Do you believe that higher price means higher quality? Will your mileage vary from product-to-product (or brand-to-brand)?
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I think it varies, and I don’t think it really scales 1:1 (or I suppose, dollar for dollar). For some products, you do get higher quality ingredients, less filler ingredients, etc. or “better” packaging.
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In general, yes. But there are exceptions: Sometimes a high end product won’t work for me, and other times a low end one will. Lumene eyebrow wax isn’t expensive but it’s my HG for example, and I’ve tried many high end ones. But I prefer/own mostly high end stuff. (MAC mostly.)
I disagree not always some cheaper brands such as ELF Cosmetics and high street brands such as Boots NO7 and Rimmell have gr8t products
skin care definitely takes the cake for the higher-price-equals-higher-quality question since before indulging in cosmetics, i still believe in maintaining good and healthy skin that would ‘last’ for years and years 🙂
for cosmetics, i guess foundation? especially those oil-free/oil-controlling ones since expensive foundation seems to be creamier, thicker and has better quality.. but i still think that there are affordable foundations w/ great quality like Max Factor or the Revlon ColorStay! 😀 for lippies, eye stuff and blushes, i’d rather not spend on them much; cheap drugstore stuff work too like other high-end brands do 🙂
No, not necessarily 🙂
Yes and no.
Paying a high price doesn’t always mean you’re going to get an excellent or high quality product. For instance, I find Chanel nail polishes to be very mediocre for their very expensive price – there are cheaper brands offering far better services (and color range!). Also the very expensive Dior lipsticks cause me allergy and dryness where a cheaper and honest brand such as Bourjois doesn’t. Here and there, there are cool little cheap brands producing very nice make up and high end brand release questionnable products. This is why I’ve got a mix of cheap and expensive in my stash: there are good things in everything, even if I confess having very few cheap things (and zero cheap eyeshadows).
Now I’ll say that high end brands have in general the advantage to release very innovative products (such as the wonderful non tinted photo finish Dior foundation or YSL mascaras which make doll eyes).
Yay and nay. Some cheaper brands definitely offer equal products, finding them is key though. On the other hand higher end brands tend to offer more variety and some other “unique” products that you wouldn’t find with lower end brands… they also tend to have a better selection when it comes to foundation, which I will always pay the extra to get the right match.
For skin care definitly yes. For make up, it depends, I think cheap mascara’s are sometimes even better than a Chanel one. But for eyeshadow/lipstick I will always buy a brand like MAC.
Yes and no for me. For skin care, I always go for the lower end and someday want to purchase a high end skin care product. For makeup, I always buy MAC. Sometimes I do want to buy more cosmetic brands other than MAC.
As with so many other things.. mileage will definitely vary. Whether it’s skin care or cosmetics, it depends on the particular product and who is using it (and if it’s being used correctly).
It depends, because I own these lipglosses and they are £1.95 each and they are SO GOOD! They smell nice, they feel nice, and the colour is very strong (pigmented) and lasts for about 4 hours which is decent enough. Better then some higher brands I have tried. Do you guys classify MAC as a higher brand? Because in comparasion to other brands it is quite cheap.
I was thinking the same thing.. lol.
Personally I consider MAC to be mid-range. It’s not cheap, but it’s not insanely expensive either.
Thanks 🙂
Yes, for the most part. But not all high end brands are great quality, and some low priced brands are. There are exceptions to the rule.
I would say 1) not necessarily. When it is true for some products like eyeshadow (I compared the quality of a Dior quint with cheap drugstore EY, the latter offered no pay-off colors at all), some cheap products, such as lipglosses, or makeup removers work very fine. I haven’t tried enough high-end product to generalize though 🙂
Most of the times, yes, but there are exceptions. I really don’t like Givenchy’s 9 colour eye palettes, they don’t work for me at all, whereas Boots’ 17 shadows are really nice. But then again, I adore Dior quints, they’re so lovely and great quality. Also Mac comes out with some great stuff too. 🙂 Skincare I’m not sure about, creams are creams, lol, I haven’t found expensive ones to work better than some cheap ones.
IMO, no. I have found some great products over the years that are much cheaper than a higher priced product. I am always willing to try both expensive and cheap items and to keep an open mind, because I love discovering great products in all price ranges.
This a question that will ALWAYS be debated! While higher prices often mean quality products, I’ve been able to find good replacements at the drugstore when I don’t have the extra cash. It’s all about finding a product that works for you!
Yes, I’m afraid I buy into the hype. But I also think it’s from experience. I would love to find that drugstore mascara/concealer/lip product that is just perfect, but have yet to find it.
On the other hand, just because it’s expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good. I also keep in the mind the marketing costs.
Depends. I bought some shadows from VS that were on sale and I thought they were good. They swatched nice on the back of my hand, but when I tried at home I saw no pigmentation and it was very chalky. Needless to say, it is worth it to me to by quality shadows that I know will look great on and blend well. I hate to waste money on an “OK” shadow.
Well it depends I bought a lot of victoria secrets shadows they were 3.00 and some of them were way better than my mac shadows when I used a good base and they stayed on. I have glosses by Dior, Chanel, YSL and they were like 30.00 were they worth it No. I have tons of glosses ranging from super cheap to high and the cheaper ones worked better than those higher end brands. I all depends on the product. High Prices doesn’t always mean it works better.
It really depends. I like trying new items if its not too much. Sometimes low end stuff doesn’t hold up well, while some other low end stuff will. For example, 2 days ago I bought a Joe felt tip eyeliner at the grocery store. It looks exactly like the MAC Penultimate eyeliner I had just bought a week prior, but was only $6. After a few uses, it seems to work just as well as the MAC version! I’ve also used a lot of high end items, such as cleansers. Then find out I’m allergic to it after I use it.
