Karen’s concern: I always understood that among the cosmetic brands that there are sister companies like L’Oreal is made by Lancome, etc. If this is true, how does the quality/effectiveness of the drug store brand compare to the more pricey department store brand? While we’re at it: Are the drug store brands, including house brands, made by bigger name companies to make more efficient use of the factory?
The Right Brain’s response:
You’re close Karen, but you’ve got it a little bit backwards. It’s actually cosmetic giant L’Oreal that makes Lancome. But don’t feel bad, it’s easy to get confused when figuring out who makes what.
Who’s who
We’ve blogged before about who’s who in the beauty biz. Monster companies like L’Oreal, Unilever, and P&G own many smaller companies and even more brands so it’s hard to tell who your products are coming from. For example, L’Oreal makes the L’Oreal brands like Vives, Preference Hair Color, and Studio Line. They also make other mass market brands like Garnier (Fructis) and Softsheen (ethnic hair care aka Carson Products). They also make several salon/department store brands such as Kerastase, Kiehl’s, Lancome, Matrix, and Redken.
Twisted sister
Does that mean all these “sister” companies sell the same products? Sometimes yet, sometimes no. There are plenty of differences across the L’Oreal brands but there are some sneaky similarities too. Take a look at the ingredients in Loreal’s Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Smoothing Hair Masque and L’Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense Conditioning Treatment and you’ll see they are are almost EXACTLY. For more details read our post on How Kerastase Kills Your Cash.
Doin’ drugs
As far as drug store brands and house brands are concenred, that’s a different story. Drug store brands are made by all kinds of different companies like those listed above as well as small “mom and pop” companies. House brands (also called Private Label or generic brands) are made by contract manufacturers. These are companies that specialize in making product for OTHER companies. There are good and bad products from all companies so you can’t over generalize, but products from contract manufacturers don’t always go through the same rigorous testing as products from those companies that make their own. So, be careful when experimenting with house brands.
What do YOU think? Do you stick to the big name brands or do you go for house brands? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I find this subject absolutely fascinating. So many big lines fall under the L’Oreal name. It causes me to question before purchasing some of the high end cosmetic lines. Is their an equally good product that I can purchase for a fraction of the price?
Good points on the house brands as well. As always, buyer beware!
Yes, 2nd, this is very helpful! There’s also the intriguing matter of companies that buyg others and try to preserve their identity. For example:
Estee Lauder
owns:
Aveda
Bobbi Brown
Bumble & Bumble
Clinique
Good Skin
MAC
Ojon
Origins
Prescriptives
(a full list of brands is provided on the company website: http://www.elcompanies.com/our_brands.asp)
Apparently, this has improved the consistency (and may have improved the formulation and quality) of Aveda products. But do they own/run/make any drugstore brands?
(crosses fingers, tries to stop drooling…)
Also, on L’Oreal:
Biotherm
Giorgio Armani skin/cosmetics
Helena Rubinstein
Matrix
Shu Uemura
Skinceuticals
The Body Shop
Maybelline (who in turn had bought up Ricils and Gemey in Europe, and products still appear in some countries with some variant on double-barrelled name)
This can be a great thing for the consumer in terms of technology and techniques being brought in across the range: the conjunction of Maybelline and Lancome on mascara has been brilliant. And apparently the Body Shop’s experience with “more ethical” processes (from sources to not testing on animals) is also being spread (through a company which previously was as “dark” and black-listed as P&G…).
This is also good for Mexoryl fans: it’s not just in La Roche-Posay’s sunscreens, but also in others made by the L’Oreal group:
Garnier (Ambre Solaire)
L’Oreal proper again
Vichy
(full list of brands on the L’Oreal company website: http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/index.aspx)
I keep hearing about how the salon grade products are almost no different than the store brand products of the same company (ie: Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Smoothing Hair Masque and L’Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense Conditioning Treatment.) But I’m curious… isn’t it possible that the quantity/quality of the ingredients listed are NOT the same? For instance, is it possible that the vive pro has more water in it than the kerastase? Or that the amount of laurel sulfate is less concentrated in the vive pro, etc.? Wouldn’t this effect the quality of the product, without showing up as a major difference on the ingredient list?
I’m wondering the same….since I started experimenting with drug store brands and generics from Sally and my hair is now breaking off.
@Rina,
Yes it’s possible, it’s just not done. Big companies buy these brands so they can make them more profitable by achieving “economies of scale”. So, they buy the same chemicals for both brands and get a discount because they buy more of the ingredient.
People want so much to believe that they are getting a better product, it doesn’t matter whether it’s really delivered or not. You can put exactly the same formula in an expensive brand bottle and a cheap brand bottle and people will swear that the former works better.
It’s just human nature.
As for whether companies would intentionally downgrade their formulations for their drugstore labels, I doubt this would occur just because drugstore labels are probably more profitable to the parent company than their prestige labels because of volume. It’s a competitive environment and you don’t water down your shampoo to save a couple of cents in production in order to lose thousands in sales.
I also don’t think companies are really worried about losing their prestige label market by reproducing the formula in drugstore labels. A lot of consumers aren’t really informed enough to make the connection and simply assume that what costs more is naturally better. And, as I know too well, the habit of buying into high end products is hard to break despite all logic.
It seems to me that one of the main differences between salon and drugstore products is fragrance. So many of the drugstore brand products have a very perfumy scent (Pantene comes to mind) that isn’t bad, but that I know could trigger a migraine for me. Most of ones I have smelled in the shampoo aisle at Target have a heavy perfume smell to them that I know would bother me. I use Frederic Fekkai glossing products because 1) I like the way they work, and 2) the scent is light enough that I know it won’t induce a migraine. I’ll gladly pay more for something that won’t cripple me with a migraine.
Si usa il termine scappare proprio a ragione…
Quando smetteremo di evitare i problemi e cominceremo a risolverli?
thank you perfec web site
Soz but makes me mad that these mega-companies spend a fortune marketing their products yet the majority of people are blind to what actually goes in them (grrr). I’m a top-to-toe natural, organic girl now and won’t let anything with synthetic ingredients near me (think Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic, Green People etc.). Even ingredients in Johnson’s baby products are bad (grrr again?).
I have never been influenced by popular brands. I just heard Mac and Malini cosmetics are from the same makers. So do all these products work and look the same. How can I find out what other ones are the same to save $.