Christina’s costly question…Why are alpha hydroxy products so expensive? I find that the active ingredients are usually grapefruit extracts or other acidic fruits. Why can’t I just rub a grapefruit or lemon on my face and save the $59?
The Right Brain’s Reply:
Rubbing citrus fruits on your face won’t work very well because they don’t necessarily contain the right kinds of Alpha hydroxy acids AND they don’t contain enough of them.
On the other hand, AHA creams are specially formulated with high levels of acids so they are more effective exfolliants. While those products might contain grapefruit extract, it’s likely that they’re also using other active ingredients as well.
Acid adds cost
So why are AHA products so expensive? In general, AHA creams will be more expensive than regular moisturizers because of the acid content. Salyclic acid (a beta hydroxy acid) can add about 3 cents to the formula cost. High end AHA blends can add up to 10 cents to the formula cost when used at functional levels. So, if a regular moistuirizing lotion costs about 30 cents a pound, adding AHAs could increase the cost of the product by 30%. (Of course, these numbers will vary depending on the manufacturer, but you get the idea.)
But by far, the biggest cost is due to the marketing hype. Expensive cosmetics have a HUGE mark up because you’re paying for the fancy packaging, the brand name and the image. The ingredients are usually a small part of the cost.
Think about it this way, a chemical peel at your dermatologist will cost you hundreds (even thousands) of dollars. Marketers figure this stuff works almost as good as a chemical peel so you should be willing to pay a bit more than the regular skin lotion right? So far, it looks like they are.
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I’ve seen you guys estimating manufacturing costs before, and I was just wondering, are you counting costs other than the ingredients? I realize that those can be very cheap (I’m a pharmacist, and the two industries are not very different in many aspects), but there’s a LOT of hidden costs that go into a product: salaries (from the chemists to the receptionists to the CEOs),buildings, transport, energy, heating, machinery, advertising, research, etc… I just think it’s misleading to say that a product that costs $50 to the costumer only cost $1 to the make. Yes, there’s a huge mark-up, but it simply wouldn’t be smart from an economic point of view to sell a product for so much more than what it costs, specially when it comes to drugstore brands that are trying to reach as big a public as possible while keeping good quality. You also have to keep in mind that we’re not buying straight from the manufacturer. When you buy something at the drugstore, it already went through at least one distributor and then the store, both of which are adding their profit margin as well, which can be quite large.
Now yes, the story is different with “designer” or high-end brands, where part of the marketing strategy is to keep an alluring sense of unattainability, not to mention the fact the placebo effect caused by people’s belief that more expensive means better quality.
Try the ALpha Hydrox brand. A 10% AHA lotion is about $10. Not only is the product great, it is very nice to know the percentage of AHA in it. I am very picky, with sensitive skin, and this line IMO is superior to even the stuff that costs over $100. The package is not beautiful, but that is not a big problem for me, it’s just a great product.
59 dollars? where the heck is christina buying her products?! shop around on the internet a bit! alpha hydrox is a great basic AHA..i tend to lean towards paula’s choice 8% AHA as it also includes anti-irritants and a nice antioxidant(green tea extract)..it’s $18.95 for four ounces..it lasts quite a while.
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Jack222