Plumping Lip Gloss A
I have two Plumping lip glosses when it comes to a Plumping lip gloss. I want that Plumping effect, which is thanks to generally an ingredient called capsicum, which literally irritates the lip, promotes blood flow to that area. To give you a more visually plump, looking lip, starting with a its a nice peachy, color Im, not saying Shimmer or anything, its actually very opaque. I cant see the actual doea in there and now lets look at Plumping, gloss B, same color, family, very different color. Also has Shimmer if Im not mistaken, this does have a slight smell to it, but this smells like a very traditional Plumping gloss with a little bit of something put on top of it.
Plumping Lip Gloss B
Compared to a I dont smell, the traditional lip Plumping smell out of a that: doesnt necessarily denote quality, maybe theyre masking the scent, but maybe B has a higher concentration of the capsicum it Glides on really nice. It doesnt feel very thick, its a very, very thin consistency, and it spreads really well and Im not feeling any irritation or burn from this, which I kind of expect out of a pumping gloss. I want that you can see the color of it theres like no color to it Im now feeling a little bit of a cooling sensation, though, but again its not a burning. It just feels, like I put Menthol or like vix on my lip, and it feels like, like fresh cool, now, lets try B, Im waiting for the burning to kick in this one also spreads really nicely okay.
The Burning Sensation
Now the burning is starting to kick in a little bit, but again this is a more traditional burning, capsicum feeling, whereas with product B it feels very Menthol. So right now that tells me that Plumping gloss B features capsicum, probably a good amount of it because now it’s really starting to burn a little bit, whereas product A uses something alternative.
Moisturization vs. Plumping
When you apply lip gloss A, first of all, it’s a lip gloss, so instantly you’re going to get a really nice moisturized look. As the lip gloss sits on the lip, your lips are going to look more full as a result of just moisturization, but realistically it’s not plumping the lip. You’re not getting the visual payoff you would expect and want from a traditional plumping lip gloss. Here’s the before and after for lip gloss A, you can see it didn’t do much, it didn’t live up to the benefits and claims.
When you apply product B, you’re getting the same moisturized look on the lip, but the initial burning sensation starts to kick in after about 3 to 5 seconds. And as it wears longer on the lips, the plumping effect visually just becomes more and more pronounced as the inflammatory response takes place. The lips look a lot more visibly fuller, the inflammatory response is a little bit more pronounced, and thus the lips actually look plumped. Here’s the before and after for product B, and you can see.
Ingredients Comparison
This is what a traditional lip Plumping gloss is supposed to do. This is what I come to expect from a Plumping gloss. This is what I hope Im getting when I buy a lip Plumping gloss so now lets compare the ingredients list for lip plumper A and B looking at a let me just say, I have never seen an ingredients list this long before thats crazy.
Lip Plumper A
First ingredient is petrolatum AKA, basically Vaseline right there thats going to help nicely moisturize the lips, not something thats, necessarily very heavy algae extract on the list. I see something that says: menal PCA, which might be the specific big cooling effect that I feel maybe theyre trying to make lip pumping claims off that I dont know if theyre going off a traditional, your lips are going to look more hydrated than they for more Plump situation and maybe pushing a specific story with the marketing, but this is not a traditional lip plumper by any means.
Lip Plumper B
Looking at B, though, sure your ingredients list, mineral oil is the first ingredient, which is also a hydrocarbon similar to petrolatum, but its a much more lightweight one. So yeah with this, you see capsicum fru, Ascend resin, that is the capsicum thats, giving you that lip Plumping effect that traditional Bur Sensation that Im quite enjoying at this moment in time. Just off these two ingredients lists Im actually going to say product a is probably the higher end. Higher quality products, whereas B is probably the lower quality.
Product A Ingredients
In terms of this probably has a lower price point, but it’s going to be a more effective, more traditional lip plumping product. So looking at the price for lip gloss A, it was really all in the ingredients list. It’s a very specific natural stance and it’s pushing a more botanical base results and for me that always just leans on a higher price point.
Product B Effectiveness
Product B, on the other hand, is priced at $40. Both are actually on a mid-plus price point tier but it’s interesting because you can see that product B is a lot more actually effective. You get a lot more of that high impact result which I personally want out of a lip plumper. So the price point for this is warranted and that this is very effective.
