Beauty Care Shines Through
By Samara Kamenecka

Body milk from Carrefour and Dia helps consumers to have smooth skin. Carrefour’s version includes oat extracts, and Dia’s contains nutrients.

From shampoo to make-up remover wipes to toothpaste, Spanish private labels are highly prevalent on store shelves.

Spain, land of the notoriously beautiful: perpetually tanned, well-rested with glowing skin and hair. Are they reaping the rewards of the Mediterranean diet, or could it be the result of a solid range of personal care products? Spaniards take beauty seriously, and as a result, supermarkets such as Día, Sabeco and Carrefour cater to their needs by offering an alternative to foreign brands.

Taking it Off

Buying make-up remover in Día is simple as the private label is the only one available. It comes in a light blue square package and the label reads “Toallitas Desmaquilladoras” (Make-up removal towelettes) in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek. At the bottom of the package is the Día logo in silver and white, and 30 towelettes cost 1.29 Euros.

Sabeco offers one other brand besides its own, and it comes in a white square package with a blue border. The blue sticker label, which reads “Toallitas desmaquilladoras” in Spanish and Portuguese, has a photo of a woman and a silver image of its logo, a bird, on the left-hand side. At the bottom it says Auchan in silver and white and 25 towelettes sell for 1.39 Euros.

Carrefour shoppers can buy any of four different foreign brands, but they may be drawn to the eye-level shelf where 30 store brand towelettes sell for 1.25 Euros. Their white package has text in French, Spanish, Italian and German and contains extensive fine print.

Getting Clean

Día shower gel has some variety. One white, 750-ml bottle with a tall, cylindrical neck costs 1.25 Euros. The red and white Día logo is at the bottom and vertical letters spell out “Gel de Baño” (Shower gel) beside three simple images in blue, green and yellow. Another store brand comes in a tall, clear bottle and in brown says “Gel Clásico” (Classic gel) with a photo of a drop falling into orange liquid. Text is in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek and at the bottom is the Día logo. This 750ml bottle costs 1.20 Euros, and it should be noted that both bottles look extremely similar in packaging to foreign brands found on the same shelf.

In Sabeco, the private label product is eye level on the shelf and its attractive label reads “Gel de Baño” with a photo of people at the top and an image of liquid below. It costs 1.45 Euros for 750 ml. Another store brand option, 750 ml for 1.40 Euros, comes in a yellow, almond-shaped bottle with a green top. Its green label shows a photo of a family, reads “Gel de Baño” with a green plant and has the Auchan logo in red and white below.

Auchan sells a bath gel containing proteins.

Carrefour offers six different types of store brand shower gels amidst a sea of other labels. Four come in almond-shaped bottles with the blue and white Carrefour logo at the top. The first, “Gel Clásico” is mint green and has an image of bubbles, “Gel fresco” (Fresh-scent gel) which comes in green has a picture of a leaf, “Gel Avena” (Oat gel) is brown with a picture of oats and “Dermo Gel” is blue and has a picture of water. They are all 750ml and the first two cost 0.95 Euros while the others cost 1.14 Euros. On the bottommost shelf are three shower gels by Carrefour’s other label, No.1. One is a white bottle with a red top and a blue and red label with a large “1.” It reads “Gel de Baño” in Spanish and Portuguese with a picture of bubbles. Another bottle is the same but green and is called “Gel de Baño Multifrutas” (Mixed Fruit Shower Gel) with a picture of fruit (see bottle). The third, this time brown, is “Gel de Baño Avena” with a picture of oats. All three are 750ml and cost 0.70 Euros.

 The Quest for Smooth Skin

If you’re looking for store brand body cream in Día, you can choose between three bottles. “Body Milk Nutritivo” (Nourishing Body Milk, see bottle) is dark blue with a white top. The same bottle is available in light blue and goes by “Reafirmante” (Firming) and the white bottle is “Hidratante” (Hydrating). For 1.20 Euros and 500 ml, the bottles have a silver design at the top, text in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek and the Día logo at the bottom in silver.

Neither Sabeco nor its thumbs up line carry a line of body creams, but Carrefour does. Here there was only one option. The attractive, 500-ml white bottle is almond-shaped and comes with a blue top. The label says “Body Milk” with a picture of oats and it reads “Hidratante con Extracto de Avena” (Moisturizing with oat extract) in Spanish, French, Italian and German. At the bottom is the Carrefour logo in blue and white and it costs 1.23 Euros.

Enviable hair

When it comes to shampoo, Día sells a wide range of foreign brands and a few of its own all on the same shelf. One white bottle with a green top looks like a popular foreign brand and reads “Champú Anticaspa” (Dandruff shampoo) in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek while a bottle with the same design is for “Cabellos Normales” (Regular hair). The bottles appear to be a generic version of foreign brands and weigh in at 300 ml for 1.39 Euros. Also on this shelf is another popular foreign shampoo and beside it is Día’s version: a clear, almond-shaped bottle, yellow liquid, a yellow top, a yellow label and a photo of an adult with a child. The label reads “pH Neutro, Champú Niños” (pH neutral children’s shampoo) and costs 0.83 Euros for 750ml.

Sabeco’s only store brand option are the Thumbs Up products which are located on the bottommost shelf of an entire shampoo wall display. “Champú Multifrutas” which is 750ml costs 0.95 Euros comes in a tall green bottle with a green top. The label has the thumbs up logo, a photo of assorted fruit and the ingredients listed at the bottom.

Carrefour has a wide variety of its own shampoos and even has its own separate display shelf. These bottles have an elaborate, attractive design. One comes in a cream-colored diamond-shaped bottle with a pointy top and the selection is color-coded. Pink, for example, is “Color Resplandor” (Radiant color) while green is “Champú Equilibrio” (Balanced Shampoo). Another bottle has a semi-curved shape, a red top and a reddish label. The Carrefour logo is at the top, it says “ Champú, Karité & Mango, Cabello Seco y Dañado” in Spanish and Portuguese (Shampoo, shea and mango, dry or damaged hair), and this 500ml bottle sells for 1.90. On the bottommost shelf there is a shampoo option under the store brand 1. It’s similar to Sabeco’s thumbs up offer as it’s a green bottle with a green top and the logo is at the top of the label. It reads “Gel de Baño Multifrutas” in Spanish and Portuguese and there’s a picture of fruit, along with the ingredients at the bottom.

 Happy Teeth

All three stores have a wide range of toothpaste. In Día one entire eye-level shelf is dedicated to private label products, all of which come in 75ml tubes and are principally labeled in English, although the finer print is in Spanish, Portuguese and Greek. “White Action” costs 0.69 Euros (see box) and comes in a silver and blue box with the Día logo at the bottom, while “Complete Action” comes in a simple red box for 0.49 Euros.

In Sabeco, store brand products are also at eye level, come in 75ml containers and take up an entire shelf. The boxes all have the same design as well: the red and green bird logo and “Auchan” on the left, an image of a smiling couple, the name of the toothpaste in Spanish and the right-hand side of the box looks like a silver wave. The “Blanqueador” (Whitening) variety comes in a flashy box with silver stars (see box). Other varieties include “Extractos de Plantas” (Plant extracts), “Aliento Fresco” (Fresh breath) and “Biflor Frescura” (Double fluoride freshness) and cost between 0.75 and 0.79 Euros. There is also thumbs up toothpaste on offer, 0.60 Euros for 125ml. The simple tube has the logo at the top with the word “Dentifrice” (Toothpaste in French) with a picture of a toothbrush.

At Carrefour, shoppers can find shampoo in exotic scents such as mango and shea butter.

In Carrefour there are eight types of store brand toothpastes on offer, all at eye-level on the shelf and in 75ml tubes and containers. The boxes are simple yet eye-catching. “Blanqueante” (Whitening) costs 0.95 Euros and reads “Crema Dental con Fluor” (Toothpaste with fluoride) accompanied by a silver circle with a white star. The Carrefour logo is at the bottom. Another option is “Triple Acción”(Triple Action), for 0.96 Euros, which comes in a flashy box with “acción” written three times in different colors and a gold circle with a red design.

Where to Buy PL Products

Día personal care products seem rather haphazardly stacked on store shelves which indicate prices but not labels, making it difficult to single out which products are store brand. Products’ packaging is often very similar to foreign brands or extremely generic. Of the three brands, Día offers the least expensive item (toothpaste for 0.49 Euros) but in general, its prices are comparable in all areas with the other private labels.

Sabeco has a bit more variety than Día and uniformity in its packaging. All of its products share a similar style and a more elaborate design, making them easier to identify. In terms of pricing, Sabeco ranks almost equal to both Día and Carrefour, although with its second private label its products can certainly compete for the most economical and generic looking.

Carrefour offers perhaps the greatest variety of personal care products. Their items vary in packaging, from very generic to very elaborate. Like Sabeco there seems to be an emphasis on marketing as shelves are always clearly indicated, and their second private label is definitely a contender for the least expensive products/most generic. Items are also extremely comparable in price to other private label products.

We can perhaps deduce that private label personal care products vary most in packaging and marketing but there’s not a noticeable difference in either price or variety.