What was your first high-end beauty purchase? Share!
Benefit Show-Offs! My first makeup purchase was $300 of Benefit. It was so hard to toss it all a few years ago (because it was wayyy old), just ’cause ~memories~.
Thanks to Odessa for today’s question!
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chanel….all chanel and loved it
Me too.
it was a pink MAC lipstick for me! in hindsight, it’s totally unsuited for my skintone, but I loved it anyway.
I jumped right on to MAC first but not including them (as they are mid-high end), my first high-end item that I purchased myself is NARS Orgasm Blush. 🙂
Urban Decay Ammo Palette!
Diorshow Mascara
Other than MAC, I bought Chanel Dragon, and the clouds parted to reveal a thousand cherubs singing with bright Dragon red lips to celebrate my first step into true luxury… LOL
I bought a huge haul of MAC 3 yrs ago; from then I have really only bought high end; I think my first outside of MAC was Nars Orgasm blush and recentky I bought two meteorites as well as a few pallettes from Lancome which were ridiculously priced 🙂
A Becca foundation. It sucked because it broke me out so I had to return it, but that’s the first thing I can remember paying an absurd amount of money on. Up to that point, Mac was all I had known.
YSL
My dad took me to Aveda when I was like 14 because I was hell-bent on wearing makeup, but he wanted to make sure it was somewhat natural and good for my skin. I remember it was well over $200 worth, but I loved it all so much…
The first things I bought with my own money were NARS Orgasm blush, an eyeshadow trio from Smashbox, a bright red NARS lip gloss, and a YSL mascara.
It was a Mac Studio Fix Powder and Nars’ Orgasm blush!
Mine was a Mac makeup pallet from a CEO. It was from the Graphic Gardens collection and I was in love with the frosty orange eyeshadow ahaha.
I remember buying a Chanel nail polish and some MAC products (lipstick & eyeshadow)
it was my first big purchase when I got my first job… That was about 12+ years ago and I haven’t looked back since then! 😉
Urban Decay AC/DC eyeshadow, when I was 15 or so. But I didn’t know it was high end at the time, just very expensive, haha!
UDPP!
I really don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure it was something from Clinique. I was trying to remember what my first MAC purchase was and I think it was a peach colored gloss that they don’t make anymore and the clear Lipglass. I also got Bronze Sugar, which I loved and could never find again, and Oh Baby. Back then, the people at my MAC counter were so obnoxious and rude, so I rarely went there. Now, they have really sweet and helpful people, thank goodness.
I consider high end to be Guerlain, Chanel, Armani, Dior, YSL, and Burberry…etc. I still haven’t bought any of those brands,lol. I’m more of a mid range kind of girl when it comes to make up.
Same here! 😀 i thought i was one of the few/only.
My first non drugstore – at that time ‘expensive’ purchase was a Mac technakohl liner. I havent found any better yet.
Since then i have still just bought mid range like korres, benefit, mac, too faced and stila.
Thinking about going high end soon. 🙂 but maybe for an eyeshadow quad.
Chanel compact!!!~
benefit’s benetint lipbalm. lol, ohhh those were the days. 🙂
MAC Studio Moisture Cream.
MAC dazzleglass in smile or urban decay stuff off hautelook for $2 a pop, but I don’t think that counts.
My mom bought me Chanel when I started wearing makeup…….I continued the story…..
my first high end makeup purchase was chanel rouge coco lipstick in mademoiselle (yes, i’m that new to high-end makeup :p), which i purchased as a birthday present to myself a year ago. i felt very grown up :).
as for the lower spectrum of high-end, it would be a style blush by MAC.
Omg what a nostalgia-inducing post! Hmm let’s see…Philosophy shower gel in Classic Fudge Cake! If that counts xP
Urban Decay Naked palette soon after that. I’ve only just began buying “high-end” products and luxury is only a few paychecks away :))
But thank God for HauteLook! I wouldn’t have anything Rock & Republic without it!
I’ve had Bare Escentuals since before I can remember wearing makeup, but my first “big” high-end beauty purchase was a Dior eyeshadow palette and lipstick.
Rock and Republic shadows! Ugh, they’re so lovely…
A week ago I just spent $55 on a guerlain lippie, that’s my first super high end/luxury purchase!
