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6$ Lipstick. The saga of royal jelly is a striking example of one of the most significant aspects of the whole beauty business—one that puzzles many a woman, irritates many a husband. Says Mel Finkelstein, president of the House of Westmore: "In this business, price is not consistent with cost." When it first came out, royal jelly cream sold for $15 an ounce despite the fact that an ounce contained only about 150 milligrams of jelly, worth about 17¢ today a woman can still buy creams containing royal jelly in some stores for $15 an ounce, but she can also buy them elsewhere for $1. Similarly, the cost of making the average lipstick is only 4¢-6¢, and the difference in manufacturing costs between a lipstick bought on Fifth Avenue or at Woolworth's is only about 1¢ or 2¢.
Most of the difference between the cost and the wholesale price goes into packaging and advertising—which often cost more than the product itself. For the top companies, profits are fat; Revlon made a 9.4% profit on its gross after taxes, more than leaders in many another industry. Said a Denver manufacturer, who admits to a 900% markup on certain products: "A cheap line wouldn't do well. Women wouldn't be caught dead telling their friends they bought cheap cosmetics."
Turtle & Shark Oil. High prices and exotic ingredients are unfailing lures. Tomatoes and Italian parsley are used in some creams. Ella Bache puts out a cream that is 80% seaweed. Estee Lauder boasts in newspaper ads that its Re-Nutriv, which contains turtle and shark oil, royal jelly, silicone, Leichol and 20 other in gredients, is "the most expensive facial preparation in the world." Cost: $115 for 16 ounces.
Yet, some industry leaders themselves admit that there is little any cosmetic can actually do to help the top layer of the skin, almost twice the thickness of onionskin paper. Says one beautician: "The best cosmetic is soap and water."
Inner Beauty. To their credit, more and more women are realizing that beauty is more than skin deep. They want healthy, well-formed bodies and new personalities to go with their made-up faces. Thus the growth of the cosmetics industry is being matched by the growth of reducing salons, gyms and their fellow travelers, the charm schools.