Fragrantly Beautiful

Beauty Product Lookalikes for Less

How easy is it to tell the difference between similar looking beauty products that have very different prices? When Good Housekeeping stopped women in a mall, most of the women could not tell the expensive beauty product from the less expensive version.

"This one’s more expensive? Really?" says one mall shopper.

"There’s a huge variety of prices when it comes to beauty products," says Holly Crawford, Beauty Editor, Good Housekeeping. "You could have something that costs $2 and something that costs $20, and yet they look exactly the same. In fact, we’re amazed at the things that come into our office that literally look like twins."

Good Housekeeping approached women randomly asking them to identify which sweet-smelling soaps costs twice the price of the other? At $6, The Castelbel Tomato Luxury Soap costs half the price of the other.

"So when you think about it in terms of hostess gifts, that’s two for the price of one," says Crawford.

The Shimmer Brick Compact in Apricot is a great eye shadow bronzer by Bobbi Brown and costs $38. But the lookalike by Physicians Formula is only $9.99. How can that be?

"A fashion company like Dior is very on trend," Crawford explains. "They can do something immediately; take something from a runway and spin it out. Then, a more mass-produced company will see this, take a cue from that, and then immediately copy them."

Which works in the consumer’s favor as Crawford explains while gesturing to one of Good Housekeeping's testers. "What kim is using right now is a lip gloss from a company called isadora. It’s something that’s sold exclusively in Walgreens drugstores across the country. The amazing thing is the cost is $9 and it's probably something that took a cue from the Dior gloss that actually cost $19."

Another note: Good Housekeeping says that Physicians Formula, the maker of the inexpensive eyeshadow/bronzer, is well-respected for its line of hypoallergenic cosmetics made with ingredients that do not irritate. To learn more, check out the September issue of Good Housekeeping or visit www.goodhousekeeping.com.

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 3:38 PM