Tag: price gouging

Catrice Prime and Fine Dewy Glow Fixing Spray

thealtruisticface

Catrice Dewy Glow Fixing

“If it tastes good, then it’s not good for you”. Same applies here, minus the taste part… so I guess that’s more like, “if it works well, it’s not good for you”?

This stuff is amazing. So amazing that it’s always sold out at Ulta, and resellers price-gouge on Amazon and Ebay, pushing the price up from the original $7 to $20!

You can go ahead and layer up with your usual moisturizers with this product, then go ahead and spritz some product of this on prior to putting on your foundation. It even SMELLS nice — a little alcohol-y, but somehow, still fresh and floral. With almost any foundation, this fixing spray will guarantee that the makeup won’t budge for at LEAST eight hours, probably more. It works better than any setting or finishing spray OR setting powders that I’ve ever used. In fact, while I was using this, I wouldn’t even bother to use any other setters or finishers!

But alas… one day I turned the packaging around and re-read the ingredients. There it was, that evil benzyl alcohol. As you readers may or may not know — actually, I’m mostly writing this for myself, since I always forget — the “evil” alcohols in skincare are ethanol, isopropyl, methanol, denat, and benzyl alcohol. They make products dry up quickly on your skin, but end up also drying out and irritating your skin.

Possibly but not necessarily due to the benzoyl alcohol, my super sensitive skin had a couple break outs while I was using the product. Initially, I blamed it on my period. But then it persisted well past that time of that month and I just happened to take a gander at the packaging… (should this blog be called “a girl tries makeup without checking the ingredients first”?) It’s very disappointing because this product is phenomenal, and truly makes your makeup last on your face for a very long time. Back to the fixing spray drawing board…

Perceived efficacy: 5/5

Longevity: 5/5

How much I actually like this product: If there were no benzyl alcohol, 5/5!

Recommended for sensitive skin: No

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Dr Lin Skincare Daily Hydrating Gel (and price gouging in skincare)

thealtruisticface

Dr Lin Hydrating Gel.JPG

Though I no longer include this moisturizer as part of my repertoire, I was reminded of it when scrolling through my old emails and subsequent past online purchases. It struck a nerve with me since one of my holy grail items (Jergens BB Body Skin Creme) was an unfortunate victim of price gouging and/or overall product price increase. I stopped purchasing Dr Lin’s Hydrating Gel after the price went from an average of $12, to an average of $24 ($30, looking at their website… yikes).

From a business ownership standpoint, I get it. You have a lot of demand for your product, you’re well within your rights to raise the price on it, to cover production costs, to make a better return on the product you’ve masterfully created. But I’m always curious what the risk is of alienating a customer base who was only willing to pay X amount for it. Perhaps that customer base is irrelevant — maybe the company wants to market toward a different demographic, rely on their diehard fans to keep buying, or expect the apparent popularity of an item to reach out to more new customers than they had old.

Still: it’s annoying. And this product, in my opinion, was lackluster enough to be dropped from my routine, and not really deserving of such a sharp price increase.

But I will say it was good to have around for the time I had cystic acne, and a product that would be well placed in a minimalist routine. It was oil free, clear, watery gel, and light weight. It didn’t aggravate my skin, and was refreshing to put on. No offensive smells, very fresh. It did apply a little tacky, but if you waited a couple minutes before touching or putting anything else on your skin, it would not interfere.

But it wasn’t really… moisturizing. It was usually the last step in my morning routine, and I viewed it more as an occlusive layer. Using it just as a moisturizer on it’s own lead to extremely dry skin after half of the day.

So, I’m conflicted. I felt a little bummed out by their decision to increase the price, and it really wasn’t life-changing enough to keep in my routine. For acne sufferers, this stuff will provide a bit of temporary relief from the more painful breakouts, but won’t do anything in the long-term, even beyond the course of four or five hours. ~A

For cystic acne sufferers, you might find that this product is worth the price. https://amzn.to/2CX7rD1

Perceived efficacy: 3.5/5

Longevity: 2/5

How much I actually like this product: 3/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes