At least that's what the prices say, as does the packaging. A L'Oreal marketing strategy for the past several years has been to position its products a cut above the best of the drug-store cosmetic brands like Revlon and Max Factor.
L'Oreal displays are elegant.
The price difference between L'Oreal and its nearest competitors is actually either nonexistent or too small to deter consumers from paying extra for hair-color products that won't go orange or turn their hair to straw. And for those frugal Friedas who will buy the least expensive product, there's always Maybelline. That's just fine with L'Oreal, which owns both brands. Reducing the price has the effect of reducing the product's value to the would-be purchaser, Warner says, adding that when you must discount, you should do so with caution. On the other hand, sometimes cutting prices is smart, especially if they're too high to start with.