Pink Tax: Is there a difference between female and male care products?
Representatives of each sex today offer special products supposedly designed specifically for their needs and tastes - from children's toys and clothing to hygiene products. At the same time, activists around the world are sounding the alarm year after year and report that the prices for "women's" goods are noticeably higher than for similar "men's" products. So, at the end of 2015, researchers from New York found out that products intended for women cost an average of 7% more than exactly the same products labeled “for men”. In Canada and France, women often overpay for gender-marked goods and services twice, and in the UK the price difference reaches 37% - of course, not in favor of women.
We decided to check how things are with the so-called tax on pink in Russia. Their attention was focused on essential goods - caring cosmetics, which they used to grab in the supermarket without looking, somewhere between buying cottage cheese for breakfast and a bottle of wine for dinner. All selected products (shampoo, shower gel, deodorant, disposable razors, shaving gel and another for washing) were presented in the options "for men" and "for women" and bought in different stores. We compared their prices, examined the packaging design and tested both versions of the products on ourselves for ten days, and now we are talking about the results.
Deodorant
Nivea Men "Invisible Protection"
196 rub. ("Magnolia")
Nivea "Invisible Protection"
135 rub. ("Magnolia")
I stand at the A Place To Bury Strangers concert. A pungent smell of sweat stands around me in a thick haze. Previously, I decided that a crush at a concert in a tiny room would be an ideal platform to test the deodorant's endurance - perhaps, subconsciously, I was led to advertise with the appropriate way. In fact, it turned out that I would smell something without options — not mine, so strange. After the fact, it was like this: completely deaf, I threw everything I had on the laundry, and Nivea, who was not stained, hardly helped me.
As far as I can remember, the usual deodorants from the supermarket did not work very well for me and after one sock I had to wash things not so much because of the smell of sweat, but because of the unpleasant smell of the deodorant itself. In my opinion, absolutely all of them are obsessive perfumes. Their presence itself is incomprehensible to me: if you want to smell something, you usually choose perfume, not deodorant. A couple of years ago, I used Crystal in the summer: it seems that it helped me, in principle, to sweat less (well, or so it just happened), after which I switched to the odorless Rexona stick for a colder time.
A cursory examination of the assortment of stores showed that a priori men's deodorants are more expensive. Sometimes this difference is a third of the price (for example, 150 and 200 rubles for Nivea in a spray for women and men, respectively, in Billa supermarkets), sometimes a little smaller, but without it in any way. At first glance, the amount is small, but overpaying by 30% is actually serious. Perhaps the price difference is justified by the fact that men's deodorants are more powerful and more difficult to produce, but I suspect that the laws of the market here play an important role. After all, you can even bathe with lumpy soap, but you can't do without a deodorant - on what else, if not on them, make money. In men's deodorants, too, perfumes are so-so - personally, only Old Spice doesn’t make me turn the nose. I used it more than once, borrowing from my young man - I had to wash things from perfume, not sweat.
These two Nivea "Invisible protection" in all the shops that I went around, always cost differently. Male, however, was necessarily more expensive: for example, 168 rubles in Billa and 196 in Magnolia, women cost 119 rubles and 135, respectively. They work equally badly. The spots are not strong, but only if you have enough patience to walk for ten minutes with your elbows high, depicting a chicken, while the deodorant dries. I wore them in turns: men smell sharper and more unpleasant than women, almost catching up with Ax (oh, that smell, they can escape from mosquitoes). Under the "Invisible Protection" I was sitting in the office, sometimes I ran after a trolley bus or steamed in a too warm jacket.
Their composition is the same, with the exception of one small trick: for a male, it is written in a larger font and, it seems, didn’t fit entirely - the female font is smaller, so you can study it to the end. By the way, both contain aluminum hydrochloride - keep in mind if you are afraid of it. In my opinion, the effect of Nivea is worse than that of my usual Rexona, and the clothes smelled like sweat and perfume - the washing machine became my best friend.
Shampoo
Schauma intensive
129 rub. ("Dixie")
Schauma Fresh It Up
99 rub. ("Dixie")
I decided to test the shampoos on me for two reasons: I wash my head every day, so I’ll have enough time to use both male and female, and I don’t use air conditioning, which will not disturb the purity of the experiment. To be honest, after I cut my hair short, I stopped noticing the difference between shampoos except for perfume (if only I didn’t dry my head or electrify my hair), and switched from Davines to Head & Shoulders, which I use for a couple with my husband. Therefore, I was not very afraid of switching to Shauma from the same mass market. Specifically, these “dandruff” were chosen because of similar promises on the label and composition: the only difference is in a couple of ingredients somewhere at the end of the list (but at the same time men are 30 rubles more expensive). You should not expect any therapeutic action from non-pharmaceutical shampoo, so it was decided to neglect this.
