Are Q's Beauty Brands Pricing You Out?

[minim]

We all know that the beauty industry is dominated by a few corporations who own multiple major brands.
Estée Lauder for example, own 29 brands. Besides their flagship brand Estée Lauder, they own Clinique, Bobbi Brown & Mac to name just three.

Of course, there are differences across brands owned by the same company, but there are also a lot of similarities.
Those companies often put similar ingredients in both low-end and high-end products to save money. The products have the same active ingredients, but it is their different non-active ones, which give a unique scent, texture, colour etc.
High-end products are made using more expensive ingredients we are told, but the truth is they cost more because people expect expensive products to work much better than inexpensive ones and are therefore willing to pay more for them.

So, Q sells & promotes Bobbi Brown, but not the less expensive sister brand Clinique in the UK (though Q USA does -
http://www.qvc.com/cgen/render.aspx?qp=class|K993&rewrite=no)
Q promotes Gatineau, but not other Revlon products.
They elect to sell the most expensive brands of a given company.

With the launch of Elizabeth Arden recently and Perricone not long ago, it seems to me that Q is pricing me out of the game.
True they have launched Elizabeth Williams, but her prices are creeping up too.
The policy there seems to be reel them in and hike up the price.

They also have the ploy (and to me it is a ploy) of selling bundles that used to be about £30.00, but the price of those has gone up. I'm thinking of the recent Perricone & Elizabeth Arden TSV.
Throw in easy-pay and a bag ... SOLD!

I confess - I don't use any beauty product sold by Q. I've tried a few, but the fact that they do not list the ingredients puts me off. I've bought & sent back too many times. I buy from the High Street now.

 

[boffy]

i have a problem buying kits of not too fantastic makeup when i can go on the high street and cherry pick very nice brands like chanel and nars. buying tsv's at £50 inc p&p is too high for stuff thats sometimes no better than rimmell and revlon. i would rather have less stuff cluttering my bedroom and more quality stuff that i will use to the very end.

 

[Frazzled]

I've only ever bought Bare Escentuals from QVC when they've been on offer, other times I look elsewhere on the web. I'm not personally prepared to pay for high end cosmetics and creams, I get very good results from some of the cheaper brands recommended on the forum by others.

I suppose they don't offer a "budget" range because what could they say about it that wouldn't undermine the ludicrous claims they make for their other products? :wonder:

 

[minim]

I think they would argue that there is something for everyone, but they have "prestigious" brands for those who are "serious about skincare"

Well, I'm serious, but I am not prepared to pay through the nose.

 

[Catkins]

I too have gone back to the High Street as QVC no longer seem to be value for money. I would, however, have tried the Liz Earle TSV if it had been on EZ pay as I've wanted to try her Superskin moisturiser and the Skin tint, but nearly £50 with p&p meant I just couldn't justify it.

 

[minim]

Estée Lauder has a total of 27-29 brands which include:

American Beauty Aramis Aveda

Bobbi Brown Bumble and bumble

Clinique

Daisy Fuentes Darphin Donald Trump The Fragrance (discontinued) Donna Karan

Estée Lauder

Flirt!

Good Skin Grassroots

Jo Malone

Kate Spade (divested) Kiton

Lab Series
La Mer

MAC Cosmetics Michael Kors Missoni

Ojon Origins

Prescriptives (as of January 31, 2010, available only on-line)

Sean John Fragrance Smashbox Cosmetics Stila (sold)

Tommy Hilfiger Tom Ford Beauty

 

[ERICS MUM]

I am grateful to QVC for showing me "what's out there" in skincare products and for the occasional try-me kit. However once I've worked out the type of lotion/potion/powder that suits me I can look elsewhere. 2 of my favourite QVC products are L'Occitane lavender hand cream and Liz Earle's superskin concentrate -the oil.

Funnily enough though I've found very similar and effective substitutes in Marks and Spencer for a third of the price. The products are so similar in smell and packaging that it makes me wonder whether they and the QVC items are manufactured by the same companies. ?

