Designed for a very high-end clientele and currently available in U.S. department stores such as Saks, the My Blend personal care line debuts from Dr. Olivier Courtin, the son of Jacques Courtin, the founder of Clarins Group. As a physician and head of Clarins' R&D department, Dr. Olivier Courtin has applied the latest results of scientific and biotechnological research to develop his line of custom and personalized products. In turn, he called upon the French design agency DesDoigts (www.desdoigts.com) to help create a packaging concept that reconciles modernity with a simple expression of luxury and high technicality. To package the new products, Courtin enlisted the injection-molding expertise of France's MBF Plastiques (www.mbf-plastiques.fr).

Eight “Essential,” fluid and cream formulas in the line are packaged in 15- and 50-mL jar sizes. The smallest jars are intended for “customized” product mixtures with additional active ingredients. The containers comprise two parts. First, primary packaging that's designed to be kept and has a transparent receptacle made of methyl polymethacrylate, a large cover molded of DuPont's (www2.dupont.com/Surlyn/en_US/) Surlyn® ionomer, featuring screen printing and topped with a decorative part made of chromium zamak. The caps are fitted with a polyethylene compound innerseal, and the receptacles and covers are injection-molded.

The secondary packaging, a white polypropylene tub, is designed to carry refills and is bi-injection rotational-molded and topped with a polypropylene cover for protection when using the product. The cover is heat-sealed to the tub to ensure protection. The refill's outer molded iridescent “shell” lends sophistication. According to MBF, the technical challenges involved in devoloping the jars, a tube and two small 15- and 50-mL bottles for the 12 products included development of 17 molds because of the large number of product references. A special capacity was required to develop the larger parts. External parts were developed in what MBF's Gerard Desveaux calls “single layers,” and that proved an even greater challenge. The Surlyn cap had to be developed in a single mold without surface deformation. Courtin hopes that the results will be “magnifique” in stores.