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What do you dislike about high-end beauty brands?
What do you dislike about high-end beauty brands? Share!
Sometimes pricing gets ridiculous or the amount you get for the price is so small, snooty treatment by employees (not all the time, but it’s something that by having more dedicated people to your brand that is easier to experience), plastic packaging (often not indicative of the price tag), accessibility of some brands is low. Also, really dislike how strongly scented skincare can be as well as lipsticks that smell so, so strong like roses.
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The pricing!
Sometimes the quality of the products doesn’t live up to the price – or even compare to drugstore counterparts! Unpigmented shadows, dry pencil eyeliners…
I also think the price mark up for high end brands is ridiculous! If makeup is expensive in the US you would die in Sweden… A MAC shadow costs the equivalent of around $25, and a chanel lipstick around $50!
Mac lipstick in New Zealand cost 33$ US, so try to beat that
Also limited edition Mac makeup sold out in couple of days & you trying to hunt down them on websites where you are paying double the price, so please US girls don’t cry about makeup price – in other countries Mac cost double or triple what you are paying for it 🙁
We’re paying $36 AUD here in Australia for one MAC lippy.
Either way, high end is expensive. But MAC’s colour selection is great and they have so many formula’s. It has to be really good for me to invest that much money and I better get good use out of it.
I hate it when the prices are so jacked up vis a vis drugstore brands. The drugstore brands are too often as good if not superior to the high-end brands, and one third the cost! I have, do, and will continue to pay through the nose for something lovely that only some company like Dior makes/sells but I am very discerning now about comparing brands for the money. I really learned the value of a dollar these past economically rough years, and I am not about to throw mine away foolishly.
Amen! Same here.
I dislike the small amounts – not that I need oversized, but if you’re going to pay twice the going rate for something, at least getting the average rate seems like it should be a no-brainer.
I also dislike it when the quality doesn’t show up in the product. It’s frustrating all around, but more tolerable in a $5 Wet ‘n Wild palette than a $60 Dior one.
Price is my main issue. I’ve seen some crazy high priced items. Also availability… it’s hard to get some brands. I know a lot need to be ordered online. I think that’s why so many people look for dupes.
I hate the looks I can get from the employees… Excuse me for not dressing up to go shopping!
The price obviously.
Accessability is definitely one (Burberry, Illamasqua I’m looking at you.), as well as snooty assistants, but it really annoys me when brands put out products with low quality in ingredients or performance. If I’m paying twice the amount I would for the drugstore equivalent, I expect twice the quality, thank you!
I dislike the ridiculous price points, absurd claims, and lame advertising of most high-end beauty brands. Plus, you can usually find a dupe for far less. You don’t HAVE to spend what they’re asking for products because it’s unrealistic unless you’re rich and don’t have a conscience.
99% of products have such a hideous markup and it’s sickening how it’s all filtered back into advertising and even more ridiculous claims. In addition, the ages of and the Photoshop-ping of the models photographs for the ads are not real and honest. The young girls don’t even look like their own photos. Cindy Crawford famously said, “Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.”
The Price…it is ridiculous…$49 for a Tom Ford lipstick or for Guerlain. Tom Ford packaging and containers are cheap. Quality is not there…I really dont think Chanel is all that made to be. And Chanel was my first high high end brand over 30 years ago…Cle de Peau, Sisley, etc…skin care is so pricey…and Creme de La Mer too. Doesnt have gold in it. I dont know what I am going to do when I retire and no longer can work.
I hate it when price doesn’t reflect quality and quantity of product itself, or packaging like Kat Von D’s palettes are beautiful but if you drop it, goodbye eyeshadows, while Urban Decay might have bulky/unattractive packaging it’s sturdy.
they are expensive. i know, “no shit” answer.
but the average price of a good product is so much higher now. the cheapest lipstick is 12-14 dollars.
i was looking at bare minerals moxie lipstick today it’s 18 dollars. and now brands jack up the price saying that you’re getting more product in the pan, but then i don’t need as much product, so just reduce the price for me.
i have very little money and i can’t spend on makeup as much now. so i wish it wasn’t so expensive.
