Kristin Dasaro Discusses The Science, Collaboration, And Problem-Solving Behind Packaging Innovation At Mary Kay
Originally published on newsroom.marykay.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / November 11, 2026 / A familiar package can look simple on a bathroom counter. Behind it, however, there are countless decisions about materials, manufacturing, product protection, performance, appearance, and the consumer experience.
Kristin Dasaro, Director of Research & Development, Mary Kay Inc.
For Mary Kay, advancing more sustainable packaging means addressing all of those considerations at once. It requires scientists, engineers, manufacturing experts, procurement teams, and suppliers to examine a package throughout its lifecycle, from the amount and type of material used to what may happen to that package after the product is used up.
That work is taking place at Mary Kay's Richard R. Rogers Manufacturing and Research & Development Center in Lewisville, Texas, where cross-functional teams are exploring ways to reduce material use, incorporate recycled content, and design packaging with recyclability in mind. But the objective is not simply to change the package. It is to make thoughtful improvements while preserving the product quality, functionality, and experience consumers expect from Mary Kay.
Following the release of the company's 2026 Sustainability Report, we spoke with Kristin Dasaro, Mary Kay's Director of R&D Engineering, about the engineering behind more sustainable packaging, the 2024 relaunch of the iconic Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover, and why the most effective innovations should never ask consumers to choose between sustainability and performance.
In Conversation with Kristin Dasaro
Q: Before we talk about its packaging, why was the Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover an important product for your team to focus on?
Kristin Dasaro:
- The Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover is one of the company's most iconic products, and consumers already know and trust the experience it delivers. That made it especially important for us to approach any change thoughtfully.
- When you work with a well-known product, the goal is not to make a change simply for the sake of change. The goal is to identify where meaningful improvements can be made while protecting everything consumers value about the product, including its quality, functionality, appearance, and overall experience. That combination makes the work both exciting and technically challenging.
Q: What made the 2024 relaunch of the Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover such a meaningful packaging achievement?
- I'm proud that we were able to apply our sustainability principles to one of Mary Kay's most iconic products without changing the experience consumers know and love.
- For the relaunch, we incorporated post-consumer recycled materials into both the bottle and the cap. Achieving that required us to consider much more than the material itself. We also had to ensure that the packaging continued to meet our expectations for product compatibility, quality, functionality, and appearance.
- That is what meaningful packaging innovation looks like to me: making more responsible material choices while maintaining the performance and experience consumers expect.
Q: In summer 2026, Mary Kay brought production of the Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover in-house. Why was that an important step for such an iconic product?
- Bringing production in-house gave us more direct oversight of every stage of the manufacturing process for a product that is deeply important to Mary Kay and trusted by consumers around the world.
- The Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover has earned an incredibly loyal following, so quality and consistency were central to every decision we made. By producing it at our own manufacturing facility, our teams can work more closely across product development, engineering, manufacturing, and quality to help ensure that every bottle meets our rigorous standards and consumers experience the quality they expect from Mary Kay.
Q: Consumers may see a new bottle or cap, but what happens behind the scenes before a packaging change reaches them?
- A packaging change may appear straightforward, but there is an extensive amount of technical work behind it.
- When we evaluate a new material or packaging component, we have to understand how it will perform throughout the life of the product. That includes how the material works with the product formula, how it performs during manufacturing and distribution, how it protects the product, and how it functions in the hands of the consumer.
- Each decision has implications for other parts of the package and the production process. That is why package development requires rigorous evaluation, problem-solving, and collaboration across many areas of the business. We want the improvement to be meaningful, but we also need the complete package to perform as intended.
Q: How does Mary Kay's Three-R Framework guide decisions like these?
- Our Three-R Framework, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, encourages us to look at packaging through a full-lifecycle lens.
- It prompts us to ask important questions from the beginning: Can we reduce the amount of material being used? Can we incorporate recycled content? Can we design the package with its next life in mind? Those questions help guide our teams as we evaluate materials, formats, and manufacturing requirements.
- At the same time, no packaging decision exists in isolation. We must balance our sustainability goals with product protection, quality, performance, and the consumer experience. The Three-R Framework gives us a consistent way to consider those priorities together rather than treating sustainability as an add-on at the end of the development process.
Q: Another recent example is the TimeWise Targeted-Action Toning Lotion bottle. What does that package demonstrate about Mary Kay's approach?
- The TimeWise Targeted-Action Toning Lotion bottle demonstrates how we are continuing to expand the use of post-consumer recycled materials while designing packaging with recyclability in mind.
