Only Some Luxury Makeup Brands Are Worth the Splurge—19 You Won't Regret
I've loved makeup ever since I was a 12-year-old watching makeup tutorials on Youtube. My first splurge was for Urban Decay's now discontinued Naked Palette (at the advice of a beauty YouTuber), and as I've gotten older, I've continued to spend time hunting for products I think are worthwhile.
Luxury makeup, like luxury skincare, seems like a beast, but if you know what to look for, it's very much worth the investment. Don't get me wrong, there are so many amazing affordable makeup brands out there, but once you add a Chanel lipstick or an Armani foundation to your lineup, you'll understand why sometimes, luxury makeup can be a real treat.
I like mixing high-end and high street, and luckily, my job allows me to play around with tons of different formulas at different price points. After testing many luxury brands, I know which are actually worth your money—and more importantly, which hero products to buy from each if you want to (strategically) amp up your makeup game.
19 of the Best Luxury Makeup Brands:
1. Chanel
Believe it or not, the iconic fashion house's makeup line is just as luxurious as its clothing. Chanel's foray into beauty began with Chanel No. 5, its most well-known (and arguably the most well-known) perfume. Chanel No. 5 revolutionised the perfume industry, and the brand has been making waves in beauty ever since.
I would always recommend a lipstick from Chanel—that's how good they are. This one has the dreamiest matte finish and lasts for hours.
This foundation mimics your skin, and after applying it, it looks like you have a filter on.
2. Tom Ford
Tom Ford set out to make a modern luxury brand, and everyone can agree that he did just that. Tom Ford's makeup line is a true staple for anyone who wants high-quality, luxury beauty that goes above and beyond.
A good lip gloss is hard to come by. This gloss does it all: delivers intense shine, high-impact colour, and a hit of moisture. Plus, it's not sticky.
One matte cheek colour and one frosty cheek colour ensure that you can always create the prettiest sun-kissed look.
3. Lancôme
Lancôme came to fruition in the 1930s and has stood the test of time. Today, the brand's vision is "beauty for all," which it achieves with high-quality products that are worth every penny.
Lash Idôle has to be one of the best mascaras I've ever tried. It gives lashes more length, volume, and separation than I previously thought possible.
4. Gucci Beauty
When Gucci's makeup line was revived in 2019, it was met with plenty of fanfare—and for good reason. Gucci's makeup products are meant for makeup lovers and people who appreciate their playful, vintage-inspired packaging.
Gucci's signature lipstick is inspired by Jean Harlow's titular role in Goldie, and it's the most classic, sophisticated red you can imagine.
This multiuse face gloss is often sold out. You can use it anywhere on your face to illuminate features or place it on top of makeup to add a glassy, luminous finish.
5. Clé de Peau Beauté
This Japanese brand is backed by cutting-edge science that aims to make skin look as radiant as possible, and that translates into all of their covetable makeup products.
Yes, I know this is a lot for a foundation, but I would never recommend something at that price point that wasn't worth every penny. This innovative formula illuminates skin, minimises pores, and imparts a radiant glow. Plus, it's infused with SPF, so you get a little extra protection from the sun.
Like the foundation, Clé de Peau's concealer works overtime to perfect your skin. This full-coverage formula can help camouflage everything from dark circles to blemishes.
6. Pat McGrath Labs
Anna Wintour once dubbed Pat McGrath "the most influential makeup artist in the world." Her eponymous makeup line proves that even further, with rich, bold colours and high-performing formulas.
Highly pigmented shades make this one of the best makeup palettes on the market.
Just one swipe of this blush leaves you with an incredible flush like you just walked inside from the cold. The colour payoff is intense, and it's highly blendable, so you can truly customise this blush to your own preferences.
7. Charlotte Tilbury
Like Pat McGrath, Charlotte Tilbury is another makeup artist that has reached superstar status. Tilbury doesn't miss—everything in her makeup line is worth adding to your collection.
This illuminating wand has gone viral on TikTok. Use it as a highlighter or as a blush. It will make you look effortlessly glowy and fresh-faced.
Is there a more iconic lip colour than Pillow Talk? According to the brand, four Pillow Talk products are sold every minute. The universal nude looks good on everyone.
8. Byredo
When Swedish perfumer Byredo launched its makeup line in 2020, everyone in the beauty industry lost it. This makeup is made for makeup lovers and people who like to play around with makeup.
This palette is versatile and will quickly become your most reached-for eye shadow.
Swipe this colour stick anywhere—seriously. This can be used as a highlight, an eye shadow, or even a lip colour if you're feeling bold.
9. Dior
Dior makeup is the height of luxury—just like the brand itself.
This lip plumper is a cult-favourite and leaves lips moisturised and pillowy.
This TikTok sensation is consistently sold out. It makes sense, too—as far as blush goes, this one delivers an other-worldly glow to cheeks, leaving you looking lit from within.
10. Westman Atelier
Renowned editorial makeup artist Gucci Westman founded Westman Atelier, a clean makeup brand that has taken the beauty world by storm. These products are all good for your skin and highly efficacious.
This highlight stick couldn't be easier to use, and it gives you a radiant glow that looks like an enhanced version of your natural skin.
Consider this compact the height of customisable beauty. This innovative lip palette can be blended, or each colour can be used on its own. You can even swipe across the cheeks—the possibilities are endless.
11. Surratt Beauty
This brand merges New York ideals with Japanese innovation for products unlike any you've ever encountered before. Surratt "puts artistry at everyone's fingertips," which is a philosophy I can get behind.
