expert opinion
the brands
The competition between beauty products available on the high street and professional brands is an issue concerning all salons. There seems to be a division between the sectors, with consumers left in the middle unsure of which products are best for them.
High street products can be seen as budget buys for the masses, with the more high- end professional products seen as the upper class elite. But is this really the case? Is there really much of a difference between the two sectors in terms of performance and quality?
business is booming
The business of beauty is booming despite the recession, and with the market even more competitive than ever, companies are always thinking of innovative ways to increase sales and brand awareness.
“According to a recentMintel report the anti-ageing market is set to grow by 20 percent in the next five years” says Tracy Parkin,Managing Director of Cosmeceuticals Ltd.
“The big retailers are heavily advertising ‘solutions’ based skin care and products that are multi-tasking, both of which are offered up continually by the professional market,” says Tracy.
These solution-based skin care products are often cheaper copies of professional in- salon products. They may contain some active ingredients, but not at the level that
cosmeceutical and professional brands use, meaning often the quality of the product is far less. High street products can improve skin’s appearance short term, but often they do not offer a long-term skin solution programme in the same way that professional brands can.
Michelle Class, Seche’s celebrity nail technician, believes however that this competition between the two areas of the market is good. She says: “In this day and age the consumer wants to be able to have a choice, and the budget that each individual is willing to pay on nail products will vary. I love a mixture of both professional and high street brands, and will use what I think is best for the individual client or job.”
tried and tested
So how do therapists ensure their product ranges prevail over high street alternatives?
“One very good way to market the professional sector is through clinical studies” says Tracy. “This is also an area where modern consumers appear to get confused with the capabilities of certain brands and ingredients through the studies offered up to support high street product
claims.Most are often only consumer based surveys where testers of the brands are asked for their opinion on their own skin.”
She continues: “These are subjective trials whereas in the professional skin care sector we work with clinically validated surveys that offer up true skin care results which support the product formulation or key ingredient in question.”
by abbi cox
take note of trends
Clients are more likely to come into contact with high street brand marketing as the media is saturated with it. There are always new products launching promising great results from ‘active ingredients’ and ‘special formulations’, but can high street brands compete with in-salon products?
Tracy says: “We encourage our therapists to be aware of the latest market beauty trends some of which may appear on the high street in order for them to be aware of what their own clients are seeking out.”
Being aware of trends in mainstream media can help therapists, knowing which of their products give similar results to those promoted in ad campaigns. So a client who may be unhappy with the results she got from a high street brand can be recommended a similar professional product that would suit them better.
Keeping ahead of trends is always important in the beauty industry, and also knowing the new colours and techniques for the upcoming season is imperative. Looking at high street campaigns can hint to these trends as they are usually very well researched by fashion and beauty insiders.
Michelle says: “I’m finding that the high street is closely catching up with the professional market as they are releasing seasonal colour collections nearly as quickly as the professional brands are.”
a question of quality
The quality of the product always comes into question within the debate between high street and professional products. Just
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