Fun and Functional Packaging at Cosmopack Bologna

The 57th edition of Cosmoprof Worldwide & Cosmopack Bologna inspired beauty brands, suppliers, and other attendees. Exhibitors showcased everything from colorful formulation textures to alternative sustainable materials, spot-on applicators, sprayers, tottles, and more.

Another year of the Italian B2B extravaganza has passed, leaving beauty industry professionals both intrigued and hopeful about business in general, with visions of upcoming launches based on exhibitors’ showcases.

At this year’s Cosmoprof Worldwide & Cosmopack Bologna on March 26th through the 29th, an estimated 255,000 professionals walked through more than 20 halls. There were upwards of 10,000 brands waiting to be discovered, presented by 3,104 companies. Exhibitors traveled from 68 countries, and there were 33 country pavilions to explore.

As Spring approached in Bologna, bright colors and an air of freshness were the first two elements to capture attendees’ senses both outdoors and inside the massive show. This was especially the case in the Cosmopack pavilions.

Cosmopack Bologna is the leading show dedicated to the entire beauty supply chain. It features ingredients, formulations, packaging, machinery, automation, private label, and full-service solutions. It is where Beauty Packaging’s Publisher, Jay Gorga, and I spent most of our time.

Floor show décor featured live lemon trees in pots on the show floor,. There were “clouds” drifting in the “sky” of a color cosmetics booth. A reimagined, artfully designed Paris apothecary was filled with innovative new products. Cool shapes in both vibrant and pastel colors bloomed across the show floor. Original sculptural bottle and applicator shapes and textures were also a highlight.

Trend-Spotting

Growth in the North American markets was a hot topic at the Italian-based show. Industry executives talked about supplier expansion, new facilities, and new partnerships. Expanding sales forces was another topic of discussion. The U.S. is maintaining its reputation as a hotbed for both mass and prestige cosmetic markets.

One of Cosmoprof’s focuses this year was on speed-to-market, personalization, and innovation in color. Another was how brands can successfully keep up with TikTok-driven demand.

Eye-catching, vibrant packaging and clip-on charms, which held products such as lipgloss, captured beauty consumers’ quest to have fun. These packaging designs are ideal for cosmetics that are easily transportable. Stunning glass, metallized bottles, shiny caps, and elaborate compacts and jars intrigued brands looking to make a splash on end users’ vanities. Rounded shapes seemed especially popular.

Sustainability Remains Key

Sustainability remained a key topic of conversation among brands and suppliers. While some were “gung-ho,” others were more skeptical. But one way or another, compliance is at the forefront as European regulations roll out. The overriding challenge: One supplier told us, “Sustainability is difficult to monetize.” 

A reduction in componentry, mono-materials, and simpler forms also seemed to be precursors to the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) program. It mandates that all packaging on the EU market be recyclable by 2030. The approaching deadline for packaging waste reduction was clearly on many people’s minds. 

Growth was obvious in many sustainable packaging trends. There were more refill pouches, refillables for bottles and jars, glass pods, exact-dosage dispensers, double-duty products, and more. 

Fine-mist sprayers (especially for skincare and body care) targeted a less-wasteful and “silkier” impact on hair application. A skincare-inspired approach has expanded to both nail and hair health. New products and dispensing tools that ease color and care nail applications.

There was also an increase in products that addressed skincare-to-body care (rather than just face care or hair care). 

With some component prices rising, another trend was an emphasis from certain suppliers on more affordable packaging. There are efforts to provide small brands with modular systems that can create a “custom mold look.” 

Most of all, it was evident that even consumers searching for the most efficacious formulas and packs, want to have fun and feel good about the packaging of their cosmetic products. 

Up Close with Exhibitors

Following is a rundown of exhibitor highlights.

Beauty Packaging noted these developments as we visited stands and spoke with attendees on the show floor. Many suppliers introduced their newest packaging innovations. Companies are arranged in alphabetical order:

Amcor

At the Amcor stand in Pavilion 18, the company showcased its capabilities in both rigid and flexible packaging. A wide range of applicators, bottles, jars, dispensers, closures, flexible packs, and stand-up pouches were on display. According to Lara Alemany, product line director, Amcor Global Rigid Packaging Solutions, all combine aesthetics with functionality. The goal is to maximize the end-user experience, while also incorporating sustainability considerations. There were packs designed for recyclability, as well as refillable and reusable formats. Some options incorporated post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, including material produced using Amcor’s proprietary CleanStream® recycling technology. This material is subject to material availability and local regulatory acceptance.