the good thing about things being expensive is that they turn into investments, so i don’t waste money on things that i feel iffy about, the stuff i buy, i really, really want that stuff.
i don’t buy drug store products at all anymore as a result, cos i’d rather save up for that 22 dollar UD lipstick that i really want.
also when you have a lot of products, you stop spending money on things you don’t want that badly.
i’ve never been treated badly by a salesperson cos i didn’t “look like a customer”. i tend to dress the worst when i shop for makeup, cos i do so in the morning, usually without a stitch of makeup. i walked in a dropped 100 dollars on dior rose and amber diamond without flinching.
also most of the salesladies at the local dillards i think recognize me even if i havne’t bought anything from them.
Yes! Exactly! That’s what happens to me too!
My experience is similar to yours. I usually go shopping in the morning with out any makeup on. I don’t wear makeup because i like getting it done and it gives them a chance to ‘sell’ me something. Most of the ladies in my local Dillard’s and Macy’s know my face well enough to know I’m a frequent high-end cosmetics shopper and are eager to show me something new, tell me about an upcoming promotion or hand me a few samples in case I like it and want to purchase. If they don’t know me, they quickly learn I’m serious when they find I’m educated on the brand and products. There is only one sales lady I have problems with, so she never gets my money.
The expense, though I will budget for something if I want it. A dud release or product in an otherwise great line. The lack of local availability in some higher end lines I like, they just won’t get the product in all markets. The scalping/markup on LE items later (CHANEL Vernis Jade :P). The perceived snobbery surrounding some bands, cultivated or not.
I dislike the assumption a lot of people seem to have that High End is *always* better, to the point where they won’t look at products objectively because of the label. I’ve been disappointed by certain brands offerings because I just didn’t feel the products were good at all, and certainly not as good as you would hope for the price tag. I find it annoying just how expensive all beauty brands are here in Australia, but some HE brands are the worst offenders. I get that you want the brand to have the cachet that comes with being expensive and exclusive, but charging $50+ for a lipstick is a bit hard to take.
I find a lot of designer brands don’t cater to a wide range of skin tones in things like foundations, and their powder products always seem to be aimed at fair skinned customers, though there are exceptions of course. I find the marketing behind some brands a bit… alienating, I guess. I accept that all brands are going to risk having an image that shuts someone out a bit, and you can’t please everyone, but I feel that given established HE brands are kind of the gatekeepers of mainstream beauty, their image has a bigger impact than a niche brand’s marketing might. A lot of HE brands only use extremely skinny, very young, mostly white models and I feel they could diversify it a bit and be more inclusive whilst still keeping the luxurious, exclusive feel they want, especially given that the customer base has expanded so much.
I hate those tiny disposable eyeshadow applicators or pointless and weird shaped powder or blush brush stumps! Lol
Every time I see them I just wish they’d get rid of those things and the compartment or space that holds them and reduce the price of the product by $5-$10! 🙂
Yes, yes a thousand times yes. I hate included applicators, particularly in blush compacts because what are you meant to do with them? If (when) you chuck them or lose them you’re left with a space that just makes the compact look dodgy. Those things make the product look less luxurious.
I agree… Most of the time the little blush brushes and eyeshadow brushes/sponges are a waste of space and materials. Sometimes, like with Chanel or Dior, you get a brush that is actually quite useable.
It just boggles my mind. Urban decay included an awesome eyeshadow brush with their naked 2 palette. I recently gave that palette to my mom and when I would borrow it back to do a sexy smokey eye for a night out, I found out my mom uses one of those disposable eyeshadow applicators instead of the double ended brush! Lol after I couldn’t convince her the brush was better, I took the brush back 🙂
Although having those lil luxury feeling extras like the velvet pouches included in the packaging makes the price seem worth while, it all cost money and time from buying the material to packaging it. And to me it’s a waste of money and it’s a wasteful item that just collects dust and eventually ends up in the garbage. What if instead, Dior stopped including those pouches and instead gave a velvet makeup bag free with big orders? I guess I’m all about being less wasteful. 🙂
I feel that high end brands just live on their name for some reason. I got really shocked when I realised Clinique’s skincare contain so much crappy ingredients, bought their trial 3-step system and realised the cleanser had basic soap ingredients, the toner was shockfull of alcohol and the face cream had mineral oils!