The package is, let's say, extravagant: for ten days a cute man and a flying head with hair of flowers and berries looked at me from the shelf. The technique was that for five days I washed my hair with female shampoo, five for men. The difference, except for smell and texture, did not notice any, they just wash their heads. I liked both men more: it has a white opaque texture and a less cloying flavor. That is, in all respects, including the black color of the package, I would rather choose it. However, after completing the experiment, both went to the reserves on a rainy day.
Regularly from the "male" means I use only shaving foam, because I see no reason to pay more for the "female". And in adolescence secretly enjoyed my father's razor. Pretty quickly everything became apparent in my bare legs and my father's irritation on my face, and they gave me my first Gillette Venus.
If you look at shampoos of other brands, men are more often more expensive. The fact that prices for classic "women's" products in the male incarnation are higher, and vice versa, suggests that this is just a marketing move. I do not presume to judge how men's skin, armpits, hair, and so on differ from women’s ones at a physiological level, but I would like more funds in laconic gender-unmarked packaging in cases when there is no need for division.
Shower gel
Palmolive "Sport. Restorative"
216 rub. ("Alphabet of taste")
Palmolive "Naturel. Meals"
142 rub. ("Alphabet of taste")
I got two Palmolive shower gel: male “Sport. Regenerating” and female “Naturalel” with honey extract and moisturizing milk. A man's shower gel is more expensive (216 rubles against 142 in the ABC of Taste, 187 rubles against 154 in Magnolia, 179 rubles against 159 in Crossroads), but this is a multifunctional remedy: it is also supposed to be used as a face wash. and shampoo. I used male remedies only a couple of times - in emergency situations I took shampoo from my dad or from a young man. Based on this, it is difficult to draw any serious conclusions, so it was interesting for me to participate in the experiment.
I decided to use male shower gel for several days in a row, and then female. In ordinary life, I approach the choice of shower gel lightly, I prefer the mass market and pay attention primarily to the smell - that's why I was interested in perfume during the experiment. It seems to me that the main problem of men's shower gels (and Palmolive is not an exception) is a deliberately "masculine" smell and a too strong perfume. No matter how hard I tried to keep in mind that it was unreasonable to share fragrances into male and female ones, I could not get rid of the feeling that I smell like something “male”.
At the same time, this division seems to me terribly unfair: I really liked using the shower gel with a fresh smell, especially after playing sports, but too strong and stereotypical smell does not allow you to forget that you took an “alien” gel. The names of men's shower gels most often contain the words "sport" and "freshness" - apparently, it is believed that men should use shower gel only after the gym, and the aromas "Arctic Wind" and "Snow avalanche" should kill the smell of sweat.
The range of women's shower gels is much wider, but there is also a problem: women's gels are mainly produced with the smell of flowers, fruits or berries and in the Spa or Aromatherapy series - obviously, in the presentation of cosmetic companies, the girl always wants to smell by default, like a may rose. It would be great if among the shower gels in the mass segment there were more neutral, unisex-smells - after all, 2016 is the year ahead.
Palmolive gels differ in texture (for women it is more creamy), and the composition of the female shower gel contains almost one and a half times more ingredients, but I did not notice much difference in their properties. Perhaps the point here is in the features of my skin: I can not use only shower gel, I always need a moisturizer or body milk. I liked that both funds are spent sparingly, compared to my regular shower gel. For the sake of experiment, I tried to use male gel and as shampoo, however, after using my usual balm after it. Nothing bad happened to my hair, but a miracle, of course, didn’t happen either - however, I don’t think it’s worth making conclusions after one washing my head.
Men's shower gels are often produced as a 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 product, which leads to a sad thought: do they really differ from ordinary soap? The difference in price between male and female gels is most often small and amounts to about 10-20 rubles. Men's shower gels, as a rule, cost a bit more expensive - although it is often assumed that a man uses shower gel and as a shampoo and buys not two products, but one.
It seems to me that the division of shower gels into male and female is obsolete, but this does not seem to bother the manufacturers: men continue to produce in black, gray or dark blue packaging, and women continue to produce in pink, peach, white and lilac. Here, as with any other flavored products, everything is very individual: not all women want to smell like flowers, and not all men love the scent of mint and eucalyptus - and cosmetic companies should take this into account. I do not think that shower gels in principle should be divided into male and female. An experiment helped me to look at this care product in a new way: now I will try to find a shower gel with a fresh, but not pungent smell - and, obviously, it will be masculine.
