Who is purchasing “status skincare” and regularly doing so? Apparently, a great deal of people either know or think it is worth it. From left: Dior Prestige Le Nectar Premier, Guerlain Orchidée Impériale The Rich Cream, MZ Skin Replenish & Restore Placenta & Stem Cell Night Recovery Mask, La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Cream, Sisley Supremÿa La Nuit Le Grand Soin Anti-Age.
At a recent skincare brand lunch (eat, drink, listen attentively and coo when necessary), its manager proudly exclaimed that its best-sellers are not entry-level ones that came at a respectable price point. Without batting an eyelid, she exclaimed it was the most expensive one. By that, she meant a serum that clocked in roughly at 20% of Singapore’s national median gross monthly income — a cool $900 of which is just a pittance to the brand’s customers who swear by its results. Singaporeans are not the only spendthrift ones either.
Research by GlobeNewswire reported that the global luxury skincare market was estimated at USD$21767.45 million in 2022 and is projected to reach USD$35797.48 million in 2028. That is a lot of serums, creams, and unintelligible things we are smearing on our skin, but is efficacy justifiable by its cost?
Dior’s Prestige Le Nectar Premier harnesses the power of roses and Rosapeptide Premier to address the number one cause of ageing—a trigger your skin starts when it hits a certain biological age.
Psychologists and media platforms might tell one so. The former has been studying this phenomenon for years and concluded that human beings gaslight themselves into thinking higher price tags come with more efficacy, while the latter has developed its kind of test: ‘Can so-and-so celebrity tell the difference between expensive and cheap?’.
“Every brand has a different position within the market, which becomes a determining factor in the retail price,” says Dr. Dennis Gross, a board-certified dermatologist and co-founder of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, but how does position play a part in pricing?
After 15 years of research, the good people at Guerlain have formulated the Orchidée Impériale The Rich Cream that puts the flower to good use as it extends the skin’s cell longevity. In short: you stay handsome for longer.
According to Dr Gross, the first litmus test is to purchase status skincare is from a company that takes a no-nonsense approach to developing its products. “You are going to get the most bang for your buck if you purchase from a company that spends money on high-quality ingredients, state-of-the-art delivery systems and clinical proof over frivolous packaging, expensive endorsement campaigns and advertisements,” says Gross, a sentiment that Sisley’s Managing Director Nicolas Chesnier agrees with.
What if we told you that you could literally sleep your way to better skin? What if we told you then that the Sisley Supremÿa La Nuit Le Grand Soin Anti-Age is designed to do so as it works in the dark with a Fundamental Regeneration Complex that boosts it overnight?
In the French brand’s case, one has to consider status skincare like he would with cars, wines, and watches. It has to come from a brand that has been stressing quality since its inception but is not afraid to reinvent the wheel. “We created our first suncream in 1990, which was four times more expensive than the highest-priced one in the market. The reason was simple. Suncreams were very basic and performed like a simple moisturiser with some filters in it, and it was as if a suncream should not do more or not cost more than that.”
“We thought it was weird to limit the quality of suncream whereas sun exposure — although very nice and with some benefits— is also recognised as dangerous and part of the acceleration of ageing. So we did not look at the market but only at our goal: making a high-quality skincare product that also had suncare benefits.”
Ovine placenta…as in sheep placenta? Well, the ultra-nourishing MZ Skin Replenish & Restore Placenta & Stem Cell Night Recovery Mask that contains it for its collagen stimulation thankfully masks its scent with a light floral one.
Innovation, integrity, and impact. Are these three nouns justifiable for one to part with a sizeable portion of their salary? Chesnier adds that a brand’s high-end positioning allows them to “make costly formulas if they give a better result, and the final price of the product is just the result of its cost.” But what does one make of a growing market of dupes and direct business-to-customer models? Dr Maryam Zamani, an oculoplastic surgeon, facial aesthetics doctor, and founder of cult brand MZ Skin, puts forth two non-negotiables that are cost-effective, whether one shops from the lowest to highest price or vice versa.
Firstly, the best investment is to “speak to a doctor to help you if unsure about your skin needs. ” Secondly, read up on skin smarts to determine if cost equates to results. Ingredients like retinoids, peptides, hyaluronic acid, and growth factors are often associated with higher costs due to their effectiveness in addressing specific skin concerns.
Dr Zamani adds a factor called advanced technology also pushes a price up. “Encapsulation, time-release delivery systems, and nanotechnology can enhance ingredient stability and absorption, justifying higher price points too. Incorporating cutting-edge research and proprietary blends can also elevate this further. Additionally, luxury packaging, sustainable sourcing, and ethical practices should also be considered.”
Status skincare doesn’t come any more luxurious than the ones from La Prairie—the Skin Caviar Luxe Cream in particular uses newly invented Caviar Micro-Nutrients to restore the skin’s youthful structure faster than you can say “Damn, I look good.”
Yet, as much as one can educate himself about what to look out for with keywords being ‘delivery system’, ‘encapsulation’, ‘clinical proof’, and ‘high-quality’, there is always a chance that a status skincare product lets him down by overpromising and underdelivering like a shrewd politician. The answer to it is best explained by Dr Zamani and Chesnier, who have two democratic approaches.
Dr Zamani explains that the “best skincare routine combines products that make you feel good and enhances your skin’s health and appearance, regardless of their price.” Chesnier elucidates that a product’s “price is not a synonym of quality as you need to understand the know-how and seriousness of a brand.”
Photography Jaya Khidir
Styling Manfred Lu
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