BIRCHBOX’S NEW CHAPTER

For a decade, we’ve known Birchbox as a beauty brand that delivers samples in pretty boxes. But its recent $45 million acquisition by FemTec Health, a new female-focused startup, marks a major turning point for the company.

FemTec was founded in 2020 by Kimon Angelides, a doctor who wanted to improve women’s healthcare with the help of technology like AI and genomics. It raised $38 million in funding from companies like Walgreens and Unilever Ventures at a valuation of $380 million. FemTec launched publicly in October 2021, and expects to serve women across many dimensions. It will launch Awesome Woman, a telehealth platform to help women navigate complex healthcare issues, from pregnancy to menopause, and sell a direct-to-consumer supplement brand.

To get a sense of how the brands will collaborate and weave together beauty, wellness, and technology, they shared details about their first three boxes. This week, they released a $129 Birchbox Meets Awesome Woman kit, which will be delivered in three Birchbox-style boxes. The first box will contain a skin-test tool commonly used in medical trials to help customers identify their skin type. Then, after they input data about their skin, they will receive two more boxes that contain products curated by Birchbox, along with supplements from Awesome Woman tailored to their skin.

This kit won’t replace the monthly Birchbox, but it will be marketed to Birchbox’s subscribers, as well as through Awesome Woman. Beauchamp says it’s just the tip of the iceberg, and there will be more high-tech health and beauty experiences to come.

Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING and see how we can help build your brand.

Focus on building your brand, not your packaging.

Trefethen | Wine Packaging for Napa Valley

Understand the role great wines can play in your life, certainly when in the Napa & Sonoma regions.  Whether it be served at a wedding, a special occasion, or a casual family dinner, you deserve a wine that inspires joy.  Wine packaging is equally as important.

Trefethen has been producing award-winning, estate-grown wines for over fifty years. Our legacy includes producing “The World’s Best Chardonnay” back in 1979 and more recently our Cabernet Sauvignon being named “Best in Show” at the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards.

But our favorite accolades actually come from people like you who share how Trefethen wines play a special part in their family’s happiest moments.

Founders Eugene and Catherine Trefethen were ahead of their time. While terms like “sustainability” or “estate grown” were not widely used back in 1968, they understood that in order to produce world-class wines they would need a special plot of land that was treated with the utmost respect.

Today, the third generation of the Trefethen family carries on this vision. Wine lovers in search of outstanding Napa Valley wines turn to Trefethen knowing they will enjoy wines produced exclusively from our sustainably farmed estate vineyards.

Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING and see how we can help build your brand.

Focus on building your brand, not your packaging.

Lune+Aster | Tinted Lip Balm

Lune+Aster just launched a collection of tinted lip balms, and the story behind the name of each shade is incredibly inspiring. The brand, which was created by Bluemercury cofounder and CEO Marla Beck, partnered with six founders of women-focused organizations — Ariel Beck of Girls Who Start, Abigail Harrison of The Mars Generation, Ina Bhoopalam of Dream Equal, Valerie Weisler of The Validation Project, Haile Thomas of The HAPPY Org, and Judith Martinez of InHerShoes — to create new lip balm shades that correspond with the mission of each.

All six organizations are centered around a variety of causes, from encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM to tackling gender inequality. The collection features buildable, vegan shades that are infused with hydrating ingredients, like vitamins C and E, and other good-for-you ingredients, like pomegranate peel and turmeric extract. Each one is meant to add a subtle pop of color to the lips, though they can also be used as multitasking products for the cheeks and eyes. Lune+Aster has also made donations to each of the organizations mentioned above.

Now about the product;

Product Details

This vegan tinted lip balm moisturizes while providing a sheer customizable flush of color for soft, smooth lips. The combination of antioxidant-rich vitamins C and E, organic pomegranate peel extract and turmeric extract helps to hydrate for nourished, supple lips.  Because Lune+Aster is committed to empowering and supporting young women, we’ve partnered with six amazing young women who have started, and continue to run, women-centric foundations. Each Tinted Lip Balm shade is inspired by the specific missions of these six women and their foundations.