Shaving gel
Gillette satin care
331 rub. ("Magnet cosmetics")
Gillette Series 3X
277 rub. ("Magnet cosmetics")
I got, as it seems to me, the most senseless things for a woman: shaving gels, both for sensitive skin. I can understand why men need gel: most of them have hard thick hair on their face, for shaving which is suitable, probably, best of all from similar means. Basically, I could test the gels, having shaved my head, but I got tired of the experiments, and I don’t like to shine like a bowling ball, so I, like in that memorable advertisement, “shaved one leg” with a female Gillette, another masculine.
Gel packaging differs only in color: women - in pastel greenish tones (pink gel too), men - in the very blue metallic paint, which most of the products for men are painted on. Why precisely blue metallic? So that was strong as steel? The smells predictably differed: the typical coldish male and some non-irritating floral-chemical female. The consistency of the female seems thinner. A hint of liquid character, lol? Actually, no, I don't think so.
Gels work in the same way: well, for an inexperienced user it is even too good, they foam, they both allow the razor to slide over the skin. At the same time, there is a feeling of "safe sliding": the machine is not accelerated so as to cut off the skin on the protruding bone, but enough to complete the procedure quickly and accurately. Again, I don’t know if men would see the difference between gels when shaving their faces or heads.
Sometimes gender labeling helps to select cosmetics for men who usually do not chop at all, because "not allowed". However, if they were bothering to learn more about the type and needs of their skin, there would be no such need to allocate male and female means. And do vulgar targeted advertising. And also: what the heck is most black cosmetics for men? The same Foreo and Clarisonic position their black gadgets as men's, suitable for more rough skin. Women love black too, alo.
In general, I probably can be reproached with the fact that I want an unimportant and too forward looking, but I do not have enough gender-based cosmetics. I love either exaggeratedly feminine packaging, smells and colors (deliberately courageous means manufacturers somehow fail), or neutral ones like a colorless shower gel that smells of nothing. I buy one male deodorant because of the appearance of the stick (the smell is tutti-frutti, and the packaging is full of some typical "male" characters). It seems to me that any stamps without a centuries-old heritage should rely very little on gender in the presentation. A good example of this is Glossier. From genderless - Malin + Goetz.
Generally, shaving gels are not the most necessary and popular product, judging by the suggestions of stores. Both female and male variants are found in a couple of brands (Arko and all kinds of Gillette, including Olay), others make distinctly male ones (Natura Siberica, Lierac, Thalgo Men), some are universal (Pharmaact, Grown Alchemist). From what can be compared, women's gels are a bit more expensive - 10-20 rubles. But I admit that this surcharge is not due to the fact that women can drive anything more expensive, but more sophisticated marketing - after all, shaving gels are more commonly perceived as a male product.
I will not use these two gels anymore. They are cheap and equally effective, but they give too much foam, they smell noticeably, take up space and are easily replaced by other means that are already in the bathroom. However, you can leave them for guests to at least justify the purchase.
Disposable shaving machines
Bic twin lady
5 pieces, 115 rubles. ("Billa")
Bic 1 Normal
5 pieces, 104 rubles. ("Billa")
I was thirteen years old when I first shaved my legs: the end of the 90s was in the yard, I had Dad's simple Gillette razor in my hands, and in my heart I had complete confidence that this is how adult life begins. A week ago, I went to the bathroom with Bic disposable blades with a little less enthusiasm - a wicked, unhappy woman, with sore legs under her arms and a badly cut leg, came out. Cut in three places.
I tested both machines at the same time: the right leg and the armpit got an ascetic male razor with one single blade, the left - female, with two blades and cute handles of pastel shades. For three sessions of shaving, I never cut myself with a women's razor, and vice versa - only once I was able to curb the men's machine and remain unharmed after using it. There were no external differences, except for the number of blades, between them: both razors are sharp, slow and dull (if you are one of those who do not change disposable blades after the first use - I know there are a million of us, these Bic will have to be thrown out) .
I suspect that the combo of the lonely, but very sharp blade and the rigid form of the machine itself has become fatal for my right leg, it is clearly not intended to take into account the natural curves of the human body. Hence the sensation and the result, as if shaved with an ax. In this sense, the female machine, minimally improved with an extra-blade, took the lead far ahead. There are no special complaints about the result of shaving (except for cuts): the quality control was carried out by the husband, who couldn’t touch with which machine he shaved what foot.