Also Estee Lauder made me disappointed putting mineral oils in some of their products, a nighttime serum for one. I mean they really should afford putting better quality oils in their stuff for that price!
I too was shocked at how much alcohol was in Cliniques toners. I stay away from their cleansers and toners.
Reminds me a lot of high-end shampoos usually contain barely anything special either, or have things like sodium laureth sulfate, which i try to avoid cause of my skin condition. It’s so stupid to look at a Philosophy or some of the other high-end shampoos at Ulta only to realize that for 2 bucks I can get a Garnier one with basically the same stuff in it. Lush uses it in a lot of their liquid shampoos too, which depresses me. Can’t a girl shell out 20 bucks to avoid something, please? Cause I would, but it seems it’s hard to do.
(On the other hand I’m lucky that there are some organic or sulfate free lower end shampoos at half the cost, thank god.)
As a 21-year-old I get ignored by make up artists some times, but more often they act like I am stupid. Little do they know, I am a make up artist myself (just not working in the business at the moment) and I can outsmart them sometimes. The attitude is annoying and it makes me go shop online.
What I also dislike is the lack of quality in certain lipsticks. Chanel isn’t that great. I would never buy them at full price.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Sometimes SA in name brands could be a little snobby, they treat you like you are taking their precious time. I always go to the same mac counter at Nordstrom, and I know all the girls there, but if can’t find it there and I have to go to macys, is a pain for me, some of them just don’t like to be bothered. One time the lady was doing her own makeup, and she was really unpleasant when I asked for her help, the rest of them were talking among themselves.
I like value for money, no matter what I’ve paid for a product, so if a high end product doesn’t “deliver” (like far too many of the Chanel quads, for example), I find that plain old insulting. I feel the same when it’s a drugstore product too but I feel it more so when a product is expensive. That’s why blogs like yours, Christine, are so valuable – they really do help us avoid costly errors. I also get ticked when packaging is cheap or things fall out (it doesn’t bother me quite so much with drugstore brands – if they have to skimp to keep costs lower, I’d rather it be on packaging than on product quality). Oh, and applicators – if higher end brands are going to include an applicator, make it something less cheesy or don’t include one at all (if Benefit’s 8 pans can put in a half decent brush, so can Guerlain!)
The price. How often some companies continuously come out with LE products of lower quality. How some products are outperformed by similar products in the DS.
Everything you just said Christine and the lack of color range for women of color! I’m looking at you Guerlain, Dior, and Chanel.
Plastic packaging is really what I dislike ( or ” cheap ” packaging ).
Packaging is the most obvious difference in high end or it should be. Mostly you’re paying for that and the brand name. Quality should be considered also. Powders are more finely milled, cream product blend easier and feel better on your skin, etc. Of course sometimes high end disappoints and lower priced items are more pigmented, blend as well and cost a lot less. Since all beauty products are a luxury there’s no shame in not having all high end things so I just limit myself to what my budget will allow. I wouldn’t bother buying an impostor fragrance but I’m a little more flexible with cosmetics.
It’s that much more painful when they don’t perform as expected.
The price tag 🙂
I hate when some of them are online-only in my area (illamasqua pure pigments!) because $26 is a lot to spend when I can’t try it first. I also *hate* when certain products (Nars foundation) doesn’t come with the accessories you need (the pump!) and you have to purchase it separately (WHAT?? It’s not expensive enough already?). Those are just a couple of my peeves with higher-end things.