I say no.. it’s hits or misses. Like with Chanel and Dior.. sometimes you’re better off with less expensive eyeshadows since some of theirs have terrible color pay-off and sub-par textures.
well its depends. i like the drustore liquid eyeliners, pencil eyeliners and mascara maybe cuz i find that they give good results. i dont really like drugstore eyeshadows because i find them very chalky in the exception of the milani eyeshadows. i love mac eyeshadows but have recentlty been looking for the milani ones but cant find them anywhere anymore. i do believe that high end cosmetics(pricier) give good results but imo i wouldnt buy a quad or highlighter for more than $45.
I’m not sure where you live, so my comments may not apply, but I’ve seen Milani cosmetics at Walgreens and CVS.
Not at all, esp in the cases of high end brands like Chanel, Dior, YSL, Guerlain.. those glosses and mascaras are great to look at, but i often find that there are less costly alternatives that work just as well, or even better – even though the packaging is nice to look at, youre just paying for the label.
Yes and No.
In yes defense: In cases like L’oreal eyeshadows, their pigmentation sucks for something that is like 8 dollars. 🙁 A lot of high end products have jumped on the natural wagon (be sure to read ingredients firsthand) and they do contain nicer stuff in them. A lot high ends are pretty good at some products. I think Urban Decay and MAC have nice products though I’ve only tried them at stores.
In no defense: Just because you’re high end does not mean better ingredients/quality when it comes to products. I’ve compared some NYX, Milani product ingredients to the high end ones and High-end products contain more of chemicals. Some “cheap stuff” work really good and have decent color payoff.I dislike Dior’s strong fragrance and textures. La mer, personally, I would not purchase… I’ve found great mineral eyeshadows on the net by small business and they’re IMO better than those being sold at cosmetics stores. 🙂
to add to the list
I buy: gloss, mascara, liner at drugstore
I own: tons of high-end LEs which I don’t use. Some of them are good some are bad.
I’ve got a Dior quint in petal Shine while the payoff is decent and texture is nice. I’ve found a drugstore palette that competes for this though their textures differ slightly. (Dior’s has more shimmer)
mascara and liquid eyeliner i consistently find good drugstore buys (maybelline, loreal) but everything else, high end, with the exception of a few purse/pocket lipglosses. i generally find i get sick of and unimpressed by cheap makeup products really quickly, and trash them easily b/c they were low-cost. but when you’re constantly throwing the cheap stuff out, you actually do better for your wallet just splurging and loving the product to the end. Dior eyeshadows are an example of products that may have been originally 8x the drugstore price, but have offered 20x the payoff.
When I was younger, it didn’t matter, but as I got older, yes. I believe in the higher price means the better quality. I am not particularly into department cosmetics such as Chanel/EL/Guerlain, etc.. But I would rather pay big bucks to buy makeup artists brands such as Shu Uemura, Make Up Forever, than drugstore brands.
eh this question is kind of hard to answer, b/c like you said it does vary. Esp. when you see different products sold for half the price on some websites, it makes you wonder if you really paying for the quality or just the name.
Yes, but up to a certain point. I believe a cream of $45 will get you better results then a $15 cream But I don’t believe a $250 will get you better results then a less expensive one. Also In general I tend to be allergic to pretty much every drugstore brand I have tried, but I have never had any allergic reaction to the higher priced brand products. That to me alone is reason to pay more!
It varies for me as well, I’ve gone through pricey products that are brilliant and some pricey products that don’t work at all.
I believe so, especially for foundations.
But some cheaper brands work very well too.
No No No
It all depends on how they work with your skin. Dior foundation that may work for someone may not work for me. NYX and Milan eyeshadow that may work for me may not work for you.
Definitely not.
A lot of the brands, expensive and cheap, have either the same or very similar ingredients. Some expensive brands even have ingredients that are more unsafe for the skin.
It really depends on how someone uses the product and their skin. Expensive can cause more irritation than inexpensive, or both can have the same effects. The only major difference is that high end has more options, like with foundation colour. Even then a lot of them are lacking.
And with eyeshadows, a few of the ones that I have that are considered higher end (MAC and Lise Watier) are some of my least favourite eyeshadows. The colours are wonderful, but they go on sub par compared to even my drug store eyeshadows.
The only things I tend to spend more money on are mascaras, since I have been able to find a better result with them (although I only use Clinique, so it’s like 18 bucks, really not bad! Does anyone use their High Impact mascara? My mom has some, and I just applied it, and despite having applied too much, it looked way nicer than my naturally glossy, just not sure on the flaking) and with some eyeshadows because there are better colour selections. But I don’t like to go super high end – I don’t want to pay more than 25 dollars CDN for a single shadow!
With high end, it’s mostly about paying for the brand and the packaging instead of the product itself.
I believe that, yes. Of course there are always some exceptions. You can get some cheap and cheerful products that boast superior quality over teir more expensive counterparts, but overall i feel that about 95% – you get what you pay for.
Boots 17 pressed shadows are near free in price and have stunning colour rage & amazing colour pay off BUT they break and disintegrate in the pan within a fortnight. Bourjois do awesome budget eyeshadows though. All other budget brands I’ve tried; suck!
Cheap lipglosses tend to sting my lips too, they seem to have an outdated formula. Like I love Rimmel Vinyl Bronze lipglosses, they’re simply stunning but they sting my lips. At the same time I’ve tried YSL’s lipgloss in the touche eclat pen version and I was so dissappointed with the poor quality. It’s all about taking the gamble but generally high-end extremely rarely disappoints.
Ok, rant over.
In general, I don’t believe that the cheapest makeup is as good as the makeup that costs a little more, but I don’t think the most expensive products are worth their price either.
With the most expensive high-end brands you seem to pay for the name or for fancy ingredients that don’t even have an effect.