Linda xx

 

[China Girl]

L'oreal make YSL products and a comment in a DM article from someone who works for them said all the products are similar and it was her job as a sales person to big them up to customers to make them want them more than the cheaper versions made by the same company.

 

[Bea Frugal]

I've only ever bought Bare Escentuals from QVC when they've been on offer, other times I look elsewhere on the web. I'm not personally prepared to pay for high end cosmetics and creams, I get very good results from some of the cheaper brands recommended on the forum by others.

I suppose they don't offer a "budget" range because what could they say about it that wouldn't undermine the ludicrous claims they make for their other products? :wonder:

Good point Frazzled. They already cope with this to some extent by having their 'everyday beauty' and 'serious skincare' hours. The gap in prices between the ranges has definitely narrowed though. I remember I bought an alpha-h try me kit a couple of years ago for about £14. They've got something similar now for over £24. It's still one of the better value ranges from qvc. I've never tried Judith Williams but I think that might be approaching budget category by qvc standards because her pots of cream are often double sized. I'm sorry that A'kin have all but vanished from our screens. That was a perfect example of good quality not having to break the bank. Maybe too close for comfort to the Liz Earle range. I guess we're all fully aware that there are no miracles out there and we have to draw the line somewhere when we decide how much we're willing to pay to remind ourselves of what we knew all the time! Having said all that, I have made some lovely discoveries thanks to qvc and enjoy not having to stand around in Boots, glasses on nose, peering at all the ranges and ingredients and trying to decipher it all. That's worth a few quid on its own. Combined with the money back guarantee I'm happy overall.

 

[minim]

enjoy not having to stand around in Boots, glasses on nose, peering at all the ranges and ingredients and trying to decipher it all. That's worth a few quid on its own.

But that's one of my complaints - they don't tell you the ingredients. Sure, they might tell you what they think you will want to hear - "essential oil", but not the nasties.
You have to wait for the product to arrive.
I ordered some Judith Williams stuff and it went back almost return of post because of what it contained.
Interestingly, I could not track down some of JW's ingredients at all on the internet

Combined with the money back guarantee I'm happy overall.

Now that is a huge plus.

 

[Bea Frugal]

I'm not entirely surprised that you can't find JW's ingredients on the net Minim. That sent me scurrying to investigate Andrew's Youth Molecule which produced quite a bit of info on melons but strangely no mention of melatogenine! It's all too much. We're just the poor saps who hand over our dosh and hope for the best.

 

[donna255]

But Clinique is not a cheaper brand than Bobbi Brown. Clinique was one of the few companies actually created by Estee Lauder along with Prescriptives as was. I spoke to someone the other day and she told me that when EL bought out Bobbi Brown the brand suddenly changed Bobbi's own ethos. Bobbi never liked the shimmerbricks etc but has no real say in the products now released. She is still the face of the brand and does get paid very very very well but basically toes the party line of EL.

Clinique only in the last year started appearing on QVC US and not a very wide range. Their idea of wearing white coats it to full the public into thinking they are chemists etc. Their toners make great paint strippers. The three step is pushed, but then oh the soap won't actually take your makeup off so you need this before that and the on and on and on.

 

[minim]

I thought Clinique will made it's debut in 2008 on QVC US
http://www.makeuptalk.com/t/73816/clinique-to-debut-on-qvc

I don't know anything about their make-up range so I'm not comparing them with any other brand.
Some of their skincare I like though.

 

[lynnonthelake]

I do not imagine that Bobbi brown had anything to do with the new lipsticks that have been launched very very bright colours more suited for a clown.So disappointed as I really liked this range.

 

[donna255]

As long ago as that. Does not appear very often on QVC as the community board never mention it apart from GWP and where they are in department stores.

 

[Ballerina]

Yes, I feel that QVC are getting more and more pricey for beauty.

