I believe most women buying expensive cosmetics acknowledge it's overpriced and that there is negligible, if not indistinguishable, quality differences. Inexpensive brands have the same parent companies as designer ones, and backstage at Fashion Week all types of cosmetics are being used on runway models. Professionals do not care. There are countless youtube videos of girls giving tours of their closet-sized collections of makeup, representing thousands spent on product. Appeal of these videos has something to do with living vicariously. Nevertheless, fragrances are ridiculously lucrative for luxury brands as well--especially during the holidays. It's an entry item with a big logo that the masses can afford, to feel like they are buying into that universe. Same for €35 Chanel lipstick. It's the cheapest thing in the store.
“It’s actually really easy [to dupe], and this is why nobody patents anything, because then you have to reveal the exact proportions of ingredients,”
This was actually pretty funny in its irony, copying colors of cosmetics is even easier if patented.
Actually I think just after posting about her meeting with Donald Trump on prison reform this week, Kim Kardashian advertised her line of nude lipgloss. O tempora, o mores.
While some are ripoffs, other higher-end brands are known by MUAs specifically for their pigments (esp. when it comes to eyeshadows) or their longevity (lipstick) or just their wearability (foundation and coverup). About the only universal agreement I've heard from professional MUAs that drugstore is just as good is powder. But you do have to know WHICH brands, as many are ripoffs (aka the Kardashian lines). So skincare, yes, mainly ripoffs, but makeup, there's definite differences when it comes to ingredients and quality if you know what you're looking for and what you're trying to achieve with that particular tool. Also, with perfumes, the cost is 100 percent in the quality of the base -- smell an expensive Chanel perfume and then smell one that's not -- you can 100 percent tell the difference.
> Inexpensive brands have the same parent companies as designer ones, and backstage at Fashion Week all types of cosmetics are being used on runway models. Professionals do not care.
This is not true at all. Videos of YouTube makeup hoarders are hardly the best sample set to draw such conclusions by.
There are significant quality and consistency differences across high-end brands, and the professionals may come across as indiscriminate because they use the best tool for the job (or whatever they're being sponsored to use), not because it's all indistinguishable.
Different designers are also better suited to particular skin colors, with either more offerings or simply better formulas to account for other aspects like skin sensitivity, oiliness, etc. or other external factors (heat, cold, day, night, humidity, etc.). Many put fragrance in their products, which causes rashes. Some are more water-resistant than others.
Women accumulate closets full of makeup because it's a matter of both chemistry and art-- you have to try a shit-ton of products to find the one that actually suits you, enhances your features and doesn't make you look like a hot mess under heated conditions (catwalks or outdoor shoots), give your face unwanted glossiness or cause you to break out like you've endured an acid attack. Every canvas is chemically unique-- what works for Jill won't necessarily work for Jane.
Yes, you pay a lot for the name, but if you actually work with them, the overpriced designer products really are better than the drugstore competition.
>* Yes, you pay a lot for the name, but if you actually work with them, the overpriced designer products really are better than the drugstore competition. *
I'm not so sure about this. For example L'Oréal owns many brands from NYX and Revlon to Lancôme, YSL and Urban Decay. They compete with themselves to capture a different market. Testing and development would be up to the same caliber and quality standards set forth by the parent company facilities. You are correct that products behave differently on various skin types and other conditions. But is this a quality issue or personal?
Most cosmetics cost less than a few euro to produce, if that. This is also expressed in OP's article. Packaging for luxury however is getting more elaborate and therefore expensive. Much of the cost for these items is also due to marketing.
Also, then take into account the sheer number of magazine articles, makeup artist interviews and YT videos amassing "favorite drugstore products." This is no matter of hidden gems. Good products are not hard to find if preconceived notions of brand's quality are cast aside.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 30.8 ms ] thread“It’s actually really easy [to dupe], and this is why nobody patents anything, because then you have to reveal the exact proportions of ingredients,” This was actually pretty funny in its irony, copying colors of cosmetics is even easier if patented.
Actually I think just after posting about her meeting with Donald Trump on prison reform this week, Kim Kardashian advertised her line of nude lipgloss. O tempora, o mores.
No, the cost of the perfume itself is usually not more than €2
This is not true at all. Videos of YouTube makeup hoarders are hardly the best sample set to draw such conclusions by.
There are significant quality and consistency differences across high-end brands, and the professionals may come across as indiscriminate because they use the best tool for the job (or whatever they're being sponsored to use), not because it's all indistinguishable.
Different designers are also better suited to particular skin colors, with either more offerings or simply better formulas to account for other aspects like skin sensitivity, oiliness, etc. or other external factors (heat, cold, day, night, humidity, etc.). Many put fragrance in their products, which causes rashes. Some are more water-resistant than others.
Women accumulate closets full of makeup because it's a matter of both chemistry and art-- you have to try a shit-ton of products to find the one that actually suits you, enhances your features and doesn't make you look like a hot mess under heated conditions (catwalks or outdoor shoots), give your face unwanted glossiness or cause you to break out like you've endured an acid attack. Every canvas is chemically unique-- what works for Jill won't necessarily work for Jane.
Yes, you pay a lot for the name, but if you actually work with them, the overpriced designer products really are better than the drugstore competition.
I'm not so sure about this. For example L'Oréal owns many brands from NYX and Revlon to Lancôme, YSL and Urban Decay. They compete with themselves to capture a different market. Testing and development would be up to the same caliber and quality standards set forth by the parent company facilities. You are correct that products behave differently on various skin types and other conditions. But is this a quality issue or personal?
Most cosmetics cost less than a few euro to produce, if that. This is also expressed in OP's article. Packaging for luxury however is getting more elaborate and therefore expensive. Much of the cost for these items is also due to marketing. Also, then take into account the sheer number of magazine articles, makeup artist interviews and YT videos amassing "favorite drugstore products." This is no matter of hidden gems. Good products are not hard to find if preconceived notions of brand's quality are cast aside.