What high-end beauty brand needs a makeover? Share!
Dior — I used to love a lot of their products, but I feel like I’m more often disappointed these days.
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Tom Ford could use a price reduction. And get rid of the oversexed ads while you’re at it, lol.
Agreed, so tacky for such a high end brand.
Hourglass and Dior for consistency and quality control issues across both lines.
Urban Decay and MAC for a business ethics makeover. Especially regarding transparency and demonstrating that they DO indeed value their customers.
Well said!
You said what I was thinking, but better than I could. Agreed wholeheartedly.
Lancome and Clinique. I get that they’re targeting a more mature customer than perhaps myself at 34, but they could use a refreshed look.
Also Laura Mercier. I have one single eye shadow from this line and its packaging looks so sad next to my more beloved brands. It deters me from picking up other things in her line. What can I say, I’m a packaging snob and I gotta look at this stuff every day 😉
I think Lancome might be headed in a more youthful direction now that Lisa Eldridge is in charge. Here’s hoping!
**Estee Lauder – haven’t bought anything from the for probably 20 years. Their Pure Color Envy lipsticks are slowly luring me back in, but the brand feels really old-fashioned and stuffy. Then they select Kendall Jenner as their new face, and while she is pretty, I’m not a big fan of the Kardashians.
** Dior -while they do some great lip products, they desperately need an eye makeover –please stop issuing all of those bad and mediocre shadow palettes until you fix the formula.
Lancome and YSL
I agree with you about Dior. They used to be my favorite brand, but I think their new launches have been quite disappointing for the past 2 or 3 years, with a few exceptions like the Nude Air Serum.
MAC – They need to stop doing so many pointless collaborations/collections. Limited edition shades can be fun, but it sucks when EVERY SINGLE recent shade you’ve liked is discontinued shortly after release
Urban Decay – I’m a broken record at this point because it’s bugging me lately, but I’m sick of the poorly-conceived palettes. They need to work on getting people to make follow-up purchases after the initial fun of getting a fancy palette.
Most of the high-end brands need a makeover!
– Dior, YSL, Givenchy: quality of powders is disappointing, too shiny eye shadows, lipsticks nothing to scream about
– Estee Lauder: needs a massive update, seems stuck in a time warp
– Clarins: needs to update the skincare line and improve the quality of the eye shadows
– Bobbi Brown: quality of eye shadows needs improvement
Any one of them that doesnt consistently create superior products for all skintones, not just for three shades of white. Which is most of them.
Lancôme could use a little make-over and become a little more contemporary and fresh. Right now the brand feels a bit stiff and maternal to me. A bit like Estée Lauder used to feel to me.
I would say Lancome or Clarins. Lancome was my go to brand, pretty much, when I was in my 20’s but now, they don’t really seem to have an “image” or even any iconic products that I can think of. And Clarins – most people probably don’t even think of them much when they think of colour cosmetics and, gee, maybe it’s because when they do come out with something great (their LE bronzer this summer, some of their cheek products like Eclat Minute or Magic Colour, some of their wonderful lipsticks), they discontinue them in no time flat. The Rouge Prodige lipsticks are gone (they were permanent but were around a very short time). You think they’d realize that when an LE product sells out so fast, maybe it’s an indication that it’s something that needs to be made permanent. Even in the permanent range, they’re always discontinuing and replacing lip colours so when you find one you love, it’s often gone in a few months!
Yes!! I totally agree with you on Dior. Years ago I loved their stuff but now I don’t even pause to look at it. Their formulas (especially the eye shadow quints) are terrible and their packaging needs a serious overhaul. They could learn a few things from Chanel or Guerlain!
Well many of the high end brands have become no buys for me as I can find more interesting products of better quality elsewhere for a much cheaper price. I love pretty compacts, but packaging isn’t something that makes or breaks it for me. Out of the usual suspects the labels that are feeling old and tired to me are: Guerlain and Dior:
Guerlain bores me. Great lipsticks, but there are so many great lipsticks formulas out there right now and the rest, especially their orangey bronzers, meh. As well, their foundation shade offerings are extremely narrow in range and very 90’s looking. You might want to take a step outside the office and look at the faces in the city around you.
Dior: I get along very well with Dior bases, but the rest is always more miss than hit. That’s sad because in a lot of cases the collections can be quite attractive, but the quality isn’t consistently there.
I think Bobbi Brown – altho they’ve stepped up their game with new products, the packaging hasn’t really been updated. I’ve never bought anything from them and what partly puts me off is that they’re known for being warm based colours. I was impressed by the Luxe Lip Colours though and that made me want to purchase BB for the first time in all my 38 years!
