 I have been reading a little about the history of the
cosmetics and skincare industry recently and a little gem of a quote caught my
attention. It goes to show that human nature never changes, no matter how
sophisticated or clever we think we have become! Interestingly, I found this
quote just after writing my previous post on the price of skincare products.It is from a Victorian gentleman named Peter McEwan who was
the author of a prominent book at the time called Pharmaceutical Formulas
(1898). At that time if you wanted a preparation made for your skin you went to
your pharmacist who made something up for you. Cold creams, lip salves and
pomades were popular. Each pharmacist would have his own recipes and would
custom make a product for each customer and also for the then fledgling cosmetics
business. McEwan said of toiletries ‘they appeal to the tastes of the
refined and the rich – to the beautiful and those who wish to be..’ but he goes
on to caution the pharmacist against taking advantage of the naïve customer
when he says: ..’The public expect too much from the class of specialities called ‘beautifiers’.
It frequently happens that the higher priced an article is, and the more highly
it is vaunted, the better its success. This applied particularly to the class
of articles we are now dealing with [cosmetic
preparations], and is a source of danger
to the compounder’s self-respect.’* It seems to me that much remains the same. While we have
made enormous progress in respect of what our modern day ‘beautifiers’ can
achieve, it seems that there are still consumers who buy based on the belief
that more expensive means better, and many companies are very willing to exploit that.
Some skincare formulators would do well to read McEwan’s caution about
self-respect. *Source: The Victorian Pharmacy by Jane Eastoe |
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How much should you be paying for you skincare products?