| Author |
Message |
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:25 pm  |
So I just returned from this American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) event and all of these skin care companies were discussing why they choose to sell their products through certain distribution channels only. FOR EXAMPLE: La Roche Posay ONLY sells to Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons; SkinCeuticals ONLY sells to doctors and estheticians; skinMedica is ONLY sold to doctors and estheticians. It got me thinking... 
Does it really matter that these products are only available through these avenues? I mean a lot of people LOVE Dr. H on this site and he is available through the mass distribution channel. Does it matter to anyone that he is sold through Sephora?
I guess I'm just wondering...does the distribution channel mean a lot to you? Do you think more highly of products that are only available in doctor and esthetician offices than those products that are available everywhere?
I am asking this BECAUSE I got the impression that Skin care companies think we do differentiate in our opinion of skin care products based on where the product is sold.
Let's enlighten each other!! |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:43 pm |
| I don't think these companies distribute through surgeons and dermatologists because they think it will sell better. I think they do it because they feel the consumer should have a supervised regime, and that products should be customized for consumers. |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:50 pm |
| I would really like to try Prevage but will not pay for a consultation fee with a dermatologist in my town who happens to be one of the few "selected physicians" who sells it. |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 4:24 pm |
| Quote: |
| would really like to try Prevage but will not pay for a consultation fee with a dermatologist in my town who happens to be one of the few "selected physicians" who sells it. |
You have been asking about prevage products. If you do not wish to go to a dermatologist for a consult try if this item is avaialbe on e-bay.
 |
_________________
K  |
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 5:57 pm |
Hi everyone.....I just saw something that might be of interest
www.seattleskincare.com
This stuff has 5% Idebenone in it + more! |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:19 pm |
| lianne wrote: |
| I don't think these companies distribute through surgeons and dermatologists because they think it will sell better. I think they do it because they feel the consumer should have a supervised regime, and that products should be customized for consumers. |
I definitely understand what you are saying. Dermatologist products do not sell better than mass marketed products (such as Perricone). If a company wanted to make a good deal of money it would do better distributing to everyone. What I am trying to get at is basically that at this meeting I spoke with many presidents of skin care companies who talked a lot about why they choose certain distribution channel and how it has to do with the image of the product and the company (a skin care line sold by a dermatologist has a stronger medical cachet attached to it and therefore is thought by the user to be a better product than one purchased at the store). So I guess I am asking if you all feel that skin care sold by doctors is a better product? Maybe, like you mentioned, it is better because it is Doctor regimented.
PS: For the person who wants Prevage (my mother's a dermatologist. I am going to ask her if you need a consultation to order it from her...she sold out in two seconds but should be receiving more soon).  |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:32 pm |
misskoslow,
I suppose that's what I'm saying...it's a better product because it's customized to me. There may be other things out there that are just as good though, but it's lost in among all the other junk products out there.
As for prevage, you can get it online at skin-etc.com |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:01 pm |
| lianne wrote: |
misskoslow,
I suppose that's what I'm saying...it's a better product because it's customized to me. There may be other things out there that are just as good though, but it's lost in among all the other junk products out there. |
i totally agree with you. |
|
|
|
|
|
Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:33 pm |
Skinceuticals is not just sold through doc's offices. You can get it right here at EDS. Also, at the Beauty Store and Salon chain in the US. That said...I don't go for the "if it's in a doc's office then it must be better" angle. After years of working with surgeons, I realize that many docs are very badly misinformed about different issues. They are overworked and often cannot keep up with the latest info coming down the pipe. In the skincare industry, it's clear from this board and others that many docs don't even know about sunscreen ingredient stability and which ones are and aren't stable. Since the sun, more than any other single source, damages our skin, it would seem that in that one area all docs would be well-informed. But they aren't. Sooooo, I'll keep on frequenting these boards, looking up info on PubMed and definitely taking what my doc says with a grain of salt.They are only people after all. As for Prevage and all that B.S....I'm sick that Allergan would push CoQ10 for $90 with the absence of research they have to back up their very weak claims of "super-duper antioxidant". Can't see that they are docs who carry the stuff without checking the claims out are doing their patients any favor.
Sorry for the rant! |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:12 am |
Hi lianne,
I just checked out skin-etc.com and saw the following notice for Prevage: "Please Note: This product is not available for ordering online."
Same notice on several other sites. I think I'll check e-bay next. |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:49 am |
I think most have discontinued online ordering, but if you call them up they will send it to you.
I've been using it since it came out in Jan and have to say I'm seeing great results and will continue to purchase it.
-Cheri |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:14 am |
Thats funny, I just bought some la roche posay products at the shoppers drug mart in the city!
I love their Ceralip Lipid-replenishing lip cream and the thermal spring water
Donna |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 11:58 am |
| In response to the original question - I too fall into that "it's expensive & harder to get so it must be better" trap. I think that some of it IS psychological - think of an expensive/harder to get product, like Creme de la Mer. If it was sold on every department store shelf and a low/reasonable price, and everyone and there mother's all used it, I'm sure it would lose some of it's appeal, even if the formula stays the exactly the same. It wouldn't be anything *special* or *high-end*, that you could only order off the internet, or estheticians office, and I think people WANT that... you feel like you are getting a better product the more expensive/less available it is, even if *MAYBE* a cheaper department store product may give you just as good results? And, companies realize this, and that is part of the reason they keep their product off the dept store shelves? |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:17 pm |
sorry penelope, I was thinking the freeze 24/7 made by prevage. Sorry again  |
|
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:00 pm |
I think for us in the UK product exclusivity IS an issue, but just in a different way.
