When it comes to fashion we have the tendency to determine the quality of a product by its brand name and price, hence the more expensive a product, the more we expect from it. Obviously. You won’t expect a tee-shirt from Zara to out last one from say, Zadig and Voltaire, even if they are made of the same material the disparity in price point should add to the quality. It’s a blind trust. The same thing with beauty products; there are high street, high fashion and couture beauty products; a nail polish from a couture beauty brand like Chanel that costs £18 should outlast one from Barry M, a high street brand, that costs all of £3, although this is not often the case. Still, I catch myself buying a product more for the brand name than anything else; it’s how we are programmed.
After twelve years of using Clarins I made a switch to Simple skin care, a leap not taken before exhaustive research and a prayer. Reason for the change was simple, no pun intended, Clarins ran its course and it was time to move on. The breakup was amicable and I suppose twelve years is a reasonable amount of time to expect a plateau of the sort. It did the job it was supposed to do for my skin in the beginning, ridding it of any black heads, spots and what not. Touch wood I’ve not needed much maintenance, not because I am super healthy or drink much water, I don’t even know what healthy pores are supposed to look like, I’m not conscientious when it comes to beauty products. BB/CC/DD Creams? Forget it. But by some freakish nature I don’t break out, don’t have acne- I have inherited a set of spots that reside permanently on my face and there are one or two pimples that pop in during that pesky time…one or two, never three, its the strangest thing- by and large, I’ve been lucky with my skin and Clarins was a good support system. Save for cleanser, face wash and moisturiser, I’ve not needed much. Some mornings when I can’t be bothered I use black soap and water and it still does the job.
Having used Simple for four months now, there is no great difference. It does a good job of maintaining the Clarins foundation and I have acclimatised myself with the products. Naturally, this got me thinking about brands and the comforts associated with them, especially beauty brands because they are that bit more personal. I was loyal to Clarins not only because it gave me a comfort zone and gained my trust almost immediately, but it was easier to stay loyal because of its “high fashion” status. Clarins is a well recognised brand so even if it stopped making a difference a while back, I used Clarins for the sake of Clarins.
I have the same attitude when it comes to makeup, I tend to gravitate more towards high fashion than high street brands; Mac, YSL, and now Tom Ford, because I place more trust in them and because of how much they cost I believe they will do the job as described. Take my mascara for instance, it’s almost always YSL, I’ve tried and tested other brands but YSL is my mainstay, I trust this product implicitly, besides the fact that it’s splendidly good and does what it promises to do; give me fat fabulous Betty Boo lashes, YSL is as high fashion in beauty as it comes, maybe even couture. With such trust comes comfort, you know, like a long standing marriage. Some days I may flirt with another brand other days I may even cheat, but I’ll always come back to YSL. We trust in what we know.
On the flip side, I do use Body Shop liquid liner, which is simply put, THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE ABSOLUTE BEST. I’ve used it forever. I’ve tried other brands but nothing compares. And at just £8 you cannot go wrong. A thing of comfort and quality over high fashion I suppose, but it is what it is.