The pricing obviously! But that’s just because in Australia they jack it up so high…and sometimes it’s really not worth the fuss. I recently bought a Dior lipgloss that cost a bundle and the sparkles/shimmer in it even though they are really tiny, is so gritty on my lips! Compared to a much cheaper one from Sportsgirl, it’s a bit of a disgrace lol
Accessibility. The area around Raleigh NC is a high end dead zone. We don’t have high-end one-off cosmetic boutiques. If it’s not a gigantic chain, it doesn’t exist here. We have a tiny Nordstrom and a tinier Sak’s. If I want to swatch Cle de Peau, Guerlain colors that aren’t red or pink, Burberry, or a handful of other high-end luxury brands, I have to drive three hours to Charlotte! Guys, come on, we have the affluence but lack the class. Love usssss. 🙁
High end foundations are my biggest rant with many having minimal pigmentation, ridiculously limited shade options which borders on offensive and far far too much perfume.
Obviously the price! I draw the line at a $40+ lipstick or a $50+ eye quad. If a company demands a high price, I demand higher standards-it better perform and it better be innovative too. I don’t want something that I can get in a lower price range.
I agre about the price vs. amount of product issue. While it doesn’t deter me from buying, it can tick me off. One thing I really hate is when I pay a ridiculous amount of money for something and it’s bad quality. I should be able to buy any item at Chanel and have it be fabulous, yet I’ve returned more Chanel products than any others. For twice the price, their eyeshadows should be 2X better.
Some of the prices can definitely get out of control, but my main criticism is packaging. I also said that something I like about high-end beauty products is their packaging (Dior in the little velvet pouch is amazing), but I hate when I buy high-end makeup and the packaging is super cheap or writing begins to come off.
More pricy and they keep increasing it .without changing their packaging or formula.
My only issue with high end brands is that I feel their counters often have employees who mistreat customers based on their clothing or makeup. When I go shopping for makeup I don’t wear any because that’s why I’m going, to get things tried on on my face. Aside from that, I think prices get outrageous too. I get it, it’s limited addition but the 20% price increase is unnecessary
Often with high end brands I will find something I want online, and then go out and buy it in store. I never ever just browse the high end counters, because I somehow feel like I don’t belong there. Maybe it’s because I’m quite young (I’m 20). With drugstore brands I’ll just pop in, swatch some stuff on my hand and maybe buy something; with high end stuff I feel like I need to approach the counter with the actual purpose of buying something.
Lack of accesibility in my country (I live in México and some brands just don’t think people have enough ‘culture’ or money to buy HE brands), snobby sales reps, and the way some brands inflate their claims and the names of their products; for example: when they choose fancy names for common ingrediants (and sometimes very damaging) like soap.
I hate when High-End Brands charge so much for a product that supposedly are the best and it gets so hyped up about all over blogs and YouTube only to discover that you wasted your money and could’ve easily bought this at a drugstore or it wasn’t worth so much hype to begin with. I won’t name any companies to avoid any problems, but it has happened to all of us at some point.
This comment applies to make up and not necessarily to skin care products: I expect high end brands to produce high end results. When they do not, I am beyond disappointed, I get angry because I have spent a lot of money on a lipstick or an eye shadow that is not even as good as my Revlon or NYX or Maybelline products. I also expect the housing to be substantial and not plasticky, hard to open, or easy to malfunction. Horrible little scratchy brushes in a forty dollar blush are another thing that drives me crazy about high end stuff.
totally agree! If you pay a lot of money for a product you expect it to be so much better than a cheap one! I almost always get disappointed when I buy an expensive product… last pricey thing I bought was the Estee Lauder summer eye palette, and thought the shadows would be amazing, but half of themlook kinda dusty on the eyes… at least not worth $80 as it costs in Sweden!
I hate when you don’t get the quality a high price commands. Lets face it, I LOVE Chanel, but on average their eye shadows don’t compare to Urban Decay. I also just bought a red lipstick and while the color is STUNNING on me, I have to reapply every 1.5/2 hours. A complete dude in a high end brand is an insult to me, I mean, they are supposed to have standards and when they put their name on a subpar product and charge a luxury price, I feel as if they think we are stupid. My sales ladies know better than to recommend a product they know is crap.
The price is always the biggest turnoff for me. As much as I want to be able to justify $56 for a Chanel eye palette by saying it has 4 colors and breaking it down to price per shadow…I can still find the colors in other brands. And once it’s on your face, it don’t matter.
I’ll only fork over the dough if it’s a really unique product and something that would be a staple in my makeup collection.
