Following the increasing trend for cross-genre products, many of this month's Productscan reviewed offerings can be traced to the unlikeliest of sources. With consumers constantly looking for newer and more inventive ideas, many of the items included are remarkably ingenious, while others, such as a vacuum cleaner for the nose, are simply bizarre...
The beauty of bath products is their flexibility - once sales of one variety begin to slow, manufacturers can dream up another 'flavor' - anything from pomegranate to honey. Aqua Dessa appears to have honed this practice with recent product varieties including chocolate milk, macadamia nut and even strawberry jam. However, perhaps its latest 'spa therapy bath' offering owes more to the human affinity with fermented grapes. Its 'wine bubble-bath' is a skin-nourishing formulation with red wine and fruit extracts. The product is said to have "effective, potent age-defying properties like: alpha lipoic acid, vitamins C and E, grape seed oil, and berries that contain the high levels of antioxidants."
Aqua Dessa has also launched two more additions to its fruity face scrub range of late, of which its aforementioned strawberry jam offering is a variety. The product is also available in the similarly remarkable chocolate blackcurrant variety. The strawberry jam facial scrub is a "skin brightening" scrub containing "perfectly rounded jojoba beads that polish away bumps, flakes, and dead skin cells leaving your skin silky smooth." For those with more of a penchant for cocoa, the chocolate blackcurrant scrub is apparently formulated with "soothing, skin-softening chocolate" amongst a meritable array of other skin care properties.
Another new offering for those who like things smooth and soft comes courtesy of US-based company Tea Body's. The company has launched a new range of all-natural lip balm in a range of exotic flavors such as tropical peach, happy hippie and morning rain. The product also makes use of a handy 'push-pop' tin, a form of packaging originally pioneered with breath mints, allowing for quick and easy opening.
Of a slightly less conventional ilk, but intriguing nonetheless, is a new eye-relaxant product from 3T Herbtech. The Acupoint patches make use of a system known as 'transdermal therapeutics' as well as Chinese acupuncture theories and are made of extracts of pure natural medical herbs such as chrysanthemum ligusticum, tangkuei and salvia root. The patches are placed at acupoints around the eyes prior to bed and are suggested for people with an array of vision problems including eye fatigue, sensitivity to light and presbyopia as well as cataract and high eye pressure due to glaucoma. The patches are also recommended for sufferers of migraine headaches, dizziness, and insomnia.
For those seeking more offbeat personal care products, however, Herbtech's eye-patches are just the tip of the iceberg. A new offering in Hungary from Wiva-Med can only be described as remarkable. The company has designed a new plastic device that attaches to a vacuum cleaner and is used to remove mucus from children's noses. More remarkably, the Proszivos Orrszivo (vacuum cleaner nose vacuum) is apparently recommended by ear, nose, and throat specialists.
Keeping things on a nasal note, Hanseler AG have launched a new product under the popular Olbas brand. The new inhaler adds to the brand's cough and congestion relief range and includes menthol, peppermint, cajeput, and eucalyptol ingredients. The product is aimed at active consumers in particular, retailing with a cloth sleeve and clip so that it might be attached to a key-chain or belt-loop for quick and easy access. Packaging also claims that the product can "help improve athletic performance significantly by enhancing oxygen intake and free breathing, decreasing fatigue, elevating mood and motivation."
Finally we look at a product Simpro's new offering in Japan. The Point Color hair-coloring product is aimed at the 40 to 60 year age-range and is presented in a pen-type dispenser that features small 'fingers' on the end so that consumers can 'rake' the product through their hair. According to Marketing News in Japan, the 100ml product contains treatment agents, dries quickly, is strong against sweat and water and is non-sticky or stiff. It is offered in Dark Brown, Light Brown, Natural Black, and Natural Brown shades.