What makes a luxury beauty product worth it?
What makes a luxury beauty product worth it? Anything? Quality? Service?
I feel like “worth it” is a statement about what you can and can’t afford comfortably, because having tried lipstick at $55 and lipstick at $1, I would not argue that it the luxury lipstick is 55 times better. My justification process looks at quality (there is nothing worse than paying a lot for something sub-par) and then packaging, wear (which is part of quality, really), brand values (sometimes I will pay more to support the right brand), uniqueness of the product, accessibility, and return policies. A luxury beauty product has to be top-notch quality and something I’d reach for often – something that would make me smile or get giddy every time I used it.
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Product quality for sure .. but cute packaging doesn’t hurt 😉
Quality, including pigmentation, longevity, blendability, and the like are what make luxury brands worth the price. While I agree that a $50 product isn’t necessarily 10x better than a $5 product, I’d rather spend $50 for a product I use every day than spend $10 for a product that I hate and don’t use. Return policies and customer service are also high on my list. Though these perks often pertain to the merchant/retailer rather than the brand itself, obviously certain retailers cater more to luxury brands. I am willing to spend more when I know I will get excellent customer service and a good return policy. The final factor is affordability. If I don’t have the money or am sacrificing needs for wants, it’s not worth it. If I can afford it and want to treat myself, then it might be worth it.
It has to be something I cannot find a quality dupe of at a lower price, it must be something I will use often, I must be able to afford it. Also, I ask myself Will regret that I bought this in one month’s time? The vast majority of the time I pass on luxury cosmetics. I just don’t see the need. I am quite satisfied with middle of the road brands with a few drugstore gems. However, I will spend on perfume.
Pre-kids (and also 1-2 kids) I had lots of disposable income. Then my husband and I made the choice for me to be a stay-a-home mom of a larger family. We have four children. We can afford some luxuries here and there, but what I want to spend my money on is so different now.
The quality has to be there. I also feel the products have to somehow be different than a cheaper dupe. Do they have some kind of multidimensional sparkle that a cheaper product won’t? Is the packaging better made/something I’d feel special reaching for/using. Does it FEEL luxurious when I’m using it? Is the wear/ease of use better? and then… CAN I find a cheaper dupe? For me, to drop more money for a luxury product I kinda have to love everything about it, if I’m just a bit meh I’ll skip.
Definately, number one is quality. Secondly, it should be something unique-not easily dupeable (I’m not just talking color, it could be a neutral color but a really outstanding formula no one else makes). Thirdly, I look for a packaging that makes me feel decadent when I take it out to use. But when all these criteria are met, I think about how often I will use the product before I buy. I don’t have to absolutely use it daily for me to agree to buy (especially if it’s more special occaision type make up)-but I don’t want to buy a color that is so trendy, I may only use it 3 times ever.
Quality is obviously massively important but I feel I can get great quality from budget brands sometimes. For me, real luxury products come with luxurious packaging because that’s something that’s just really hard to produce at a lower price.
A LOT goes into my decision to buy luxury items (or even mid-rage items). I’m young and don’t have a whole lot of disposable income. I love love love makeup and don’t think it’s bad to spend money on what you love– but you’ve also gotta be responsible.
For me, if I know it will improve the quality of my skin, I’ll splurge. As a former acne-sufferer, I will pay for something that will keep my skin underneath looking nice. So that’s foundations and skin-care items. I will also splurge on lipsticks, and shadows IF, and only if, there are no pretty-good quality dupes.
The rent comes first!
I feel that “worth it” is a very relative term… As far as I’m concerned, it’s all about the quality of the product(even though a lot of times high-end/luxury does not equal quality), the beautiful packaging and presentation (i.e. Burberry cosmetics) and most importantly great customer service (again, i.e. Burberry). When all three conditions are met, to me the price tag is worth it.
Quality is first on the list, no doubt about it! Next is uniqueness and usefulness. A product like Guerlain Meteorites is something I will always lust after, but will likely never purchase as I would rarely use it. The Nars lipstick I bought last year is probably the only luxury item I own, and I wear it quite often, whether its for a night out or a trip to the grocery store. I won’t /can’t afford to be treating myself to the luxury price point too often I think, especially when there are excellent products at reasonable prices at the drug store, so if I decide to again, then I’ll be making sure its something that I will love enough to get my moneys worth!
First and foremost, I will only purchase products that are cruelty free. I will spend even more money on products that openly fight against animal cruelty. For example, Lush. I know their aren’t high end like Tom Ford or Chanel but when it comes to skincare they aren’t the cheapest out there. I like supporting good causes and putting my money with companies that have good ethics. That for me makes a luxury product worth it.
Secondly, I do like when packaging is nice, durable, stylish, and luxurious. Obviously if you pay $60 for a foundation it is nice when the packing isn’t flimsy and looks sleek.
Third, when a product is just plain good it makes a product worth it. I remember buying my first NARS blush and being like wow is it really worth $30? The product shut me up.
I think its a matter of whether I’ll use it regularly (which means that the shade has to suit my tastes and my colouring), and if its something I’ll enjoy using – I don’t LIKE paying a lot of money for something, but if a luxury product is exceptional and the shade is perfect on me, I AM one to shell out the money even if its expensive. You’re also talking to a girl who buys VERY few items and prefers to wear only very specific looks, so take heed that I’m actually in the lower spending category when you add it up per year!
I like my luxury products to have sturdy packaging, first off. I hate when something feels flimsy. But I suppose otherwise it depends on the product. If it’s a body cream I want it to make my skin feel like silk haha. For makeup items, I except even, soft, and long-wearing application.
