Pro tip for cosmetics
A friend of mine is the head of branding for one of the world's largest cosmetics companies. I pass on to you her advice when looking for a bargain.

Premium products cost a fortune to research, test, bring to market and then promote. Once this point is passed, however, the marginal cost of making any more is practically nil; however, the exclusivity in the destination market must be maintained in order to secure the price premium.

However, as we all know, we live in globalised times. These surplus product lines are often hastily re-badged for new markets and sold off as own brand or even discount tat in order to keep production lines running at optimum efficiency.

The key to benefiting from this is gold. Apparently, a small amount of gold (or to a lesser degree silver) detailing on a cosmetics bottle costs a relative fortune to include in the production process and is restricted to only the premium lines where sufficient profit is expected. However, due to the aforementioned marginal costs of overproduction, it costs less to keep it when knocking out an extra million units than it does to retool the print run.

So (finally getting to the point) if you see dirt cheap or own brand cosmetics with gold or silver detailing on the packaging, it is likely to a premium product which someone somewhere else (possibly the same shop but more likely a different country) has been bullied into spending many times the price for; whether you choose to accept that it is therefore a 'better' product is down to you.

I assume this logic transfers over to other industries but have not been able to confirm.
(pounana Slept well, and dreamed of large women, on, Sun 13 Nov 2011, 22:39, 7 replies)

two things -
1)animal testing
2)only ugly and insecure, shallow, vapid women women wear make-up.
(Gritty, yet fluffy. kipperpillock is obsessed with me =), Sun 13 Nov 2011, 23:35, closed)

bollocks
Ugly and insecure, shallow, vapid men also wear make-up too, you know.
( admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Sun 13 Nov 2011, 23:51, closed)

also
Ugly, insecure, shallow, vapid animals wear make-up as well. Although they don't choose to, it makes me hate them,
(judgetheobscure used to sweep in butchers' shops., Mon 14 Nov 2011, 0:02, closed)

Finished products are rarely tested these days.
Ethical reasons aside, there's simply no practical benefit to carrying out animal testing on finished products; it gives you no data about toxicology and skin irritation potential that can't be worked out from the data supplied with the constituent raw materials. It's also extremely expensive.

However, this is not to say the raw materials themselves haven't been tested at some point.

(Note to the Animal Defence League: we dont do it so pls dont firebomb my flat kthxbai)
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 0:10, closed)

you'll have to tell me your address
so I can see whether it's on the bombing schedule manifest or not.
(Gritty, yet fluffy. kipperpillock is obsessed with me =), Mon 14 Nov 2011, 6:26, closed)

I live on the A643 between Rishworth Moor and central Leeds.
Hope that helps!
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Wed 16 Nov 2011, 0:21, closed)

This is rather torturous
logic, but quite plausible.

My family has a factory in Brazil, that makes clothes. We produce for top end designer brands, and for cheapo supermarket brands.

Much of the time, the difference between the two is the logo and label.
(username failed moderation, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 9:24, closed)