Innovation of the year award for lip-gloss timestrip technology

The expiry date indicator technology which is developed and manufactured by UK-based Timestrip, also came out top in the ‘Labelling Award” category.

Reuben Isbitsky, joint CEO of Timestrip, said that receiving the awards would hopefully draw attention to the range of possible applications the technology offers.

“It has been a pleasure working with Cargo on a project which has enabled us not only to break into the cosmetics sector but also to demonstrate to brand owners in other sectors the integration possibilities that our product has," ​he said.

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Although the principle of the timestrip technology is not new, integrating it into Cargo’s lip gloss range required it to be formulated as a nine-month room temperature label, and to be produced in a smaller size than standard labels.

On opening the lip gloss for the first time, a consumer can insert the timestrip into the lip-gloss cap which activates the technology. The window begins to turn red and when, after nine months, the entire window is red, the consumer knows the product has reached its recommended expiry date.

Although Cargo’s lip-gloss was the first cosmetic to use the timestrip technology, Isbitsky told CosmeticsDesign that the technology was suitable for use in a range of products.

“The technology can be used in any cosmetic where there is a Period After Opening (PAO) symbol. We are happy to work with any product integration, and even have new, smaller designs to make it easier to integrate into smaller packaging, like mascaras,”​ he said.

In accordance with the European Cosmetics Directive, cosmetics with a shelf-life greater than 30 months, excluding single-use products and aerosols, must display a PAO symbol on both the product container and outer packaging.

The timestrip technology may help to solve the problems inherent with PAO labelling systems that were highlighted in a recent report by Mintel.

According to Mintel’s survey results, a significant number of women in the UK found it difficult to keep track of when products were first opened.

Many women struggle with the concept of sell-by dates for cosmetics, the survey found, with most indicating that they would continue to use a product until it runs out or is obviously off.