How to copy those luxury skincare products.

Caveats:
Luxury products won’t make you feel rich. Not even very rich people feel rich!

Buying a luxury product may make you feel like a fool, especially when you look at the ingredient list after you buy it and then discover that it is not returnable.
What people say: “It makes my skin feel soft and comfortable.”

Hack:
Buy the perfume if it’s the perfume that makes you feel that a product that costs more than $1,000 per oz. is not ridiculous.  If you still like it after wearing the perfume for a week, add a drop to the $20 skincare product that actually helps.

Buy yourself a pretty pump to dispense the DIY serum you can make using Skin Actives ingredients. You can buy one for $5, wash it and re-use.

Get some Vaseline from the supermarket and mix it in an inexpensive product. Isn’t it silly that vaseline, costing a dollar for a big jar,  makes expensive brands feel expensive?

Let’s look at a couple of examples. Price for #1 is $1,690 for 15ml (half oz)

Let’s look at its ingredient list:

Water, Butylene Glycol, C12-20 Acid PEG-8 Ester, Squalane, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate/​Caprate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Myristyl Myristate, Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, Hydrolyzed Yeast Extract, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glycoproteins, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Equisetum Arvense Extract, Colloidal Platinum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lactobacillus Ferment, Lentil Seed Extract, Paeonia Albiflora Root Extract, Rose Flower Extract, Chinese peony Root Extract, Coffee Seed Extract, Yeast Extract, Raspberry Leaf Extract, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Decapeptide-4, Oligopeptide-6, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Ceramide NG, Tocopherol, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Soluble Collagen, Lecithin, Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucose, Lysine HCl, Threonine, Arginine, Glycine, Serine, Histidine, Tryptophan, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/​Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Tribehenin, Carbomer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Carrageenan, Polysorbate 60, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Polyglucuronic Acid, Trehalose, Chitosan, Xanthan Gum, Mica, Alumina, Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Calcium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Phosphate, Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Titanium Dioxide (Nano), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499)

The “base”: Water, Butylene Glycol, C12-20 Acid PEG-8 Ester, Squalane, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate/​Caprate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Myristyl Myristate, Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate. Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/​Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Tribehenin, Carbomer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Carrageenan, Polysorbate 60, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Polyglucuronic Acid, Trehalose, Chitosan, Xanthan Gum, , Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate

Nutrition: Hydrolyzed Yeast Extract, Yeast extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lactobacillus Ferment, lentil extract, soluble collagen, lecithin, sodium chondroitin sulfate, Glucose, Lysine HCl, Threonine, Arginine, Glycine, Serine, Histidine, Tryptophan, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate.

Label value (useless stuff in minute quantities that will do nothing: Colloidal Platinum. Unless you are trying to catalyze a reaction without using your enzymes, platinum will do nothing for you.

Peptides: probably useless but also inoffensive when short enough. Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Decapeptide-4, Oligopeptide-6, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4.

Fragrances: Fragrance (Parfum), Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool,

Preservatives: Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Dehydroacetate

Make-up (reflective pigments, etc.): Mica, Alumina, Titanium Dioxide (Nano), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499)

Product #2  For $2,180 for 0.8 oz. But….the bottles are so pretty!

Aqua, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/​Capric/​Succinic Triglyceride, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Glycoproteins, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Equisetum Arvense Extract, Colloidal Platinum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lactobacillus Ferment, Calanthe Discolor Extract, Argan Extract, Yeast Extract, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract, Rosa Rugosa Leaf Extract, Oligopeptide-6, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Nicotiana Benthamiana Octapeptide-30 SH-Oligopeptide-2, Nicotiana Benthamiana Hexapeptide-40 SH-Oligopeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-10, Decapeptide-4, Arginine, Threonine, Lysine Hcl, Histidine, Serine, Glycine, Tryptophan, Soluble Collagen, Chitosan, Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate, Sodium Mannose Phosphate, Mannose, Folic Acid, Gluconolactone, Calcium Pantothenate, Propanediol, Cellulose, Isomalt, Phospholipids, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Glucose, Xanthan Gum, Tin Oxide, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Ethylhexylglycerin,  synthetic mica, Acrylates/​C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Carbomer, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Calcium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Phosphate, Polysorbate 80, Calcium Gluconate, Sodium Oleate, Benzotriazolyl Dodecyl P-Cresol, Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Potassium Sorbate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ext. Violet 2 (Ci 60730), Red 40 (Ci 16035).

Similar to the product described above but with a prettier color. Why? It contains prettier colorants: Ext. Violet 2 (Ci 60730) and Red 40 (Ci 16035). It contains a few more preservatives, maybe because it also contains more nutrients, which bacteria like as much as our skin. Also of interest: Nicotiana benthamiana, a tobacco plant, is used to study plant genetics, like Arabidopsis thaliana.  If you wish to fund plant genetic research, please donate to a university rather than buy obscure peptides.

My suggestion? Do you want to feel rich? Get some grandkids! Sons and daughters are too much work.

Hannah