A Lancome concealer, wich i still repurchase again and again!!!
XOXO
MAC’s Nymphette populace when I was 13. I still have it just because, but of course I don’t use it. It’s mostly full because I have never liked Nymphette. :-/
Urban Decay Covet eyeliner. My very first colored eyeliner, and visit to Sephora. We didn’t have a Sephora where I live. We do now.
That said, I rarely buy high-end makeup/beauty products. The only things I own are Primer Potion & a Stila compact/Clinique lipstick, which I actually won.
A lipstick from Christian Dior…hmmm memories 🙂
My first foundation! It was Chanel.
A loose pink and gold eyeshadow by Make Up For Ever and some crazy blue/teal color from Make Up For Ever. Not sure what they were called as it was at least 10 years ago. I’m assuming Avon doesn’t count?
Dior Mystic Jade e/s quint – I fell in love with the dark green/bown duochrome and HAD to buy it.
I still have it.
Urban Decay Urban Essentials, a holiday 2008 kit containing a jumbo primer potion, Midnight Cowboy Eyeshadow, and Goddess eyeshadow.
Dior rouge transparant nr oo6 on holiday in italy when i was 12
it was so hot there that the lipstick broke on the 2nd day….
MAC well dressed blusher! Loved it then & still love it now!
It was MAC Hug Me lipstick. A little too dark for my skintone, but I loved it lol I even repurchased it once! xD
nars orgasm blush….addicted to high end makeup ever since. I figure real dupes don’t really exist, and for as long as it lasts, it’s worth the price.
I actually started wearing mu when I was 13/14 and it was Clinique so since then its been dept store all the way. After Clinique it was EL, MAC, Chanel and now its a little bit of everything, including drugstore.
To fully answer the question my first ever mu purchase was Clinique’s liquid lipstick in Raspberry Sorbet. I used some of my xmas money when my dad finally let me wear mu starting with a lip product. 😀
A Lancome juicy tube 🙂
I don’t entirely remember, but I suspect it was a Lancome moisturizer.
an estee lauder blush which i still love
Mine was the Clinique 3-step, which I no longer use. Yeah… now I know so much about good skincare, I won’t use it again. :]
MAC Honesty + Pink Venus eyeshadows. We were on vacation in St. Thomas and there was a MAC store… There’s not a single store in my state, but one on a Caribbean island! Wow!
It was a Guerlain lipstick from the Divinora collection.. still own and love it!
Benefit Dallas box powder which I still love and use today. 🙂
Chanel eye palette and lipstick
hm… i think it was a MAC item? actually, BeneFit’s dandelion blush.
Urban Decay Primer potion (I have a feeling this may have been a lot of people’s).
Dior Earth Reflection quint. This was literally my first makeup purchase.
Mine was Urban Decay eyeshadow in SWF. It started a fifteen year love affair that’s still going strong (although I secretly think that, packaging-wise, they’ve let themselves go – quite bulky and out of shape compared to the former sleek and svelte).
High end will got to be Chanel blushers.
Benefit Smokin’ Eyes palette as a present to myself for getting into uni. And then I starting buying to treat myself when I got a good mark and now….It is just when I ‘need’ it >.<
i cant remember which came first! but it was either a dior addict lipgloss, or ‘the gloss’ lipgloss from benefit.
i remember that the dior lipgloss was 14 pounds! now they are around 20!
x
I bought the Chanel Rouge Noir nail varnish, loved it to the last drop, on my second bottle now, lasts years
Lancome Défincils mascara (I believe it was défincils) with 14 know I’m 29 till today I swear by Lancome mascara. My first mac item was zone e/s when I was probaly 16/17 as mac was introduced to the German marked around that time
Chanel Glossimer in Bubble. Loved it!!
Diorshow Mascara!
Ironically, mascara is now the only thing I use that isn’t high end!!
A Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick, wasn’t thaaat long ago, so I still have it and still love it!
