When a woman dumps out her purse, cosmetics case, or any other container full of beauty products, the price range she paid for them could be quite surprising. One woman could have a cute pink lip gloss that was only 50 cents. Another woman might have a foundation that happened to be $14. Still another could have a facial cream that cost $54. And then there is the woman who has paid an astounding $1200 for moisturizing cream. But the real question is whether or not price has any bearing on function. If a product costs 10 or even 20 times more than another, does that make it 10 or 20 times better?

There are many different beauty products that you can find, although location usually may mean a difference in price. Drugstore shelves. Online stores. Exclusive brands sold only in boutiques in Europe somewhere and the only way to get them is to either fly to Europe or visit the store’s website. If they have one.

A huge tip in the cost of an item is who makes it. Average beauty products on the shelf are usually made by well known and well respected companies. Products work fine for many, many women. Other products that are more expensive mean more exclusive brands or names you may have never heard of until you do a search for expensive products or high end merchandise.

And what is it that sets these brands apart from each other? Ingredients. Many high-end products use hard to get and very effective ingredients. The product is meant to deliver; someone is going to be very, very unhappy if their $1200 facial moisturizer leaves them high and dry. Not good business. If a person is going to shell out the dough to use the product, it had better work like it is supposed to.

Thus companies seek out ingredients that do the job (whatever that job may be) well. Many natural ingredients tend to work just as well, if not better than chemically created or synthesized ingredients. Oftentimes these synthesized ingredients are faster, cheaper, and easier to make than taking the time to extract specific oils from an exotic fruit or plant.

This means the price you pay often relates to the price the company pays to produce said product. Companies do plan on profit, so you can expect to be paying at least double what it cost to make the product. The only problem with that is considering how much profit the company truly wishes to make. Take popular clothing or shoe companies for example. It costs them a few dollars if not a few cents to mass produce shoes that sell for $50 apiece in a retail store.

That could mean a profit of 90% (if not more). So you never can be completely sure if the company has produced a product for a mere $100 while you pay $1200. Big bucks for them; average product for you. And the trick is that because you spent so much you have also deluded yourself into believing the product is the best money can buy. After all, you spent a year’s worth of pay on it. It has to be, right?

You can check ingredients to have a better idea of who is hot and who is not when it comes to the market. Do a little shopping around before dropping multiple paychecks on one tub of cream or eye color. Try researching the company’s background as well as reviews of the product if you can find them. Word of mouth can be very important when trying to figure out whether or not the company and product is legitimately worthy of your hard earned cash.

In the end, there may be a few fantastic products out there, but the majority of them tend to be like many others without too much of a difference. If you find a beauty product or skin product that works great for you, then why change? If it keeps your skin fresh and healthy and makes you feel great and look fabulous, it isn’t even a strain on your wallet, and the ingredients are pretty good, then why not continue to use it?