Beauty on a budget
Beauty on a budget
At a time when consumers are looking at every way they can save save money, its seems that expensive branded beauty products have a massive challenge on their hands. I don't think many of us will be surprised to read about the "Austerity Chic" trend identified by Mintel Beauty Innovation.
On 18 November, the Evening Standard ran an article in its Health & Fitness section entitled "The multi-taskers", suggesting that now is the time to be thrifty with cosmetics. It claims to have found a product that does several tasks for the price of one: aqueous cream, which can be bought from any pharmacy, is being hailed as the "new" wonder potion for use as a moisturiser, make-up remover, eczema treatment, baby lotion and shaving cream.
Discount retailers and supermarkets all have their own skincare, toiletries and cosmetics lines, and many of us have started to wonder why we have been spending so much on branded products when these should do the same jobs at a fraction of the price: Sainsbury's own brand coconut shampoo is 18p per 100ml, Herbal Essences is 74p per 100ml. It seems a no-brainer to me.
Many of these low-cost products are receiving rave reviews in the press and on blogs and websites. Marie Claire recommends Aldi's Siana Moisturising Anti-Wrinkle Day Cream, which sells at £1.89 and has already won a host of beauty awards, beating expensive and better-known brands including Helena Rubenstein, Olay and Elemis. It claims that insiders in the beauty industry are all talking about the new product which they claim really does work. Bloggers suggest that Lidl's Cien and Iseree ranges are equally popular.
Tesco also has great inexpensive skin-care products, including Bharti Vyas's revamped Skin Wisdom range, and Normandie body products, both priced from £2.99. Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect skincare range has seen massive growth since it was mentioned on BBC2's Horizon programme in March last year. Its latest offering, Skin Perfection, costs less than £10 and is creating the sort of buzz that the Protect and Perfect serum did in 2007. Boots No.7 now claims to be the UK's leading skincare product.
In cosmetics, Aldi has recently launched Lacura in the UK. Even cheaper are Superdrug's 2True cosmetics. Online, the selection of lipsticks, blushers and eye-shadows from EyesLipsFace www.eyeslipsface.co.uk, all cost £1.50 each.However, as The Telegraph reports, in times of recession, there is still a significant sliver of the female psyche that demands a smidgen of glamour. Hence the phenomenon of the Lipstick Index, which dictates that, as the downturn bites, cosmetics sales will soar. It recommends that “if economy brands don't quite do it for you and you need something more luxurious, go online. The internet is great both for finding discounts on classic beauty brands and for discovering new beauty destinations such as www.glowgetter.co.uk, which has cult skin-care collections from around the world. Raw, hand-blended skin food from New York anyone?”.
Saturday, 22 November 2008 09:19