A bronzer from Nouba! 🙂
It set me back about 63 usd, but i had a giftcard for half of it so it felt like it was ok 😛
shiseido sun protection lotion
My first “high-end” purchase was Anna Sui makeup. I think I spent $80 on 3 items? Two eyeshadow duos and a lipstick, I use them all the time though so it was definitely worth it~ 🙂
MAC Brush Cleanser and MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner. Not that expensive, but I wanted to play save and I bought two basic products!
I remember as a teenager I spent what felt like a fortune on an
Estee Lauder Illusionist Maximum Curling Mascara =)
The first time I really loved a product!
Givenchy Prisme Libre!
Bobbi Brown…I went in and told the MUA that I have very puffy eyes and I want to find a way to cover them. She said I could do that with a brown eye shadow for my eye lids and a highlight color for under my brows. I love the result so I bought the 2 eye shadows and 2 brushes. To me at that time Bobbi Brown was really high end….
Dior eyeshadow quint in sunset cafe
apart from MAC, a Dior Addict gloss last year…funny enough I havent worn it…
It was a Lancome lipstick and foundation, the lipstick is now discontinued but I purchase years ago a backup which is now lost in a drawer somewhere. The second purchase (which really hooked me on high-end makeup) was guerlain product my friend new a Guerlain representative who was selling all Guerlain product 50% off the was the beginning of a beautiful addiction LOL!!!
I’m really not sure because I’m in my 50’s and have loved makeup and skin care since I was a teen so it’s a loooong way to think back but it was probably either Charles of the Ritz skin care products (how’s that for a blast from the past?) or Estee Lauder skin care – I remember purchasing a “set” that came in a large turquoise box – a cleanser, an “after-cleanser”, a toner, moisturizer, etc. And I think my first “expensive” eye makeup was an Estee Lauder eyeshadow.
OMG…that EL skincare set in the turquoise box was my first HE purchase,too!!(and yes,I remember C of the R,too).
Urban Decay eyeshadows!
Mid high end was a hard candy lip gloss back when it was good and still sold at sephora. High end was a chanel ombre shadow that I always forget about now
Clinique Lynx eyeshadow
I’m 33 and my first purchase was just a few months ago. It was Dior lip addict in Tokyo.
NARS Orgasm and Laguna duo!! I was fighting with my boyfriend at the time, went to sephora, and splurged…. best decision I ever made 🙂
LM’s oil free foundation primer! It was the most expensive thing I’d purchased in makeup at that point (a little over a year ago)…$42 CAD. I don’t use it anymore, having found better, though. I did buy other stuff that day, but it was mostly crap cuz I didn’t know anything about makeup. It was the one thing I did get right that day. 🙂
chanel…
It was either Nars Orgasm blush or Benefit Dandelion. Before I really started learning how to apply make-up, I would just randomly buy things I saw raved about with not much idea what to so with them. I still have (and use) them both tho’.
At the time it was mac products, and i think it was mac foundation, concealer and 2 limited edition mineralise skinfinishes. But now mac is more affodable than a lot of the other high end brands i would say my first was smashbox halo powder!! cost me 45.00 pounds! and it so wasnt worth it…msf naturals are better and are less messy and i could get two and some change back for the price of one halo powder.
Chanel Rouge Noir nail
Varnish and I’ve loved them ever since
Chanel! It’s still my favorite brand because no matter what lipstick you choose, it seems to wear well across slin tones, so lovely.
Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet+ was mine. Well, I wore MAC before, but I dont consider that super high end. 🙂
Dior! One of the dior quints, petal pink, I don’t really use it much anymore, but its good memories.
MAC gold stroke pigment, lovvvvee!
i think an estee lauder foundation or powder, can’t remember….wasn’t a big fan! i don’t think it was the right shade for me…
My first real highend purchase was the naked palette
My first high end make-up purchase was actually my first make-up purchase too. I bought Mac lipstick in Pink Friday and lipglass in Viva Glam VI. I purchased both items online and I absolutely fell in love with those colors. Now I’m a make-up junkie and this website helps me a lot with making decisions on products worth spending my money on. Thanks Christine!
Chanel Glossimer in Sideral. 🙂
MAC Parfait Amour!
Well, I don’t want to say MAC because I didn’t buy it, it was gifted to me, so my first purchase was an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil.