Comparison of Prices
Comparing product B to product A which has almost three times the price point, it is clear that high shine lip glosses come with a price. Product B not only costs more but also delivers better results in terms of lip plumping.
Quality of Lip Gloss A
Starting with lip gloss A, it is glass clear which is a really good quality in a clear gloss. We don’t want anything cloudy or that’s going to affect the clarity of the lips. The main attribute when it comes to looking at the quality of a lip gloss is how it looks, how it spreads, and how it feels. We’re going to test the application for lip gloss A.
The Analysis of Lip Gloss A
Okay, it feels thick as I’m pulling that across my hand, there’s a little tug on there, so it’s not spreading easily. That’s telling me potentially there’s a lot of that hydrogenated polyisobutene or whatever is serving that purpose in the lip gloss. Maybe not so much of a focus on emollients and Esters to increase the spreadability, but that’s not a bad quality. If I rub it, it’s thick, it has viscosity and body to it, which is not a bad sign. It doesn’t indicate quality, but it is a thicker gloss.
The Evaluation of Lip Gloss B
Now, let’s look at lip gloss B. Oh, that’s even thicker. Okay, that is like I’m tugging at my skin to spread that. Again, that’s not an indication of quality whatsoever, it’s just a focus on there’s more of that hydrogenated polyisobutene or potentially just not so much of a focus on the emollients and Esters. But that could mean that product B, as a result of having that higher concentration of the hydrogenated polyisobutene, is going to give you a higher impact.
The Texture and Feel of Lip Gloss B
Like more glassy gloss spreading that. Yeah, it’s really thick. There’s like a lot of tug. It’s like if you were just to put cooler than room temp honey on your skin and try to spread it. You know how honey gets thicker the cooler it is, it’s very that another user experience thing is lip gloss. It has a fragrance to it.
Smell Test
It smells sweet. Vanilla smells like a baked good, like you walk into someone’s house when they’re baking cookies. That smells good. Product A doesn’t have a smell and again, that does not indicate quality.
Flashlight Test
Next, we’re going to go in with the flashlight test to see the refraction of the lip glosses and how glossy they really are. Product A is actually giving me a lot more gloss, a lot more shine compared to product B. However, product B has a thicker texture on the skin. Product A is giving me a lot more gloss, even though it’s a thinner texture, while product B has less gloss but a thicker body.
Ingredients Comparison
Now, let’s compare the ingredients list for lip gloss A versus lip gloss B. Right off the bat, something really interesting is revealed. The first ingredient in lip gloss A is mineral oil, a moisturizing hydrocarbon that is petroleum-derived. While this may sound concerning to some, it is actually highly refined and safe for cosmetic use. Mineral oil moisturizes well and has a very light skin feel, potentially contributing to the lighter skin feel and better spreadability of the lip gloss.
Ingredient Analysis
A has to do with the fact that mineral oil has a higher concentration in the formula, and then the next ingredient is polyb, which is generally a component for a lip gloss. It has very good adhesion to the lips, it moisturizes really well, and it has a really nice gloss to it. If you look at an ingredients list – and you see something that ends in eight at like here – we see sortin, squate, thats, Esther and Esters generally tend to have a much thinner.
Viscosity and Skin Feel
Viscosity very good skin feel very light skin feel, but they have kind of like a dry oil texture to them. Thus, in this regard, theyre helping with viscosity and spreadability so now lets look at the ingredients list for lip gloss B and, as you can see Worlds Apart, theres one two, three four ingredients in this, which tells me its a very simple product. The goal for this is gloss, its not so much necessarily user experience. Hydrogenated polyiso is the first ingredient and, as I mentioned earlier, its a very thick very viscous. Gel next is hoba seed oil, which to some degree, helps to thin out the formula maybe help with spreadability, but we saw didnt really do much and then Toof feral acetate is a version of vitamin E that helps with formula stability, its an antioxidant that prevents the Product from going rancid and then phoxy ethanol is a general Pres conservative, so it just prevents microbial growth cuz when youre taking the applicator putting on your mouth.
