Most face creams have twenty ingredients. Nineteen are for the label.
Ours has five. You can pronounce all of them. Here is what each one does — and what it cost to make.
01WaterThe thing every cream is mostly made of, named honestly instead of as "aqua."the base
02GlycerinPulls water into the skin and holds it there. Cheap, ancient, and it works.holds water
03Shea butterThe fat that makes it feel like something. Grown, not synthesized.the barrier
04NiacinamideThe one active with decades of evidence. Everything else on other labels is chasing this.the active
05One preservativeSo it doesn't grow anything. One is enough when there's nothing exotic to protect.keeps it safe
The second receipt
Ingredients (all five)$1.40
Jar, cap, box$0.90
Filling & labour$0.70
What it cost to make$3.00
What they'd charge$42.00
The gap is not the cream. The gap is the nineteen ingredients you were paying to read.