- The bottle contains 94% post-consumer recycled content. It was also designed as a recycle-ready bottle and is accompanied by a recycle-ready paper carton. Together, those elements provide a strong example of our Three-R Framework in action.
- More broadly, this package shows that sustainability is not a single project or a one-time milestone. It is a mindset that increasingly informs us how we approach package development. We continue to look for opportunities to make thoughtful material choices, support a more circular economy, and reduce environmental impact while maintaining the quality and performance associated with Mary Kay products.
Q: What are some of the most difficult tradeoffs involved in developing more sustainable packaging?
- Sustainability is a balancing act. We want to reduce environmental impact with intention, but not at the expense of product integrity, efficacy, quality, or consumer satisfaction.
- A material may offer one potential environmental benefit, for example, but it must still meet the technical requirements of the product and package. It must perform reliably during manufacturing, protect the product throughout its intended life, and deliver the experience the consumer expects.
- That means the most responsible choice is not always the most obvious one. Our role is to consider the complete picture, test potential solutions carefully, and make informed decisions that advance multiple priorities at the same time.
Q: How important is collaboration in solving those challenges?
- It is essential. Successfully integrating more sustainable materials is not something one person or one team can accomplish alone.
- Package engineers, formulators, manufacturing teams, procurement professionals, and suppliers all bring different expertise to the process. A change in one area can affect many others, so we need close coordination from the earliest stages of development through manufacturing and commercialization.
- The strongest solutions emerge when those teams work together toward a shared objective: protecting product integrity and performance while advancing our sustainability goals. That collaboration allows us to identify challenges earlier, evaluate them from multiple perspectives, and develop better solutions.
Q: How do you define success in sustainable packaging innovation?
- The most successful solutions are the ones in which consumers do not have to choose between sustainability and performance.
- Consumers should still receive the quality, functionality, and product experience they expect. When we can deliver that experience while also making more thoughtful use of materials and reducing environmental impact, that is where innovation has its greatest value.
- Ultimately, success is not simply about introducing a different package. It is about creating a better solution, one that works for the product, the consumer, our operations, and our sustainability ambitions.
Q: What gives you the greatest sense of opportunity when you think about the future of packaging?
- The pace of innovation across materials, design, engineering, and manufacturing creates tremendous opportunity.
- As new technologies and material options emerge, we can continue asking better questions and exploring new possibilities. We can examine where material may be reduced, where recycled content can be incorporated, and how packages can be designed more intentionally for what comes next.
- Not every challenge has a simple or immediate solution, but that is what makes this field so compelling. Each challenge gives us an opportunity to learn, collaborate, and improve. Sustainable packaging is a journey, and continued progress will come from combining technical expertise with curiosity and a willingness to rethink what is possible.
Q: Finally, what advice would you give a young woman considering a career in engineering, STEM, or sustainability?
- Stay curious, keep learning, and do not be afraid to take on a challenge you have never encountered before. Some of the greatest opportunities for growth come from solving unfamiliar problems. You may not have every answer at the beginning, and that is OK. Ask questions, seek out different perspectives, and be willing to learn from the people around you.
- Technical fields need diverse voices and ideas. There are more opportunities than ever for women to make an impact, particularly at the intersection of science, engineering, and sustainability. Leadership often begins with the willingness to remain curious, step into a difficult problem, and help find a better way forward.
Progress Through Purposeful Innovation
Sometimes a meaningful sustainability improvement begins with a detail as visible as the color of a cap. When Mary Kay changed the cap of its iconic Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover from black to pink, the change did more than refresh the package's appearance. It increased the package's recyclability by helping make the cap easier for some recycling systems to detect and sort. The recyclable packaging also incorporates post-consumer recycled materials, further advancing Mary Kay's approach to more responsible material use.
From the Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover to the TimeWise Targeted-Action Toning Lotion bottle, designed with recyclability in mind, Mary Kay is putting its Three-R Framework, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, into action across the packaging lifecycle. These innovations show how intentional design decisions can build meaningful progress while protecting the product quality, performance, and experience consumers expect.
For Mary Kay, that is the standard for packaging innovation: progress consumers can trust, performance they can count on, and purposeful design that helps create a more sustainable future.
Learn More
Read Mary Kay's latest 2026 Sustainability Report to learn more about the company's progress in sustainable packaging, responsible operations, and environmental stewardship.
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About Mary Kay
One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women's lives. Learn more at marykayglobal.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/the-engineering-behind-a-beauty-icon-how-mary-kay-is-advancing-m-1249826