The so-called flowers for each eye, whether it is dozens, one or two hundred yuan of eye cream, or hundreds of yuan, thousands of yuan of expensive eye cream, they all have their own loyal fans and "black powder". So, what's the difference between cheap and expensive eye creams, and what are consumers paying for when they pay more for expensive eye creams?
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Before we get into today's topic, I hope you can agree on at least two general points:
1. In terms of efficacy (such as fading wrinkles, whitening, etc.), the effect of expensive products is not necessarily better than that of cheap products;
2. Also in terms of efficacy, the effect of products containing "rare" ingredients is not necessarily better than that of ordinary products.
Next, let's analyze the difference between cheap and expensive eye creams.
Brand & Market
Different brands have different pricing ranges, and the pricing of products, especially the pricing of expensive eye creams, can be said to be a considerable part of the brand premium.
Therefore, we can sometimes see that two different brands of eye creams belonging to the same group, even if the core functional ingredients of the products are the same, and even the concentration is the same, the formula is not much different, but because the two brands are positioned in the mid-range and high-end respectively, the price can be several times different.
In addition to its own brand value, there are also product channels, publicity, celebrity endorsements, etc., and in the end, the wool is out of the sheep.
Product packaging
Following the above, the packaging design and material selection of the product are closely related to the positioning and tonality of the brand itself, and some of the packaging is also related to the realization of certain formulas and efficacy. Brands with higher-end positioning usually choose better (or more in line with brand positioning and tonality) materials and production processes in the outer and inner packaging materials of their products.
Taking the inner packaging material of eye cream as an example, there are actually many links, such as whether to use glass or plastic for the bottom bottle, whether to use a hard or a hose, whether the bottle should have a light-proof effect, whether to use a dropper or a pressure pump at the top, whether to electroplating the bottle cap, etc., and the choice of outer material carton material and production process (such as matte/mirror, flocking, laminating), etc., will lead to obvious differences in cost in the end.
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Patented ingredient
Different patented functional ingredients are one of the most important features to distinguish different brands, and this part can be said to be one of the main sources of product price differences.
In order to develop ingredients that can produce specific effects, such as lightening fine lines around the eyes, lightening dark circles, To alleviate edema, etc., a huge amount of investment is often required in the early stage, and it is not limited to the investment of a single ingredient, but the investment of countless trial and error also needs to be included in the research and development cost, so after the successful research and development of the ingredients, it is often necessary to apply for a patent and license the use, after all, if there is no sufficient return in the follow-up, then it will not be able to drive the investment in research and development in the early stage, and this normal market behavior will also lead to the pricing of patented ingredients will not be too low, pushing up the price of the product.
Functional ingredients and their concentrations
As far as eye products are concerned, there are only a few categories of benefits to be pursued, including moisturizing the skin around the eyes, relieving dry lines, fading fine lines (and even dynamic lines), lightening dark circles, and reducing swelling. When solving different problems, different brands and different formula ideas may choose different functional ingredients, and eventually they can achieve similar effects, but the differences in raw materials of different functional ingredients may be huge, even if the same functional ingredient is claimed, the preparation cost of different purities is also different, which will also lead to the difference in the price of the final product.
In addition, regardless of whether the functional ingredient is a proprietary ingredient of a particular brand, generally speaking, the higher the concentration of the main functional ingredient in the product, the higher the corresponding product price, because generally speaking, within a certain concentration range, the higher the concentration, the better the effect may be (but not certainly). For example, if we look at two eye creams with different prices, the efficacy ingredient claims to be the same, but a careful comparison may find that the concentration of the ingredients is different. Even within the same series of eye creams of the same brand, there may be different concentrations of gradient products, and the pricing is that the higher the concentration of the active ingredients, the higher the price.
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Product formulation
An eye cream not only contains the main functional ingredients, but also many auxiliary ingredients, such as some ingredients are responsible for whether the texture of the eye cream is more pasty or oily, some ingredients are responsible for whether the product is fragrant or smelly, and some ingredients are responsible for whether it is good to push away, etc.
That is to say, the use of the product/skin feel, and the formula design is closely related, many ingredients are combined together to push away, absorb, do not rub mud, do not smoke the eyes, are the result of the fine design and adjustment of the formula, and part of the product price flows to this link. Although the expensive ones are often thundered, and the cheap ones are also very easy to use, in general, the products with a relatively higher price tend to do better in terms of skin feel.
In addition, there are flavors and preservatives in the formula, and many of the safer and hypoallergenic ingredients are usually more expensive.
Special processes
The preparation process of skin care products has made very rapid progress and development in recent years, so that the products can have better efficacy, which is undoubtedly part of the cost.
Although the skin is not thick, the healthy skin barrier is very resistant, so that most of the ingredients in skincare products can only stay on the surface. Therefore, some products use pro-penetration formula technology, which allows a higher proportion of specific ingredients to penetrate deep through the skin barrier for better efficacy.
In addition, some ingredients that have the effect of lightening wrinkles around the eyes are irritating, and may cause stinging, dryness, peeling, redness, etc. after use, so some products will use special encapsulation technology to encapsulate the ingredients microscopically and release them slowly after being applied to the skin, reducing the adverse reactions caused by direct contact with the skin.
Combined with the above, it can be seen that if an eye cream uses patented functional ingredients and the concentration is not low, with penetration-promoting technology or packaging technology, excellent formula design, good skin feel, and excellent packaging texture, even if you put aside the cost of brand and marketing, its cost will not be too low, if it is added with the blessing of big brands, then its price is likely to reach hundreds or even thousands.
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At the beginning of recycling, since we said that expensive prices do not necessarily work well, and expensive rare ingredients do not necessarily work well, what should we pay more attention to than price?
According to the current laws and regulations, commercially available cosmetics (including skin care products) are subject to the supervision of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics, and specifically for the implementation of the efficacy of skin care products, the National Medical Products Administration issued the "Evaluation Specifications for Cosmetic Efficacy Claims" in 2021, which has been implemented since January 1, 2022.
Caption: The blue indicator is an indicator related to eye cream
According to this regulation, all skin care products are required to submit the corresponding evaluation basis for filing when claiming specific efficacy, including human efficacy evaluation tests, consumer use tests, laboratory tests, and literature or research data.
At present, the brands that are at the forefront and dare to claim the efficacy of their own products will generally choose to conduct the most powerful proof - human efficacy evaluation test, which is also the best evaluation index that our consumers can refer to, these reports will have such as how many weeks of use, how much effect the product can produce on the skin, such as how much fine lines around the eyes can be lightened, how much the moisturization of the skin around the eyes will increase, etc., and generally the products with corresponding human efficacy evaluation will be displayed in the product details page.
The price of a product with excellent human efficacy evaluation is not necessarily absolutely expensive.
summary
There are thousands of eye creams on the market, and to accurately choose a product that suits you, you must put some effort, such as clarifying your needs, researching ingredients, checking evaluations, checking human efficacy evaluation data, comparing cost performance, consulting doctors in related specialties, etc., and of course, including the process of trial and error.
Regardless of the expensive price or ordinary eye cream, as long as it can meet your own efficacy needs, the skin feel is what you like, and match your ability to pay, then there is no absolute superiority or inferiority.
Finally, I wish you all the best if you can pick a product that you are satisfied with.
Planning and production
This article is a work of popular science China-Star Project
Produced by the Department of Science and Technology of the China Association for Science and Technology
Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Galaxy Culture Media Co., Ltd
Author丨Zeng Xiangru, dermatologist
Audit丨Feng Jun, Deputy Chief Physician of the Department of Dermatology, General Hospital of Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd