Horses for courses!

[yorkrose26]

No I am not talking about a new 'diet chef' recipe! (horseburger anyone!). But I am curious to know if people have tried the same type of products with different brands and seen any different.

For example (clarity description as the above wasn't really very clear I know), has a person tried Tan Luxe and the Decleor version, or the two differing version of anti-aging creams from Decleor or Elmies, or Liz Earle Cleanse and polish and the Decleor Cleanser. I think you get the picture.

I suppose what I am trying to ask in essence is if they are potentially do the same job why have the multitude of brands!

 

[shopperholic]

I've always been of the opinion that, same with food and other consumer goods, there are just a select few companies that make beauty products were companies/brands go to to get theirs made, they pay the manufacturer X amount then depending on the name of the brand, determines the price charged, hence its the name you pay for as with everything in the consumer industry.

 

[Bettyboo]

I agree with shopperholic lots of beauty products made on the same production line just different wording on the packet/box etc. In my opinion people are being conned into buying expensive products that are no different than some of the cheaper brands. I buy everything off the shelf, Nivea,Soap and Glory etc.

 

[Kathy]

I've always been of the opinion that, same with food and other consumer goods, there are just a select few companies that make beauty products were companies/brands go to to get theirs made, they pay the manufacturer X amount then depending on the name of the brand, determines the price charged, hence its the name you pay for as with everything in the consumer industry.

I agree with the above post. We all know that most M&S products are more expensive than any supermarket, yet I know someone that worked at a well known biscuit factory who said that exactly the same biscuits went into all the different wrappers. We have seen the same with some of the beauty products on qvc, just recently M Asam with perfect teint... next day Fleur de Mer with imo same product different name.

 

[Vienna]

I can`t remember which other thread talked about Astral cream but in the link below is an article about it from today`s paper. Just an example how a lot of people fall for the placebo effect of buying high priced skincare as opposed to a basic high street brand. Put something in a fancy jar with lots of pseudo scientific guff written on it or get some high earning telly sales person to blag about it and instantly people believe they`re getting something special. People believe what they`re told, well many people do and if I was slapping 50 quid a jar cream on my face, I too would be kidding myself it was working miracles.
I once watched a consumer programme where the presenter put basic cheap moisturiser into fancy pots, gave it a made up luxurious sounding name and hit the streets with it. She stopped women of various ages and told them it was a new cream, would cost over £100 per jar, did all kinds of marvellous things to the skin and asked them to sample it and tell her what they thought of it as well as whether they would buy it. The women ooooohed and aaaaahed over it, said how luxurious it felt and that if they could afford it, they would buy it. The presenter then dropped the bombshell that it was just a basic high street moisturiser costing just a couple of quid and they`d been fooled into believing it was something else. The joys of marketing, blagging and kidology.
Anyway here`s the link to the Astral article, worth a read
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...70-year-old-Joanna-Lumley-looking-Ab-Fab.html

 

[donna255]

Because if anyone found the secret ingredient to stop natural skin ageing. Everyone other brand would disappear.

As for beauty products being the same.

1. If stated made in a country it must be made in that country. They would be fined £££££££ if lying

2. Some do use the same factory for different brands but are kept totally separate.

3. Ingredient list, they must show the exact same ingredient in the exact same order for this to be correct. Take La Prairie do a Caviar Cream so does Aldi(never tried either), but where in the ingredient list does the caviar appear? Is one higher on the list, is one real Russian Caviar or really just fish roe which people call poor man's caviar?

Playing the devil here.

Here in Northern Ireland M&S had all their bread biscuits etc made by Ormo Bakery an old company who own products where the same price as the M&S stuff.

An old chestnut which used to do the rounds was Chanel was made by Bourjoir(sp), in fact Bourjoir have been around since the 19 century and bought over by the Chanel company(who only started doing make in the mid 20th century). Which is a privately owned one and guarded like the golden goose it is. The brothers who own Chanel sold Bourjoir a number of years back.

 

[Moth]

I think most people pay for perception - the idea that more expensive means better products, when it most certainly doesn't. I'm also pretty sure consumers would be quite shocked if they got to see the cost of manufacture compared to the cost of purchase. I used to work in a manufacturing company that sold products costing many hundreds of pounds. Those same products used to cost £7 to actually make. If I was suddenly made supreme ruler of the world, I'd enforce a law that meant companies had to properly justify higher than normal prices, but I bet most of them wouldn't be able to.

