The beauty industry seem to have us right where they want us. They know our weakness. They publish pictures of stunning, airbrushed women with flawless skin next to their little bottle of miracles that claims to transform your skin – and your life, providing you part with a week’s worth of wages in exchange.
So we do. Yes please, give me some snail slime. I won’t be able to afford to eat for the month, but I will have extraordinary skin. Who needs food when you have great skin?
However, then we apply the cream and realise that we have been had – again. We turn to the small print on the bottle, and realise that they never mentioned how many people took part in their ‘scientific research’ when they are making their claims about how effective their cream is. It could have been two people for all we know – the wife and daughter of Dr Skincare himself – both of which have had botox, fillers and a facelift, so their skin no longer resembles skin anyway.
In a survey that we recently carried out into how women rate the skincare products that they use regularly, nearly a third were dissatisfied with the results – and yet they continue to spend their money on the products, with 36% spending over £50 a month.
So why do we repeatedly buy these products? Why do we fall for it time and again? Is it simply that we are loyal to the brands that we use? They have been nice to us in the past and sent us a free sample, so we feel we owe them something in return? Or is it that we think that perseverance is key to making these products work, and if we keep on buying, eventually we are going to see our skin transformed before our very eyes.
If we are wanting to do ourselves, and our budget a favour this year, what we should be investing money on is organic food products that nourish the skin from the inside – at a fraction of the cost of bee venom, or whatever – and do some exercise, which is free! Drink some water and get a good night’s sleep every night, and we will come far closer to achieving miracles with our skin than we are likely to come with any beauty product.
The full survey results are below:
| 1. How much do you spend on skincare products each month? | ||||
| £0 to 20 | £20 to £50 | £50 to £75 | £75 to £100 | £100 plus |
| 29% | 34% | 19% | 15% | 2% |
| 2. How frequently do you try new brands? | ||||
| Never | Every Couple of Years | Once a Year | A Few Times a Year | Every Month |
| 5% | 14% | 18% | 53% | 10% |
| 3. Thinking about the beauty products that you buy regularly, how much of a positive effect do you think that they have? | ||||
| No Effect | Not Much Effect | Slight Effect | Fairly Good Effect | Great Effect |
| 6% | 25% | 46% | 20% | 3% |
| 4. How do you find out about new beauty products? | ||||
| TV | Internet | In Store | Magazines | Friends |
| 24% | 18% | 16% | 18% | 24% |
| 5. What is the most important factor to you when choosing skincare products? | ||||
| Price | Brand Name | Ingredients | Desired Effects | Packaging |
| 16% | 9% | 16% | 57% | 2% |