Comparing Ingredients
Putting that back in the lip gloss you don’t want anything growing in your lip gloss. So obviously, comparing the two products, B has a much more simple ingredients list in general. That’s not a bad thing, but just looking at the user experience of both lip glosses, and then B. The ingredients list, in my mind for lip gloss, shows that a lot more care and intent was put into the formula to make it have a better user experience.
User Experience and Quality
At the end of the day, as a chemist, you want your customers to enjoy your product. You want them to have a good time using your product, and therefore I want to put as much time and attention into making sure that my products are fun to use. So to me, Product A is going to be a little bit higher quality and also more expensive. There’s a lot more things in there, so let’s look at the price for Product A.
Price Comparison
That is shocking. I’m genuinely very surprised by that. The product overall is a really nice quality product. It spreads really well, it has a really good gloss, it smells delicious. Now, the price for Product B, $23. I’m also very shocked. By that, I mean, again, the amount of ingredients on an ingredient list doesn’t tell you anything. What I can only assume is that it’s potentially a specific story put behind the product, or you’re paying for the name of the products. Sometimes affordable products have a lot more intent put into them, and cheap doesn’t mean bad.
Lip Oils
Now we’re going to be looking at lip oils, so lip oils are super hot. Lip gloss, lip oils, all of that where you still want it to feel comfortable on the lips, but also shiny and nourishing. It’s a really nice hybrid between a lip balm and a lipstick. It’s a really nice alternative for someone who wants a more natural look.
Lip Oil A: $8
At the moment, what a lip oil is is a more thinned out lip gloss, pretty much the same exact ingredients, a higher concentration of oils and Esters that help give more slip more spreadability common comment that I’ve heard about lip oils is that they aren’t as moisturizing as lip glosses are and that’s because a lot of the esters that I use might not be as occlusive or moisturizing as a lip gloss itself is so looking at product a first.
You can see it’s got a tint to it, but the tint is not opaque it’s, not a very high coverage. Tint, therefore, on the lip I actually don’t know if this is going to leave very much of a color impact I’m just trying to see if anything settled to the bottom. This looks like a dye, it’s not pigment, obviously but that’s all I’m saying out of this.
Now let’s look at lip oil B, and this is very different. This one is a lot more color in there. I cannot see the actual applicator in there at all, and this is probably also a dye, but just at a higher concentration. So now let’s see how these look on the skin, starting with lip oil a so you can see it has good spreadability, but on the skin that color doesn’t translate very much at all. So on the lip is going to be like the most subtle of tints. If anything, the color payoff itself is no indication of quality or of any higher price point cuz.
Lip Oil B: $40
At the moment, what a lip oil is is a more thinned out lip gloss, pretty much the same exact ingredients, a higher concentration of oils and Esters that help give more slip more spreadability common comment that I’ve heard about lip oils is that they aren’t as moisturizing as lip glosses are and that’s because a lot of the esters that I use might not be as occlusive or moisturizing as a lip gloss itself is so looking at product a first.
You can see it’s got a tint to it, but the tint is not opaque it’s, not a very high coverage. Tint, therefore, on the lip I actually don’t know if this is going to leave very much of a color impact I’m just trying to see if anything settled to the bottom. This looks like a dye, it’s not pigment, obviously but that’s all I’m saying out of this.
Now let’s look at lip oil B, and this is very different. This one is a lot more color in there. I cannot see the actual applicator in there at all, and this is probably also a dye, but just at a higher concentration. So now let’s see how these look on the skin, starting with lip oil a so you can see it has good spreadability, but on the skin that color doesn’t translate very much at all. So on the lip is going to be like the most subtle of tints. If anything, the color payoff itself is no indication of quality or of any higher price point cuz.
Comparing Lip Oil A and Lip Oil B
You might have a higher end brand that just wants to appeal to a very natural, no makeup consumer, but it feels very lightweight on the skin. It actually has a little bit like a little bit of pull, which tells me it’s going to feel a little bit more moisturizing on the lip.
Texture and Color
Lip oil B has substantially more color to it. Let’s see how that translates on the skin. Surprisingly, not very much in terms of the texture of this. This doesn’t have as much pull as lip oil A, therefore, it might feel more light on the skin. When comparing them side by side, they have the same level of color on the skin, which is interesting.
