Drugstores inject new life into beauty counters

A jar of $300 beauty cream is a tough sell these days. And that is just fine with CVS and Walgreens.

[david wayne osedach]

In this economy I think the vast majority of women will bypass the $300.00 cream. Leave it to CVS and Walgreens to tout the $30.00.

[Jodi]

The LaCura brand of products at Aldi's is OUTSTANDING. My skin has never looked or felt better, no matter how much I have spent before. Aldi's carries it in Europe, where they consistently sell out of the products. $5 per jar, people.

[Gingersnap]

I work part time at Walgreens in a well-to-do suburb and a few years ago they introduced a line of fancy "European" skin care products. It did not do very well and all the products are now in the discount bin. My customers rather stick to inexpensive classics like Oil of Olay or Neutrogena for their skin care needs.

[BeautyJunkie]

I'm not surprised, Gingersnap. I tend to be wary of those brands myself. The faux European branding just makes them seem cheap and fake, which in turn makes me question their quality. It's partly psychological...are those brands really any different than Olay, etc.? Possibly not. Anyway, I'll just stick to the Dermalogica I buy from my aesthetician. It's not the cheapest nor the most expensive out there, but I like the results.

[GeneTierney]

It's not only the faux European branding that's deceptive. How about the cosmetic and hair care products whose labels resemble prescription labels? Does the change automatically make the product better? I don't think so!