Ingredients

  • Vitamins C and E help to hydrate, repair and protect.
  • Organic pomegranate peel extract moisturizes and helps neutralize free radicals.
  • Turmeric extract soothes, and helps detoxify and exfoliate.

How to Use

Swipe on lips and go! Effortlessly customize by applying once for a sheer hint of color or add layers to build a richer color.

Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING today and see how we can help build your brand!

Focus on building your brand, not your packaging.

Global Shipping Challenges | Turn-Key Service

The pandemic has disrupted international trade, driving up the cost of shipping goods and adding a fresh challenge to the global economic recovery.

Around the planet, the pandemic has disrupted trade to an extraordinary degree, driving up the cost of shipping goods and adding a fresh challenge to the global economic recovery. The virus has thrown off the choreography of moving cargo from one continent to another.

At the center of the storm is the shipping container, the workhorse of globalization.

Americans stuck in their homes have set off a surge of orders from factories in China, much of it carried across the Pacific in containers — the metal boxes that move goods in towering stacks atop enormous vessels. As households in the United States have filled bedrooms with office furniture and basements with treadmills, the demand for shipping has outstripped the availability of containers in Asia, yielding shortages there just as the boxes pile up at American ports.

Containers that carried millions of masks to countries in Africa and South America early in the pandemic remain there, empty and uncollected, because shipping carriers have concentrated their vessels on their most popular routes — those linking North America and Europe to Asia.

And at ports where ships do call, bearing goods to unloading, they are frequently stuck for days in floating traffic jams. The pandemic and its restrictions have limited the availability of dockworkers and truck drivers, causing delays in handling cargo from Southern California to Singapore. Every container that cannot be unloaded in one place is a container that cannot be loaded somewhere else.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lars Mikael Jensen, head of Global Ocean Network at A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company. “All the links in the supply chain are stretched. The ships, the trucks, the warehouses.”

Economies around the globe are absorbing the ripple effects of the disruption on the seas. Higher costs and longer transit times are being experienced across the board. Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING today and see how we can take the day-to-day challenges of transit off your plate. Focus on building your brand, not your packaging.

INNOVATIVE | FSC ECOMMERCE PACKAGING

It’s no secret that eCommerce is quickly becoming more and more important in the success of any brand, across every industry.  The importance of getting your brand products delivered with the quality expected is specifically pinned to the eCommerce packaging used.  These durable FSC eCommerce paperboard inserts are custom-made specific for your brand needs, and more importantly shipping requirements.

Available in more than 120 stock colors, these inserts can also be custom branded to include your design element, brand story, and instruction of use, and increase brand equity.

  • Made in the USA
  • Biodegradable
  • Durable construction
  • Quick turn-around
  • Low tooling costs
  • Competitive Pricing
  • FSC paper board options
  • Reduces plastic in the waste stream!

Ship your goods with complete confidence while reducing the use of plastic tray inserts.

Focus on building your brand, not your packaging. Contact us today for more information.

Bioclarity | Drink It Up

One of the best-known, direct-to-consumer acne-fighting brands is ProActiv, which has been endorsed by celebrities ranging from Justin Bieber to Jessica Simpson. But this well-known brand is getting competition from start-ups such as bioClarity, which is appealing to a younger clientele by offering a green acne fighting solutions as well as an expanded plant-based skincare range. Here’s a closer look at BioClarity, how the system works and is it right for you?

BioClarity launched in 2016, with the idea of offering a plant-based solution to fighting acne. According to the company, the products are meant to appeal to millennial and Gen Z customers who are health conscious and focused on wellness. Since the debut of its Clear Skin Routine, bioClarity has expanded to offer a whole skincare line of plant-based skincare products.

BioClarity products are formulated with plants and botanicals, andthe signature ingredient is the brand’s patented Floralux, a type of chlorophyll that is an antioxidant and is meant to reduce redness as well as minimize the appearance of pores. Accessibility is a big part of the BioClarity ethos, so the products are affordable and the regimens are streamlined. All bioClarity products are vegan, cruelty-free and made without parabens, sulfates and phthalates. The product hashtag is #powerofgreen and many of the products are bright green, due to the cholorophyll.

