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Financially speaking, makeup can be a burden. One item might not break the bank, but the combined cost of everything you might find in a woman's makeup bag—foundation, blush, mascara, eye liner, eye shadow, and so on—quickly adds up. By one estimate, a woman in the US will spend an average of $15,000 on makeup in her lifetime.
化妝品在是我們經濟上一個負擔。一款化妝品可能不會讓你破產，但是把一個女人化妝包里所有的化妝品加起來——粉底，腮紅，睫毛膏，眼線筆等等——費用就很多了。據估計，美國女性一生在化妝品上的平均花費就有1.5萬美元。
The kicker is, the ingredients in these products often account for no more than 15% of the cost, according to Randy Schueller, a cosmetic chemist who has been in the beauty business for more than 30 years and is co-founder of The Beauty Brains, a website devoted to debunking cosmetic myths through science.
從事美妝領域30多年的化妝品專家、同時也是The Beauty Brains網站的聯合創始人蘭迪·舒爾勒說：讓人糟心的是，化妝品里原料只占不到售價的15％。The Beauty Brains網站致力于通過科學的方式揭露化妝品的秘密。
Mainly what people are paying for is marketing, packaging, and brand prestige. That's why lipstick, for example, which is mostly wax, oil, and pigments, routinely costs more than $20 a tube at a department store makeup counter.
人們花錢主要買的是市場、包裝和品牌形象。打個比方，這就是為什么成分主要是蠟、油和和著色劑的口紅一般在商場柜臺上要賣20美元一支。
Where the makeup is sold matters, too. It's a form of marketing in itself, which is evident when you consider the difference between upscale brands carried at retailers such as Sephora and Ulta and mass-market brands sold at drugstores.
賣化妝品的地方也很重要。地點本身就是營銷的一種形式，這在你思考絲芙蘭和ULTA等商家賣的高檔品牌、與在普通藥店賣的大眾品牌的區別時，這種營銷就變得很明顯。
Quality in the cosmetics business can vary greatly, depending on the ingredients used and the way the makeup is manufactured. Schueller offers the example of powdered cosmetics, such as pressed eye shadow and blush. The cheaper manufacturing method uses a hammer mill, which breaks the makeup into small particles but can leave clumps. Another method uses a jet mill, which Schueller says breaks the makeup into finer particles, creating a smoother, more even finish.
在化妝品行業里，質量的區別也很大，這取決于使用的成分以及化妝品制作的方式。舒爾勒舉了眼影和腮紅等粉裝化妝品的例子。廉價的制作方式就是用錘磨機，把化妝品弄成小顆粒，但是會留下小碎塊。而另一種方法就是用氣流粉碎機，舒爾勒稱這種粉碎機能把化妝品磨成更細小的顆粒，做成更加光滑，更加平整的成品。
What should a consumer do? Know what you're looking for. But don't assume that more expensive means better. More than anything else, what the price of makeup simply reflects is the price that you're willing to pay for it.
那消費者應該做些什么呢？要明確你想要的是什么。但不要以為價錢高東西就越好。撐死了講，化妝品的價格只是說明你愿意付的那個價格而已。
