In August 2026, the pharmacy shelves, quick commerce, and Gen Z reshaping the beauty industry now state that beauty packaging is not just all about aesthetics, attractive packaging, or virality, but it should be all about clarity, credibility and customer trust.
Today, the beauty packaging industry is not just all about attractive and luring packaging, in the opinion of multiple brands in their prime. Hence, in pharmacies today, the over-branded stuff and dominating bottles are shifted back now as they are no longer demanded by consumers. All such concepts clearly state that virality today is not the prime concern of customers, nor the brands.
"Creating viral packaging was never the objective," says Roshan Kunder, Marketing and E-commerce Director, NAOS India, the parent company of Bioderma. "We set out to create something instantly recognisable at a clinic counter and on a pharmacy shelf." The logic is clinical and deliberate. A dermatologist and their patient need to identify the right product in seconds. If that same clarity travels online, Kunder calls it a bonus. "We'd take being prescribed over being trending any day. One lasts a week; the other builds a brand for decades."
Prachi Bhandari, Co-Founder of Aminu, echoes the same instinct from a different starting point. "We never designed it for virality. We designed it for our customer. We wanted the packaging to feel relatable yet inspiring every time they picked it up." The social media moment, she says, is a by-product. "Our singular goal is that they should feel like it's speaking to them at a more intimate level."
Mohit Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Kimirica, goes further. "Packaging is equivalent to experience. It's the very first touchpoint where consumers begin their journey with our product." He is personally involved in every detail. "As soon as the design connects with any customer, they naturally choose to share it."
All three brands of various categories have the same opinion about packaging. The master minds of the brands believe that packaging doesn’t have the sole purpose of just attracting customers. The right product, with the right formulation and beneficial properties, will eventually attract the audience, regardless of the packaging and appearance of the product. But still, the main question is intact: “If the packaging box of a brand disappears, will the brand survive?”
Bioderma does not blink. "A large majority of our consumers would still find us because we are fundamentally a formula-first brand. People do not stay with us because of how the box looks. They stay because a dermatologist recommended the product and because it consistently delivers on its promise."
Bhandari at Aminu splits the answer with refreshing precision. "Existing customers? Almost all of them. They know what the product does for their skin. New customers are different." She does not dress it up. "If what's inside the bottle doesn't deliver, beautiful packaging only gets you one sale."
Kimirica has a completely different perspective. Their signature gift box with minimal design in white and black borders, along with a ribbon stands out in the market. "We have always believed that luxury doesn't have to be excessive to naturally draw consumers in."
Another major issue faced by the beauty brands, which is also not given much attention, is the 10-minute delivery bag. It has killed the enthusiasm for the unboxing experience on which the brands work meticulously. And hence, such platforms do not care about such experiences or the specialized packaging provided by the beauty brands. Their main aim is to deliver the product to the consumer in the fastest possible time.
Bhandari at Aminu is the most candid about this. "Honestly, it isn't easy. We've accepted that we probably won't win the unboxing game on quick commerce." So Aminu focuses on what survives the brown paper bag. "The product, the experience of using it, and, most importantly, the results. Those stay with the customer much longer than the delivery bag."
Bioderma reframes the question entirely. "The brand experience for us has never been about the unboxing moment; it begins with the first use. Quick commerce has changed how the product reaches consumers, not why they chose it in the first place."
Kimirica takes the most optimistic view. "We see the delivery bag as a protective layer that keeps our packaging intact until it reaches the consumer. We don't see it as the end of the journey; we see the moment a consumer opens our box as the beginning of the Kimirica experience."
A similar factor connecting the views of all three brands is a conviction that packaging built on real grounds and necessary factors will always outperform over the packaging built on the aesthetics factor only. The bottle that gets shared is not always the prettiest one. It is the one that means something before it is even opened. The brief was never virality. It was trust. And in beauty right now, those two things are starting to look like the same thing.
10 August 2026
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