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.
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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
Natasha Denona Eyeshadow Palettes, Pat McGrath Blushes, Chantecaille Blushes, Armani Concealer, and Hourglass lipsticks. Also, generally fragrances.
I really want to try Chantecaille blushes but the colors are too light for me. Hope they expand their color range.I love my Chantecaille’s liquid blush and face powder!
• Dior Five Color Eyeshadow Palettes
• Natasha Denona Glam Palette
• Chanel Pirate lipstick
• Dior Hologlam Blush
• Dr. Dennis Gross Texture Renewal Serum
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).
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.
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.
Drunk Elephant Protini Peptide Cream, Hermès In jardin sur la nil fragrance, PML Eyeshadow Palettes, Gucci Satin Lipstick in Three Wise Girls, Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter
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!
I like the idea of “Honorable Mentions” to slip in more than 5 beloved items! I’m gonna copy you and if I get called on it, I’ll just say “It’s all Nancy’s fault – she did it first…”
LOL!!! Yeah, I’m a bad influence! 😂
– 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
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
1. Gucci Bronzing powders
2. Westman Atelier complexion drops
3. Sonia G brushes
4. Pat McGrath blushes
5. Chanel Le Stylos
Pat McGrath eye shadow palettes
Chantecaille Lip Chics
Chantecaille eye shadows
Guerlain Rouge Gs
Hourglass blushes
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.
Got to go with the La Mer soft fluid foundation…Chantecaille gel foundation..Chantecaille Philanthropy blushes…PML eyeshadow palettes…Tatcha moisturizers (both of them!)
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!
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.
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.
Once again lol the Sydney Grace x Temptalia palette bundle, NEST perfumes, IT Cosmetics confidence in a cream, Besame Cosmetics lipsticks. Maybe Natasha Denona palettes but I only have minis.
Natasha Denona eyeshadow palettes, Pat McGrath eyeshadow palettes, Chantecaille Philanthropy blushes, Dior Rouge blushes, and Dior highlighters.
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)
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.
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.