Makeup

Why are some makeup brands so expensive when the quality of the product is basically the same as a less expensive brand? I'm don't know that much about makeup but I still notice this common theme throughout different brands. For example, when I walk into a store for Mac or Clinique, I notice that all their lipsticks are very expensive. The cheapest lipstick often starts at $20 dollars but the majority are much higher. Meanwhile, if I walk into Walgreens and go into their makeup section, I could buy a very similar product from a less popular brand such as NYX or Essence. The difference is the price which is often at least half as expensive as the well-known brands.

I am not saying that the quality of a popular brand and unpopular brand are always the same because typically the more expensive brand is slightly better, however; the difference is not significant enough to make a large impact. Some people may say there is a huge difference which is why they only buy from the more expensive brand but personally, I have never noticed a significant difference in quality. For example, I once purchased a highlight from Sephora that was $30 and a few weeks later I found a very similar highlight that was $8 but I did not recognize the brand. I was curious so I bought the makeup and compared the two products. They were almost identical which was annoying because I spent over three times as much money on the highlight from Sephora.

Why are the popular brands so expensive? Because the popular brands have much more advertisement. A few days ago I went to Arden Fair Mall and I saw a huge poster advertising Mac lipstick. The poster was very aesthetically pleasing and after looking at the poster I continued to think about the advertisement. Another example is Covergirl. This brand has numerous commercials with famous people such as Zendaya Coleman and this makeup brand constantly appears on America's Next Top Model. Popular brands charge more for their products because even if their prices are unreasonable, people still buy them because they are popular.