Revolutionizing Beauty: Kjaer Weis' Refillable Makeup Collection

Marc Atlan's Innovative Design Approach to Sustainable Cosmetics

Marc Atlan, the creative director and designer behind the Kjaer Weis makeup collection, has brought a fresh perspective to the world of beauty products. The design inspiration came from a desire to contradict the typical organic aesthetic, often associated with a "granola-type" look. Instead, Atlan aimed to design objects that felt precious, akin to modern jewelry. The result is a makeup line that fuses understated, timeless classicism with the crisp minimal lines of radical sculptures.

The Kjaer Weis makeup collection is unique in its commitment to sustainability. It is the first entirely refillable makeup system in the world, a feature that sets it apart from other beauty products. The refillable compacts are cast in Zamac, an alloy of Zinc, Aluminum, Magnesium, and Copper. Secondary packaging is made of leather-textured recycled stock, silkscreened in matte white, hot stamped in silver foil, and sealed with a long silver paper strip bearing all ingredients and legal markings. The product refills are made of 100% recycled paper pulp silkscreened with soy-based inks.

The design of the Kjaer Weis cosmetics line distills the fundamentals of women’s makeup to its three essential areas of application: lips, cheeks, and eyes. The compacts are shaped to mirror the features they will be used to enhance: slim and long for the lips, large and square for the cheeks, small and round for the eyes. The compacts swivel open with an innovative lateral movement, fanning out like the wings of a butterfly. These compacts are purposely conserved rather than recycled, conveying the substance and heft of a valuable keepsake.

The project began in May 2008 in Venice, California, and was completed in May 2010. The makeup collection was initially launched in London, United Kingdom, in June 2010. One week after the launch, the line was picked up by the UK’s largest retail beauty chain with 82 stores in the United Kingdom and the United States. The line has been featured internationally in over 500 magazines and blogs. In addition, the design won a Red Dot, a Gold Pentaward, and is shortlisted in Wallpaper* Magazine’s Design Awards 2011 as one of the top 5 designs of 2010.

Atlan's design for the Kjaer Weis makeup collection was awarded the Golden A' Packaging Design Award in 2011. This prestigious award is granted to marvelous, outstanding, and trendsetting creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom. They are venerated products and bright ideas that advance art, science, design, and technology, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.