KEY POINTS:
The price of beauty may be high, but New Zealanders aren't too keen on paying it.
According to new research from The Nielsen Company, most Kiwi shoppers believe that mass-market haircare, skincare and cosmetic products are just as good as premium, more expensive varieties.
An online opinion survey conducted every six months shows 86 per cent of New Zealanders buy their make-up, moisturisers and shampoo at the supermarket. Overseas, only 58 per cent of shoppers buy health and beauty items from the supermarket.
Six out of 10 Kiwi shoppers also said their choice of product was driven by price, rather than the quality or the brand.
So does it really matter whether you spend $20 or $120 on a tube of moisturiser or eye cream?
New Zealand Dermatology Association president Kevin McKerrow said expensive skincare products often claimed to have many benefits, but there was little evidence to show they were any different from their cheaper counterparts.
"You can't tell me that a $70 moisturiser is better than a $20 one... They add all these words to them - antioxidants, alpha hydroxy acids and so on - and they appeal to people because they think they are getting everything they need in one. But they aren't always in concentrations that we understand as being helpful."
McKerrow said the most important skincare item was a good sunscreen, and a moisturiser to use at night, but he usually recommended mid-range priced products to his clients.
When it comes to hair products, Paul Serville, of leading hair salon chain Servilles, said a litre bottle of shampoo from the supermarket might be practical, but people should be using products that had been specially recommended for their own hair.
Supermarket hair dyes and colour kits also needed to be approached with care, even though they might be good quality. "It's not so much what they're putting on, it's that they don't have the knowledge of what to do and how to do it," Serville said.
While the majority of New Zealanders shop for beauty products at supermarkets, they also make purchases from pharmacies, department stores and, to a lesser extent, speciality stores.
Part of the trend may be the wider range of products now available in supermarkets, with brands such as Olay and L'Oréal now being sold on the grocery store shelf next to traditional mass-market products like Nivea and Alberto VO5.
Progressive Foods merchandising manager for non-food products, Clare Norton, said skincare and cosmetics purchases were boosting supermarket revenue.
"Definitely in the last three to five years a lot of the multi-nationals like L'Oréal and Neutrogena now have ranges available in supermarkets. The brands we used to have have added advanced technology, plus we now stock a lot of brands we never used to."
She said there were more specialist products available within the ranges, and items were affordable for shoppers. "Convenience would certainly be an issue for the mother or father with children - you're already there buying your food, and it's quite a nice area to browse."
Nielsen's research has shown that health and beauty product sales have risen 4.6 per cent over the past year, and personal care and cosmetics sales as a whole are now worth $721.2 million.
Make-up artist Nikki Lovrich says people should stick with what worked for them, no matter what the price.
"If something is super-expensive and you find it's good, keep on using it. Or, you might get one from the supermarket, a cheap moisturiser, and it might really agree with you."
Lovrich said people could be swayed by the notion that just because something was expensive, it must be good.
"I'm not a product snob at all - if a good product works for you, great. If it doesn't, don't be ashamed to admit that you bought something for $10 and it's brilliant."