I don’t see or buy any real high-end ones like Dior or Chanel, but as far as what are called the “prestige” brands in Ulta, I’ll say Tarte. They release the same limited colors over and over and over. How many browns and corals does one woman need? Blue, purple, and green do exist in the world, y’know.
Yep, Tarte is pretty boring unless you’re just going for one of their basics, like Amazonian Clay Foundation or Maracuja Oil!
My first instinct was to say Lancome there products are wonderful but now that Ester Lauder has stepped up their game they need to up it a notch as well
Elizabeth Arden. I never see any of their products highlighted anywhere and I often wonder how they stay afloat.
True. They must sell about a trillion units of the 8 hour potion to sustain the whole business……
I agree, completely under the radar
I agree with you on Dior. I kind of feel the same way about YSL. Both brands release some good stuff, don’t get me wrong. It’s just the packaging in some products or the products themselves.
Dior, agreed. The problem is consistency, or lack thereof, in their eyeshadow palettes especially. There is often a noticeable range from extremely well milled, easy to use shadow formula (Bar, Bonne Etoile), to pretty much really dry, hard to blend eyeshadows (“Khaki Look”) & that entire (insert color) “Look” series were awful. Also I recently went to Sephora to purchase Dior’s version of Chanel I DO (Illusion D’Ombre) & was almost appalled by the Dior product because the shades were one glittery mess after another. Went back to the Nordie’s Chanel counter. I wanted to buy at Sephora to accumulate VIB points but won’t buy any Dior eyeshadows. At least their mascara is consistently great and their Dior Maximizer Eyelash Primer can’t be beat, but the brand’s eyeshadows have been terrible in quality and even the colors they pick to be in their quints are funky these past few years & don’t compliment each other. Blushes too are hit and miss. I do love their Rouge Dior lippies though! Not so much their recent color sticks.
Laura Mercier.
Clinique and Lancôme have put more effort into refreshing their image, and I feel they have similar targets. Bobbi Brown is the most similar and even those collections feel more in tune with shoppers today.
It’s a solid brand I don’t think should be left behind, but they just released the same ‘new’ palette for a third time with no changes.
Elizabeth Arden! It’s so antiquated, but they do have some quality products. They just need an image overhaul and a more youthful, edgier point of view to bring them at least into the current millennium, lol.
All the high end beauty brands that don’t have pigmented color like ie. CLARINS,Burberry and Coach brands that scream “I am only for the fair.” ; Fashion Fair has to change there formula, the colors are there but, sometimes I just want to slap something on and go. You can’t do that with Fashion Fair.
I think my reply is more of the same.
Dior: Their eyeshadow palettes are expensive and terrible quality. Nothing exciting in their line for me that I can’t get as good quality from another brand.
YSL: Short of Black Opium, which is one of my fav fragrances ATM, their line is not inspiring or fresh.
Lancome: I do favor their Auda(city) palette over the UD one, however, their line lacks relevance.
Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Clarins: These just feel like lines geared to someone much older than me – and I’ll be 50 next year!
UD: I really like the UD blushes and some of the single shadows but their palettes are just re-run after re-run. You can’t claim to be edgy if you’re not innovative and fresh.
Smashbox: I’m still a fan of some of their trios as they’re reliable. Still, nothing new and great coming out of this line other than the London Nicky Hilton collab. The other 2 were simply nude re-runs. Their new water foundation is a miss for me.
Bobbi Brown: Is it an irony “Brown” is her last name? I think not. Other than the really amazing LE Cool palette she came out with about a year and a half or two years ago, I don’t think I’ve seen anything other than brown. Or tan. Or beige. Or nude. She couldn’t even do grey – it had to be griege. People don’t need to spend Bobbi Brown kind of dollars to look “natural or nude”.
Clinique: Yawn. It’s not easy being green.
Chantecaille: Just because you imprint a different endangered species on a palette does not mean the shades are any different than before. Boring.
MAC: Needs work on consistency of formula. Too many LE sets that sell out too quickly. Discouraging.
By Terry: Great quality products but a lack of originality. If she upped her game on product variation this would be a fantastic line.
Guerlain: Nice skincare line but lacking in color cosmetic line.
Burberry: Good quality but limited target audience. Their cosmetics feel more like an after-thought. I think if they want to make a go of cosmetics, they need to invest more in their line.
I have to agree with Dior and based on reviews, I’d have to say MAC. I’ve never worn MAC but won’t until the reviews improve.