Amcor also showed its stand-up pouches, sachets, and stick packs for beauty products. 

Aptar Beauty

NeoDropper Autoload is Aptar Beauty’s “next-generation” dropper featuring an automatic filling system and a unique applicator for “enhanced formula protection.” It preserves the intuitive gesture of a traditional dropper while modernizing the user experience. It features a twist opening and automatic dosing of the short applicator. Designed for prestige and dermo-cosmetic brands, this innovation elevates premium skincare. It addresses key consumer needs: precision, control, and formula protection.

Bakic

Bakic’s theme was “where packaging innovation, sustainability, and brand impact meet,” and the items at the stand underlined the point.

A variety of airless bottles, tubes, and jars stood out at Bakic. Sprayers (18 different versions), including fine mist sprayers, were of great interest. According to Anton Meindl, Executive Director at Bakic Group, their innovative fine mist sprayers have redefined how products are applied. They are enhancing performance, comfort, and control. Haircare treatments, said Meindl, are a major trend in 2026 due to several consumer value shifts and deeper scientific understanding. Even gel formulas can be applied as a spray mist.

Bakic’s ultra-lightweight Smoothie bottle is a great choice for eco-conscious brands,” explained Meindl. “We save approximately 50% of material compared to conventional bottles of the same size, without compromising on functionality or design. In combination with a durable and reusable outer shell, it becomes a premium design object. It’s the perfect packaging solution for a variety of cosmetic products, and the shell can be customized. The fact that customers will keep the outer shell and buy a new refill bottle also ensures recurring brand loyalty. It also engages consumers, according to Meindl.  

Bakic’s innovative Smoothie Refill System is shown. It is “a premium design object and the perfect packaging solution for a variety of cosmetics.” A new line of 50ml glass jars was also presented.

Baralan

Baralan, a specialist in primary packaging for cosmetics, announced DEA 2.0, the upgraded version of its glass airless technology. At the core of this upgrade is a soda-lime glass barrel. As with the first version, it is produced in Europe. According to Baralan, this type of glass ensures high performance and excellent compatibility with cosmetic formulas. It offers full compatibility with standard recycling streams, whereas borosilicate requires dedicated recycling streams. The supplier said their choice of soda-lime glass “reflects their commitment to developing circular solutions capable of reducing environmental impact without compromising premium performance and aesthetic elegance.” Currently available in 15-and 30ml sizes, DEA 2.0, according to Baralan, “is designed to meet the needs of high-performance skincare formulas and brands seeking a sophisticated and reliable airless solution.”

Coven Egidio

Filling and crimping machines are the focus at Coven Egidio. A new machine at Cosmopack 2026 was designed for small bottles (2,000 pieces an hour). It can be run from an iPhone or Tablet. The family-owned Italian company was celebrated its 50th anniversary at the show this year.

Coverpla 

Coverpla offered a signature bottle to match Italian niche brand Egoscentrique’s free spirit. Egoscentrique chose the excellence of Italian perfumery for “an experience with no limitations—a genderless fragrance free from sectarianism or contingencies.” Starting with a spectacular cap, the brand sought out Coverpla to find the perfect bottle from its collection.

They chose the Mystère bottle, designed by Coverpla. It’s a spherical shape, which becomes an extension of the brand’s “astonishingly original cap.” With this contemporary creation decorated in white, it is difficult to distinguish where the cap ends and the bottle begins. The brand chose a 50ml format perfectly adjusted to the volumes of the cap.

Egoscentrique approaches each bottle like “a couture masterpiece,” according to the brand. It has a sophisticated design and emblematic bottle that makes a statement. It will look striking in both the home and window displays of the most avant-garde boutiques. The object itself becomes a work of art, and the fragrance takes on the role of an identity.

The 50ml Quadri bottle, as well as many other stock bottles, is available from Coverpla’s NJ warehouse for swift turnaround. This bottle offers a sturdy yet sophisticated feel that grounds your brand’s visual identity.

Epopack

At Epopack, Amy Pan, Project Manager, showed us new custom molds and PET bottles that can be 100% PP. She explained that customers can use this modular system to essentially get a “custom mold.” It makes it more affordable for small customers to create custom molds. All different designs and logos, etc., are in line with PPWR laws in Europe. Epopack also now has a sales office in Ottawa.

