We are inundated with advertisements about expensive cosmetics and creams, but are they better than the cheaper brands?
The power of advertising
We all know that advertising has power. Advertising encourages us to purchase products. Women in particular are sensitive to advertisements about cosmetics , and since the trend in our society is to look good and young for as long as possible, we often respond to what is offered in the advertisements. Terms such as: 100% natural , anti-wrinkle , wrinkle-fading, contains vitamin E, contains vitamin A, innovative, cleans deep into the pores, etc. appeal to us and promise us radiant skin well into old age.
New trends
The new trends mainly focus on preventing skin aging. We have recently heard and read about ingredients such as: caffeine, chocolate, snail slime, miracle creams, gold and even caviar. Jars are sold for anywhere from 100 euros to 400 euros each, because we really need to have and try out the very latest in skin care. We see promising statements and advertisements not only for anti-wrinkle products, but also for anti-acne products, mascaras, lipsticks, eye shadow, eye creams and more.
Does the product do what it promises?
Below are a number of comments that cast doubt on the effectiveness of expensive cosmetics .
- Anti-wrinkle cream can delay the formation of wrinkles. But if someone just applies a lick from his or her jar of Nivea to their face every day, this has the same effect.
- Anti-acne agents promise to cleanse “deep into the pores”. The question then is how can you get the lotion to run so deeply into the small pores?
- Eye creams do not contain any special ingredients for eyes, but simply the same as your day cream . If you use your day cream thinly around your eyes, this is also an excellent way to keep your skin supple.
- In addition, everyone can imagine that chocolate or even gold does not add anything extra to your creams. If that were the case, one of those ingredients would have been the miracle cure for aging for many years and no one would walk around with wrinkles anymore .
- Hypoallergenic: hypoallergenic seems to indicate that you cannot have an allergic reaction to the product, this is not true! Only certain substances have been left out of the product that people can react allergically to, but this does not rule out the possibility that you may react allergically to another ingredient, which is contained in the cosmetic in question . Always test a new product on a small, inconspicuous spot on your skin first.
- to be 100% natural , but this is almost impossible, as non-natural products will almost always be added.
- Claims that a cream contains no fat are not true, to make a cream some oil is always needed.
No cosmetics or cheaper cosmetics
Of course we need cosmetics, we indeed want to delay getting wrinkles for as long as possible, and we want to look as beautiful as possible. Dressing up when you go out for an evening, pampering yourself with a nice body lotion and taking good care of your skin makes you feel good and makes you look good.
However, expensive cosmetics are not necessary or useful at all, your money disappears into the pockets of expensive brand providers and your face and body do not notice the difference. The news is now emerging from various studies that cheaper brands perform better in tests. This happened, for example, when a test showed that Aldi’s day and night creams tested the best. A day cream from Aldi costs less than 3 euros! Lidl’s sunscreen was also recently tested very well in terms of skin protection against the sun. Furthermore, countless people are extremely satisfied with cosmetics from, for example, Kruitvat, Nivea, Dove, etc.
More information
Paula Begoun has a clear, critical view on this subject. She regularly appears on Oprah Winfrey. Elsevier published an article at the beginning of this year that also contained her views on this subject. You can read more about her on various internet sites. It should be noted that she has now also developed a cosmetics line and is of course advertising this . Some skepticism is also appropriate here.