A lip kit is two or more components presented together, and that changes the brief entirely. A single lipstick carton is a cavity. A kit is a layout: liner, gloss, balm, maybe a brush, arranged so the reveal looks composed rather than like items in a drawer. Order the range at lip kit boxes, and use this page to decide the spec.
Build the layout first
Put the real components on a table and arrange them the way you want the customer to see them when the lid lifts. Side by side reads as a set. Stepped or angled reads as a presentation. Stacked saves footprint and hides half the kit. Once the arrangement is fixed, measure the bounding rectangle around it and add clearance. That rectangle is your internal length and width, and the tallest component with its cap sets the depth.
Measure caps on. A gloss with a doe foot applicator is taller than the tube suggests, and a brush handle can be the tallest thing in the kit by a clear margin.
Choosing the insert
| Insert | Holds | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum formed plastic tray | Tightly, with a moulded cavity per component | Best fit and a hard shiny look; adds a plastic component to a paper pack |
| Die cut paperboard platform | By friction through cut tabs and slots | Single material stream and lower cost; less forgiving of tolerance variation |
| Foam with routed cavities | Very securely, across mixed heights | Premium feel, higher cost, and the cavity must be cut for the final components |
| Fence partition | Upright items separated into bays | Cheap and effective for tubes; does not present the kit at an angle |
Whichever you choose, approve it on a physical sample with the real components in it. Cosmetic components have tolerance variation between batches, and an insert cut to a nominal drawing can grip one batch and drop another.
Rigid or folding carton
A folding carton with a printed platform is the value route and it works well at ecommerce price points. Rigid wrapped board, often with a magnetic flap or a lift-off lid, is what makes a kit feel like a gift, and it carries the cost and the longer lead time that go with hand assembly. If the kit ships direct to customers, remember the rigid box itself needs protecting, so plan a mailer around it rather than putting a label on the presentation box.
Print at small panel sizes
Kit boxes are usually mid-sized, so you get real estate for a proper design, but the mandatory copy still has to fit. Ingredient lists for several components take more room than people expect. Decide early whether the ingredients live on the outer box, on a printed insert, or on the components themselves, because that choice changes the layout of every panel.
Minimum, price and lead time
Minimum order is 100 boxes, from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on your written quote. Die and plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are included, so a cavity cut to your components costs no more to tool than a generic one. Lanes run Rush (expedited production plus air freight), Standard (air) and Cost saver (sea), from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 for delivery. Rigid construction and specialty imported items sit at the longer end, up to about 12 weeks, and Rush adds about 7 to 25%, depending on the job.
Photograph your components laid out as you want them presented, send the measurements, and we will spec the insert and the box together at /quote/. For the single component version, see lip gloss boxes.
