Looking good comes at a price for wasteful Brits

Thursday, October 6, 2005

Wasteful Brits spend £1.7 billion on unused toiletries every single year, new research has found.

Churchill, the insurance company, has found that one third of people questioned never use half of the health and beauty products they own, leaving them untouched in a corner or neglected on a shelf.

The findings were part of a larger survey that discovered Britain spends £10.2 billion on beauty products each year, leading the insurance company to urge people to make sure their contents cover is adequate.

"This goes to show just how much people can accumulate over the years without realising. Homeowners should regularly check the replacement value of their belongings to ensure they have adequate insurance cover, which helps in the event of a claim," said Martin Scott, Churchill's head of home insurance.

Christmas and birthdays are the time when people received most unwanted health and beauty products.

The poll of 1,300 people also contained some more quirky revelations, with one in four men admitting they spend money on expensive brands usually used by women.

Men are set to benefit from the upcoming release of the David Beckham fragrance, billed by maker Coty as "a fragrance for the self confident modern man who likes the finer things in life".

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