A large haul of Dior. 😀
Mac Ladyblush cream blush, rubenesque paint pot and viva glam cyndi!
MAC Blue Brown pigment!!
I remember buying a MAC empty 15 e/s pallet and filling it all on that first trip to the store.Blanc type, Naked Lunch, Wedge, Woodwinked, Satin Taupe, Mulch, Amber Lights, Antiqued, Humid, Club Silver Ring, Scene, Contrast, Stars n Rockets, and Beauty Marked. Of all the full MAC pallets I own, I still reach for this one, hard to go wrong :]
From the mid-high brand Faces, when I got my make up done for prom. It was foundation, powder, concealer, a peach lipstick and a matte black eyeshadow. They were the crown jewels of my make up collection until a few years ago when I was introduced to Sephora and bought a blush from Cargo in Catalina.
Now nearly my entire collection is at the very least mid-high end, and it’s just going to get worse now that I’ve started buying from MAC, haha.
Mine was Chanel concealer and I loved it!
Mine was Benefit, too! When I was about 12/13. My mom had always been a Clinique/Estee girl and when I started getting into makeup I would come looking around the counters with her, I discovered Benefit and the rest was history.
Lancome Juicy Tube.
My first REAL high end purchase (not including MAC which I already had tons of) would be YSL rouge volupte lipstick….the only lipstick to date I’ve spent $30 on. I still have it too and wear it for special occasions.
ohhh thats a tough one because im not quite sure which is considered “high end” If your talking about stuff not from a drugstore then my 1st was Bare Minerals (ugh i fricken HATE bare minerals with a passion) but my 1st designer brand name high end make up was Dior. And i’m definitely still a “Dior Addict” hehehehe
Chanel Rouge Noir nail polish – and I would buy it again, such a classic colour
Not including Mac, which I don’t really consider high end compared to sephora prices, my first high end beauty product was Benefit Boiiing. I think I was 17 when 0I got it because before then we didn’t have a Sephora in Canada
I bought a Givenchy travel pallette at the airport when I was pretty young.. Then MAC Myth l/s and Sketch e/s came soon after
had to think for the longest time! I think it was a Dior LE flight palette when i was 16. I looked at it more often than I used it.
Last September it was my first haul from MAC: the 217 blending brush, 195 concealer brush, mineralized skinfinnish natural in light medium, prolongwear concealer in NC20 and all that glitters
MAC dazzle lash mascara and MAC carbon eyeshadow
And non-mac (since that is a first for lots of people) was a palate by Lorac
MAC! My pretty Carbon eyeshadow 😉
The first high end product I ever got was a gift from my mom, a Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick. At a friends house I dropped it on the concrete and it smashed to pieces. I was heartbroken. Soon after I went to Nordies and w/ my own money bought a new shimmerbrick and NARS orgasm. This was sophmore year of highschool and haven’t turned back since…
Benefits High Beam, I think…
Let me see; Benefit Benetint when it first came out, Stila e/s in Puck & Bouquet (both discontinued), and Chanel Nude lipstick and liner. I believe they discontinued those shades too.
Make up: Lancome Hypnose.
Skin care: Moisturizer and serum from Decléor.
The high end Makeup product for me was MAC’s Painterly Paint Pot, which I ended returning. I had a lot of Lancome products that were given to me before that, but I don’t think that counts.
Estee Lauder liquid foundation when I was 17 yrs old.
My first high-end was the MAC C-Shock collection… I got four shadows and a lippy that day 🙂
smashbox photo finish primer & udpp!
it’s a tough one..maybe Clinique Superbalanced foundation, but i’m not sure..my first MAC purchases were Myth lipstick and Oyster Girl lipglass. i still love them so much that both will be finished soon. 🙂
One day I woke up and wanted pretty makeup, I was always a “MAKEUP IS FOR SHALLOW PPL” type of girl. But there was a sephora by me so I walked in and the lovely ladies reccomended to me an eyeliner (Urban Decay’s Rockstar) and an eyeshadow (Nars eyeshadow duo in..Cheyenne?)
The first one I picked for myself and REALLY SPLURRRGED on was the Stila Jewel Palette 🙂
my first high end purchase was diorshow iconic mascara. i loved it so much.
