found in handbags, Yves Saint Laurent received a special mention prize for Soleil d’Afrique. The bronzing powder is replica of an YSL necklace and the compact case is therefore worn as a jewel around the neck.

Moving from make-up to perfume, Beauté journalist Noëlle Baticle, said the discussions between jury members were animated and the category was keenly contested.

Common among the perfume winners was the successful embodiment in the packaging of the spirit of the brand.

Magnifique from Lancôme was picked out as the winner of the feminine award for its classical and glamorous presentation of the new perfume. Gaining a special mention from the jury was also Van Cleef & Arpels Feerie for its unusual bottle top of a metal fairy mounted on a twig. Baticle said the ambitious design fitted very well with the luxury brand.

Racy fragrance design​

On the men’s side, the French jeweler Cariter won for its Roadster fragrance that Baticle said captured the world of the brand with its racy appearance and cap taken from its luxury watches. Allure Homme from Chanel was also in the men’s category for its elegant and simple design.

In a year that was not so well-represented in the care category, Lancôme won the skin care award for Blanc Expert GN White and the new special mention prize for environmentally compatible packaging also went to a skin care range. Yves Rocher picked up the distinction for Culture Bio, an organic line that is carbon neutral and uses recycled bottles, recycled paper and vegetable ink.