Issue Date: December 19, 2004

Mass cosmetics aim for high class

Bargain no longer means basement for beauty products.

Beauty and bargain. For many of us, that's an oxymoron. We've come to expect that sumptuous products, such as Chanel and Crème de la Mer, will have prices to match.

But that was before value-conscious shoppers switched allegiance from department stores to discounters, and Sonia Kashuk debuted her cosmetics ($1.99-$29.99) at Target in 1999.

"Shoppers now realize bargain no longer means basement," says Joey Shamah, CEO of E.L.F. Cosmetics, which sell for $1 each at Conway stores in New York. "Our factories are the same as those for some higher-end products -- with the same technicians and same research."

This year, two department-store powerhouses entered the fray: Elizabeth Arden's SkinSimple, from cleansers to vitamin C serum ($6.44-$11.84), sold exclusively at Wal-Mart; and Estée Lauder's American Beauty lip liners to night creams ($11-$27), Flirt! eye pencils to blushes ($9-$12), and Good Skin cleansers to moisturizers ($6.50-$25), all at Kohl's. Stylish newcomers also include Apt. 5, from eye shadow duos to bath gels ($1.99-$7.99), at Duane Reade stores in metropolitan New York; and Lumene, a Finnish line ranging from eye shadows to antiwrinkle creams ($4.49-$17.99), at CVS.

"They're luxurious products at more affordable prices," says Jane Hudis, senior vice president and general manager at BeautyBank, a division of Estée Lauder. "It's much closer to class than it is to mass."

-- Michele Meyer