Lack of accessibility and samples or simply treatment by SAs if trying out new products. I love Burberry and Tom Ford products but they aren’t available to swatch near me. I’m really careful about buying things I know 100% will work on me and have read heaps of reviews for because I don’t want to take the risk of ordering something expensive without trying it and having it not work on me.
Further, a lot of it has to do with the pressure for sales, but I don’t like being pressured into purchasing a product when I’m trying to swatch/try a number of things and see what works best. If I’m dropping the kind of money on really high end makeup I expect it to be HG worthy, not #3 or #4 on a list of best products of that type. I wish there was more freedom to try products and have samples without all the pressure to plunk down $100 on the spot.
Further, I really dislike LE offerings. Chanel Malice, Guerlain Parure de nuit highlight and Wukong pressed meteorites etc etc. These are amazing HG quality products that are simply no longer available so if you missed the boat, it’s sailed. I find that really disappointing. This is one of the main reasons I don’t even bother looking at MAC’s LEs because they sell out instantly.
I don’t mind paying more for organic and precious ingredients, but most of the time you are paying for branding and packaging. And that often the ingredients are exactly the same as drugstore brands, and are filled with many of the same cheap fillers and such.
I also think the price mark up for high end brands is ridiculous! If makeup is expensive in the US you would die in Sweden… A MAC shadow costs the equivalent of around $25, and a chanel lipstick around $50!
Man this is so true, last time I was in Finland I nearly had a heart attack when I saw it’s like 18 euros for a bottle of OPI or Orly polish and like 39 for a Chanel mascara.
Nars is really pissing me off, first with making you buy a foundation pump separately, and then with making you buy casing for your cream foundation separately. It’s completely unreasonable. And the foundation pumps are so hard to find! Why?! At that price point it’s really ridiculous.
In the meantime, my pressed powder from Nars comes in a compact that comes in turn in its own separate little bag, which you NEED to carry around with you because the sponge doesn’t fit in the compact. So in that case we have too MUCH packaging. No one needs a little bag for your powder sponge. You know what we need? Foundation pumps.
Ok, that was a little more ranting than I had planned. I don’t even wear Nars foundation right now and it still bugs me. Nars, get your packaging together!
I dislike most of big brands TEST ON ANIMALS!!! I dislike that!!!
I know. I won’t buy makeup tested on animals, so now no Mac, etc. But, Urban Decay and OCC are lifesavers. Love them!
I’m surprised I don’t see this on here yet– Pushy sales people!! I hate when I’m walking by one counter to get to the next and a sales lady grabs me and sucks me into a conversation/show and tell that always ends in a hard push to apply something to my face, which would surely end in a hard push for me to buy. It often makes me feel like I can’t relax and browse in peace.
However it’s a small price to pay for things like the ability to swatch colors, try products on, feel textures, etc.
AGREED! this is the worst. I now shop online, but have had to swap- out experimentation at the counter
Limited color range. Thankfully, this is not an issue for the powder foundation I use, but this is a big problem I notice. What is worse is they’ll have a lot of foundation options for pale skin, but two for brown skin.
Products that don’t perform for the amount paid and brands that are skimpy with the product amount.
High-end brands that use cheap ingredients like mineral oil. Seriously!?! I would like to try YSL’s under eye brightener, but won’t because of the ingredients.
Like others have mention, snooty sales people. I get that more so from the Guerlain and Tom Ford counter.
The things that I dislike are price, bag packaging, and poor quality. I’m not going to spend the money for a Chanel quad when the quality isn’t there. I don’t like cheap packaging. I want packing with some shock absorption. I want an expensive product to withstand being dropped or jostled about my bag. And also I want functional packaging. Holiday palettes sometimes look nice, but I can tell by looking at some of them that just using them will be a headache in terms of using tools. I also don’t like when brands have palettes that have powder and cream products together.
pricing is ridiculous!!!
I dislike the fact that some of the sales people are pushy. Some packaging are also way too big (looking at you boxum lipglosses!) and I agree with the highly fragranced lipsticks (especially lancôme and Make up for ever).
