Boxing Day: seductive beauty packaging from the past year
On Boxing Day, we reflect on some of the most seductive beauty packaging of 2023, from Hermès to Rabanne
Boxing Day is a distinctly British tradition. No matter where you are in the country, or how you celebrate the holiday season, the general consensus is that it’s considered a national day for doing not very much at all, if possible. Whether you’re currently spending today on the sofa, eating, drinking, and relaxing, or even if you’re on your way elsewhere, take a moment to scroll through the Wallpaper* shortlist of seductive beauty packaging from the past year.
There’s Lucia Pica’s First Emotions collection for Byredo (which won Wallpaper’s 2023 design award for best use of colour), Hermès’ debut eyeshadow launch (captured by photographer Ivona Chrzastek on the pages of our November 2023 art issue, alongside an interview with the creative director of Hermès Beauty, Gregoris Pyrpylis), and more.
Boxing Day: seductive beauty packaging from 2023
Byredo’s First Emotions collection by Lucia Pica
Okay, so if you want to be pedantic, Byredo’s First Emotions collection, designed by the brand’s creative image and make-up partner Lucia Pica, was technically launched in 2022. However, for the Wallpaper* 2023 design awards issue, we gave the range of products the top spot for ‘best use of colour’. It goes without saying that the packaging also deserves a mention, which includes designs for a Kajal eye pencil and mascara in burgundy, a five-colour eyeshadow palette with gold, auburns and metallic pinks, and two lipsticks.
Celine’s bath and body collection
Inspired by the ritualistic Parisian art of bathing, Hedi Slimane realised a new Celine bath and body collection in 2023. Infused with the scent of fragrance Cologne Céleste (which launched earlier in the year containing notes of orange blossom, angelica, sweet lemon essence, petitgrain, neroli, ambrette, and orris butter) the bottles are also pieces of art unto themselves, with weighty glass bottles and metal lids that turn any bathroom into a little slice of luxury.
Hermès’ eyeshadow debut
Designed by Pierre Hardy in keeping with the entire Hermès Beauty range, the packaging for the first collection of eye products was highlighted on the pages of Wallpaper* November 2023, celebrating form as well as function. Called ‘Le Regard’, the selection of products is comprised of eyeshadow palettes and brushes, and a selection of mascaras in six different shades. As Greek make-up artist and creative director of the storied house’s beauty line Gregoris Pyrpylis told Mary Cleary: ‘I don’t want to impose a certain look on someone … I want them to amuse themselves and have a nice moment. Make-up shouldn’t feel like an obligation.’
Rabanne’s new make-up line
‘The nice thing about the products is that they’re very interchangeable. You can mix them, and there’s a lot to play with. There’s definitely that playfulness, that avant-garde spirit and a little bit of sophistication, while still being playful and young,’ said make-up artist Diane Kendal, in a Wallpaper* interview marking the launch of Rabanne’s gender-neutral make-up line, and her subsequent appointment as its creative director, in August 2023. ‘People want to have fun and have products they can play with.’ Of course, a Rabanne product wouldn’t be a Rabanne product without design references to the iconic chainmail that the Spanish brand is renowned for, evidenced in the metallic packaging for foundations, lipsticks, eyeshadows, amongst others.
Ann Demeulemeester’s first ever fragrance
September 2023 marked a first for Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester (her namesake brand was founded in Antwerp in 1985), when the label put out its first-ever fragrance. Simply titled ‘A’, and described as ‘darkly romantic’ with notes of clove, cumin, Ceylon cinnamon, Sicilian lemon and Calabrian bergamot, and ‘narcotic’ jasmine, the bottle played into the gothic minimalism inherent to the fashion line, with a sleek black design crafted from glass. ‘The box itself – evocative of a blank canvas – is designed to recall the designer’s Antwerp boutique, while a portrait of the designer by husband Patrick Robyn in 1992 is fixed to the interior,’ wrote Wallpaper’s fashion features editor Jack Moss upon the perfume’s arrival.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Hannah Tindle is Beauty & Grooming Editor at Wallpaper*. She has worked with media titles and brands across the luxury and culture sectors, bringing a breadth of knowledge to the magazine’s beauty vertical, which closely intersects with fashion, art, design, and technology.
-
Three new coffee makers for a contemporary brew, from a casual cup to a full-on branded espresso
Three new coffee makers, from AeroPress, Jura and Porsche x La Marzocco, range from the defiantly manual to the bells and whistles of a traditional countertop espresso machine
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Don't miss Luxembourg's retro-futuristic lab pavilion in Venice
As the Venice Biennale enters its last few weeks, catch 'A Comparative Dialogue Act' at the Luxembourg Pavilion
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
A Berlin park atop an office building offers a new model of urban landscaping
A Berlin park and office space by Grüntuch Ernst Architeken offer a symbiotic relationship between urban design and green living materials
By Michael Webb Published
-
Hermès Beauty’s eye and lip pencils invite playfulness with colour and texture
Hermès Beauty’s creative director Gregoris Pyrpylis has added to the ‘Trait d’Hermès’ collection with a set of eye and lip liners in kaleidoscopic colours. Here, he speaks to Wallpaper* about their playful design
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Discothèque perfumes evoke the scent of Tokyo in the year 2000
As Discothèque gets ready to launch its first perfume collection, Mary Cleary catches up with the brand’s founders
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Inside the making of Loewe Perfumes’ porcelain bottle toppers, delicately crafted by Lladró
Loewe Perfumes’ limited edition flask toppers are crafted by Spanish porcelain company Lladró. Mary Cleary takes a look inside the making process, as featured in the October 2024 issue of Wallpaper*
By Mary Cleary Published
-
How Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids defined 1980s subculture with make-up
As Leigh Bowery and the Blitz Kids of 1980s London are celebrated in a new exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, Isobel Van Dyke explores the hair and make-up looks that defined them
By Isobel Van Dyke Published
-
Watch: Jamie Dornan takes a bath in Le Corbusier’s villa for Loewe Perfumes
Jamie Dornan stars alongside Sophie Wilde in the new Loewe Perfumes 2024 campaign, shot by David Sims in Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
First look: Vyrao’s latest neuroscientific fragrance bottles the grounding effect of a digital detox
Vyrao’s earthy new fragrance ‘Mamajuju’ provides sensory respite from screen time. Lara Johnson-Wheeler speaks with brand founder Yasmin Sewell for a Wallpaper* preview
By Lara Johnson-Wheeler Published
-
Hedi Slimane to leave Celine after seven years; Michael Rider named as successor
Hedi Slimane will leave Celine after a seven-year tenure as artistic, creative and image director across fashion, beauty and lifestyle at the French couture house, with Michael Rider – an alumnus of Phoebe Philo’s Celine – named as his successor
By Jack Moss Last updated
-
Trudon ‘Absolu’: an intoxicating orange blossom perfume for the start of autumn
Trudon ‘Absolu’, the house’s latest fragrance by Antoine Lie, blends orange blossom absolute with saffron, cardamom, tonka bean and guaiac wood
By Hannah Tindle Published