Luxury: I agree with Dior. I’ve been lusting after several of their eye quints, just loving the color combinations, but I’m so unimpressed with the formula it’s not even an option. If the formula was great, I’d definitely shell out for Trafalgar, Ambre Nuit, or Victoire for a luxury treat for myself.
Mid-to-high end: I’m honestly bored with Urban Decay. I feel like I never see anything new and exciting from them, outside of maybe the Naked palettes. All their palette concepts seem to be exactly the same and I barely even pay attention to their releases any more. I adore their single eyeshadow formula but the build-your-own-palette system is SO terrible I don’t want to shell out the dough. I tried to depot one of their singles to put into a Z-Palette the other week and it totally shattered! And I consider myself fairly experienced at depotting. I’m still mourning the loss of Hijack, which I only got to use a few times before I killed it. RIP. :'(
Really, most of them. I rarely look at or buy them. Part is price, but part is also they don’t capture my attention. There is a lot of pretty packaging, but if Dior or Chanel puts out eyeshadows worse than my cheapest drug-store, I have no interest. Most don’t have foundations light enough for me. Their products are usually too fragranced to use on my face. I’d pay more for something I love, but all the elements have to come together.
Out of “prestige” mid-range brands, I’d say Tarte. Their quality is declining somewhat, especially on palettes. The new holiday release is pretty awful. Their eyeshadows are getting too repetitive and leaning too heavily on browns. Which would be OK if they varied the finishes and tints more, but it seems like we’re seeing the same couple dozen shadows over and over under different names.
I was thinking of Dior as well. They really have to fix the quality of their eye shadows and re-design their packaging because it has all been too bad for too long.
Clarins and Elizabeth Arden are boring and too stodgy for me and I’m 52! Imagine how they’re perceived by much younger customers. Clarins’ skin care products have overpowering fragrances that have turned me off in recent years. I love Laura Mercier, but her products are becoming repetitive. African Violet e/s is unnecessary in every palette.
Elizabeth Arden- I see them as being my mother’s brand; even if they make quality products, they need a new image
Lancome- they seem a bit lost- for a while there, they were riding the Juicy Tubes fame, but now they don’t have any real attention-grabbers
Clarins & Shiseido- you have generally good products, but people don’t know it! Advertise!
Stila & Cargo- brands that seem to have lost their identity; remember Lip Glazes? Or the gloss duos in the tins? What stand-out products do you offer now?
Clinique. There powder eyeshadows are aren’t quality and generally unenticing colors. Also every counter I’ve seen seems attended by 50 somethings in white coats. It reminds be of lab techs in a hospital and is entirely too depressing. They do have something promising in those new blushes however, so I think they should work off them and overhaul the rest.
I would have to say Clinique. Lately I have been disappointed with the products I have purchased from Clinique.
Helena Rubenstein. Really fusty and old fashioned, or maybe I just don’t ‘get it’.
Chanel. Their quads just seem to be the same old tired colours rehashed from previous collections – one pink, one brown colour etc and the formula isn’t that great, either IMO. I want something to REALLY grab my attention.
Laura Mercier definitely – the line used to be the “Ann Taylor” of cosmetics – perfectly pitched for business, with a little glitz thrown in now and then for the evening. Now it seems tired and pointless.
I have so little interest in Bobbi Brown, that I don’t even try the samples. If BB had an eye shadow palette that had some pigmentation, I may have more interest in the whole line.
SHISEIDO. Shiseido is an amazing brand but overlooked most of the time as they dont do much advertising.
I feel like the packaging is very flimsy, cheap, boring and yet they want to be a luxurious expensive brand. It can be subtle/simple AND luxurious/high quality too. Next would be the product quality. Shiseido’s products are a hit or miss and most of the time, a miss. The cream eye shadows, eyelash curler, and lip laquers are to die for, everything else….meh……Shiseido needs to expand their range in products too! They have hardly anything it seems comparing to other brands. Lastly, is shade range. I know Shiseido is a Japanese brand and Japanese people are not the darkest people, but it is a huge international brand and needs to offer more colors and shades to all different kinds of people.
I like that Estee Lauder has stepped up their game but one would never know because their ads are so old fashioned. One of the models looks like she stepped off the set of Dynasty.
I’m going to give my opinion about just one brand: Tarte
I like their style of going for natural, muted looks generally… And for that reason it’s normal that their releases have more overlap or less variety than some other brands. They aren’t going to come out with neon shadows, etc.
BUT they still need to switch it up and for their intended clientele, I think that some awesome, well-performing eye shadow duos or trios for a simple no-fuss eye look would be awesome for their brand!
Dior, as said by so many of you. It used to be one of my favourite brands, but these days I just pass by, looking very quickly at their counter.