Fiabila

Fiabila has taken the nail category to new heights, especially with their more recent focus on nail care. Its offering ranges from product design to full service. The supplier provides advice, manufacturing, and packaging. Fiabila says it delivers solutions in line with a brand’s expectations. The supplier’s packaging always aligns with a brand’s positioning, without compromising on quality and safety. The company relies on in-house R&D, its scientific knowledge of nails, and proximity to consumers. Fiabila also has access to its exclusive test panel of 800 contacts.

Candice Jagut, Marketing & Innovation Director, Filippo Manucci, Chairman & CEO of Fiabila, and their team, explained the latest nail color & care innovations. The company showcases new developments in formulations, ingredient sourcing, and packaging.

Olivier Nouguerede, R&D Director, shared insights into the scientific approach behind these innovations. The company presented an array of new color innovations and tech-driven application gestures. Fiabila also focused on new categories, including nail restoration, repair, ridge filler, sun protection, and a quick repair solution.

Fiabila’s gel nail color in a pen format was a huge hit at the show.

Jagut explained, “Gel fully embodies Fiabila’s leadership, with the introduction of differentiating formats that redefine application. The 2-Step Next Gen G.E.L. is packaged in an exclusive twist pen format. It illustrates the ability to transform the gesture, while integrating high requirements for formula safety and ease of removal.” 

Additional packaging innovations at Fiabila include shrink-sleeves, which open new perspectives in bottle decoration, with greater flexibility and improved recyclability considerations.

Geka

Geka unveiled its new precision brush technology line “Brush Beats” with “mascara that doesn’t miss a beat,” accentuating the theme with six various musical-inspired names. One brush is 100% PCR materials.

Stefanie Gunz, Head of Global Marketing & Communications, explained that the Brush Beats kit showcases the company’s new brush cuts through a range of six new mascaras, each inspired by an iconic sound.

“Brush Beats uses next-generation brush machining technology in a range that raises the bar for brush performance expectations,” explained Gunz. “Highly accurate surface-level cutting delivers new design possibilities with intricate geometries based on perfectly straight cuts and complex designs.”

Geka’s exclusive shadow printing (a process like laser printing, now also available in their plant in South America) has no added materials, which makes it more sustainable.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Geka’s new CEO, Jenni Dean. 

HCT by kdc/one

Kerem Queini, HCT’s Senior Director, Packaging Engineering & Innovation, showed us several packaging innovations, some made in their factory in Italy. Sustainability was an overall message. Items included an oval refillable stick, a luxury paper stick with paper refills, a 1-piece tube (injected, not extruded), a full metal lipstick with no plastic, that’s PPWR-compliant, and a refillable ultra-precision aluminum pen that builds on their Cooling Tip Technology. They are also working on innovations for fragrance diffusing.

Lumson

Lumson, a leader in primary cosmetic packaging was highlighting its capabilities in glass, as well as in plastics. Their Moon Mascara in glass by Lumson and Ponzini, in collaboration with Ponzini, global center of excellence in applicators for mascara, reflected charm, ethereality, and beauty. Moon is the first mascara in glass. Lumson developed it, in collaboration with Ponzini.

Moon is an entirely ‘Made in Italy’ project and a new milestone in Lumson’s evolutionary journey. Following its entry into the world of fragrances in 2025, and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its foundation, Lumson now delivers on a significant challenge for 2026: to bring glass, “a precious, noble material widely used for skincare, foundation and fragrance,” to the world of the best-selling and most beloved of all eye makeup products: mascara.

Moon is a 10ml glass bottle featuring a clean, streamlined design conceived to enhance the formula within through transparency, reflection, and depth. Glass represents a style choice, embodying responsibility and functionality that all ensure greater formula compatibility, improved long-term stability, and full recyclability.

The supplier suggests using decorations and effects to customize the bottle, which will instantly transform the mascara inside into a luxury object. When paired with Ponzini’s brushes, Moon becomes a packaging solution that delivers a strong visual impact.

Marchesini Group

The Marchesini Group said it is investing “a great deal in the development of complete turnkey solutions evolved to be more and more flexible and tailored to the cosmetics industry’s needs.” The latest generation of machines is designed to simplify cleaning procedures, automate processes, shorten size change times, and optimize the overall efficiency of machines and production lines. 

