Assembly comprising a system for packaging and applying a product, notably a cosmetic product, and device for protecting the said system

Assembly comprising a product packaging and application system (12) and a protective device (14) for protecting the said system, the said system (12) comprising a container (18) for storing the said product and an applicator (16) mounted so that it can be moved between a pickup position for picking up product contained in the said container and an application position in which the applicator is separated from the said container (18), the protection device (14) comprising a sleeve (40) inside which the packaging and application system (12) is mounted in such a way that it can move axially between a storage position and a usage position in which at least the applicator (16) extends partly projecting out of the sleeve, the assembly further comprising a device (15) for release the packaging and application system, provided with means (54) immobilizing the said system relative to the sleeve (40) in the storage position, and with an actuating means (58) for rendering the immobilizing means inactive and detaching the said system and the said sleeve by actuating the said actuating means (58), and an elastic preload member (46) applying elastic load to the packaging and application system (12) for the passage of the said system from the storage position to the usage position when the immobilizing means (54) are in the inactive position, characterized in that the release device (15) further comprises retaining means (66) for restraining the said system relative to the sleeve (40) in the usage position and which are configured to oppose the movement of the said system towards the storage position.