LONDON — Identical twins Jennifer and Fiona Lees plan to shake up the beauty industry with Balmshell, their nascent line of quirky lip glosses.
The Canadian duo hopes to bring a smile to lips as well as a shine, since each gloss’ packaging features a “float art” scene. One of the elements of the scene slides inside the transparent end of the tube when the product is tilted. The lip color is on the other end of the product.
Each of the line’s 10 glosses features a different story line. Shopaholic, a sheer baby-pink shade, has float art of a woman going into a store and leaving with a bag-laden doorman in tow. Curse of the Purse, a sheer peachy-cream hue, has images of a love-struck lady passing a man to head toward a handbag store. Illustrator Mar Murube created the brand’s colorful characters.
“The stories are really fun,” said Jennifer Lees, adding that the packaging design was inspired by a novelty pen. “They’re meant to make you laugh and smile.”
Each product comes with a key chain attachment, which allows women to go on enjoying the float art even after the gloss is finished.
Of course, when creating the collection, getting the product formulation right was as important as hitting the right note with its packaging, according to the pair, who noted they had problems finding everything they wanted in a lip product in the past.
“We thought, wouldn’t it be great if someone would make a lip gloss that was all things — moist, high gloss, not sticky and feels incredibly sexy on the lips,” said Jennifer Lees.
“Women are very smart,” chimed in her twin. “They might buy one gloss for fun but if the formula is not up to standard, they won’t buy it again. We’re selling lip gloss, not float art.”
The brand bowed in Canada’s Holt Renfrew and the U.K.’s Selfridges in September. Each 2.5-gram gloss is priced in the U.K. at 15 pounds, or $28 at current exchange.
“We’re quite comfortable being where we are now,” said Lees. “In a few months we’ll look at other places.”
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Industry sources estimate the line will generate $200,000 in its first year.
The pair is also looking to extend the Balmshell concept into other cosmetics categories and to introduce seasonal limited editions. “We started with glosses to get our feet wet,” added Lees.
Plans are also afoot to begin retailing on the brand’s Web site, balmshell.com, and to extend the “Balm Squad” — a community of Balmshell fans who give feedback on products — to the Internet.
Omorovicza Taps Hungarian Water
LONDON — The power of Hungarian spa water was tapped for the new premium skin treatment line called Omorovicza.
“There’s no end to the ailments for which doctors prescribe [Hungarian] water treatments,” said Stephen de Heinrich de Omorovicza, who founded the line along with his wife, Margaret. He noted that various spa waters are prescribed for different health complaints.
The couple realized that soaking in Budapest’s traditional bathhouses also had beneficial effects on skin.
“We noticed [the water] had a very interesting effect on the skin — it was smoothing and softening,” said de Heinrich de Omorovicza. He explained that the Earth’s crust in the Carpathian Basin is thinner than in other locations, so water reaching the surface contains higher concentrations of minerals and trace elements, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and copper.
With a treatment project in mind, the pair met with researchers from the Hungarian Laboratory of Dermatology and came up with Pannon Complex, a concoction including Hungarian spa waters, zinc, copper gluconate and magnesium aspartate. The complex is said to stimulate cell renewal, collagen production and elastin synthesis, while protecting skin against free radicals.
“We wanted to develop something to go into every product, a way of boosting [the skin’s natural functions],” said de Heinrich de Omorovicza.
The eight-unit line developed around the complex is said to have antiaging benefits and targets women aged 30 and up. It comprises a Cleansing Milk, Gentle Buffing Cleanser, Deep Cleansing Mask, Refining Moisturiser, Illuminating Moisturiser, Reviving Eye Cream, Rejuvenating Night Cream and Queen of Hungary Mist. Prices range from 42 pounds, or $80 at current exchange rates, for a 125-ml. bottle of Cleansing Milk, to 83 pounds, or $158, for a 50-ml. bottle of Illuminating Moisturiser.
Industry sources estimate the line will generate $500,000 to $1 million at retail in its first year.
Omorovicza was introduced in Harvey Nichols stores in September and will bow in the U.S. in Spring 2007. The brand also opened a freestanding store in Budapest this summer.
“It gives us an identity,” said de Heinrich de Omorovicza. “It’s the home of the brand.”
Creating a strong link to Hungary and to de Heinrich de Omorovicza’s ancestors was a major factor when creating the brand, he said.
“I always wanted to start a company in Hungary,” he said. “[We wanted to do something linked to] Hungarian heritage and my family’s heritage.”
A crown from the de Heinrich de Omorovicza family’s crest is emblazoned on Omorovicza’s packaging. In tribute to 19th-century Hungarian design, the interiors of the brand’s product cartons are decorated with a marbled pattern.