Luxury Vs. Affordable; The Science of Skincare

I admit - In the past I have been something of a skin care snob using mainly Chanel and Laura Mercier but when I visited my boyfriend and disastrously forgot to pack my moisturiser I found myself "making do" with Boot's own No 7 but was pleasantly surprised. I purchased the Beautiful Skin day cream for dry/very dry skin and found that it was really thick and my face felt heavenly after using it. If I miss moisturising for just 2 days I develop really noticeable dry patches across my cheeks and foreheads and so have always favoured the "premium" brands as I found their formulas to be rich and really hydrating but No 7 got me thinking about whether the cheaper products are just as good as the luxury. 

I like to think I can tell the difference in paying for a Dior foundation over a Maybelline in terms of texture, ease of application, lastability etc a lot of which is to do with how the ingredients (quantity and quality) are combined. Skincare is more of a science particularly when it comes to products that are meant to reduce fine lines and reverse the signs of ageing. So do the ingredients really differ? Is a premium product worth the premium price? 

Unlike poor student me, my mum invests in the Creme de la Mer moisturisers so I decided to have a look into the differences between her cream and mine. 

50ml of the No 7 Beautiful Skin costs £12.50 compared to Creme de la Mer's Ultrarich Creme which would be £175.00 for the same amount- a difference of 740%. 

The basic ingredients of La Mer as per the pot are a variety of emollients (creates a protective film over the face), humectors (pull water from within your body through into the epidermisor the outer layers of skin where dehydration visibly shows) and occlusives which slow the evaporation of water from the skin - this is the greasiness you sometimes feel in moisturisers. These are all basic things that can be found in all moisturisers. What makes Creme de la Mer special is their "miracle broth" which is infamously hard to recreate. The more unusual ingredients (in that they are not commonly found in other moisturisers) are as follows:

Algae extract - normalise skins moisture levels
Lime extract - antibacterial 
Eucalyptus leaf oil - healing properties
Magnesium sulphate - antioxidant
Sesame seeds - antioxidant
Alfalfa seeds - water retention and skin tightening
Sunflower seeds - anti ageing properties
Powdered almonds - fatty acids which are moisturising oils 
Vitamin E succinate - anti ageing properties
Vitamin B3- strengthens skins barriers
Vitamin B12 - hydrating 
Beta-carotene - anti ageing properties


As you can see from the list there's lots of added hydrating and antiquing benefits that come from Creme de la mer and I wasn't sure how No 7 would stack up against it. 

After researching the ingredients listed on the pot, in addition to the expected as mentioned above, I discovered several additional ingredients with added moisture and anti ageing benefits such as Shea butter, vitamins C and E and rosehip seed oil whose effects are all well researched and documented. 

Although the quality and quantity of the ingredients and therefore their benefits may differ between the two products the principles behind them appear to be very similar and there are countless good reports for the cheaper version with Gwynneth Paltrow apparently being a fan! 

A further benefit of the No 7 cream is that it contains SPF to block out the suns harmful rays which is one of the main contributors to premature ageing and the reason for fine lines and wrinkles. The benefit of SPF cannot be underestimated. The Creme de la Mer does not contain any SPF or similar UV ray prevention ingredients.

Personally I will be sticking to No 7 for a while I am that impressed with the quality of the creams, and from researching the ingredients of both I am confident that there is no major magical properties that my cream is missing. What do you think - is the £105 justified?