This is probably not high-end to a lot of people, but it is to me: NARS eyeshadow base and three Lippmann polishes. Everything else I use is pretty much drugstore-level.
The first was Clinique High Impact Mascara…but if you want to get more high-end, I believe it was a NARS eyeshadow! (The start of an addiction, now that I look back….)
My first personal high end makeup purchase was Korres Tinted Moisturizer (LOVE) and two Smashbox lipglosses, not terribly high end but they were the first ones I bought myself. My mom had bought me clinique makeup in high school and handed me down her clinique and lancome makeup !
I was just starting working my 1st job and probably spent my whole 1st check on my make up. Lol,I went to the real Make Up For Ever store,bought the mattifying primer,a foundation and some glosses. I also went to Macy’s later that day and bought some Estee lauder compact and eye shadow pallette and some brushes. Then bought my 1st MAC foundation and like 2 blushes, that didn’t even look good on me and didn’t show up on me ,but lost the reciept to return em.” I went make up crazy,lol. But wanted to experiment a bit and see what was out there. I also had some very bad acne at the time and tried to find anything to cover it up. Xoxo
My mom bought me some Benefit lipglosses 2 Christmases ago, but my first purchase for myself was MAC Lustre Drops in Sun Rush from the To The Beach Collection, followed by Flipside liner from Urban Decay.
My Clarins mineral sunscreen! I really saved up for it!
Depending on what you call high-end, it was probably NARS Deep Throat blush. I definitely made a good choice with that one; it’s still my go to every day blush.
Serge Lutens Vetiver Oriental. Or, if we’re only counting makeup, NARS Casablanca.
dior quints
MAC Blot!!!
I bought Chanel rouge allure lipstick in “Stunt” and immediately was sucked in. I have two foundations so far from Chanel but trying to resist the urge to buy all the Coco Shines!
An Estee Lauder Foundation; I think it was Enlighten, which they don’t make anymore. I simply loved it – it was then I realized that it’s worth to spend more on a good foundation than less on ten others that just won’t work!
The Barbie collection from MAC. Used my ATM card for the first time and took $150 out of my account. My mom made me return everything. I was 14.
My mum bought me a navy Dior eyeliner and a Dior Kiss lipgloss.. my only Dior makeup to date!
My first was Urban Decay eyeshadow in Green Goddess. It’s not super high end, but it was way more than drugstore makeup.
If you count MAC, then it was the blacktrack fluid line…and ever since then I’m on my 4th one already… besides MAC, my first “high-end” purchase was Urban Decay’s sustainable palette <3
Mac Electra – about 13 years ago! And I still have it, I can’t toss it 😛
Chanel ‘Splendeur’ lipstick and Chanel Double Perfection foundation… It was soooooooo worth the money and I felt like such a grown up!
On the same day…MAC Coconutty and some Estee Foundation…it was many years ago and I LOVED IT! I actually sold Mary Kay when it wasn’t awesome like it is now. I adore MK now! I was not into makeup to the extent that I am now. I always wore it and some would think that collection was huge, but it truly was not. I am sometimes embarrassed that I bought too much over the years so I cut back immensely for the past 18 months. I love to share my ideas and collection with others and do that with my channel now. I do love to live through your collection now.
Eons of years ago I recall being in an upscale out of town dept store and opted to buy a Dior quad shadow. But it was not too long after that I really got into Clarins skin care big time, spending a ton of $. Funny as I no longer use Clarins skin care. But we are talking 80’s – early 90’s.
When I was 13 years old, I had a part-time job and that Christmas I began buying the Holiday makeup palettes from Estee Lauder every year until I was about 25. You always have to buy a full sized fragrance in order to get the palette at a discount, so’d I’d drop some big bucks for my age. I’ve since moved on to bigger and better brands, but I’ll always have a soft-spot for Estee Lauder Cinnabar!
Despite it not being super high end, when i was a youngish teenager my mom took me to mac to get a beauty lesson so that if I wanted to wear makeup I would know how to make it look right and how to apply it. We came home with a paintpot, eyeshadow (still my favorite colored eyeshadow to the day) an eyeliner, tinted lip conditioner and makeup remover! it was small but ill always remember it!