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March 11th, 2004, 04:02 PM
By Jackie Sindrich
NEW YORK(Reuters) - The price of wrinkle cream is starting to rival the plane fare to Florida, but aging baby boomers aren't batting an eyelash.
Pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies are spending millions on an increasingly scientific approach to finding wrinkle remedies. And increasingly health and youth-conscious consumers seem to be saying "whatever it takes" -- even if the effects are often only temporary.
The anti-aging product market shot up 13 percent in 2003, more than double the previous two years' 4 percent to 5 percent growth rate, according to retail tracking firm NPD Group.
"More senior people have more disposable income, so the high-end side of skincare business has been very healthy," said Dan Brestle, group president of Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., owner of the Clinique and Origins brands.
"Taking the best of science and combining it with the practicality of dermatology is a major trend," Brestle said in an interview.
NPD research shows that the upper end of the market has advanced considerably: Products costing more than $70 made up 14 percent of total skincare sales last year, up from just 5 percent in 2000. And skincare products priced at $100 and up represented as much as 26 percent of the $70-and-up category, versus 21 percent in the previous year, according to NPD.
"Endow your skin with amazing power," urges Estee Lauder's ad for Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lifting Creme, described as the "ultimate 'youth-keeping' creme" that combines "precedent-setting anti-aging technology with the rarest ingredients to lavish your skin with breathtaking results."
Lauder isn't far from "precedent-setting" in its price tags, either: A 1.7-ounce jar of Re-Nutriv costs $250; the 8.4-ounce jar, a hefty $1,000. Lauder's celebrity favored 1-ounce jar of Creme de la Mer moisturizer is $90, while the 16.5-ounce size goes for $1,000.
Avon Products Inc.'s anti-aging line, Anew, has proved to be a big hit with consumers and the company has kept offshoots coming. Last month, the world's largest direct seller of cosmetics posted a 35-percent jump in quarterly profit, boosted by sales of Anew Clinical Wrinkle and Line Corrector.
"Because of the aging population and the fact that these products do perform at a level consumers desire, they will grow," Bill Susetka, president of global marketing at New York-based Avon, said in an interview. "Our plan is to continue to be very aggressive and launch innovations."
Avon, which has been tweaking its image to target more affluent consumers, sells its anti-aging products for around $25 to $30 -- about half the price of department store brands like Elizabeth Arden Inc. and Lancome.
Anew, Susetka noted, is the most expensive of its skincare offerings, "but also our most successful" in sales.
As the anti-wrinkle competition heats up, Brestle said that cosmetics companies are bringing on more medical doctors to help formulate and develop brands.
For example, Lauder's Prescriptives cosmetics line has tapped high-profile dermatolgist Karen Grossman to promote its new at-home microdermabrasion products.
BETTER THAN BOTOX?
Pharmaceutical firm Klein-Becker has recently generated a buzz with its StriVectin-SD cream, which it touts as "Better than Botox?" Originally a stretch mark treatment discovered by chance to smooth lines and wrinkles, a 6-ounce tube sells for $135.
Shiseido Co. Ltd., Japan's largest cosmetics company, calls its Future Solution anti-aging cream "a perfect formula in every possible way, with unprecedented potential for erasing signs of time." It costs $225 for 1.8 ounces.
Some are skeptical about many of the claims the companies make about their creams.
Dr. Ronald Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, said that while anti-aging products may be good for the skin's surface appearance, very few compounds have been shown capable of actually penetrating the skin to the necessary 14 layers.
"A lot of the claims are beyond-beyond, because very few of these companies show clinical (studies)," Klatz said. "They spend millions on advertorials, and it's easy to be fooled. You have to be able to read past the advertorial."
Ken Dychtwald, an author and founder of the firm Age Wave, which advises companies on products for the maturing population, said that while there's no such thing as an age-defying panacea, it could happen in the next 10 to 15 years.
"If there were some truly miraculous product available anywhere that could cause skin not to age, you could pick your price," he said.
"Do I think it's a high-ticket product at $200, $300? For a teen yes, but you're playing in the land of aging and vanity, in an era of TV shows like 'Extreme Makeover,' where people are seeking to grow old youthfully ... The next 10 years (of growth in the anti-aging market) will be absolutely mind-boggling," Dychtwald said.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
NEW YORK(Reuters) - The price of wrinkle cream is starting to rival the plane fare to Florida, but aging baby boomers aren't batting an eyelash.
Pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies are spending millions on an increasingly scientific approach to finding wrinkle remedies. And increasingly health and youth-conscious consumers seem to be saying "whatever it takes" -- even if the effects are often only temporary.
The anti-aging product market shot up 13 percent in 2003, more than double the previous two years' 4 percent to 5 percent growth rate, according to retail tracking firm NPD Group.
"More senior people have more disposable income, so the high-end side of skincare business has been very healthy," said Dan Brestle, group president of Estee Lauder Cos. Inc., owner of the Clinique and Origins brands.
"Taking the best of science and combining it with the practicality of dermatology is a major trend," Brestle said in an interview.
NPD research shows that the upper end of the market has advanced considerably: Products costing more than $70 made up 14 percent of total skincare sales last year, up from just 5 percent in 2000. And skincare products priced at $100 and up represented as much as 26 percent of the $70-and-up category, versus 21 percent in the previous year, according to NPD.
"Endow your skin with amazing power," urges Estee Lauder's ad for Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lifting Creme, described as the "ultimate 'youth-keeping' creme" that combines "precedent-setting anti-aging technology with the rarest ingredients to lavish your skin with breathtaking results."
Lauder isn't far from "precedent-setting" in its price tags, either: A 1.7-ounce jar of Re-Nutriv costs $250; the 8.4-ounce jar, a hefty $1,000. Lauder's celebrity favored 1-ounce jar of Creme de la Mer moisturizer is $90, while the 16.5-ounce size goes for $1,000.
Avon Products Inc.'s anti-aging line, Anew, has proved to be a big hit with consumers and the company has kept offshoots coming. Last month, the world's largest direct seller of cosmetics posted a 35-percent jump in quarterly profit, boosted by sales of Anew Clinical Wrinkle and Line Corrector.
"Because of the aging population and the fact that these products do perform at a level consumers desire, they will grow," Bill Susetka, president of global marketing at New York-based Avon, said in an interview. "Our plan is to continue to be very aggressive and launch innovations."
Avon, which has been tweaking its image to target more affluent consumers, sells its anti-aging products for around $25 to $30 -- about half the price of department store brands like Elizabeth Arden Inc. and Lancome.
Anew, Susetka noted, is the most expensive of its skincare offerings, "but also our most successful" in sales.
As the anti-wrinkle competition heats up, Brestle said that cosmetics companies are bringing on more medical doctors to help formulate and develop brands.
For example, Lauder's Prescriptives cosmetics line has tapped high-profile dermatolgist Karen Grossman to promote its new at-home microdermabrasion products.
BETTER THAN BOTOX?
Pharmaceutical firm Klein-Becker has recently generated a buzz with its StriVectin-SD cream, which it touts as "Better than Botox?" Originally a stretch mark treatment discovered by chance to smooth lines and wrinkles, a 6-ounce tube sells for $135.
Shiseido Co. Ltd., Japan's largest cosmetics company, calls its Future Solution anti-aging cream "a perfect formula in every possible way, with unprecedented potential for erasing signs of time." It costs $225 for 1.8 ounces.
Some are skeptical about many of the claims the companies make about their creams.
Dr. Ronald Klatz, president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, said that while anti-aging products may be good for the skin's surface appearance, very few compounds have been shown capable of actually penetrating the skin to the necessary 14 layers.
"A lot of the claims are beyond-beyond, because very few of these companies show clinical (studies)," Klatz said. "They spend millions on advertorials, and it's easy to be fooled. You have to be able to read past the advertorial."
Ken Dychtwald, an author and founder of the firm Age Wave, which advises companies on products for the maturing population, said that while there's no such thing as an age-defying panacea, it could happen in the next 10 to 15 years.
"If there were some truly miraculous product available anywhere that could cause skin not to age, you could pick your price," he said.
"Do I think it's a high-ticket product at $200, $300? For a teen yes, but you're playing in the land of aging and vanity, in an era of TV shows like 'Extreme Makeover,' where people are seeking to grow old youthfully ... The next 10 years (of growth in the anti-aging market) will be absolutely mind-boggling," Dychtwald said.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service