BioClarity offers three skincare routines based on different skin types, along with individual products such as a mask, serum, body wash and a beauty supplement. Here’s a breakdown.

BioClarity Clean Skin Routine- Designed for acne prone skin, the Clean Skin Routine includes three products- a cleanser and two gels- and is meant to be used twice a day. The products are Keeping it Clean, a foaming cleanser that helps detox the skin, and Complexion Perfection, an exfoliating gel that contains salicylic acid. The third product is the Power of Green, a chlorophyll based gel that protects and nourishes the skin.

BioClarity Essentials Routine- This regimen is suited for normal to oily skin. The trio of products includes the Keeping it Clean  foaming cleanser and the Power of Green chlorophyll gel, as well as Skin Smoothie, a moisturizing blend of Floralux, argan, olive, ceramides, licorice root, jojoba and shea.

BioClarity Ultra Calming Routine- The Ultra Calming trio is meant for anyone looking to soothe red, inflamed skin and is best for oily complexions. In addition to the Keeping it Clean cleanser, this system includes the Ultracalming Serum to calm skin, as well as the hydrating Skin Smoothie.

BioClarity products are affordable and in line with drugstore prices. The three different routines come in mini and full sizes. The mini kits range from $39.95 – $41.95  while the full sized kits range from $56.95 to $59.95. The products are also sold individually, and the Dewy Dew is $19.95, the supplements are $32.95 and the Hydrating Masque is $24.95.  The Cleanse face wash is $9.95 for a mini, and the Eye Will Chill depuffing gel is $24.95.

KINSHIP | ULTA BEAUTY’S RECENT ADDITION

The acne-focused, clean skin-care brand launches first on Ulta.com, on Wednesday, and in 400 stores the week of August 9. It will be part of Ulta’s Sparked at Ulta Beauty program for indie beauty startups. Kinship will also be part of Ulta’s new Conscious Beauty program launching in October, which will spotlight brands that are sustainable, clean, vegan, cruelty-free, and philanthropic. Expansion into Ulta is an opportunity for Kinship to reach a Gen-Z audience beyond its DTC sites shoppers. A 2019 survey of Gen-Z consumers by Piper Jaffray found that Ulta was the No. 1 beauty shopping destination for teens, selected as the top choice by 38% of respondents.

Kinship’s main sales channel to date has been DTC e-commerce, which grew by 400% in the first quarter of 2020. It currently also distributes to Credo Beauty and expects Ulta to account for approximately 30% of total sales over the next year.

“Clean beauty is not a niche market anymore,” she said. “It’s here to stay. I think beauty has embraced the idea of clean, and now it’s just how we define ‘clean’ going forward.”

“If you look at Kinship, they’re coming in with a sweet spot, in terms of the pricing,” said Arnaudo. Other brands in Ulta’s assortment at this Gen Z-friendly price point include Morphe, Juvia’s Place and Mario Badescu; however, none of these brands are clean.

Ulta does stock a range of clean beauty brands on its site including Juice Beauty, Indie Lee and Follain, but has lagged in its designation behind Sephora and Target. The introduction of its Conscious Beauty section will inaugurate the first time the category is highlighted separately on its site and in stores. Brands in the clean category have already been seeing “double-digit” growth, said Arnaudo. The launch of Conscious Beauty will include a site landing page and an in-store endcap display, in all of Ulta’s physical stores, of a rotating group of brands. This will be more expansive than Ulta’s upcoming Credo Beauty partnership, which will feature endcap displays in a select group of 100 stores. The Credo partnership will feature eight brands that are sold at Credo.

Arnaudo says the Conscious Beauty program, like Sparked, is key to reaching Gen Z. She pointed out that “nine out of 10 Gen Zers will buy clean beauty in the next year, and we know that six out of 10 people are interested in purchasing clean beauty.”

“We know that the Gen-Z audience is very aware of what’s happening in the world,” she said. “We know that they care about clean ingredients, and we know they care about transparency and cruelty-free. Vegan is very important to them; sustainable packaging is important to them — [they support] brands that are doing good in the world.”

