Real effect or just clever marketing?
I decided to start my experiments with so-called anti-aging supplements for youthful skin — the pricey kind, of course, because surely that must mean they work better. Among the pharmacy brands, I landed on Vichy.
I bought my first box of these miracle pills and immediately fell for the promo: register on the official website and get another one for free.
So I registered. Turns out it wasn’t that simple — the “free” box could be mine only if I bought a second one and earned enough points. Points could be collected slowly — by checking in daily on the site — or quickly, by leaving glowing comments about the magical changes I was supposedly noticing.
Given my hope for results (and the cost of these vitamins), I consciously chose to play the marketing game.
For points, I picked the slow option. And off we went — every day on the site they drilled into me how amazing these pills were, how soon I’d see even greater results, and that I just had to keep buying and swallowing!
The only problem: I didn’t see a thing.
I had nothing to write in those praise-filled comments — honesty first, I can’t fake it. So it took me almost a month of daily brainwashing sessions before I finally had enough points to claim my “free” box.
I finished that one mostly out of habit — I’m fairly resistant to psychological tricks.
Later I tried a much cheaper brand — Merz Special Dragees. The result was exactly the same: noticeably stronger nails, but no effect whatsoever on the skin.
Conclusion
“Anti-aging supplements for youthful skin” are, in reality, just regular multivitamins — only 2–4 times more expensive.
That was the end of my experiments with “youth pills.” We’re all different, of course, so your mileage may vary — and if you’ve tried them, I’d love to hear your experience in the comments!
The original Russian version of this article was published on February 18, 2017.
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