We did not take part in an advertorial

Yesterday, Bread&Butter Skincare was profiled in an article in the Globe and Mail. See: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/grow/new-product-development/mens-beauty-industry-pumps-out-big-bucks/article1478720/.

One of the comments made to the article was: "this is an advertorial". That is far from the truth. In fact we do not advertise with the Globe and Mail. They do not profit from any of our sales. They simply approached us as an expert in this industry.

Moreover, we make it a priority to disclose our relationships with the media to the public. That is why on our website and Facebook page, you will see a statement following each media article that will disclose whether we have a relationship with that media. It is our mission to not use the misleading sales tricks in this industry, and advertorials are one of them.

Snap Judgement - Smelly Business

A few weeks ago, the Toronto Star published an article about the dirty trick used by companies to sell more Laundry Detergent.

The trick is that the laundry companies purposely make it difficult for you to understand how much laundry detergent to use each time. They don't clearly tell you how much to put in, and the lines in the cap are purposely made to be difficult to see. Ever wonder why they have three lines in the cap? Because they know that most people fill the cap to the most visible line....the one at the top of the cap that is 3 times more than what you need.

What's brutal about these companies is that they have statistics that support the fact that they are purposely ripping off their customers. Check out the article in the link below.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/756941--laundry-detergent-s-dirty-little-secret-the-more-you-use-the-less-it-works#article

Using Emotive Ingredients to 'Spin A Story'

Each year, beauty companies are under immense pressure to create new and exciting products to replace their past product failures. So...the minions gather around muffins and coffee each year to discover new trends. Most 'discovery sessions' include an evaluation of what new ingredients are on the horizon. For many companies, they find a few sexy ingredients that they can 'spin' a story around, while purposely minimizing their cost by including those ingredients at insignificant levels...an emotive level.

Here's an example from my past. Here's the ingredient list for a body wash that claims: "Ginseng revives your skin".

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Fragrance, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Polyquaternium-10, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Yellow 5, Blue 1

The Ginseng in this product is included below 0.1%, and frankly, it's never been proven to give any benefit on skin. The team of managers behind this knew/know that the ginseng is useless, but they have no problem selling us an empty promise.

Grooming Products Are Sold Like Used Cars?

Here's another example of the dirty sales tricks, aka the emotive ingredient. It is a face wash product from a popular brand that sells for +$35 per tube.

Their claim is: "a blend of caffeine, menthol, and vitamin E - as well as invigorating extracts derived from Lemon and Orange peel" invigorates your skin.

Take a look at their ingredient list: Water, polyethylene, myristic acid, palmitic acid, potassium Hydroxide, disodium sulficonnate, Lauric acid, PEG-7 Glyceryl cocoate, Prunus Armeneniaca, Benzyl Alcohol, Stearic acid, Glycerin, phenoxyethanol, ceteareth glycol, magnesium aluminum silicate, fragrance, disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, menthol, limonene, propylparaben, caffeine, corn germ oil, propylene glycol, glycene oil, tocopherol (vitamin E), BHT, citrus extracts, Linalool

As you can see, the key ingredients are found at the very end of the ingredient list, and from my estimation they are likely included at less than 0.1%, which is useless. You know what really irritates me...it's that the company who sells the product purposely deceives customers knowing that the customers has no way to call them out.

Just like a crooked used car salesmen, selling a lemon. PS: feel free to email me at blau@breadandbutterskincare.com if you want to know which brand I am talking about.

Snap Judgement

I received this picture from one of our 'scouts' for dirty advertising tricks, and it's a great example of an Emotive Ingredient.

You can see this ad in magazines and public transit posters. The ad claims that 'caffeine' will wake up your face by 'decongesting puffiness and diminishing dark circles'. Sure...when pigs fly.

When you look at the ingredient list, you will notice that coffee beans are second from the bottom of the list! In my opinion, less than 0.1%
of the product is 'coffee beans'. Moreover, there's little evidence out there that caffeine has any effect outside of your body. What do you think?

Dirty Trick #1: Emotive Ingredients

In my opinion, the dirtiest sales trick in the health and beauty industry is the use of Emotive Ingredients. Those who use it have total disregard for their customers, and couldn't give a f**k.

What's an Emotive Ingredient?

An emotive ingredient is an ingredient that is put into a product at such a low percentage that it provides no benefit. In fact, an ingredient that makes up 0.001% of a product can be profiled on the label of a product. It's an unbelievably popular and disrespectful sales trick.

Here's an example of a product with an emotive ingredient. This is the ingredient list for a well-known brand of shampoo that claims to be a Vitamin E and C Shampoo:

Water, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Ammoinium Chloride, Fragrance, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Butylphenyl Methylypropianol, Limonene, Amyl Cinnamal, Green 5, Polysorbate 20, Propylene Glycol, Cocomidoinium, Wheat Protein,
Hydrolized Keratin, Lemon Peel Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Panthenol, Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), Grapefruit Extract, Niacimide, Biotin.

Look at where Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) are located…near the very end of the list. In fact, they are way behind Fragrance, and the artificial colouring called Green 5, which are usually less than 1% of a product. Since the vitamins are so low on the ingredient list, and way behind minute ingredients such as Fragrance and Colourants, we can strongly infer that Vitamin E and Vitamin C are useless in this product.

Yet…this brand chooses to pull a fast one on the public, and sell an empty promise. I guess consumers are not worthy of the respect and honesty they deserve. In my next post, I'll show you another example.

Dirty Tricks

As I mentioned in my prior post, I have seen many sales tricks used in the health and beauty industry the past 10 years. I will be introducing you to each one over the next few weeks. But one of those tricks gets the honour of being the first, and it's the one that I was most ashamed of.


A few years ago, I worked at a company that made a product that my mother wanted to try. I knew that the product was a major scam, since the supposed magic ingredient (collagen) did sh*t all (ie. firm skin). In the industry, it’s called an “Emotive Ingredient”. In fact the firming of the skin was just a benefit of the rubbing action of when you put cream on your skin. So my mom asked me if she should use the product. I could have given her the 'corporate cool-aid' but I told her not to waste her money on it since the magic ingredient had no benefit. I still remember her saying "Can you do that?... That's not right."

That disappointment in her voice made me remove the 'corporate blinders' I was accustomed to wearing, and began to take a more critical look at how this industry sells products and the disrespect they have towards their customers.

In my opinion, no sales trick is dirtier than 'Emotive Ingredients'. I will show some examples in my next few posts.

day one of my blog

Today is the 2-month anniversary of Bread&Butter Skincare, and I am marking the occasion with the start of this blog.

It took me a while to be convinced to write a blog. But, it was my customers who pushed me to give it a try because they felt that I had a story and a unique insight on the beauty industry to share with the world. I have spent many years making and marketing skin and hair products that you see in stores. During that time, my hand was forced to act in ways that went against my principles, the integrity I learned from my parents. I had to captain the use of misleading sales tactics, and compete against competitors who used the most despicable advertising tricks. My frustrations with the industry was the spark of Bread&Butter Skincare.

So in this blog, I plan to educate my customers about these misleading sales tactics, and I hope you join in the conversation.