David Chant, Mascara Plus

The company does 60 per cent of its business with cosmetics companies based in Europe and the U.S.; the remainder is spread throughout the globe.

Mascara Plus is located in Inzago on the outskirts of Milan in a new 2,400 sqm building. The facility, which is GMP/ISO certified includes two state of the art fibre brush machines that can produce 150,000 custom brushes per day. The new plant can also generate 2,500 kg of bulk product per day - or 100,000 finished piece - ready to ship.

Mascara Plus also organizes focused workshops where customers can come in and see the products first-hand, request design modifications, and get new prototypes in hand within hours.

“Clients really appreciate this,” says Chant. “It significantly cuts down on product development time and, as a result, reduces costs. We create the formulations and brushes to the specific needs of customers, and we also provide filling services and develop also customizable, packaging solutions.

Double Brush

The company for example, has developed “Double Brush”, a new mascara applicator. The brush design includes two distinct elements with different areas of fibre density. A large distance between fibres creates volume in the applied mascara; a small distance gives lengthening and curling. The two areas are oriented at 90-degree intervals, so that users automatically get both effects with a single brush stroke.

Similarly, the company’s “Double Play” mascara includes an innovative double formulation that includes higher viscosity for lengthening as well as softening agents for volumizing. “That allows the end customer to avoid a trade off between those two factors,” says Chant.

Notably, Mascara Plus is the only contract manufacturer of mascara that produces its own brushes designed and based upon its unique bulk formulations, leading to a perfect synergy between brush and mascara formula. As a recent marketing campaign puts it, “We make both hardware and software.

Now that the company has established core strengths in mascara - its speciality since the company’s beginning - it is now expanding out into other cosmetics, including lip gloss, foundation, and eye shadow. Mascara Plus already has clients for all product lines.

Regardless of whether the company is working on mascara, lip gloss, eye shadow, or foundation, Chant says that it will always rely on what it does best—strong product development, technical expertise, and customer service. “Those things are in our DNA,” he says. “They apply no matter what we’re producing.