What is the difference between duty-free and local skin care products? It's actually a hype.

When buying cosmetics, sometimes there are different names, such as local version, duty-free shop version, international version, and domestic version. So, what is the difference between duty-free version and local version of skin care products? Is there a better one?

What is the difference between duty-free and local skin care products?

The difference is mainly the packaging. There are different opinions because most brand products need to be exported to various countries, but each country has different inspection standards. Some countries prohibit the addition of certain ingredients, so they may change. Of course, there may also be no difference, which can be almost ignored, and the main ingredients and quality remain unchanged. They just usually change the product packaging to attract customers from different countries.

Cosmetics local version, duty-free shop version, international version, domestic version

1. First of all, we need to clarify a concept. The so-called duty-free version, planned version, domestic version, and local version are not strict definitions, but a commonly accepted common name. It is not rigorous to define cosmetics by common names. If we discuss this issue based on this imprecise division, the results may be unreliable.

2. The brands that have entered duty-free shops are all well-known big brands, and most of the duty-free shops target tourists from all over the world. This is a good opportunity to promote the brand. There is no reason for a brand to take risks in order to save a little bit of raw material cost and make the product quality worse than that of the counter. Isn't this just shooting itself in the foot?

3. Branded products may need to be exported to various countries, but the inspection standards of each country are different. Some countries prohibit the addition of some ingredients to cosmetics, and some ingredients may also change. Of course, there may be no difference and it can be almost ignored. There is no difference in the main ingredients and quality. Regarding packaging, the competition in the cosmetics industry is very fierce. In order to attract consumers, merchants will often change the packaging of their products to attract customers from different countries.

4. For such a big brand, just to save a little bit of material cost and for a duty-free shop, it has to rebuild a production line. A production line may cost tens of millions. Isn’t this cost too high? Moreover, this is not conducive to the company's cost control. In fact, the same product of a brand is produced on the same production line. Many of them are produced as single products. For example, water, then lotion, and finally cream are produced first, and then combined into sets according to actual conditions. In fact, they are all the same product. It can only be said that different promotional activities may form different sets, and the prices may also fluctuate. There is no saying that the effects are different. This has been clarified by some officials.

To sum up, the so-called various versions are largely a kind of hype concept . The same product may be adjusted to adapt to local regulations and consumer habits. Most of the time, it is to meet the needs of different consumers, but it will never lower the cost and reduce the grade of the product. Of course, what we are discussing here is limited to genuine products that come from formal channels and comply with all regulations. If you buy fakes, that’s another matter!