BRIOGEO | ECOMMERCE READY PACKAGING

BRIOGEO continues to change the landscape in Hair Care, with quality packaging and products that deliver results.

The Merry Multi-Masking Kit features our best-selling mask for dry damaged hair, now infused with organic, unpasteurized honey for intense moisture. We’ve also included minis of our cult-fave deep conditioning mask and new avocado + kiwi mega moisture superfood mask.

Briogeo partners with Bees for Development, a non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate poverty through sustainable beekeeping. Briogeo is funding a special project in Ghana to support small-scale female cashew farmers, helping them to integrate beekeeping into their farming practices. The impact this program will have to the community is great; Integrating beekeeping will yield a larger crop, allow the community to harvest valuable products like honey & beeswax, and enable the community to support themselves and their families.

Both personalized stock and complete custom packaging are provided by BIG SKY PACKAGING.

AMAZON | CUSTOM PRIVATE LABEL DEVELOPMENT

BIG SKY PACKAGING partners with Scent Beauty, in the development of a private label fragrance and skincare brand for Amazon.

BIG SKY PACKAGING worked intensely with Amazon’s development team in the custom private label creation and development of ESSCENTIALS.  From custom glass, custom anodized caps, and pumps, through the sustainable paperboard outer retail box, the BIG SKY PACKAGING team delivered quality components as scheduled.

Each of the scents and moisturizers has its own unique personality to bring out the subtle qualities of how you feel & the type of mood you’re in without being overpowering like others on the market. We only use 100% naturally grown & harvested ingredients. The unique vegan formula uses natural alcohol derived from sugar cane plus is carbon renewable & biodegradable. Our formulas are free of phthalates, sulfates, parabens & synthetic dyes in addition to being cruelty-free & proudly made in the USA.

Sustainability is at the heart of ESSCENTIALS. The fragrance mist packaging is biodegradable & recyclable. The glass bottle is made from recycled glass & we encourage our customers to re-use & repurpose the bottle by removing the actuator for use as a vase in an effort to reduce waste.

Open the recyclable paper box and remove the ribbon seal from top of the bottle. Unscrew and remove the cap and replace it with the screw-on fragrance pump included in the box. Spray lightly or lavishly directly on skin as a light fragrance, or use as an ambient room spray. Once finished with your fragrance spray, unscrew and remove the pump, rinse, and re-purpose the glass bottle however you choose. We recommend as a small flower vase!

ESSCENTIALS by SCENT BEAUTY focuses on creating beautiful, light, clean scents & moisturizers derived from nature that enhance the body, mind, & soul. Each product was specifically formulated to capture the essence of the moment mentioned on the bottle & extends to the color on the label. ESSCENTIALS by SCENT BEAUTY can be bought exclusively online on Amazon.

Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING today and see how we can help your brand !

Responsibly Sourced Paper | Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

BIG SKY PACKAGING is dedicated to providing responsible sourcing of paper products for your brand.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has become, for all intensive purposes, the “standard” in the verification of responsibly sourced wood and paper products. From forest to the consumer, the FSC tracks and monitors every step of the way to ensure good practices are upheld. The FSC sets standards for forestry operations whose managers want to comply with good management practices, and for producers and traders of forest products who want to source from these suppliers and communicate this to their customers.

  • Forest Management (FM) standards, which set rules for forest operators to comply with responsible forest management requirements
  • Chain of Custody (CoC) standards, which set requirements for the FSC verification, from the forest to the end buyer/consumer.

Companies can hold Forest Management (FM) certification, or Chain of Custody (CoC) certification, or both. FSC does not issue certificates itself but uses an independent third party to obtain impartial certification decisions.

FSC labels are used on products to identify that the product has been verified to come from an FSC-certified source. FSC labels can be found on millions of products around the world: from toilet rolls to your favorite book, that milk carton in your fridge, and other food products. All of our labels provide you with an assurance that the product you are buying is made from responsible sources and has been verified to meet FSC’s strict environmental and social standards.

Contact BIG SKY PACKAGING today and find out how we can help build your brand.