
How Beauty Companies Price Lipstick - jxub
https://www.racked.com/2018/5/30/17392668/beauty-product-pricing-stowaway-cosmetics
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antgne
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.

~~~
jstarfish
> 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.

~~~
antgne
>* 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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loa-in-backup
This whole article lacks sources and really reading it I feel like it's a
covert advertisement for... something