All the limited editions they do also drive me insane. I just can’t stop myself. I’m already obsessed by the color of the eye shadow sex & the oyster from mac and I don’t know what I’ll do once I run out!
I find that higher end brands like Chanel and Guerlain have a very limited foundation range, especially for deeper skin women like myself. So even if the product is the bomb, I can’t find my shade!
Hate when sometimes for sky rocking price getting crap product ( pardon my French )
Let’s see:
-ridiculous prices (I mean, I understand some products are more quality than others, but this much… some brands just went too far)
-cheap packaging (or when you pay for the packaging rather than the products)
-I hate how only a part of the limited editions make it to my country (or the brands, even)
(+ some department store workers… some are really snooty and some are just dumb… one didn’t even know what a make-up setting spray was.)
The eye shadows for some of the HIGHER END brands like Lancome and Dior SUCK! It seems like the more expensive the brand, the worse the eye shadows are. Mac is the cheapest “high end” brand out there and has the best shadows.
I also don’t like that a lot of the higher ends of make up always try to switch the focus and sell you the skin care, because that’s where the real money is to be made for them.
I really hate how the cosmetics sales people are soooooooooo snotty and rude. Just because I look young, doesn’t mean I don’t know my stuff or that I have the money to spend. I usually spend $$$ on beauty but I always buy online if I can help it. I really don’t like sales people. They usually do terrible makeup overs and talk down to me.
I have this same issue Sophie! I am a grown woman, but apparently I still look like a teenager (or so I’ve been told many times), and many sales associates have either treated me poorly or just plain ignored me. I only go to stores when I want to swatch products. Other than that, I shop online and just buy enough to qualify for free shipping to make it worthwhile.
Really interesting thought. Personally, my main gripe is quality. If I’m going to be paying as much as that, I want something to work. Recently I paid $36 for a high end ‘instant’ make up remover. It takes so much effort to remove the brand’s OWN mascara, I nearly break a sweat. And on top of that, it’s really heavily perfumed. Which is gross in a make up remover.
My other minor complain is arrogant staff. I say that’s minor, because the reality is, I’m on the other side of the counter with the money to spend. So, once I wrap my head around the reality I feel a bit more comfortable and confident.
Oh several things come to mind! the attitude you get from some SAs (looking at you Chanel), the absurd advertisements (when they advertise antiaging treatments using super young models, for instance), the not so great quality of the products and the fact that oftentimes they use cheap containers AND ingredients (Clinique, Clarins, etc). But above all, the absurd prices! I hate that PR/ press sampling they do, giving away products “for review”. We as costumers pay for the ad campaigns, the freebies, the publicity in magazines, etc etc etc. I love makeup, always will, but this is soo annoying. End of rant. Cheers!
I’d have to agree about the snooty/pushy sales reps. I like to browse and swatch on my own. If I need help…I’ll ask for it! I understand that they are representing the brand and more likely than not are working on commission. I just can’t stand when they stalk and use the “high-pressure” techniques. I also hate when I pay $60 for an eyeshadow palette and the pigmentation is terrible. My most recent disappointment was with a D&G palette. TERRIBLE! I should have returned it but didn’t want to pay S&H for doing so.
The $30 lipstick..ridiculous.
The price tags!! The quality should be top of the line for what you’re paying, and sometimes it just isn’t there. I’m also not a fan of beauty counters. I like to take my time looking at stuff and I don’t want a SA standing over me and giving me a sales pitch every time I pick something up.
Quality control and manufacturing in developing countries–flags are raised when manufacturing or making of a product is in a developing country if I’m paying tons of $$$ for a TINY amount. This doesn’t happen often but I’ve caught it in a couple of my things.
Agreed on all counts with Christine. Flimsy packaging along with a high price (looking at you, Marc Jacobs) would really put me off a brand no matter how great the product/formula stored inside is. Snooty customer service happens on occasion but won’t stop me from buying a product (I would just buy it elsewhere). Also, when a high-end product disappoints, the let-down is worse than a disappointing low-end product.