I'll wager you've never seen a mascara with a brush like this before, and that's what makes it so unique and singular. This metal "brush" allows you to coat every last lash and doesn't give you any clumps or flakes.
Like the lash tint, this brow pomade is unique. (It almost looks like a toothbrush, no?) It's the bristles that help make sure brows are evenly brushed through—they distribute the ideal amount of product.
12. Yves Saint Laurent
YSL Beauty makes the kind of products you might expect a makeup artist to have in their kit backstage at fashion week. The legendary fashion house's beauty products are elegant and practical.
Behold, my favourite under-eye concealer of all time. This concealer flawlessly covers dark circles, all while colour-correcting and brightening. It doesn't even look like you're wearing any makeup.
Somewhere at the intersection of a lip oil and a lipstick, you'll find this lipstick balm. It gives lips radiant shine, highly pigmented color, and tons of moisture.
13. Givenchy
Givenchy's beauty products come in a range of classic colours and the luxe formulas are not to be missed.
This colour-correcting, four-in-one finishing powder is a favourite among makeup artists. It gives a flawless, filtered finish and never looks cakey.
For effortless, just-been-kissed lips that the French are known for.
14. Giorgio Armani
Armani beauty is all about bringing elegance to your everyday life. These products enhance the skin's natural beauty.
You'll find this foundation on just about every list of the best foundations. It goes on effortlessly and leaves you with radiant, even-toned skin.
With just one swipe (and no primer needed), you can create a runway-worthy eye look that lasts all day. Use it as an eye shadow or as an eyeliner.
15. Guerlain
Founded in 1828, Guerlain is one of the oldest brands on this list. Guerlain makeup products are timeless and infused with Parisian sophistication.
These novel illuminating powder pearls can be used all over your face to colour-correct and add luminosity to the skin. Use them to set makeup, and watch your complexion transform.
Guerlain's bronzer doesn't just contour—it also adds moisture and nourishment to the skin with argan oil. It's easily blendable and makes you look instantly sun-kissed.
16. Sisley Paris
This French luxury brand makes products made with top-tier ingredients that help perfect skin.
Use this to sculpt your face by creating a subtle, glowing flush that looks natural thanks to light-diffusing pigments that impart radiance.
A unique gel-powder texture looks heavenly once applied to the skin, as it illuminates and evens texture. Infused with gardenia, wood mallow and linden blossom, it also helps nourish and soften.
17. Valentino
One of the most recent luxury brands to enter the beauty world, Valentino came in swinging. The Italian brand's makeup formulas are high-performing and offer an inclusive shade range.
It's a primer, moisturiser, and highlighter all in one. If you wear this alone or under makeup, it gives you a diffused, all-over glow, and if you use it on the high points of the face, you'll have a highlight that simply looks like you found the good light—in any situation.
Refillable beauty is the name of the game these days, and a lipstick this luxe being endlessly refillable is music to any beauty lover's ears. This lipstick comes in 50—yes, 50—high-impact shades.
18. Hermès
I'd be remiss not to include Hermès, the endlessly coveted French luxury brand. You may not be able to get your hands on a Birkin, but you can put the designer's luxe makeup on your face, and I think that's pretty great.
This blush will look just as good on your dressing table as it will on your face. It's endlessly blendable and customisable, so you can have as pigmented colour as you want.
19. Prada
Prada only launched its beauty line late last year, but it's already gaining popularity thanks to the chic packaging and impressive formulas.
I'll be wearing this blue eyeshadow shade all summer.
This story was published at an earlier time and has since been updated.
Katie Berohn is the associate beauty editor at Who What Wear. Previously, she worked as the beauty assistant for Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and Prevention magazines, all part of the Hearst Lifestyle Group. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a major in journalism and minor in technology, arts, and media, and earned her master's degree at NYU's graduate program for magazine journalism. In addition, Katie has held editorial internships at Denver Life magazine, Yoga Journal, and Cosmopolitan; a digital editorial internship at New York magazine's The Cut; a social good fellowship at Mashable; and a freelance role at HelloGiggles. When she's not obsessing over the latest skincare launch or continuing her journey to smell every perfume on the planet, Katie can be found taking a hot yoga class, trying everything on the menu at New York's newest restaurant, or hanging out at a trendy wine bar with her friends.
-
According to Top MUAs, These Are the 6 Makeup Trends We’ll All Be Wearing in 2025
Get ahead of the curve.
By Grace Lindsay
-
Sorry, Gen Z—This Millennial Makeup Trend Was All Over the Fashion Awards Red Carpet
It's officially back.
By Eleanor Vousden
-
This Product Makes Me Look Put-Together in Seconds—I'm Recommending It to Everyone I Know
It's so easy.
By Grace Lindsay
-
I Want My Eyes to Sparkle Like the Night Sky, So I Tried Every Glitter Eyeshadow I Possibly Could
These were the best of the best.
By Grace Lindsay
-
I Have Very Sensitive Eyes—These Are the Only Mascaras I’ll Let Near My Lashes
Irritation, be gone!
By Grace Lindsay
-
12 Eyeliners That Won't Irritate Your Sensitive Eyes, According to an Expert
Ophthalmologist approved.
By Grace Day
-
I Just Tried All of L'Oréal's Bestselling Mascaras—These Are the Ones I Would Actually Buy
Voluminous lashes for under £15? Yes please.
By Grace Lindsay
-
From Glossy Skin to Berry Lips, These Are Winter 2024's Biggest Makeup Trends
According to makeup artists.
By Grace Day