A vegan cosmetics brand. Recycled cardboard packaging. An endocrine-disruptor-free formula. And stuck on top, an NFC tag made of PVC that will take a century to break down. This is the contradiction nobody sees — until someone points it out. The Ephém™ range, distributed by Ma Balise and featured in the Carlin International Impulse FW27-28 report, is the answer to this brand inconsistency.
The Carlin trend for 2027-28: technology that knows how to disappear
Carlin International, the world's reference for trend forecasting, whose 70 annual copies land on the desks of creative and strategic directors at the world's leading groups, approached Ma Balise to physically embed a functional Ephém™ tag in each copy of the Impulse FW27-28 report. Release date: 17 March 2026.
This is not a mention in a report. It is a real object, held between the fingers, scannable with any smartphone — and that composts with the packaging in 30 days. Carlin did not select a material innovation or a form innovation. They selected a connected technology that disappears cleanly. That is what they identify as the defining trend for 2027-28.
The connected tag that is consistent with premium packaging
Standard RFID and NFC tags contain PVC, PET and a chemically etched metal antenna. They are incompatible with paper recycling streams — they end up in landfill, where they take 100 years to break down. On premium FSC cardboard packaging, they represent a visible contradiction for any RSE auditor, any eco-design label, any B Corp certification.
Ephém™ eliminates that contradiction. Printed with conductive ink on FSC paper, the tags compost in 30 days, in industrial or home composting conditions. They recycle in the standard paper/cardboard stream, with no separate sorting. And they deliver NFC and UHF RFID performance comparable to standard tags, sufficient for all real-world use cases.
"These tags are so clean I could eat one in front of a camera."
— Director of an international vegan cosmetics brand, following a successful Ephém™ pilot
DPP 2027: the obligation is coming. The clean tag already exists.
The Digital Product Passport becomes mandatory in cosmetics in 2027. Every product will need to carry a readable digital identifier providing access to traceability, composition and recyclability data. Brands that anticipate this requirement with a connected tag consistent with their values will be ahead. The others will stick plastic onto eco-designed cardboard.
Certifications: proof, not promise
Ephém™ is certified compostable and biodegradable (DIN CERTCO & TÜV Rheinland) and recyclable in the paper stream (PTS Paper). Certifications that can be communicated directly to end consumers, integrated into labelling applications and sustainability reporting.
LuxePack in Green Award 2025 — first entry, first award
Ma Balise won the LuxePack in Green Award 2025 in the Eco-designed Packaging category in Monaco on its first participation. Finalist at the Cosmetic 360 Awards 2025 in Paris — Packaging category — with a jury that specifically highlighted the unique nature of a connected technology innovation in a field of material and form proposals.
"Selling a €200 cream on a promise of purity and sticking a plastic tag on it is like serving organic food in polystyrene packaging. The intention is there. The consistency is not."
— Philippe, founder of Ma Balise