What beauty brand does packaging best? Why?
Guerlain, Giorgio Armani, and Tarina Tarantino are all up there for me. Sleek, functional, and they all have the heft that makes high-end feel high-end.
Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Burberry! It’s gorgeous, functional, high-end and quality. I love, love, love my Burberry compacts, and I love that the lip velvets are matte packaging while the lip covers and lip mists are gunmetal, so you can tell them apart. Half the reason I think I love Burberry so much is the packaging, honestly (although their products are awesome).
I’m going to go with Giorgio Armani and Guerlain as well–but also adding Burberry.
For me its Urban Decay. Purple is my favorite color and I love that its the perfect match of pretty and edgey. For example their de slick compact is a beautiful purple compact but if you look closely there are little skulls and things engrained onto the cover.
I love Illamasqua’s aesthetic, but the packaging is a little too bulky for my tastes – so I’d have to go with Armani.
I love Guerlain for how intricate and ornate everything looks, but Armani is probably my favourite. Everything just looks so sleek…
i’m sure a lot of ppl will disagree with me, but i’m a huge fan of Sugarpill’s packaging. it’s super cute, sturdy and not bulky. bulk is one thing i can’t stand in packaging. i have too much makeup to deal with bulk!! haha
I depends on the actual product, really. I really like the L’Oreal Infallible shadows, as they stack easily, and the label actually shows the color & I don’t have to try to read the shade names or flip over several of them to find what I need. Sonia Kashuk is another one I love; they have a strong magnet that securely holds them closed, yet they open without having to dig my nail in the compact to open it. They’re also clear, yet sturdy, plastic, so again the shade is obvious. They are also easy to store. I guess I prefer functionality above all else.
If I had to go for aesthetics, I’d say NARS; I like the fact that they all look very uniform, are very sleek & simple, and everything just matches. Then again, the uniformity also makes for great storage.
All the makeup brands which are MADE IN FRANCE or MADE IN JAPAN…that means, not Chanel items and Made in the USA. Guerlain, Christian Dior, Clarins, Cle de Peau, Sisley and all those discontinued French brands which I have loved and adored. The package is exquisite, the label at the back is properly placed and NOT lopsided, unlike Tom Ford (made in Italy and I pay a fortune). The box is pristine. There is descriptions inside to tell you how to use it. Just plain beauty. The lipstick is NOT NICKED, like Tom Ford when you get it. Back in those hey days, before Loreal or whoever acquired YSL, the gold packaging container for YSL was made from fine gilded gold as it states on the box.
If you live in the USA and you want a Chanel product Made in France, you could either ask for it to be sent to you directly from Paris (I don´t know about the cost though) or you could just go to Mexico to get one. The Chanel products that are sold in Mexico are Made in France. Lol if you go for tourism to Cancun or something you could look for them…
I’d say toofaced and tarte!
Without a doubt: Rouge Bunny Rouge. I love Guerlain, but their packaging has never made me buy a product I would’ve otherwise skipped… RBR though… woooow
Benefit =D
Burberry!! So sleek 🙂
Chanel, Tom Ford, Chantecaille maybe.
Burberry, so nice and hefty.
Tom Ford and Guerlain for me, please.
I love Burberry’s packaging.
-Sugarpill… although not fan of the paper packaging for the 4 color palettes on general I like their packaging.
-NARS… simple, black, sleek.
-Kat Von D… those intricate rose designs!
I can’t believe I forgot about KvD! I have to say, though, I much prefer the original palettes. They’re easier to store, and with the exception of Ludwig & Beethoven (which are identical), they’re easier to distinguish when I’m in a hurry. I also like the way the shades are laid out in the palette. Also, they coordinate better with other KvD products & even my NARS products.
Too Faced has a romantic touch that I like.
Guerlain – with each and every single product the packaging looks and feels luxurious (as it should considering the price).
I really like the tubes Givenchy gelee d’Interdit comes in. I like Urban Decay packaging, even though it often ends up being less practical. I like all Chanel’s classic perfume bottles, and the ridged gold tubes one type of Estee Lauder lipstick comes in.
Packaging definitely influences what I buy I guess…
I like the simplicity and matt fabric of MAC, the posh look of YSL and the magnetic closing system of Burberry and Armani. I wish Burberry would have more lightweight packaging.
Which is funny, because part of my love for Burberry is the weight to it, the solid feel of their compacts and lipsticks. I think it’s a mark of quality, high-end packaging, and if they were more lightweight I’d be less thrilled.
For me it’s benefit and Too Faced
Both have really adorable and special packaging.
I love chanel packaging. Especially the Rouge Allure line. Also the tarina tarantino lipsticks are SO CUTE. my favorite to carry around.
My (real) thirty-year old self says ‘Chanel, bien sur!’. My inner little girl screams: ‘No, no, to hell with the boring black squares and the pretentious little CCs! Benefit FTW!’
I guess I’m torn. 🙂
I really like Chanel’s chic and consistent packaging, NARS’s sturdiness and Guerlain’s inovative (e.g. rouges G & automatiques) and sleek packaging.
I agree with all of this, I just wish NARS would clean easier, but the rubberized containers is what I love best, so..just need to make sure I don’t mess them up.
My favorites are definitely Guerlain, Hourglass and Burberry!