About 10 years ago, I got sucked into Decleor and Gatineau and would basically buy any TSV from these ranges. I fell for the old "these two alone would cost £££ in the salon, but look at all these extras for "free" routine. I had used Clinique for most of my life and I was happy but as I say, I got talked into changing. However, I found that I didn't actually use most of the add-on products. All in all, I decided to go back to Clinique. I like that I can always get a sample of what I am considering before I commit to buying and I don't have to pay postage, or fear "the letter"! Clinique works for me, my skin feels good and healthy and I have calculated that I spend less money over a year than I was spending on the QVC products. My bathroom cupboard has fewer bottles and tubes sitting around, cluttering it up and going-off. I wouldn't say that I look 35, I am 45 and would say that I look like a 45 year old with decent skin.

The TSV bundles are also creeping up and up in price too. As another poster mentioned, people are still buying the TSV's with gusto, especially if they throw in easy pay and a bag! I decided to buy a Mally TSV before Christmas because I wanted the pore refining finishing product. It came with other goodies and a bag. I am very unimpressed. The blusher cream was cracked all around the edge of it's palate and it fell out and stained my cushion, the mascara was gloopy and the bag, which Mally et al raved about is a piece of tat! She said you could use it as a regular bag but seriously, it would make a charity shop look expensive, it's ghastly. I do like the pore refining product, I binned the mascara but the rest I gave to Cancer Research, I hope they can sell it!

Inge )

 

[RedT]

I got samples of the 3 Step System from Clinique the other week...purely because they were handing them out and I can't resist sample/travel sizes! The girl patiently explained to me that it's not a full routine in itself but a prepraratory one for your OTHER products. So basically the liquid soap is a pre-cleanse and the DDM is more like a serum than a moisturiser. So I went away thinking, you want me to cleanse after i cleanse and use moisturiser after my moisturiser?

So far from being a three step system it's actually part of a five step?? WAY too much faff for me so I'll use them until they are gone and never speak of it again...LOL!

Oh yeah, I did once use a Clinique toner to remove hair dye from bathroom tiles. Absolutely nothing else would work (it had been there for weeks) so I had nothing to lose. Came right off. After that I stopped using it on my face....

 

[minim]

That 3 step routine seems to have been around for years & years.
Must say I'm not a fan of faffing about. People who follow Alison's advice of double cleansing, putting this cream here, a different cream there & layering goodness knows what must spend a long time in the bathroom.
Each to their own I suppose.

 

[rosey]

I still think that tsv's work out good value most of the time. You generally get 4-5 full sized products for £40 so they work out at less than a tenner an item. If you look at the medium quality products in boots like Olay etc most of their items are nearly £20 a bottle. Also you get the 30 mbg which you don't get in the stores.

Also as another poster said you have to stand trying to peer at the instructions on the bottles in Boots whereas you can get good instruction watching the presentations on qvc. One thing that has always annoyed me is why do manufacturers of anti ageing cream insist on putting the tiniest writing on their products when they are aimed at people who have failing eye sight.

 

[donna255]

But are we really to blame?

Yes as I said on my other long winded and preachy post on another thread. We want to believe that X,Y or Z will actually work and get rid of wrinkles and eyebags etc. We read about this product doing this or that and then rush to buy. We ask oh has anyone tried whatever new wonder skincare makeup is out? Oh yes you must spend £50 to make your already normal lashes longer as you must have longer lashes(you might be arrested if you don't). A product created for people with no eye lashes after chemo is suddenly the thing we must all use for longer lashes. The hair straightening products which now come with health warning, but hell you have frizzy hair its a crime against humanity.

We all have a fantasy what we want to or wish we looked like. You find a range you like and use it as truth is no you will not look younger or will your lines and wrinkles really go away. You really want to then save up and get surgery. Using something is better than nothing a fact. Will parabens kill you? No idea has it been written as cause of death on a death certificate yet? Simple fact of life, something will kill you in the end. You will get older. You will look older.