I dislike high-end prices as compared to the amount you get for some products, as well as having to work with pushy associates who try to sell me anything other than what I’m shopping for.
Not to brag (I swear!) I have pro discounts for places like MAC, SmashBox etc.. I’m shocked at the consumer price point, its ridiculous. My biggest issue? small quantities of Limited Edition! I hate it.. HATE IT.. Stop the “re-promote” of perm items and give people what they want.. MAC PleasureFlush? IF you can find it, the price people ask, is out of control.. The pigment Coco Beach was another hot one, that hasn’t been repromoted YET.. But we have seen feline eye liner, and a few other MSF’s that have been repromoted ad nauseum.. and if you ask me, the price went up, the quality went down.. it all just sucks.
Tom Ford’s advertising campaigns.
The poor performance of some high end products for the price tag! I mean it is sad when a Wet and Wild eyeshadow outperforms a, let’s say MAC, eyeshadow. For $3 you get three awesome eyeshadows, whereas you have to dish out $16 at a MAC counter for ONE (1) eyeshadow! And that’s just midrange… But would I pay a premium for unique, nuanced colors like Chanel’s Illusion D’Ombre in Illusoire? Yes. But it won’t be as frequent and I will ALWAYS try to find a good dupe fIrst.
I don’t like how some products don’t live up to their claims (especially when they cost an arm and leg!). If something is superb quality but expensive, at least the quality justifies the price tag.
I also hate how some top brands have the snottiest SAs. They always ignore me because I’m look young.
I’ve determined that I like mid-range brands the best. I will never spend $50 on a single blush or lipstick, but $50 on a value-packed eyeshadow palette is acceptable. I dislike drugstore makeup though, I’ll only use mascara, eyeliner, and nail polish from the drugstore. The foundations, blushes, eyeshadows, and lippies are simply not up to par barring a few exceptions (Color Tattoos! Woo!).
I’ve floated around swatching expensive makeup but the quality just does not seem to match the price. Eyeshadows from Chanel and Dior are simply not that much better than my midrange stuff! I like brands like Urban Decay, MAC, NARS, and thebalm that have quality products for an accessible price and occasionally offer super values with palettes (pro pans in the case of MAC). The only reason I ever see to buy high-end is if it is a color you simply cannot dupe for less, which is usually not the case.
Basically I think a lot of the high end brands are robbing people blind. Especially skin care, all the anti-aging magic serum stuff for hundreds of dollars…. nothing is going to stop people from aging! And how well/badly you age is largely genetic, followed by influences from cig smoking, lack of sleep, water intake, diet, sun-damage etc. Living a healthy lifestyle and wearing sunblock will do much more than buying into some anti aging scam.
I think the thing I dislike most is knowing that almost all of the money is going towards it being a big deal brand name and the packaging, which is disappointing because the packaging usually isn’t all that (too much packaging around the product, hard to hold, etc.). I am always floored at horrible plastic packaging at higher price points – not that a lot of brands use it, but ones that do I’m just like o_O If Maybelline can afford to put their gel eyeliner in a glass pot, I’d think that a $21 gel eyeliner could afford to be in something besides a squeaky plastic jar!!
Everything is scented! I’m sensitive to scented products and I find lots of scent in high-end makeup. Guerlain’s entire line is off-limits to me. Thank you for mentioning strong scents in your reviews; it’s so helpful.
For me, mostly the treatment by the employees.
I remembered I just walked into a MAC store because I want to ask the employees to match my foundation and I want to buy their MSF & a blush but NO ONE come up to me and greet me. Instead, they went to other people who enter their store after me, as if I am invisible or poor maybe.
I was so pissed off I just go out and never want to go to that branch anymore. Very shitty.
I have quite a few shitty experience but recently I was treated very nicely by a sales representative of Benefit in Sephora and I am very pleased with her. I bought a 44ml tube of the POREfessional just because I LOVE her assistance 😀
lot of the drug store brands are actually owned by high end brands and some high ends are owned by the same company..so actually it is a small pond ( except indie brands ). i strongly believe that they use the same ingredients but adding extra caring stuff in high end products..so i first try drug store..if i need more i opt for HE.