One clever Reddit user has uncovered which lipsticks offer the best value ounce-for-ounce.
Whether you buy your lipstick from the makeup aisle at Duane Reade or splurge at Sephora, if you’re comparing lipstick prices tube-for-tube, you may not be getting the best value. In an effort to beat the beauty pricing system, one Redditor has created a handy chart that compares lipstick brands by price per ounce. It may seem simple, but while most consumers have been caught in a cycle of comparing the price per tube, Redditor armidalowe’s chart points out that different tubes can hold very different amounts of product. To get the best bang for your buck, you really have to look at ounces.
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While the chart is just a clever way of comparing the value of various lipsticks by weight, what really has the internet in an uproar is the huge price differential that’s revealed when you compare products ounce-for-ounce. Topping the chart is the classic 99-cent Wet N’ Wild lipstick containing 0.130 ounces of product, which comes out to $7.62 per ounce. And at the bottom of the chart, a 0.100-ounce Tom Ford lipstick for $54 costs a whopping $540 per ounce. Curious to see how your go-to brand stacks up? Consult the chart, above, or do the math yourself. If the tube is less than one ounce (most are), divide 1 by the ounces in the tube, then multiply that number by the price per tube.
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Keep in mind that although this comparison is helpful for spotting the best deals, it doesn’t take important factors like pigmentation or formula into consideration. A lipstick that has the lowest price per ounce doesn't necessarily have the highest pigmentation per ounce, and it may not be the longest-lasting formula. It doesn’t matter if you buy the cheapest lipstick in the store, if you end up having to apply it twice as often and replace it twice as frequently, right? The takeaway: when calculating the best value, you want to balance the formula that works best for you with the price you pay per ounce (not tube). Thank you, Reddit, for once again making us question everything.
h/t New Beauty
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