 |
The Great Cosmetic Ripoff
Cosmetics are, financially, a complete rip-off. Take this breakdown of the cost of a $5 lipstick:
|
|
This means that the actual lump of coloured oil, pigs intestines and waxy fat you smear on your lips is actually only worth 50 cents!
This is all true. So how do we resolve it? How do we satisfy our dreams and our self esteem, and how do we know when what we are being sold is not worth what we're paying?
It seems we have three issues to tackle here:
Well, to attack the first point, Value for Money, I think I am fairly well qualified to answer any questions. Take it from someone who has worked for Chanel, Dior and Nutri-Metics International: you will never get value for money. All you can do is minimise the damage. Another quote from the illustrious Mr McKnight can illustrate the point: 'Penny Chorlton dug up an interesting fact when researching her book "Cover Up", published by Grapevine in 1988. She discovered that major lipstick manufacturers sell to their staffs at rock-bottom prices, and still make a small profit on the actual costs. Charles of the Ritz, she says, charges its employees only 25p for lipsticks selling in the shops for £7, the same for nail varnish costing over £5; and 50p for sparkling rainbow eye shadow palettes which sell for £9.' Of course they have to make a profit, after all, they're running businesses with overheads. But still, check out that mark-up. As you can see, the only way to really get your money's worth is to make the product yourself, or work for the company that makes it. So what about designer products? Surely they are an even worse con? Well, no, not exactly. You definitely are getting a much better product. It will be made of finer ingredients and to a more sophisticated recipe which gives better results. But the markup is about the same percentage, or more. You are still paying for the name, and the packaging. And we have to remember that the cosmetics and perfume lines of the designer fashion houses is where most of their income is generated. The money from this side of the business funds the incredible creations seen on the catwalks. It all comes down to making a logical decision about what you buy. Being wise about your purchases. Some of us have got this down. But for others of us, it's not so easy when your common sense is always being hijacked by your Dreams. So is the issue simply that we need to have more realistic dreams? Kind of a contradiction in terms, isn't it? Yes, what but what it means is that we need to catch the hijackers and unmask them - work out what it is that drags us towards the beautifully packaged, colourful, glamorous bottles and jars when one without all the packaging and hype would do the job just as well. If the thing pulling us there is the hype and the advertising, that's an easy one. We just say, 'Hey, Mr Marketing Executive, you're not cheating me out of my money this time because I know that I believe my common sense, and not you!'. But sometimes that doesn't work because we still have those dreams. So get out your dream detectors, people. What is it you're really shopping for when you buy cosmetics and creams? Because I think it's those misconceptions that needing shooting down as much, if not more than, the marketing executives. We lie to ourselves as much as they do. When you think about it, isn't it the same syndrome as the guys who lavish so much attention on their cars? We make a joke out of it - 'He lives for that car. What a sad git.' But he is just projecting his dreams and identity onto that piece of metal; and we do the same thing with what we put on our faces. Did you catch that word - 'identity'? That's the key thing. Identity. It's closely related to Self Esteem, isn't it? Counsellors and Psychologists know that if we lack self-esteem we will try to make up for that by finding it somewhere else. This can often take the form of relying on our partner to tell us we're 'worth something'. Or it can mean that if we are good at our job we can believe we are worth something. Or if we wear the right clothes, then we look like we're worth something so therefore we are worth something. The problem is that none of these things are reliable. Partners leave, jobs are made redundant, clothes go out of fashion. You get the picture. This is a simplistic view of things but I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at.
The point is, when we lose our jobs/partners/cars and can no longer afford the clothes and the make-up, what are we worth? Even ourself is not reliable. We let ourselves down all the time. That's a hard one to accept but do enough soul-searching and you'll come to agree with me. What it comes down to is that God made us unique. He made us the way we are for a purpose, and when he'd finished making us, he stood back and said 'Wow, what a good job I did! I love that woman, she is beautiful inside and out!' (Or man of course!) That is where identity comes from, my friends. If you can grasp that truth, that God made you unique and He loves you that way, you will not have to rely on partners, jobs or make-up to help you fill up that 'self-esteem' hole. You will be stable in the knowledge that you are special, God made you that way, and will love you forever. It's a very liberating experience. If you don't believe me, that's ok, you don't have to. But ask God, he'll tell you!
Great Beauty Myths - Beauty Through the Ages - The Great Cosmetic Ripoff - home
|
'The manufacturers well know that the gratification and fulfillment a woman gets from using their make-up and skin treatment comes largely from self-delusion. It is the art of the impossible. But by telling her in their seductive glossy ads that the economically unjustifiable sum she has had to lay out will, in fact, make her fell and look better, they answer a secret cry in her heart. And it can come true, as the ads predict. She will look younger, if only for a few hours or days. Miraculously, she does feel better. She has temporarily lost those unsightly wrinkles. Like Cinderella, she can dance in magically restored beauty - at least until the clock strikes midnight. The tired, grey, real world recedes during those few hours. And the cost? Well, in the words of the old song: 'Who can bargain over paradise?' The feeling that it's all happening, that mystically, magically she is being transformed, made more desirable, is worth any money. Economic reality stands no chance against it.'