Analysis of Ingredients
Comparing the two products, A has more pull which indicates to the chemist that it has more tack and is a bit stickier. This could be due to a higher percentage of hydrogenated polyisobutene. On the other hand, B spreads a lot easier, is not sticky, and has a higher concentration of emollients and oils.
Testing the Feel on the Lip
In order to test the two lip oils, the chemist focuses on how they spread and feel on the lip. Lip oil A has a smell that the chemist can’t quite identify, it’s kind of like cinnamon but not in a fun way. Also, it doesn’t give much color at all.
The Feel on the Lips
It feels lightweight on the lip, there’s a little bit of stick to it. It has a little bit of body to it. I think this is the one I said might have a little bit of a higher concentration of the hydrogenated polyisotene, so I’m feeling a little bit more moisture out of the lip, but also I feel it on my lips, which I don’t know if I love. I want a lip oil to be very lightweight, but now let’s go with lip oil B. On the lips, it feels more lightweight, it doesn’t have the stick that lip oil A does. It smells like raw material. So, in terms of the test, I think lip oil B has better spreadability, but in terms of quality, I’m still torn.
Ingredients Comparison
Now let’s compare the ingredients list for lip oil A and B. Starting with A, the first ingredient is hydrogenated polyisotene. The second ingredient is tridecyl trimellitate. Interestingly, there is fragrance in this product, actually very middle of the ingredients list, and I did mention that product A did smell a little bit to me kind of like cinnamon. The last ingredient in here is a specific extract, Undaria pinnatifida extract.
Comparing Ingredients
I see an extract to me that’s trying to tell a specific marketing story that could denote a higher price point. Now let’s look at lip oil B. Interestingly, the first ingredient is also hydrogenated poly isotine, followed by the same exact eser. We saw in lip oil A we have poly isotine, which is another like thick lip gloss ingredient. Good amount of oils in here. Product A has a longer ingredients list, and I see less oils. More Esters. Product B has more oils, less Esters and a much shorter ingredients list. Product A has that extra extract in there so based on the swes, the application test and the ingredients list, I think product A personally is going to be the more expensive higher quality option.
Price Analysis
So let’s look at the price for lip oil A, $40. That’s actually crazy for lip oil. If I’m going to be honest, but again this tells me they probably have a very specific story. They have a very specific intent with this line, and this launch. Now let’s look at the price for lip oil B, $8. That’s a stark difference and what’s interesting is, I actually prefer the formula 4B just because I think it spreads a lot nicer and feels a lot nicer on the lips. Also, as I mentioned earlier, you see how the colors of them look very different. B is a lot more opaque in the packaging which visually in your head, you’re like oh, it’s more Dy, it’s going to cost more money.
The Challenge
The task at hand seems simple enough: can a cosmetic chemist accurately determine whether a lip gloss is priced at $8 or $40 just by examining it? On the surface, it may appear to be a straightforward exercise in product evaluation. After all, the price point of a lip gloss should be reflected in its quality, right?
Price Point vs. Quality
But the reality is far more complex than that. Price alone does not necessarily equate to quality when it comes to beauty products. In the world of cosmetics, a higher price tag does not always guarantee a superior formulation. In fact, there are many affordable drugstore brands that offer high-quality lip glosses at a fraction of the cost of their high-end counterparts.
The Importance of Texture and Shine
When it comes to lip gloss, what consumers really want is a product that delivers on its promises. Regardless of price, a lip gloss should provide high shine, a comfortable feel on the lips, and a flattering look. These are the key factors that determine whether a lip gloss is worth purchasing, not its price tag.
After carefully analyzing the feel on the lips and the ingredients list of both lip oils, it’s still a tough call to determine which one is more expensive. Lip oil A seems to provide more moisture and has a unique fragrance, while lip oil B is more lightweight and has better spreadability. It’s clear that both products have their strengths, making it difficult to guess which one comes with a higher price tag. In the end, the choice between an $8 or $40 lip gloss may come down to personal preference and desired qualities in a lip product.
So, can a cosmetic chemist accurately guess whether a lip gloss is $8 or $40 based on these criteria alone? The answer may surprise you. In the world of beauty, price is not always indicative of quality. While some high-end lip glosses may indeed offer a luxurious experience, there are plenty of affordable options that deliver great results as well. Ultimately, the true test lies in the formulation itself, not the price point.