Does anyone know if its even possible to see a dermatologist in this country? And even if you get a rec from your doctor and you've waited your 6 months or what not, do they even have products they will try to sell you?  |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:51 pm |
| betterat40 wrote: |
Skinceuticals is not just sold through doc's offices. You can get it right here at EDS. Also, at the Beauty Store and Salon chain in the US. That said...I don't go for the "if it's in a doc's office then it must be better" angle. After years of working with surgeons, I realize that many docs are very badly misinformed about different issues. They are overworked and often cannot keep up with the latest info coming down the pipe. In the skincare industry, it's clear from this board and others that many docs don't even know about sunscreen ingredient stability and which ones are and aren't stable. Since the sun, more than any other single source, damages our skin, it would seem that in that one area all docs would be well-informed. But they aren't. Sooooo, I'll keep on frequenting these boards, looking up info on PubMed and definitely taking what my doc says with a grain of salt.They are only people after all. As for Prevage and all that B.S....I'm sick that Allergan would push CoQ10 for $90 with the absence of research they have to back up their very weak claims of "super-duper antioxidant". Can't see that they are docs who carry the stuff without checking the claims out are doing their patients any favor.
Sorry for the rant! |
Skinceuticals are only available through Doctors and Aestheticians...that's why EDS sells it and that is why skinstore (dermatologist owned) can too!
Reading up on skin care, Prevage is made with Idebenone (not Coenzyme Q10) which is chemically related to Coenzyme Q10, but "supposedly" stronger. Yeah, $90 seems to be out there for the tube, but I'm assuming that they are charging so much because a) they are the first movers in Idebenone products and b) Allergan spent $258 million in R&D in 2004 so they have to charge us an arm and a leg to recoup costs (and ...yes...make a TON of revenue).
I think you are right about some doctors. Some are overworked and rather take on a product that reps say work than try them out on their own. Then there are the doctors who really do care about your skin and their reputation and they take the time to see if the product really works. You just have to find that right doctor...
In other news, someone else made the comment that if "it's expensive & harder to get so it must be better" and I thought I should share this with you.
In a Harvard Business Review about SKII (before they hit Europe and the US...owned by proctor and gamble) they talk about how P&G also owns Oil of Olay and how the face cloths that Oil of Olay sells are the exact cloths in SK II!!!!
"Because of its premium pricing strategy, the SK-II Foaming Massage Cloth was packaged in a much more elegant dispensing box and was priced at Yen 6,000 ($50) compared to the $7 for the Olay Facial Cloth in the United States."
Crazy huh! |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:42 pm |
I think that may happen a lot, one big company owning several cosmetic companies, and selling the same product at different prices depending which brand name it is!!
I was amazed the other day, I was at the store & saw all the *new* neutrogena products on the shelf (which were pricey for dept store) and the older versions right next to them on Clearance. Looking at the ingredients, I saw almost all of them had the SAME ingredients as before, they just gave them different names, new packaging & labels, and *wow* the prices doubled! |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:06 pm |
It IS crazy -- look at Estee Lauder - - owner of MAC, Prescriptives, Clinique, Bobbie Browne, LaMer, Origins, Darfin....and that's not all of the cosmetic lines - nor does it include the Fragrance companies! It's kind of disheartening - and makes you wonder....Oh well...I guess we just have to stay as informed as possible...
Pudoodles |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:13 pm |
Pudoodles...I like darphin and prescriptives before I learned they were part of estee lauder...now I avoid them. I do like my prescriptives brow filler, but once I'm done I won't repurchase.
I figure they don't believe they had a good product, b/c if they thought their product was good they wouldn't have a zillion other lines out there. |
|
|
|
|
|
Wed Feb 23, 2005 5:05 pm |
La Roche-Posay is available at practically every drug store I've ever been to in Canada...
I think more of the reason some products are offered at spa's and dr's offices is because they are expensive. Drugstores couldn't carry these lines, not at all.
Also, being associated with such a place probably builds up it's credit, at least the prospective buyer, not to me. (Semi off topic, but likewise being a derm doesn't mean you should make your line, there are few good lines with dr's names attached. I attribute their success to hype and supposed credibility.) So yes, I think some may fall for it. Not me though.
If I want results, rarely will I buy something OTC. I usually head to the dermatologists office or get an Rx. Prescription retinoids will do 1000 times more than any ordinary expensive serum or over-hyped jar filled with expensive moisture.
(I also think the product pushing derm or surgeon is much more common in the US.)
Moosette: I also love Ceralip, great for when I was on Accutane. |
|
|
|
|
|
Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:04 am |
| it seems that drug stores in canada have a different cachet attached to them than in the US...or maybe it's just that Americans think differently about buying products at a drug store versus in the doctors office...m |
|
|
|
|
| Thu Apr 25, 2024 1:23 pm |
If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.
Click Here to join our community.
If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site. |
|
 |
|
