Why do prestige makeup brands cost so much more?
Service and packaging. At prestige, you’re paying for the guidance of beauty pros trained by the beauty companies in specific brands. At the drugstore, you’re on your own. What most beauty shoppers don’t know is that some department stores brands and some drugstore brands are owned by the same parent company so they often share research, development, formulas and labs. When we’re talking drugstore, we’re talking mass retailers of all kinds—Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, too. The biggest difference is in the packaging, which is more luxurious at a department store. Let’s be honest: Nothing beats a Chanel compact when you’re powdering your face at the table. But you say there are some drugstore beauty buys that are so innovative they don’t even exist at the department store level? Oil of Olay’s Moisturinse is a great example of a revolutionary beauty product. It’s $4.99 and hits store shelves next month. (Now, you can buy it on Olay.com.) I don’t have the patience to wait for moisturizer to dr
