Healthy Skepticism Library item: 9981

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Hughes N.
Women rush tiny tubs of rolled-gold cream
The Age (Melbourne) 2007 May 6
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/women-rush-tiny-tubs-of-rolledgold-cream/2007/05/05/1177788470691.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Full text:

DEMAND for luxury skincare is soaring in Australia, as women snap up creams and serums that cost hundreds of dollars for tubs that contain 100 millilitres or less.

A face cream containing 24-carat gold that costs $930 for a 30ml capsule has been the biggest-selling cosmetic at David Jones since its launch last month. La Prairie’s Cellular Radiance Concentrate Pure Gold serum costs more than gold itself but women joined waiting lists of up to two months and are buying it unseen and untried over the telephone. “The price isn’t the point any more,” says La Prairie’s Anna Barr. “Women want the latest, the greatest, the product with the best technology.”

Frank Cavanagh, Myer’s designer-cosmetics buyer, reports that sales of luxury skincare are up by 70 per cent compared with last year and Myer plans to increase its range as soon as it can. “Demand for high-end face creams is insatiable,” he says.

Market researchers have identified the emergence of the “uber luxury shopper”, for whom price is no object, particularly when it comes to anti-ageing skincare.

“With every purchase, there’s a concern there and a desire and willingness to invest in pampering,” says Jo-Anne Mason, an independent cosmetic-market analyst. “The taste for luxury has never been so widespread.”

Brett Riddington, David Jones’ general manager for cosmetics, says women want “even better” than luxury. “How much women pay is extraordinary, really,” he says. A La Mer “super serum” designed to be used within 21 days sells for $3500. Its Creme de la Mer moisturiser costs $2500 for 500ml. Both products have inspired “great loyalty and repeat purchases”, says La Mer.

Women are happy to spend that sort of money simply because they want to look good, according to Andrea Ferrari, editor of cosmetics trade magazine Esprit. “Baby boomers don’t want to look older,” she says. “They’re devoting cash to their appearance. They spend on the outfit – look at the number of shoes and handbags women have. You wouldn’t not spend on your face. If it’s working for you, you buy it. And they’re finding it does work for them.”

South Yarra jazz singer and mother Jane Badler-Hains would agree. She’s been using Lauder’s Re-Creation Day Creme for the past two years. It costs $690 for 50ml. “I don’t know whether there’s a psychological aspect to it or not, but a psychological reason is as good as any. These creams make you feel good,” says Ms Badler-Hains, who is in her late forties. “It’s luxurious – it really does feel amazing and my skin looks fantastic for my age. I buy it because I can afford it and I want to look good and feel good.”

Jacqui Niall, 39, loves Eve Lom’s cleanser so much she has it sent from London. It costs £75 ($180) for 200ml, plus postage. “I’m addicted,” she says.

But skin specialists say nobody should pay astronomical sums for skincare products. Prahran plastic surgeon Peter Dixon says “fundamentally all creams are unproven” except for Retin-A, a prescription-only Vitamin A cream which sells for about $25 and treats both acne and aged skin. “People do want to buy a miracle in a tightly wrapped cellophane box with nice writing on it,” he says. “A tube of Retin-A isn’t very appealing. But if you’re spending $900 on a miracle pot, one has to question what clinical evidence there is to support that product being better than a $60 one.”

Toorak dermatologist Dr Greg Goodman says women are paying for “elegance and a name” when they buy expensive serums and creams. “That’s a valid thing to pay for, like a Chanel suit,” he says. “But they should realise that that’s what they’re doing.”

The gilt trip
■ CREME DE LA MER, The Essence, $3500, 3 × 15ml Three 15ml vials in a magnetised box “to align the charges contained within”.

Presentation:

What it contains: “A highly potent miracle broth” that includes kelp and calcium, “created through a three-to-four month biofermentation process heightened with light and sound energies and processed in a highly specialised way developed by aerospace physicist Dr Max Huber”.

What it claims: “Skin’s natural healing energies are unleashed as it journeys through a 21-day cycle of renewal. Skin is visibly reborn.”

■ LA PRAIRIE PURE GOLD CELLULAR RADIANCE CONCENTRATE, $930, 30mlPresentation: A heavy gold and silver-trimmed vial.

What it contains: Long list of ingredients includes 24-carat colloid gold, hyaluronic acid, neuropeptides, emblica fruit, wild yam root extract, bamboo silica, pea, daisy flower and algae extracts.

What it claims: Among several listed benefits, it “slows down the breakdown of collagen, nourishes and energises the skin, diminishes lines and wrinkles and supports skin during times of hormonal imbalance”.

■ ESTEE LAUDER RE-NUTRITIV RECREATION DUO, $1320, 100mlPresentation: Two gold-lidded glass jars.

What it contains: The “finest and rarest ocean ingredients” including “a micronised mineral concentrate of 74 trace minerals sourced from the islands of Okinawa” and water taken from “2000 feet below sea level off Hawaii in an area known as the ‘zone of regeneration’.”

What it claims: “A 24-hour anti-ageing skin care system capable of unleashing your skin’s natural power to reveal skin that appears firmer, more luminous and younger thanks to a winning combination of scientific excellence, ancient wisdom and the ocean.”