Custom Lip Gloss Boxes
Custom lip gloss boxes built around your exact tube, from 100 units. A carton this small has to be measured to the millimeter, hold the tube still, and carry a brand on a face the size of a postage stamp — we do all three and send the dieline the same day.
A carton the size of a finger, and every millimeter counts
- Board
- 16–20 pt SBS, holographic or metalized board, kraft
- Styles
- Straight tuck, reverse tuck, hang-tab tuck, sleeve and tray
- Tube holding
- Die-cut platform, crash-lock tabs, multi-tube platform
Get a price for Lip Gloss 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.
Measure the tube, not the listing
Gloss tubes come with wand caps, doe-foot applicators, squeeze tips and click pens, and two products called "10 ml" can differ by a quarter inch in height because of the cap. We build the carton from the physical tube — height with the cap on, widest diameter, and whether the cap is wider than the body. Send one and we measure it; if you are still choosing components, send the supplier drawing.
The internal clearance we use is about 1 mm each way. Less and the tube scuffs the board going in; more and it moves.
Stopping a round tube from rolling in a square box
The platform is cut from the same sheet as the carton when the run allows, which is why it adds almost nothing to the unit price.
- A die-cut hole in a paperboard platform, sized to the tube body — cheapest, and the usual choice.
- Two crash-lock tabs folded in from the carton walls that grip the cap.
- A sleeve-and-tray build where the tray cradle is part of the tray blank.
- For a set of three or six, a single platform with a hole per tube, so they stand in a row.
Print at postage-stamp scale
The front face of a gloss carton is around 1 × 3 in. Type under 6 pt fills in on uncoated board and stays crisp on coated; a logo with fine counters needs to be tested at size, not judged on a monitor. Holographic and iridescent boards are popular in this category for a reason — they carry a small face without needing an image.
Foil at this size is cheap to tool and reads well, and a matte lamination under a gloss foil is the pairing most gloss brands land on. The wider question of which finish to spend on is covered in our guide to picking a packaging finish.
Ingredient lists and the net weight have to be legible. On a box this size that usually means the back panel is all text, set at the legal minimum.
Hanging or standing
A hang tab die-cut into the top flap — a sombrero hole or a euro slot — lets the carton go on a peg, and a standing carton with a flat base goes on a counter. The tab is the same die, so choose by where it sells. A window on the front shows the shade, which matters more for gloss than almost any other cosmetic; we use the same window build on our nail polish boxes that show the shade.
Lip Gloss 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
- 16–20 pt SBS, holographic or metalized board, kraft
- Styles
- Straight tuck, reverse tuck, hang-tab tuck, sleeve and tray
- Tube holding
- Die-cut platform, crash-lock tabs, multi-tube platform
- Window
- Front or side, PET film, sized to show the shade
- Finishes
- Foil, holographic, soft-touch, spot UV, matte lamination
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
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 lip gloss 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.
280–350gsmMetallised 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: lip gloss 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 Lip Gloss 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 lip gloss 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 do you need to size the box?
The tube itself, or its drawing: total height with the cap on, widest diameter, and whether the cap is wider than the body. Listed volumes are not enough.
How do you stop the tube rattling?
A die-cut platform with a hole for the tube body, cut from the same board. It holds the tube upright and costs almost nothing extra.
Can one box hold three glosses?
Yes, with a platform that has a hole per tube. Sets of three and six are common.
Can the box hang on a peg?
Yes, with a hang tab die-cut into the top flap. A euro slot or a sombrero hole, depending on the fixture.
Will you add a window?
Yes, PET film behind a die-cut front or side window. For gloss it is worth it, because the shade sells the product.
Does holographic board cost much more?
More than plain SBS, less than most people expect. On a carton this small the sheet area is tiny, so the premium per box is modest.
How small can the text go?
Legibly, around 6 pt on coated board. Ingredient lists usually run at the legal minimum on the back panel.
Is the board safe for cosmetics?
The gloss is inside a sealed tube, so the carton is secondary packaging. We use virgin SBS as standard, which is the usual choice for cosmetics.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes. Small cartons nest many-up on a sheet, so short runs are efficient.
How long does production take?
It depends on the finish and the quantity. We give a date with the quote rather than a number before we have seen the spec.
Will you send a dieline?
Always, with the quote, built around your tube dimensions. It is yours whether or not you order.
Can I get an unprinted sample first?
Yes, a white sample in your size so the tube fit is confirmed before we print.
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