Lip Gloss Boxes.

Because a wand-tube carton gives about 15 square inches of panel, and a typical list runs eight or nine lines at standard type. That block takes most of one panel, so we set it first and let the artwork fit around it. Fitting it afterwards is how cartons end up with type crammed into a corner.

Send the list at quote stage and we'll return a dieline with the block marked.

18pt SBS is the floor for a tall slim wand-tube carton. Anything thinner buckles in transit before it reaches the shelf. 20pt gives a squarer edge on a narrow footprint and suits heavier glass tubes. The tube itself acts as a column, but only if the carton is sized close enough to lean on it.

FBB is an option on high-volume runs, with lower weight at equivalent stiffness.

Yes, with cold foil, which is applied inline and then overprinted with CMYK. That is how coloured metallics and gradients happen, since hot foil comes in fixed colours and cannot take process ink on top. Holographic foil on a logo or a panel band suits the younger end of the shelf.

For shine across the whole carton, a metallised board does the job as a substrate rather than an accent.

Gloss lamination is the obvious choice: on-message for the product and the most scuff-resistant at a tester counter. Spot UV over a printed droplet makes it look wet. The counter-move is soft-touch, a velvet matte carton against a shiny product, which works when the range wants to read as considered.

Holographic board is available for trend drops but is harder to print legibly over, so keep type off it.

A wand tube sits in a carton about 0.8 by 0.8 by 4.0 inches inside, and a squeeze tube in roughly 1.2 by 0.9 by 3.5 inches. Wand caps vary in length, so measure the assembled tube with the applicator in. A carton sized too loose loses the column effect that keeps it from crushing.

We cut a blank sample from your tube before the print run.

500 units of one printed version. That is the point at which the die and press setup cost less than the cartons. Runs go to 100,000.

A shade range that shares one carton keeps the minimum to one run. Each shade printed on the box is its own version and carries its own 500.

Lip gloss boxes are produced in 7 to 10 business days once the proof is signed. A rush order comes through in 5 to 7 business days when we have press time. Samples run 5 to 7 business days, and a printed sample is the right way to check that cold foil registers to the artwork.

Sample fees are credited when the bulk order is placed. We ship anywhere in the USA.

Gloss lamination is a film, so a strictly single-material carton needs a gloss aqueous varnish instead. Aqueous gives most of the shine and repulps with the board. Cold foil is a thin metallic layer and is generally accepted in paper recycling, while metallised and holographic boards are not.

18pt SBS and FBB recycle as ordinary paperboard when the coating allows it.