Custom Cosmetic Clamshell Boxes
Custom cosmetic clamshell boxes from 100 — one-piece paperboard boxes with a hinged lid and an insert that holds lipsticks, serums, palettes and minis in place, printed inside and out for beauty sets.
A beauty set that opens like a book and shows everything at once
- Board
- Cardstock (SBS) 18–24 pt, one piece with hinged lid; kraft on request
- Inserts
- Die-cut paperboard or foam, cut to each product in the set
- Closure
- Tuck tab or front lock into the base
Order online
Order cosmetic clamshell boxes
Starting from $1.20 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Cosmetic Clamshell Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Inserts that hold mixed shapes
Beauty sets mix shapes: a tube, a jar, a dropper bottle, a compact. The insert is cut to each one so nothing slides and the set looks arranged rather than packed. Paperboard inserts suit most sets; foam inserts are for glass bottles and heavier jars that need cushioning. Our guide to inserts that hold a product covers the choice.
Where the clamshell fits among beauty boxes
| Clamshell | One piece, hinged lid, shows the whole set; good for gift sets and kits |
|---|---|
| Tuck end carton | Single product, lowest cost, shelf-ready |
| Rigid magnetic box | Heavier premium feel, ships assembled |
| Mailer box | Built for shipping first, opening second |
Printing the inside as well as the outside
- The inside of the lid faces the customer when the box is open, so it carries a message or the set contents.
- A printed insert can name each product under its pocket.
- Soft-touch or matte lamination on the outside, gloss spot UV on the logo.
- Foil on the lid for holiday and limited-edition sets.
Send the products or their exact sizes. Inserts are cut to the real items, not to a catalog dimension.
The lock that keeps it closed
A clamshell stays shut with a tuck tab or a front lock that slots into the base. For sets that are opened and closed many times, such as palettes or travel kits, the lock is cut a little tighter. For the general construction see our page on clamshell boxes folded from one piece.
Shipped flat, set up by hand
Paperboard clamshells ship flat and fold into shape with the insert dropped in, which keeps freight and storage low compared with rigid boxes. The rest of the range for beauty brands is on our page for cosmetic boxes for every product.
Cosmetic Clamshell Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- Cardstock (SBS) 18–24 pt, one piece with hinged lid; kraft on request
- Inserts
- Die-cut paperboard or foam, cut to each product in the set
- Closure
- Tuck tab or front lock into the base
- Inside and outside, printed insert labels, foil and spot UV
- Delivery
- Flat, folded by hand with the insert dropped in
- Minimum
- 100 boxes per size
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build cosmetic clamshell boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetalized and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: cosmetic clamshell boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Cosmetic Clamshell Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about cosmetic clamshell boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What is a cosmetic clamshell box?
A one-piece paperboard box with a hinged lid, so it opens like a book and shows every product in its insert at once.
Can a cosmetic clamshell box hold different products?
Yes. The insert is cut to each item, so a tube, jar, bottle and compact can sit side by side without moving.
Should I choose a foam or paperboard insert for a cosmetic clamshell box?
Paperboard suits most sets. Foam is better for glass bottles and heavy jars that need cushioning.
Can the inside of a cosmetic clamshell box be printed?
Yes. The inside of the lid faces the customer when it opens, so it often carries a message or the list of contents.
How does a cosmetic clamshell box stay closed?
With a tuck tab or front lock that slots into the base, cut tighter for sets that are opened often.
Is a cosmetic clamshell box cheaper than a rigid box?
Generally yes. It is folded from one piece of paperboard and ships flat, which keeps both unit and freight costs lower.
Do cosmetic clamshell boxes ship flat?
Yes. They fold into shape by hand and the insert drops in when you pack the set.
Can a cosmetic clamshell box have foil?
Yes. Foil, spot UV and soft-touch lamination are common on the lid of holiday and limited-edition sets.
What size should a cosmetic clamshell box be?
Sized to the products and the insert layout. Send the real items or exact sizes and we cut to them.
Are cosmetic clamshell boxes good for travel kits?
Yes. They reclose well, so customers keep them for travel kits and minis.
Can product names be printed under each pocket of a cosmetic clamshell box?
Yes. A printed insert can label each pocket so the customer knows what goes where.
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