Beauty regimens can cost a pretty penny
Simplify routine to avoid falling into brand-name spending trap
From face wash to hair care, the cost of beauty can get ugly for many Canadians, particularly women.
In 2014, Canada outpaced the U.S. in the growth rate of prestige beauty-product consumption, with Canadians spending $1.4 billion, according to a study conducted by NDP Group, Inc., a U.S. consulting firm that services North American retailers.
The notion of falling into a beauty-spending trap has always been foreign to Karina Fuentes, who grew up in Mexico City creating homemade body lotions with her grandma Lupita.
“We used whatever ingredients we could grow or buy at the grocery store, so the idea of spending a lot of money on beauty essentials seemed silly,” says Fuentes. “All of our homemade lotions for me were as effective as those I have store-bought.”
On that premise, she and her husband, Scott Robinson, founded Your Feel Good Soap Company in May 2011. This pseudo-DIY shop is filled with Fuentes’ homemade recipes for soap, hair care and facial products, letting patrons customize the scent and essential oils in the products.
“Our goal is to make women and men realize with natural ingredients, beauty products can be multi-use and result in great savings,” adds Robinson. “For example, a body cream can double as a facial moisturizer, or a shampoo can serve as a face wash and body wash.”
Fuentes’ Nube 9 moisturizer costs $25 for a 500millilitre bottle; the product doubles as a body moisturizer and night cream. Meanwhile, at the low end, a similar night cream at another store could run about 10 times the cost at least $30 for 50-millilitre jar.
Such product streamlining isn’t a popular concept, because decades of cosmetic-counter conditioning have led women to believe they must “invest” in a beauty routine for it to be effective, says Dino Dilio, a Toronto-based makeup artist who specializes in lessons that aim to simplify overcomplicated and expensive beauty regimes.
“Especially for older clients, they are being served by inexperienced salespeople who convince them that a parade of unnecessary products will make them feel younger,” says Dilio. “You shouldn’t need to put on 25 products before you are ready for work.”
In addition to streamlining, Kamila Caban, author of VickyB.TV, a Mississauga, Ont.-based beauty blog, found she was able to save money by substituting brand-name products with generic ingredients.
“I used to spend $60 on name-brand Josie Maran argan oil until I realized I could get the same oil at a health food store for under $20,” says Caban. “It’s only the packaging that’s the difference.”
There are parts of Caban’s beauty routine she says are worth the splurge, such as the HydraFacial, which costs more than $150.
“My skin has never looked more radiant with the effect of the facial lasting weeks; this is something I will definitely add to my routine every three to four months,” she says