As for ingredients in similar products, I'm of the opinion that a single manufacturer produces base product that lots of other companies take and modify for their own means. Again, from my own work experience, I can't name names, but part of the company I worked for made base products for mascara. That product was sold to a very long list of other cosmetics companies to use that range from the cheapest supermarket brand right up to the high-end Harrods type brands.

Despite all that, none of it works anyway. Just look at the people selling - they have all aged exactly the same way as most of the rest of us, despite their expensive bottled miracles.

 

[boffy]

a friend of mine used to work for a bakery that made croissants rolls etc for all the supermarkets in london including marks and spencer. they just packaged them differently. marks ad spencer i think sell thier food with shorter shelf life so it appears you are getting a fresher tastier product wheas asda/tescos will keep thier baked good a wee bit longer.
once i was collecting some items from marks and they let me go to the main storage area. i saw dozens upon dozens of boxes of kickers shoe boxes. kickers made some of the school shoes but the shes were obviously not marked with kickers.

 

[Julius]

The Easy washing powder is better than the overpriced Miele stuff!

 

[louise66]

I can`t remember which other thread talked about Astral cream but in the link below is an article about it from today`s paper. Just an example how a lot of people fall for the placebo effect of buying high priced skincare as opposed to a basic high street brand. Put something in a fancy jar with lots of pseudo scientific guff written on it or get some high earning telly sales person to blag about it and instantly people believe they`re getting something special. People believe what they`re told, well many people do and if I was slapping 50 quid a jar cream on my face, I too would be kidding myself it was working miracles.
I once watched a consumer programme where the presenter put basic cheap moisturiser into fancy pots, gave it a made up luxurious sounding name and hit the streets with it. She stopped women of various ages and told them it was a new cream, would cost over £100 per jar, did all kinds of marvellous things to the skin and asked them to sample it and tell her what they thought of it as well as whether they would buy it. The women ooooohed and aaaaahed over it, said how luxurious it felt and that if they could afford it, they would buy it. The presenter then dropped the bombshell that it was just a basic high street moisturiser costing just a couple of quid and they`d been fooled into believing it was something else. The joys of marketing, blagging and kidology.
Anyway here`s the link to the Astral article, worth a read
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...70-year-old-Joanna-Lumley-looking-Ab-Fab.html

And QVC, and the product guest, will have us believe that the £160+ Imedeen Miss Lumley uses, is responsible for her youthful complexion!

 

[Laura L'occitane Earle]

My Dad has a factory and long ago he made garments for designers like Betty Jackson and Jasper Conran, Harrods and then Jaegar and Whistles, right down to high street stuff. Same machines, same production people, just different fabrics. He used to go mad if we ever aspired to designer or label things, saying that it was all smoke and mirrors.

 

[Totally Loopy Lou]

Think the most interesting point of that article about Astral (cannot believe I voluntarily read a Daily Mail article!!) is not that the £2.99 pot of cream is just as effective as more expensive potions (which doesn't surprise me remotely!), is the dermatologist saying - as we surely all know really - that 95% ageing is down to GENETICS AND LIFESTYLE! And as I understand it, genetics is often the larger part of that. And of course we have no way to control that...! Drinking plenty, good diet, no smoking and not much drinking etc will all help too obviously.

Have to say, though, I hate Astral! I love the smell and association with my grandmother but I bought a pot for reasons of nostalgia last year and I found it sat like an oil slick on my skin and gave me spots! Having said that I've never paid more than about £10 (or equivalent if in a kit etc)) for a moisturiser so glad I'm not wrong on that as I can't afford more these days!!

 

[boffy]

heavy smokers,drinkers and sun worshippers are pushing it on the skin quality

 

[donna255]

My Dad has a factory and long ago he made garments for designers like Betty Jackson and Jasper Conran, Harrods and then Jaegar and Whistles, right down to high street stuff. Same machines, same production people, just different fabrics. He used to go mad if we ever aspired to designer or label things, saying that it was all smoke and mirrors.

Now its all gone to India and China to make clothing.

Such as the famous Uggs, how you know they are not fake is Made In China, the fake ones think by putting Australia or such people think they are real.

 

[yorkrose26]

My Dad has a factory and long ago he made garments for designers like Betty Jackson and Jasper Conran, Harrods and then Jaegar and Whistles, rigmht down to high street stuff. Same machines, same production people, just different fabrics. He used to go mad if we ever aspired to designer or label things, saying that it was all smoke and mirrors.