It is about feel and texture especially when it comes to foundation and lipstick. I am less picky about eyeshadow/mascara/eyeliner but foundation and lipstick have to feel good on. They also need to be quality in terms of wear time and really look special on.
When I’m looking at a luxury product I ask myself, “Do I want it?” That’s it. It’s a LUXURY. It’s about treating myself to something nice. It’s about the way I FEEL when I make the purchase. It’s about how I FEEL every time I use the product.
Of course I’ll be DRAWN to the packaging and the color and the formula – but it always comes down to this: “Do I WANT this and would it FEEL good to spend the money on myself?”
AND…
There have been plenty of times when I’ve gotten the SAME feeling of treating myself well from walking away and NOT buying something. There’s a bit of luxury in saying, “I have everything I want right now. I’m content.”
That last part is absolutely true! It might sound strange, but sometimes, I really don’t feel like anything and walking away from the counters knowing I don’t want anything at that moment because what I already own is another type of luxury itself!
Like you said customer service, return policies, etc.
I don’t have anything EXTREMELY luxury. But I own a chanel, and a burbery lipstick, and quite a few slightly lower priced like Nars and such, for some reason the 24 feels so much cheaper than 30.
The chanel and burberry I own aren’t necessarily the most unique colors ever, but they work very well with my coloring, I love the color of them, the sales associate spent time with me instead of getting frustrated when I asked to swatch them or look at them. (even with alcohol, I wouldn’t try them on my lips). At the time I had blue and purple hair, so they probably thought I was going to steal something.
I use them regularly, in fact I keep one or the other in my school bag at all times, because I’ve never found a lipstick that actually brightens my face and makes me look alive like those two. One’s a red and one’s a pink, but not a very bright pink, a medium brightness/natural pink.
If I was going to buy something higher it would have to be something that really clicks with my coloring and my personality, and ideally less dupeable. Certainly with natural-er ingredients and with business practices I support (ie. no slave labor, no animal testing, environmentally friendly). I’ve looked out foundations that look lovely, but they never have the right shade for me, being super fair. You’d figure with a higher budget, it’d be easier. But the only one I’ve ever found is Bobbi Brown, and while they’re more expensive than drugstore, certainly not luxury.
For me it´s quality, which I never find on the drugstore. It is also the pigmentation, color range, packaging, beauty and uniqueness and above all how much I´m going to use it. I would rather have one Chanel lipgloss that I use all the time rather than twenty drugstore glosses that I never use because they are uncomfortable, smell bad, taste bad, lack longevity, lack pigmentation or for whatever other reason. I think that besides the higher quality, what makes a luxury product worth it is how it makes you feel when you use it, how much you like it applied on you and just how much you love the product. If you love the luxury item and you are happy to have it, it was worth it. 🙂
100% Quality of INGREDIENTS & Performance!!! That and the packaging is what usually determines price. I find that many times NOT ALWAYS that the higher priced products perform better-usually attributed to the fact that they have much more research done to test performance of product.
I think for me, “Luxury” and “Worth It” are two different things. I see “Luxury” as a package: Ingredients, performance, packaging, availability, and brand prestige, history and reputation. However, “worth it” to me, is purely performance. I’ve used brands that I would consider luxury (Dior, Chanel, etc) that have been outperformed by non-luxe, drugstore brands. I consider the drugstore brands “worth it” because they gave me the results I was looking for. If a “luxury” brand gives me a result that I cannot top or replicate with anything else, then it’s also “worth it.”
It is worth it when the product works….at whatever price.
I use La Mer(original) cream…and I have gone back to it time and time again after trying all sorts of HE brands in between. On the other hand, the La Mer eye cream doesnt work well for me. It irritates my eye to the point that I will rub it till my eyes are red if I get it accidently into my eye. I love the Sisley eye cream. It is 205.00. It keeps my to stay moisturized and takes away puffiness…not completely but good enough. I just wish it doesnt have paraben. I am planning to get another Sisley eye cream…so when there is a gift with purchase, then it makes it more worthwhile.
Definitely pigmentation, packaging, the amount of product I’m receiving for the cash I lay out, the willingness of the company to provide freebies in addition to my purchase (like a travel size mascara or something similar that I can try out), the willingness of the company to provide me with samples so I can take them home & see if they actually suit me before purchasing, the willingness of the company/sales reps to call other counters if they’re sold out of a product I came specifically to purchase that day, the company providing testers for all the products they’re selling at the time (a major problem in Canada) etc etc. I’m looking at you Chanel, Dior, and the list goes on. You expect me to purchase an $80 compact without even being able to touch it, smell it, swatch it? Hell no.
For me it’s about the customer service, the attitides of sales reps & the company going out of their way to make sure customers are happy – just as much as the quantity, quality & the packaging of the product. Nothing pisses me off more than to be nastily informed ‘we don’t give samples’ or snottily told ‘our product is higher end that that other company’ when I’m coming in ready to drop $400+ in their store. If you want my cash, you’re gonna have to do far better than that, because I won’t hesitate to walk away & spend my money at the next counter while you & the other nasty cows at your sorry counter look on, knowing somebody else is getting the commission you could’ve had. And don’t look down your damn noses at me if I happen to show up with no makeup on that day & casually dressed *cough* Holt Renfrew *cough*
I think a luxury product is ‘worth it’ when you know you’re going to get a lot of use out of it and absolutely love it, so obviously it needs to be top notch quality, as close to perfect as possible so that you can look back on it and know it was worth every penny.