Celebrity beauty secrets always make big news. From exorbitantly-priced creams to anti-aging miracle lotions, Hollywood's hottest beauties inspire millions of fans to buy the same beauty products, no matter what they cost, in hopes of looking runway perfect.

But stars, just like ordinary consumers, aren't immune to slick marketing campaigns and ineffectual products just because they're rich.

"Whether it's a celebrity or not women want the same thing. They want to believe that miracle in a jar and all the marketing promises," says Paula Begoun, author of "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me."

"Stars may have more money. But they get waylaid by new beauty products just like many women," says Begoun. "Does a bigger price tag equate for more research? I haven't seen it. Whether you buy a bad product at $500 or at $20 it's a burn either way."

Hope in a jar?

A nationally-recognized consumer expert and syndicated columnist, beauty cop Begoun has sold more than 2.5 million books since launching her career in 1979.

"That was a momentous year for me and for the beauty industry," says Begoun, who worked as a makeup artist in Washington, D.C. In 1979 the FDA made ingredient listings mandatory in the United States. The decision meant that the acne-plagued Begoun, like millions other consumers, could finally clue in to the market's real beauty culprits.

"I was a young girl struggling with skin issues," says Begoun. "But I was finally able to read that bottle of Clinique toner I was using and see that it contained alcohol, menthol and acetone. No wonder I had such red inflamed skin."

Since then Begoun has been helping consumers wise up to beauty industry hype.

"Basing a purchase on a celebrity face or a star endorsing a cosmetic line isn't making a solid decision. You're going with the marketing," says Begoun.

Her call to cosmetic companies is straightforward and simple. "Send me your products and research and I'll review each one with due diligence. But if a formula doesn't hold up don't get angry with me."

Superstar ingredients

With peptides now the hot beauty buzz word, high-priced products like those by Dr. Nicholas Perricone and other are tantalizing beauty mavens with a host of new promises.

"Antioxidants and retinol have a lot of research behind them. That research simply doesn't exist for peptides," says Begoun.

Comprised of a long but fragile chain of amino acids, different kinds of peptides target cells and tell them how to react against aging stimuli. "They're part of what we're now calling cell communicators," says Begoun.

"Someone like Dr. Perricone can make claims about the anti-aging benefits of neuropeptides and how they somehow trigger muscles in the face to contract. Stars and ordinary consumers will buy these products. But Perricone and others don't have real research to show what peptides can do."

True beauty

A regular on "Oprah," "The View," "20/20" and "The Today Show," Begoun is always moved by real stories of women struggling with skin issues. "They write in and tell me about the horrors they've gone through and how my research helped them. That means the world to me."

Begoun passes the same message to them and A-list Hollywood beauties.

"Read the labels. Whether it's a celebrity touting a line, a major dermatologist or just a big cosmetic company, products have to stand up to their promises and the research," says Begoun. "At any price point it isn't very pretty to waste money."