Every beauty addict, and even those who enjoy going makeup-free, know that makeup is not cheap. That's why our friends have to hold us back when we pass a Sephora store, or why we shed a tear when our beloved Naked eyeshadow palette falls from the vanity and shatters. Okay, that might be an exaggeration but you get the point. Quartz estimated than the average U.S. woman will spend $15,000 on makeup and beauty products in her lifetime. That's a brand new car, a down payment on a house, or 15,000 McChicken sandwiches!
So why do we spend so much on makeup? Many people think that high priced products are better quality, but that's not necessarily the case. About 15% of a product's sales go toward the actual ingredients, meaning your $17 MAC lipstick only needed about $2.50 of wax, oil and pigments to make. So where does the rest of the money go?
Packaging, marketing, and branding are costing us the big bucks. The ads, the pretty product design, the stores and counter space where the product is sold are all very expensive aspects that are factored into a product's price. It costs more to design and make a shiny gold lipstick case than a clear plastic one. It costs more to sell products at Sephora than CVS because you're paying "for the display areas and the people who are helping to sell the product, whereas in a mass environment it can be sealed up behind a package and sit on a shelf," explains Karen Grant, a global beauty analyst.
Drugstore products can be just as good as the top brands, but people are drawn to the names, the luxury, and the prestige. If you think Chanel foundation is your holy grail makeup that you can't live without, go ahead and keep buying it. We don't judge. But next time you are passing Sephoa rememeber that high price does not neccessarily mean high quality.