Beauty products come at a high cost for students
Despite the high cost of cosmetics, many students still choose to spend money on beauty products.
According to Stylecraze there are four different hair types, straight, wavy, curly, and kinky. Type one hair is straight which, “typically lies flat from the roots to the tips and the texture is soft and silky”. Type two hair is described as, “neither straight nor curly as It falls somewhere between the two”, and type three hair is described as, “hair that is S shaped”.
Type four hair is described as “having high density with extremely tight curls” and is further divided into three subdivisions: type 4A is soft; type 4B is tight curly and type 4C is extremely tightly curled.
Bella Maplango, who braids hair in Rustenburg, described her hair journey as “challenging and costly”. “Because I have 4C hair, it was really challenging for me to find the right product, because it should cater to the needs of my hair as well as my budget. I don’t have money to splurge on hair products but I still want my hair to look decent”.
Shanrezay Nemudzivhadi (23), an NWU alumna, said that she used to spend R600 per month on hair products but currently spends R300.
Nemudzivhadi said: “Personally I do think that it’s a waste of money because I feel like most of our features or hair types have to do with genetics and if you have good hair in your family you are most likely to have good hair as well. People have different genes and everything works differently for everyone”.
Make-up brands cater to the different needs and wants of men and women, from acne prone skin types to those that are oily or dry. Larger companies and brands often have more expensive products, making consumers dig deeper into their pockets to obtain them.
Thato Mokhong (22), a postgraduate student in geography at the North-West University (NWU), said that she spends R1500 per year on makeup. “They are not a waste of money and have not affected my skin. Also, I apply makeup occasionally so I don’t spend regularly on it.”
Luleka Sindiswa Mkhweli (22), a bachelor of science in urban and regional planning student, said that she decided to look for alternative skin care products because she is on a student budget.
“I don’t use top of the range products, however I am open to using serums for my face, because apparently they work and they are not as high maintenance as using six different face creams for the night, day and the morning,” Mkhweli said.