At Cosmoprof, Filiberto Cacciari, Head of Customer Service, told us they focused on flexible solutions for processing and filling liquid products. The new process technology, called Turbo 3D, was developed in-house to meet “the growing demands for operating flexibility and precise control from producers of emulsions, solutions, and suspensions.” On-hand was a Turbo-Mek 150, a Turbo-emulsifier model constructed by Dumek, featuring a “ground-breaking system” that allows the turbine to be optimized to suit different product formulae and phases.

 Cacciari said these solutions were driven by beauty inquiries concerning mixers and filling systems for liquid products, including serums, lotions, oils, and emulsions. These technologies are fundamental in the cosmetics industry, where precision, hygiene, and product integrity are crucial. Mixers, in particular, must ensure the uniform mixing of delicate formulations, often rich in active and natural ingredients. Alongside these solutions are machines for filling liquid products, designed to handle a wide range of viscosities with the highest level of precision while minimizing waste. The offering is completed by the secondary packaging solutions, developed to enable the integration of traceability and aggregation systems. 

Miron Glass

At Miron Glass, Max van Dijk, Account Manager, showed us some exquisite bottles, some with silver or gold aluminum caps. There are low MOQs. They are developing more Miron glass fragrance bottles for brands that use more-natural ingredients, because the blue Miron glass blocks the sun.

Nuon Medical 

Vagheggi Phytocosmetici and Nuon Medical were honored at Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, where their collaborative innovation received the Best Skincare Award.

Presented at the show, Vagheggi’s 75.25 Longevity Day Cream reflects the brand’s expertise in advanced skincare, paired with a custom-developed packaging solution engineered by Nuon Medical to enhance product performance.

The design integrates an intelligent cap with a built-in Efficacy Booster Device, combining four technologies—630 nm red light, microcurrents, controlled heat, and vibration—to support optimized application and improved absorption.

Developed around epigenetic and cellular longevity research, the formula targets 12 visible signs of skin aging. In a 14-day clinical study with 20 participants aged 40–65, twice-daily use alongside a three-minute device application resulted in an average wrinkle depth reduction of 14.8% (up to 40%). Participants also reported visible improvements in firmness, brightness, hydration, and lifting effects.

This recognition highlights a shared approach to combining skincare formulation and technology to support measurable results.

Pennelli Faro

Pennelli Faro presented a new stand, designed as an immersive space with sinuous, flowing lines. Conceived as “a sensorial journey,” the environment allowed visitors to explore materials, fibers, shapes, and application gestures, reflecting Pennelli Faro’s vision of the brush as an integral part of the formula and product experience. Alongside its Made in Italy private label collections, the company introduced four Focus concepts and two Trend Directions that highlight how applicators are evolving alongside new formulas, hybrid textures, and increasingly specialized techniques. Beautiful sculptural-shaped brushes and applicators that resembled smooth stone were created in-house (shown). “Each applicator is both a tool and an object of design.”

PGP Glass

Mr. Mohanty, at PGP Glass, showed us beautiful examples of internal lacquering in glass fragrance bottles. They also make glass caps and do laser cutting and metal decoration.

Schwan Cosmetics

Schwan Cosmetics unveiled a “next-generation” liquid liner platform. It directly addresses a problem it says brands have been struggling with: trend cycles are moving faster than formulation can keep up, driven by TikTok and Instagram.

Schwan reported that its new Meta-Ink in PrimeLiner lets brands develop new shades in days rather than months, all from a single stable formula. According to the supplier, “this means that a brand can potentially see a graphic liner look go viral on Thursday and have a matched shade in development by Monday, without touching the INCI, reformulating, or starting compliance from scratch.” Schwan says, with trend speed vs. product reality, “viral eye looks are changing weekly, but formulation timelines haven’t kept up, until now.” With one formula, they can create unlimited shades: a unified base enables rapid shade matching without re-developing formulas each time. The packaging, says Schwan, is built for scale + customization: “The patent-pending system is designed for both brand differentiation and reliable delivery.”

Zignago Vetro

Kelly Gardi, VP Sales and Marketing, Zignago Glass, explained how they are taking existing stock bottles, and making them available as striking home fragrance diffusers, with many mass and prestige choices. They also make their own caps in glass.

See You Next Year

Cosmoprof/Cosmopack 2027 will be held March 18–21.