Sonia G – The Sakura Paulownia Box

Receiving a beautiful product wrapped in beautiful packaging feels so special. It adds to the experience, and, in the world of high-end or luxury pieces, it’s often expected.

Packaging however, isn’t free- the cost always shows up somewhere. We may assume packaging is “included” in the price, but we know that in reality, those costs are built into the final product one way or another, therefore, packaging is very likely to have an impact on the sales price.

In our case, our products have a high OEM purchase cost and our margins are relatively small (once we’ve factored in the weeks or sometimes months of research and development). We also want to keep the prices of our products as attainable as possible, so we have little margin for including packaging, promotions or discounts. We do sometimes send some PR, but this doesn’t directly affect the pricing.

Sometimes, items in our collections come with packaging because they need extra protection, or because the packaging carries meaning- But in general, we keep things simple. We also try to consider the waste generated by packaging (and its shipping) – so we need to be meaningful and cautious. Transporting boxes, paper, plastic, that is going to be discarded is unnecessary. We usually only include what is needed for obvious reasons like protection or hygiene. Or, sometimes, because it’s a more limited and special collection and the packaging has a special meaning or value.

As a customer and when it comes to brushes, I appreciate when packaging is minimal, or when I can reuse it to avoid waste. I am happy to pay for a special box, but not necessarily each and every time. Having the choice could be a good option for many.

As a company, from the very beginning I’ve wished we could offer luxurious packaging, on par with the quality of the brushes that we create, but for the reasons I mentioned earlier (costs and waste), we made the choice not to go down that path, unless there was a reason to do so.

We understand that many of you would love to have the option of receiving the brushes in beautiful packaging, many also purchase brushes as gifts: It would make sense if we can make and offer something meaningful that protects the brushes during transport and makes the whole experience of receiving such a gift much even more special.

We therefore decided to contact a manufacturer we have worked with in the past, to create three bespoke paulownia wooden boxes, a small, a medium, and a square. We paid attention to every little detail to make these boxes look truly special. It’s been a very interesting and enriching process.

We will be offering these Sakura Paulownia boxes as complimentary gifts with purchase on selected sets for the time being and until stock lasts. Based on your feedback, we may look into making them available for individual purchase in the future, giving you the flexibility to add this option whenever you’d like.

Today I would like to show you what the 3 boxes that we made look like, share all the details and I would truly love to have an open discussion on the whole topic of packaging with you.

Here are the direct shortcuts to the different sections:

The Sakura Paulownia box design
The padding inside the boxes
The little details
Questions and final thoughts
Availability of the Sakura Paulownia boxes
Brush bundles featuring the Sakura Paulownia boxes

THE SAKURA PAULOWNIA BOX DESIGN

We made 3 boxes, a small (for eye brushes), a medium (for face brushes), and a square for the minis (Mini Keyaki and Mini Essentials). The depth is the same for the 3 boxes, if we want to reuse the boxes to store brushes or pencils (cutlery style), then it’s quite convenient to have boxes with a certain depth. The small box can also hold face brushes (depending on their length) so it’s good to have a little depth to play with.

SMALL

MEDIUM

SQUARE

For eye brushes, up to 6 brushes.

For face brushes, up to 6 brushes depending on their size.

For short handle brushes, up to 7 brushes depending on their size.

The boxes are made from paulownia wood, a very lightweight material traditionally used to protect pottery and other delicate items during transport, or to present special gifts.

There is a crane laser‑engraved on the lids, and the logo is applied with a golden foil.
Each box is secured with a dark red elastic band adorned with a sakura cut‑out.

THE PADDING INSIDE THE BOXES

The insert that protects the brushes is padded with our custom nylon fabric, the same that we use in our Companion pouches.

There is removable elastic tape to secure the brushes so they don’t move around inside the boxes.

You can remove the padded insert, please note that there are two double-sided strips of tape at the back. If you remove the white protection, you can stick the insert to the bottom of the box, then it’s more stable.

I preferred not to stick this insert to the bottom of the box, and leave this up to you, maybe you want to remove the red elastic tape as well. You decide.

THE LITTLE DETAILS

To celebrate the sakura season, a little wooden sakura is attached to the elastic cord. It’s around 3mm thick and 5cm diameter and it can be separated from the elastic cord.

The lids extend almost the full length of the box’s sides, and there’s a small cutout on each side that makes it easier to grip the bottom part when opening the box.

A nice little aesthetic touch is the shaved edges that run all around the lids, framing the crane and giving the boxes a more refined look.

Although it can get a bit noisy depending on which stage they are, every step is so perfectly synchronized and carefully executed. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch them work.

QUESTIONS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m not a big fan of packaging that goes straight into the bin. It feels like an unnecessary use of energy, resources, and money. Packaging only makes sense to me when it serves a purpose beyond simply holding the product. But at the end of the day, it is still just packaging, and not everyone will see value in something more elaborate.

Beautiful, reusable wooden boxes absolutely have their place, especially when the margins of the product inside the boxes can absorb the extra cost. That’s not the case for us. It’s our choice because we want to invest in the production of the product itself and keep the retail prices as fair as possible for everyone. Since we don’t have an enormous buffer to work with, and these boxes are extremely expensive to produce, for us, this was a costly experiment, but we really wanted to do it and see what options we could consider for the future.

Realistically, the only way we can offer this level of premium packaging while keeping our current product prices unchanged is to make it available as a separate, paid add‑on for those who would like to include it with their order. It’s something we may explore in the future, depending on your feedback. Knowing that these boxes would likely be priced in the 30 to 40 USD range (depending on the size, the finish and the details), would this packaging option still make sense from your perspective? It’s a tricky question, but your input will be so interesting.

This whole experience was genuinely interesting for us. We learned a lot, and we were thrilled to collaborate with such an incredible company. They create packaging for some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands, and we’re proud to have built a very special connection with them.

They are also the ones that made the box for the 2025 Maki-e Collectors eye set and the Voyage Set.

AVAILABILITY OF THESE SAKURA PAULOWNIA BOXES

We’ve paired the boxes that we created for this packaging project with special brush bundles, offered as a gift with purchase on Beautylish’s website. These limited bundles will be available starting March 19th, 2026 at 9 AM PT, coinciding with the launch of the Beautylish Gift Card Event.

BRUSH BUNDLES FEATURING THE SAKURA PAULOWNIA BOX

If you are interested in these bundles that include the Crane paulownia boxes, here are the details below. Once the direct links to Beautylish will be available, I will add them here. If you have any questions or would like to share your perspective on the packaging, I would very much welcome your comments and look forward to the discussion. I really hope that you love these boxes and thank you so much for always so kindly supporting what we do!!

SMALL SAKURA BOX

PRO EYE SET
Brushes: Pencil Pro, Builder Pro, Crease Pro, Worker Pro, Blender Pro

FUNDAMENTAL EYE SERIES
Brushes: Pencil S, Pencil L, Builder M, Crease M, Worker M

MEDIUM SAKURA BOX

CREAM BRUSH COLLECTION
Brushes: Sheer Buffer, Jumbo Base, Mini Sheer Buffer, Jumbo Concealer, Blender

FUNDAMENTAL SERIES
Brushes: Fan L, Soft Buffer, Builder S, Worker S, Crease L

SQUARE SAKURA BOX

MINI KEYAKI SERIES
Brushes: Mini Niji, Classic Face, Mini Base, Flat Definer, Mini Booster, Jumbo Blender

MINI ESSENTIALS SERIES
Brushes: Arched Powder, Set & Sculpt, Soft Blender, Compact Crease, Target Builder, Definer