What are five more expensive products that were worth the price?

La Mer The Soft Fluid Foundation (hurts me still to say this), Sonia G brushes (and Japanese brushes in general), Natasha Denona Eyeshadow Palettes, Pat McGrath Eyeshadow Palettes, Chanel Blushes.

— Christine

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Mariella Avatar

1. Tatcha The Dewy Cream
2. Dior New Look and/or Jungle 5 pans (okay, all their 5 pans that I have – I’m basing this on Christine’s answer)
3. Dior Airflash Primer/Setting Spray AND Foundation (they go together, right?)
4. Chanel eyeshadow quads, especially Lumiere et Opulence and Empreinte du Desert, but there are loads of others)
5. Dior Rosy Glow Awakening Blush

Mariella Avatar

Seraphine, I’m so with you on the Dior 5-pan shadows (well, most of them). And I adore Chanel Pirate. When I first got it, I couldn’t figure out how to open it….I was sitting in my car in the parking lot thinking I’d have to go back into the store for “help” (and then I found the little insert explaining how to get the tube open).

Seraphine Avatar

My Dior Five-Color palettes are Nude Dress, Soft Cashmere, and Galactic. I love all three of them. Which ones do you think are not that good? And that’s so funny about Chanel Pirate! I don’t love the pushbutton packaging. It looks beautiful, but I have a couple Chanel pushbutton lipsticks that don’t function perfectly and I have to push the button a couple times to get them to open.

Mariella Avatar

I’ve got Bonne Etoile (LE from years ago and so beautiful…you can see it here at Temptalia), Feel, Celebrate in Gold (it was LE for the Holiday season 2019/20; ever time I use it and see that message “Happy 2020”, I can’t quite get over the irony…), New Look and Jungle. I love them all, though Feel is probably my least favourite – it’s a bit warm for me. I know from past reviews here that some of their 5 pans in past were not very good (particularly in light of the high price) so I avoided them – Pied de Poule, Atlantique – so many others.

Nancy T Avatar

1.) Pat McGrath EVERYTHING! Lipsticks (especially LuxeTrance, RIP😭), Mothership and MTHRSHP palettes, Blushes, lipgloss.
2.) Hourglass Dim Light Ambient Light powder.
3.) Chanel Empriente du Desert quad!
4.) Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Creme!
5.) Natasha Denona Lila and Glam palettes!
Honorable mentions: Sol de Janeiro Bum Bum Cream, YSL Black Opium Nuit Blanche perfume and Tom Ford Black Orchid perfume and SeaDragon lipstick!

Christy Avatar

– Hakuhodo brushes
– Chikuhodo brushes
– Koyudo brushes
– I don’t have any, but I assume Sonia G brushes since her advice before she started her line is what guided my brush purchases
– Natasha Denona eyeshadow palettes

Paige Avatar

Clionadh multichromes
Pat McGrath motherships
Foundation (higher end like YSL, Chanel, Lancôme usually has better wear time for me & matches my skin tone better)
Chanel Pirate (agree with those who said it!)
Lancôme eye makeup remover

Genevieve Avatar

The 5 most expensive beauty products that I own and are totally worth it are:
1. PMG’s palettes of Bronze Bliss, Decadence and Sublime Platinum Bronze
2. ND’s Glam – my only ND eyeshadow product and I have used it continually since purchase
3. CT’s The Rebel 2020 – the best olive green shades out in the market now
4. Shiseido’s Visionary Gel lipsticks – I have quite a few of them and just love their staying power.
5.Guerlain’s Les Gris quad – beautiful set of blues that are cool toned.

Cara Avatar

1. Givenchy Prisme Libre powder
2. Japanese natural hair brushes
3. Tom Ford quads (not all)
4. Dior beauty – blush, highlighter, concealer, mascara, eyeshadow quints, multiple fragrances
5. Viseart eyeshadow palettes
*Dior was probably cheating but I didn’t realize until recently how many of their products I own and love.
I was going to include indie eyeshadows because I think they’re better (and less expensive) than the mainstream high end brands like ND, PMG and Huda Beauty but that was definitely cheating!

Lacey Avatar

SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore cream – oof, pricey, but 1 jar lasts me a year, keep it in fridge. Tizo AM Replenish SPF – daily use, no pilling with my skincare or makeup. Natasha Denona palettes – quality and longevity. Hourglass Tiger palette – superb finish for tan aging skin. Charlotte Tilbury setting spray – beautiful finish, long wearing, doesn’t dry out my skin.

Lysine Avatar

1. Dior Forever Concealer
2. Drunk Elephant d-bronzi drops (mostly because I don’t think there are many less expensive liquid bronzers to compete?)
3. Skinceuticals C E Ferulic
4. Hourglass blushes and bronzers
5. Viseart eyeshadow

Tbh I had a hard time coming up with 5 things. Drugstore/lower cost products have come a long way and if I had to I feel like I could forego all of these products and use cheaper ones.

Jane Avatar

That’s a hard question to answer because I don’t think any of them are worth what I paid, but I do believe they are worth paying more for than say my Revolution London palettes or my less expensive mascara:

Nars Climax mascara
PML mascara
Natasha Denona palettes
PML palette (Subliminal is the only one I have, but so glad!!!)
Sydney Grace (again, would pay more, but at the time I bought them if they had been more, I wouldn’t have bought as many because I didn’t have the money to pay more)
PML Skin Fetish foundation (if it cost any more, I wouldn’t refill, but it’s worth having)

kjh Avatar

KGD foundation, but when it hit 95USD, mmmm…. Their concealer, 60, I think, is NOT worth it. Has anyone tried the Isdin Ageless sunscreen? It’s beloved, but I think 70 for a tinted sunscreen is obscene unless it does your taxes and windows. Others would be Creed ‘fumes.

miss.mercurial Avatar

I have more “general rules” than specifics as I almost always buy DS so there are not many specific items I consider “worth” the expense.

1. Any foundation that wears and matches well. Foundation is the #1 thing I’m willing to spend more on because color match and wear (time and feel) are both very important to get right. I won’t spend Chanel prices but I will leave my safe DS space for the right formula/color match.

2. Fragrance in general I also find to be worth spending a little extra on, just for complexity of scent.

3. A good SPF that I enjoy applying/lwearing because there’s no point to saving that extra money for a cheaper formula if it makes my eyes water or if I don’t wear it.

Specifically:
1. Olaplex treatments (not the shampoo or conditioner, since those spend the least amount of time in your hair anyway, but I get the salon add-on to color services and see a big difference in my hair)
2. CosRX skincare (snail cream and oil free moisturizer) which really aren’t super premium prices but are more than I would otherwise spend on a moisturizer.

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