Internationally recognised for its expertise, acquired over almost 100 years, in the field of prestige lipsticks, Aptar Reboul is strengthening its expertise in sustainable development, which "is one of the main thrusts of our commitment to sustainability" explains Sandrine Bréchon, Innovation and Development Manager. "The health crisis has accelerated ecological awareness and we are committed to providing our customers with the best responses for reducing environmental impact."

Luxury and prestige

Based on its patented mechanism, Iconic, whose quality is recognised by most of the world’s luxury brands and which today constitutes its core range, Aptar Reboul is working on developing standard and specific versions that meet the circular economy requirements.

Indeed, "this Prestige standard - if you can play with new combinations of materials (metal, plastic or both) - offers a wide range of possibilities to satisfy our customers seeking to offer an eco-designed, recyclable, refillable and aesthetic packaging," specifies Sandrine Bréchon.

Sustainable innovations

Its integration to the Aptar Group in 2018, allowed the company to benefit on the one hand from the assessment of the Materials Purchasing teams and their network of suppliers and on the other from the support of working groups dedicated to sustainable materials and eco-design. "Combining our respective experiences enables us to progress more rapidly and to open up opportunities for innovation that reinforce our leading position, both technically and aesthetically, in tomorrow’s lipsticks, based on recycled and recyclable materials," assures Aptar Reboul’s Development Innovation Manager.

For instance, the company is already incorporating recycled materials, plastic- or metal-based, into its new developments of mechanisms and lipstick cases. For example, for the innovative Lush lipstick, the packaging was fully designed in metal, with no use of plastic, with 30 to 40% recycled material.

The refillability of the lipstick tubes, which is another major axis of innovation at Aptar Reboul, requires re-designing all the parts. "Here again, we can rely on the group’s know-how in the knowledge of materials and the injection moulding of complex plastic parts, making it possible to respond to complex or easy to separate mono-material assembly designs," emphasises Sandrine Bréchon.

Stamping and finishing

Recognised for its expertise in the field of lipstick mechanisms, Aptar Reboul has also made a name for itself in metal stamping right to its completion (which earned it France’s "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" label in 2017) and the decoration of finished sets. "A local production which significantly reduces the C02 impact of the finished product for our European customers," notes Sandrine Bréchon.

Aptar Reboul thus ensures 100% of the manufacture of aluminium or brass parts that make up lipstick cases and their decors, which calls for a very wide variety of techniques ranging from brushing (striated appearance) to engraving (embossed appearance) including lacquering, pad printing and screen printing. The sophistication of lipstick dressings and decorations has led Aptar Reboul to also rely on the know-how of Aptar Annecy in the field of anodising and Aptar Oyonnax in the field of vacuum metallisation, which opens up a vast field of investigation to meet the ever-increasing demand for personalised packagings.

With Aptar Reboul, lip make-up is now becoming a beauty gesture that also integrates the beauty of nature.