why designer beauty products aren’t always worth it.
A little over a month ago, I upgraded all my makeup and skincare products from Bobbi Brown and Kiehl’s to Chanel. I had been using the same routine since college, and left Neiman’s feeling beautiful and excited to start my new “luxurious and grown-up” routine.
In my mind, the price tag of anything correlates to quality. (Why else would it be so expensive, right?) It doesn’t bother me to pay more for something that is high quality and I will wear often. I thought paying a lot more for new skincare products translated to having a spa-like experience each morning and night, and would help my skin. I hate washing my face at night, and now I was actually excited about it!
Observant Mr. S noticed that my trustworthy Kiehl’s products had moved to the top shelf of my medicine cabinet, and I now had “fancy stuff” in their spot. He researches EVERYTHING before he makes a purchase, so his first instinct was to research all my new skincare goodies to see if they were still effective. He found this website called Beautypedia, an unbiased third party website that has evaluated almost every beauty product. They rank everything from drugstore beauty products to luxury products and show you how both their experts and the general community rank that item.
Sadly, all my new Chanel skincare items were given 1-2 stars on a 5 star scale for effectiveness. (My existing Kiehl’s products had all ranked 4-5 stars.) Beautypedia showed recommended alternatives for each of my new pricey products could be found at CVS, Target or Neiman’s.
I had already used them all, so I wasn’t going to return them. It was an eye-opening and expensive lesson: you don’t always get what you pay for, and designer beauty products aren’t always worth the money. (Note: There are some designer skincare products with high ratings on Beautypedia, but none of my Chanel skincare goodies made the cut. You just need to research your individual products to see rankings, and know what works best for your needs.)
On a bright note: I learned about this new website, and will definitely research effective products in the future before I make purchase. Hopefully this post will help save you money, and find the right products for your skin!
