Labello – which nowadays can be found in every woman's purse and every man's trouser pocket – was a novelty back in 1909. Although lip care products were already known at the time, their application was relatively laborious. The products were either sticks wrapped in paper or salves that had to be applied to the lips with the finger.
Labello's new formula and in particular its new form of application – a sliding tube made of tin – allowed Beiersdorf to revolutionize lip care. The metal sleeve for lipsticks, whose breakthrough on the decorative cosmetics sector only came several years later, made Labello a sales hit.
The First World War and the shortage of resources that came with it meant that the tin tubes were not available for a number of years, but Labello refills that could be inserted in the existing tubes were supplied.
At the start of the 1920s, the familiar Labello packaging changed and was replaced with a light aluminum stick.
Internationally, too, the product was a success: In the 1930s, Labello was already being marketed in more than 30 countries.
During the Second World War and the post-War period, Labello products were again in extremely short supply. Aluminum, the material used for the sliding tubes, was almost unobtainable until the end of the 1940s. Germany's post-war boom and the "economic miracle" then led to new ideas for Labello's packaging: In 1953, a plastic sleeve replaced the metal one, which had seen more than 30 years of service. A practical twist mechanism was added ten years later, making application even easier.
The classic blue Labello found its way onto the shelves in drugstores and supermarkets a decade later, in 1973. The range was also expanded during the course of the 1970s and a special Labello Med version for sensitive skin and a Labello Sun stick with a higher sun protection factor were launched. Since then, the range has been regularly expanded, so that consumers today can choose between almost 20 different Labello products. In some countries, Labello is not marketed as a separate brand, but under the NIVEA umbrella, as NIVEA Lip Care.
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