Are luxury beauty products worth the price?
By Felicia Roehm
I have been interested in makeup since I was 10 years old, and I would always get the sparkly makeup at Claire’s. It wasn’t good makeup, as it had terrible pigments and it would only last on my face for a few hours, but it was cheap. It was fun to experiment and learn before buying more expensive products. I have now been using drugstore makeup for quite a while, and I find the products to be just as good as luxury makeup. They last all day, look nice when blended and don’t break the bank.
However, when it comes to more expensive products by brands such as Chanel, Dior and Estée Lauder, is the quality better and worth the price? I have never been able to afford a $100 lipstick, but for those who can, I question if the products are just as good, if not better. The article on Glam Convo “Drugstore vs. High-End makeup: Does A Makeup Look Require to Break a Bank?” by Vlera Ibrahimi explains there isn’t much of a difference between the ingredients, but there is a difference in packaging.
As for the ingredients, both drugstore and luxury makeup are supposed to be safe for your skin, have a wide range of colors and are wearable for a long period of time. The packaging on luxury products often have more designs, grooves and gold embellishment. Ibrahimi wrote, “While there may appear to be a significant rivalry between drugstores and high-end makeup products, the reality is more nuanced. The quality, longevity and benefits of makeup products exist on a broad spectrum rather than being strictly divided by a rigid border.” Some of the products have designs pressed into products like eyeshadow or powder. These can cost well over $200 just because they are aesthetically pleasing. If it is a limited time product the price can rise even higher.
Jamie Peña, a junior dance performance major, has been interested in makeup since age 10. She used to be a competitive dancer, which forced her to learn how to do makeup for performances. Peña loves to experiment with makeup and try new looks.
“It’s an extra way for me to express myself. I wear a lot of the same outfits all the time just because it’s less to think about when I get dressed in the morning, but also as a dance major I basically have to wear the same stuff everyday … there’s not a lot of creativity there,” said Peña. “So it’s something that lets me have fun, something to look forward to about getting ready and that makes me feel more like myself.”
Peña enjoys wearing different kinds of eyeshadow and finds that the more expensive eyeshadow pallets have more pigmentation and vibrancy. She also believes that more expensive eyeliner is worth the money.
While drugstore eyeliners are decent to experiment with when learning how to properly apply makeup, Peña believes it is better to use higher quality eyeliner for performances so it doesn’t run while dancing on stage.
“If I’m going to go on stage and I’m going to be sweating like crazy, that’s not the [eyeliner] I want, because it will run a little bit with my sweat, versus if I’m just going out and when I come home I don’t want to spend forever taking off my eyeliner,” said Peña. “Then I don’t have to waste my money on my stage makeup just to go to class one day because I felt like having fun with my makeup.”
Peña added when buying makeup it really depends on what you’re buying if it is worth the price.
“I feel like it depends what you want to do. … It’s more so for your skin type of if it’s going to make you crusty and dry or oily and slimy. I feel personal preference rather than expensive or not,” said Peña. “The only thing I feel like is worth it is maybe the pigment of eyeshadow.”
Overall, makeup is subjective to each person’s self-expression and budget. It is a form of creativity that is supposed to be fun, and all makeup is made to be worn and enjoyed.