Yeah tis amazing that the same people make stuff that would cost £1000's right down to the £20/£30 bracket. All because of the material and more so the label that the seamstress sewed into the garment. Would have been a travesty if one got mixed from a BJ to a high street name, though saying that the power of advertising would lead the buyer to think that they have a genuine BJ dress when in actual fact it would be the HS version and just the seamstress having a 'moment'! No tis amazing the power of the mind and how we because something states it does or is something that we as consumers 'believe' the hype!

 

[Vienna]

Clothing , skincare, toiletries, household products, bags and accessories, food etc are often contracted out to a Mother company who`ll manufacture for several different brands. That`s why on packaging you`ll regularly see something along the lines of " Made in (insert town or Country) for (insert brand) ".
It saves brands from buying their own very expensive machinery , buying or renting manufacturing factory space and paying for production staff and it leaves them more money in the pot for advertising and display.
A prime example would be something a forum member raised on another thread ie washing powder. He buys it for £1 under the name of Easy but its made by Jeyes who also manufacture Bloo toilet and bathroom cleaning products, Parazone brands including bleach, cleansing sprays, toilet cleansers etc, Quickies brand including face wipes, nail polish remover, instant tanning wipes, toilet tissues etc, Jeyes brand including disinfectant, limescale remover, window cleaner, shower and bath sprays etc and then there`s the Easy brand which caters mainly for pound shops and does a wide range of everything from washing powder, washing up liquid, fabric softener to spray starch and all made under the same roof by the same machinery used by the same workers.
Foreign countries manufacture for a number of British brands and vice versa when British companies manufacture for foreign brands and it`s the way Companies make bigger profits because as I said above, it saves them buying and paying for their own manufacturing process. Obviously China, India, Vietnam and Thailand have the lion`s share of production because they do it much cheaper but high end brands such as Burberry, Lulu Guinness, Ugg, Clogeau to name but a few, are probably made alongside raincoats for Primark, bags for Debenhams, boots for Windsors, and jewellery for H Samuels.

 

[Moth]

I remember the days when QVC did sell decent, low price stuff. I found a top from Freelance, with side slits in a lovely green, which only cost £15 at the time, is great quality and 92% modal. I know modal is all the rage now so I can only assume it is simple corporate greed that gives us the awful Yong Kim instead of good, affordable lines like Freelance. I only ever saw them once, though, do they still exist?

 

[Laura L'occitane Earle]

This thread has reminded me, I was out of dishwasher tabs and only ever buy the Finish ones but only when there is a good offer on them, so seeing no offers, I picked up a small box of 10 Finish tabs from Poundland. It took me about five washes to realise the dishes were not coming out clean due to the tabs (after having cleaned out the dishwasher, run an empty cycle, checked the filter etc.) Although the tabs and the box looked exactly the same, they were inferior in quality. It has made me a bit wary of certain branded items in Poundland - have they been made to an inferior quality. Since then I switched to Tesco ones and, after reading this thread, purchased some from Aldi yesterday. Like another forumite, money saved means I can pamper myself a bit more!

 

[Totally Loopy Lou]

This thread has reminded me, I was out of dishwasher tabs and only ever buy the Finish ones but only when there is a good offer on them, so seeing no offers, I picked up a small box of 10 Finish tabs from Poundland. It took me about five washes to realise the dishes were not coming out clean due to the tabs (after having cleaned out the dishwasher, run an empty cycle, checked the filter etc.) Although the tabs and the box looked exactly the same, they were inferior in quality. It has made me a bit wary of certain branded items in Poundland - have they been made to an inferior quality. Since then I switched to Tesco ones and, after reading this thread, purchased some from Aldi yesterday. Like another forumite, money saved means I can pamper myself a bit more!

You're quite right, a few brands do this. One notorious one is Andrex. They seem to do two ranges which are actually different size of roll as well as quality... I was sucked in twice, once in poundshop and once at amazon, buying a 'bargain' pack based on the Andrex branding only to discover they're a totally inferior item! So now am just sticking to own brand as I always used to...

As for Finish do not get me started I've always bought Aldi (if I get can someone to get there for me) or tesco but bought some Finish powerball a couple of months back. They wouldn't dissolve at first (I have a half size dishwasher) but sorted that out only to notice it was attacking my stainless steel cutlery. After 3 washes my entire cutlery set was ruined - permanently corroded and marked. Gutted! Got £10 vouchers from them but my set is useless now and cost lot more than that...

 

[shopperholic]

Took me years to prize the husband off named brands, not all but most, I told him who do you think makes the shops own brands? All the major supermarkets don't have their own little factories making their own branded goods, so he gave in on one condition, if the one thing I never changed was Crosse and Blackwell beans, the man does love his Crosse and Blackwell beans. :mysmilie_17: