Skinspiration…You get what you pay for!

*Disclaimer; All work produced in this skinspiration blog is owned by Nicole Webb, with copyrights to La Beauté Ltd.  

As the old saying goes “You get what you pay for”, this applies to all areas of life and sometimes we learn the hard way that the cost can matter.
I am very aware that salon grade skincare products cost more than other products sold at department stores and supermarkets but why!? Two reasons;

1. What is in them
The total cost of ingredients will always vary as it depends on what is included in the product. The active ingredients are far more expensive than fillers, preservatives and bulking ingredients and sadly because of this you will often find a high amount of filler, preservatives, and bulking ingredients in lower priced products.

The main problem with having higher levels of filler/bulking ingredients than active ingredients is; Bulking, filler and preservatives have absolutely no benefit on the skin, instead they are often really harmful and will do some serious damage to the skin.

Then why would they include these bad products you wonder…as there group name suggests they are used to fill out a product, stretch and limit the volume of actives that are needed and ultimately keep their cost to a minimum, meaning they are then able to retail it for a “bargain” price!
Sadly these skin care producers have limited concern for your skin, they just want the sales and they don’t have to impress people like myself in the hope that I will retail their products because they are directly selling to the consumer (who naturally has limited knowledge of cosmetic chemistry).

There are limited general consumers out there that have studied cosmetic chemistry, so when they turn over a supermarket/department store skincare product the long list of ingredients either confuses or impresses them (even though they have no idea what they do).
To get results with your skin you need active ingredients and a large amount of them, but where is the active ingredient in a long list?

I have taken two products that are created for the same skin concern; I have highlighted the first active ingredient to appear in the ingredients list,
Example 1;
This is a common supermarket brand Anti-ageing Serum; (note serums should contain the highest level of actives in your regime)

AQUA / WATER • DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL • DIMETHICONE • GLYCERIN • HYDROXYPROPYL TETRAHYDROPYRANTRIOL • PROPYLENE GLYCOL • C12-15 ALKYL BENZOATE • ALCOHOL DENAT. • DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER • PEG-100 STEARATE • STEARIC ACID • POTASSIUM CETYL PHOSPHATE • POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE • CARBOMER • GLYCERYL STEARATE • SILICA • 2-OLEAMIDO-1,3-OCTADECANEDIOL • PALMITIC ACID • DISODIUM EDTA • HYDROLYZED HYALURONIC ACID • HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE • CAPRYLOYL SALICYLIC ACID • XANTHAN GUM • CETYL ALCOHOL • OCTYLDODECANOL • TOCOPHERYL ACETATE • PHENOXYETHANOL • CI 15985 / YELLOW 6 • CI 19140 / YELLOW 5 • CI 77891 / TITANIUM DIOXIDE • MICA • LINALOOL • LIMONENE • CITRONELLOL • BENZYL ALCOHOL • PARFUM / FRAGRANCE.

Example 2;
This is a common salon grade Anti-ageing Serum; I have again highlighted the first active to appear. (note serums should contain the highest level of actives in your regime)

Aqua/Water | Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluroinc acid) | Palmitoyl-Pentapeptide3 (Matrixyl) | Vitis Vinifera(Grape seed) Extract | Ubiquinone(Con-Enzyme Q10).

Now highlighted above is the same ingredient in both serums as this is a common anti-ageing ingredient (often you will find a variety of names for the same ingredient!). The order that ingredients are listed on a product shows there quantity – highest at the beginning, lowest at the end.
So in the example of the supermarket serum there is a large list prior to the active and they are all bulking, filler or preservative ingredients!!!

2. How they are made
The other factor determining the price is how the product is made; nearly all skincare ranges are made in a lab, whether they are supermarket/department store or salon products. The lab is responsible for blending the raw ingredients and decanting into containers.
But not all labs are the same and the choice of lab will be a huge factor in the cost of production along with establishing the level of preservatives that are needed to be added to the product because of the environment in the lab.
Labs are spilt into two different types;

GMP certified lab (GMP= Good Manufacturing Practice)
If a lab is GMP certified then it means they have an extremely controlled environment and protocols; the air is specially vented and pressured; they are fully gloved, masked, and gowned; they work in a 100% sterilised environment and there is absolutely no way bacteria can be in the area. GMP labs cost, because to have the environment in this manner there is always going to be a huge expense but what it means for the products created in this environment is they are going to be 100% bacteria free, and decanted into an airless fully sealed container. This ultimately means they don’t have to add preservatives, stabilisers and bacteria killing ingredients to the product, and the consumer receives a product that will be free of the leading causes of skin irritation and inflammation (preservatives and stabilisers) and not have an ingredient that could kill their skin’s good bacteria.

Mainstream – no GMP
These are labs that have no or very little protocols in place when creating products. Because of the environment the products are created in there is a high chance that bacteria can enter or be exposed to the products at the time of manufacture. In order to kill this bacteria high levels of preservatives and bacteria killing ingredients are needed to be added to the product.
These labs are cheaper to use and often because of this big product houses will use them, as it is a HUGE cost saving option, yes more ingredients have to be added in the form of preservatives but that small price out ways the cost of using an un-certified lab.
Sadly though what this means for the consumer that buys products made in a main-stream lab is, they are applying (often unknowingly) ingredients to their skin that are going to be harmful, make it irritated, inflamed and have no benefit to the skin cells.

An example of cost to make a supermarket skincare product in a GMP lab compared to non-GMP:
GMP created $6
Non-GMP created $2.50

It is hard to compare a current salon brand as often Non-GMP labs are unable to make the product due to the ingredients that would be needed (preservatives) are not included hence I was unable to get a costing.
I know this all seems confusing and it is hard for you to determine what you should be buying, which is why I want to help.

I have studied Cosmetic Chemistry, and I will only stock products and brands that are free from preservatives; have only the ingredients you need, no filler or bulking ingredients; and work with high levels of actives or in some cases 100% actives, because if you are going to spend your hard earned money I want you to get the results!!