Women's Bic cost more: in the Billa supermarket, the difference in price is insignificant - 11 rubles; in the online store krason.ru price dispersion for the same models is much more noticeable - 52 rubles. In general, the cost of women's disposable razors is consistently higher: 191 rubles versus 94 for similar Schick men's machines, 125 rubles versus 99 for Gillette and 79 rubles versus 65 for Super Max machines. And only Arko’s men’s and women’s disposable razors stand the same. All these products are invariably designed based on gender stereotypes: products for women are painted with monograms, painted pink and mint, and for men they stamp black, blue, or at least silver shavers.
In the final of the experiment, I happily put deeper into the closet the unused “female” Bic - it would be a rainy day, but the men went straight to the trash. Лично мне важнее не какого цвета бритва и симпатичная ли у неё упаковка, а насколько она приспособлена для удобного и безопасного использования. Так что я, пожалуй, вернусь к своей старенькой "женской" Venus, за которую когда-то давно уже заплатила "налог на розовое", и забуду эти "бики" как страшный сон.
Очищающие гели для лица
L'Oréal "Абсолютная нежность"
188 руб. ("Л'Этуаль")
L'Oréal Men Expert Pure Power "Чёрный уголь"
321 руб. ("Л'Этуаль")
Искусство гендерного таргетирования зародилось, видимо, в тот же момент, что и реклама - как кинематограф и порно. Following strictly defined logic, men were allowed one thing (motorcycles, chainsaws and invigorating Old Spice), women were completely different (multicookers, vacuum cleaners and powder with swan powder puff). You can joke or lament about this as much as you like, but the fact remains a fact in 2016: manufacturers still consider taking care of themselves as women's prerogative, and connecting men to this business is a special effort from all sides. In Russia, as our experience has shown, is also financial: here, special means for special people are more expensive.
At the time, BuzzFeed was excellently laughed at the desire to push men with universal means of care under the flaw of "masculinity". A listing of "male" products (i.e. bombs for the bath in the form of a grenade and cotton swabs in a package imitating a steel sheet) came out with the subtitle "I am a man and I use men's goods. I am not a woman. I am a man." It seems that a lot of brands around the world are guided by this logic: if you don’t write FOR MEN in large letters on the bank, they won’t buy them.
I volunteered to test two products for the face: one seems to be gender neutral (but with all its appearance hints at femininity), the other with threateningly masculine marking. I usually use Biotherm facial wash, but I have never been afraid to smear my face with a fat Nivea from a tin can (in my personal statistics, an unchanging favorite of bachelors) in a hopeless situation. Therefore, the idea to compare "soft gel cream that improves the skin" in pale pink packaging and coal-black "Pure Power novelty" against 5 skin problems excited me more. And for good reason.
I was not able to see how well “Absolute Tenderness” transforms the skin, soothing and softening it, as stated - but it washes away the cosmetics, does not sin with a pronounced smell and dries with less soap. For the sake of the purity of the experiment, each time I stood for half an hour between washing and applying the cream, you can tolerate. In general, when in five days it was the turn to switch to the men's gel, I remembered this experience with absolute tenderness.
In the black tube, everything that is thought about men is concentrated: strength, uncompromisingness and a charge of cheerfulness, knocking down. Not so long ago we wrote about gothic cosmetics, and Black Coal with a stretch could go in there - it is a wet-asphalt gel, and, believe me, it’s hard to resist a joke about the face. At the first approximation, a drop of gel smells like a pleasant men's perfume, but when you touch the face of the whole plume, only one stunning note remains: MENTHOL. Obviously, manufacturers believe that the man is not able to evaluate the effectiveness of a more delicate means.
"Coal" washes literally to the squeak, and as for freshness, I might as well pour menthol listerine into my eyes. In fairness, both ("making the skin clean and squeaky" and "avoid the area around the eyes") are written on the back of the can in small print. Who will read this? Well, of course, not me. But there is some good news: a pea gel is enough for washing, which makes its price, which exceeds the cost of unmanly washing, almost twice, more justified. And the manufacturer doesn’t lie about this either: “apply a small amount of money” (by the way, with a man L'Oréal speaks “you”, while on a pink tube it is advised to “apply”).
I must admit, I survived only five applications, although I planned ten - both in the morning and in the evening: acne appeared on my skin for the first time in a long time. And, frankly, I feel a little sorry for the men: because of all this masculine masquerade, set up on separate shelves, they will have to endure, and not knowing that washing can be not only suffering, as in childhood. And besides, it is not necessary to overpay for it.