Urban Decay, because I love anything ridiculously kitsch.
Burberry!
I usually find Benefit’s Packaging appealing. I especially liked their face lotion in the glass pump bottle. Unfortunately, I find a lot of their products under performers. I also Tarte’s Packaging the blushes are cute and I liked the Bronzer’s packaging too. Once again, I’m not in love with the products.
I’d rather a really great product with basic packaging. Bobbi Brown is a good example of great makeup, so-so packaging. I fid the blushes particualary poorly packaged. The container just looks cheap to me. Altough the pan comes out easily, which is good for some.
For me it is Dior and Chanel! Their packaging is just so chic! 🙂
I’ve always like Smashbox’s and Stila’s packaging. It looks simple and chic. I’m a simple and chic kind of girl, I like to believe 😉
I really like Urban Decay’s zip up style palettes, I think that was a stroke of genius on their part. But for a cheap brand I think Sleek Cosmetics does a really nice job, its very sturdy and streamlined.
I adore Sugarpill’s packaging – I really dig their aesthetic and find it to be incredibly precious – as in, I want to frame it and hang it up as art 😛
For something more high-end, I love Dior’s packaging, it’s beautiful and feels really luxurious.
i agree with you on guerlain and tarina tarantino. i also love hourglass and ysl’s packaging.
In terms of visual appeal, I love Benefit’s packaging. It’s not always the most functional but it looks so cute!
I am a fan of Nars’ packaging. I just really like how streamlined and simple everything is. And it’s easy to store! I just wish it didn’t get dirty so easily.
I love Chanel, Dior and Guerlain, the packaging of those brands is just so elegant, classic and chic! the products are also amazing, I find Burberry to have nice packaging also. I also adore the packaging of thebalm and then also cheaper brands like hard Candy and other no name brands that have cute packaging. I actually bought a lipstick from the balm just because I loved the concept of the cute vintage packaging…even though I find the lipstick to be a little dry but it´s still a nice color…
NARS
Guerlain FTW!
I really like Illamasqua, Urban Decay and Too Faced’s packaging. Even though Illamasqua’s packaging doesn’t involve crazy color, I love how its simple yet stylish. UD is the complete opposite. It has very color packaging but its functional. Too Faced is the middle ground because its simple, colorful and very travel friendly. I don’t know a brand with so many portable palettes with a beautiful packaging.
Too Faced packaging is pretty BUT I really wish they’d put mirrors in their eyeshadow palettes.
i don’t care if it’s fancy or looks expensive, i like pretty and fun packaging like Benefit!
I really like Dior’s packaging. It’s plastic, sure, but it’s heavy-duty, well-sculpted plastic, so it’s all good for me. I’m also very fond of the sleek, minimalist look of my NARS items. I also really love the packaging for Smashbox’s Be Legendary lipstick line. The metal is nice and sleek, with an interesting shape and heft to it, and it closes very tightly, too. No worries about it getting banged open in my purse. 😀
Oooh, I forgot Paul & Joe! Those new lipstick bullets with kitties and birds and what not! And their visuals are so quaint and vintage-y.
I like Smashbox, Stila, Tarte, and The Balm’s packaging the best. They make me want to buy and use their products…Their packaging isn’t so fancy that I don’t want ever want to touch the product, let alone use it, but it’s very chic, stylish, and modern, in my opinion, and prettily packaged. Also, The Balm has some very unique, kitschy, and cute packaging…It definitely makes me want to use their products!
My biggest pet peeve is when the packaging doesn’t have a mirror. With eyeshadow singles, I understand, but I hate to buy blushes, bronzers, or eyeshadow palettes and not have a mirror. I actually COULD have gotten the Mac Marilyn Monroe blushes but didn’t buy them because I really really like having a mirror with the blush.
Urban Decay has some nice packaging. I think my Naked 1 palette looks like a luscious chocolate bar. I don’t have Naked 2, my Mom does, it’s great. I really think my 15th anniversary palette is in a gorgeous box. I just wish that it had a hinge. I also love the packaging on my feminine 2011 palette. It’s so pretty!
Tarte blushes have GREAT packaging. I really love how the compact matches the blush so it’s easy to find the color that I want. And the mirror is a nice size. I haven’t done this, but if you like palettes, the blushes are also easily removable (and can be put back into the compact) and magnetic so you could use them in a Z palette without having to work hard to depot them.
I agree with Giorgio Armani. Simple, elegant and functional. Another brand that has great packaging is Burberry.
Tom Ford packaging is amazing..well, for the price, it should be! But Sleek is nice and functional considering the price..also Astor!
I like Anna Sui & Jill Stuart for their exquisite vintage designs, it’s plastic, but designed excellently and they have great unique products. Yves Saint Laurent is total luxe! I simply adore the heavy gold packaging (this year’s limited edition products had a twist of hot pink, so gorgeous!), and the rouge volupte lipstick line with the encrested logo, is my favorite. Dior does a great job on packaging, especially the limited edition items and holiday collections. I like the leather packaging with charms for the limited edition palettes the best, because the texture feels very luxe. So to wrap it up, Anna Sui, Jill Stuart, Yves Saint Laurent, and Dior have the best packaging (and a lot of the best products on the market!). I mainly only buy this type of product because I only use high end products, and I do prefer having the better packaging and product that I pay for.