Here’s Why You Need to Stop Buying Luxury Skincare

Luxury skincare is the creme de la creme of the beauty world. From brands like Estee Lauder to La Mer, these brands have positioned themselves as the best of the best but are they really the best?

Does expensive, luxury skincare mean that it’s good, effective skincare? The answer is a big, fat NO.

Keep on reading to see why luxury skincare is over-hyped and unnecessary.

P.S. Shop my favorite products here!

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Debunking Luxury Skincare

A lot of the people that buy luxury skincare think that the higher price means higher quality. They assume that because the product is so expensive, the ingredients are better than what you might be able to find for cheaper or the skincare you would find at the drugstore.

And honestly, those assumptions make a little sense, right? I mean why else would a skincare product be hundreds of dollars? It MUST be magic for my skin, right? WRONG!

Yes, a lot of luxury skincare products are formulated with great, high quality ingredients, but honestly, even with those incredible ingredients, you’re paying for much more than formulation and ingredients.

Now, this isn’t to say that a $1500 skincare product is just as good as a $5 product, because let’s face it, the luxury product probably has much better ingredients.

But, in general, luxury skincare is not worth the ridiculous price tags attached to them.

Higher Prices Doesn’t Mean Higher Quality

Luxury brands often use really high quality ingredients in their skincare products. BUT, underneath those great ingredients, the base ingredients may be the same as a lot of cheaper alternatives.

That means that a luxury brand may have one or two exquisite ingredients and then a whole lot of regular, average-performing ingredients that can be found is most other skincare. But these one of two ‘special’ ingredients will lead to super high markups and the price of the product could go from $30 to $150.

Yup, you heard me right. One or two ingredients is sometimes all it takes for a drugstore product to become a luxury product. That means that a $300 moisturizer and a $10 moisturizer may have exactly the same base – CRAZY, I know.

How Formulation Makes a Product Luxurious

A lot of luxury brands shell out big money for formulations tailored to them. Now, this makes it seem like custom formulations means that the skincare products they produce are higher quality and have better ingredients, right? WRONG… sometimes.

Sometimes this ‘custom formulation’ does indeed mean more innovation, research, and higher quality products. So in that case, it makes sense that the product will be expensive, because of all the work that goes into it.

BUT, a lot of times, this custom formulation is nothing more than adding unnecessary ingredients to make the product feel more luxe or smooth or silky.

One of the biggest examples of this is adding silicones to a preexisting formula. Silicones make luxury products feel luxurious and supple and smooth on the skin. But silicones don’t actually do anything for your skin. It just makes the product glide on more easily and smoothly, but that’s pretty much it.

In that case, you aren’t paying for the fancy ingredients, you’re paying for the filler ingredients – like silicone – that make you think you’re paying for fancy ingredients.

PLUS, those custom formulations could be bogus for all we know because brands don’t have to release their formulations. So, you might think you’re applying a custom, luxury, heavily-researched formula on your face and it could actually be mostly water and a few filler ingredients.

Of course, a lot of times luxury brands do work to create high quality, highly effective skincare products that might well be worth the price, but largely, that’s not the case.

You Pay for the Luxury Experience

With what we just covered, you must be wondering “so if I’m not paying for the fancy ingredients in luxury skincare, then what am I paying for?”.

The answer to that is MARKETING, BRANDING, and PACKAGING.

Marketing is critical for all brands, including luxury brands that spend A LOT of money marketing and branding their products.

These brands, though, aren’t just marketing their luxury skincare products. They are marketing a lifestyle, an experience. Brands market their products so that when consumers see their ads they’re compelled to buy their products so they can indulge themselves.

This ties in with packaging, too. Would you rather use a plain plastic bottle or a luxurious, glass bottle with a gold cap and fragranced bottle?

Frankly, the ingredients and effectiveness of a formula has little to do with the price of a luxury skincare product. You’re paying mostly for the experience of using the product, of the brand name, and the exclusivity of the brand.

Is Luxury Skincare Worth it?

NO! Of course some luxury skincare is effective and may be worth the price, but honestly, it’s usually rare that happens.

Save your money, and buy affordable effective skincare that is so readily available nowadays that personally, I don’t see myself ever purchasing any luxury skincare again, unless it’s some proven, revolutionary product with crazy good ingredients.

Remember, JUST BECAUSE IT’S EXPENSIVE DOESN’T MEAN IT’S BETTER!

Save your coin and find skincare that is just as good and effectives and here’s how you can do that!

Affordable and Effective Luxury Skincare Alternatives

This is probably the greatest time alive for skincare junkies! There’s so many affordable and highly effective products from great brands now available.

The most known of these brands is probably The Ordinary and The Inkey List. These brands have very affordable products that are highly effective and accessible.

Instead of spending money on marketing and branding, these brands let their amazing formulas speak for themselves.

This article talks about why you need stop using Drunk Elephant and affordable dupes for some of the brands most popular products.

Here’s another article that lists 9 affordable brands like The Ordinary that are much, MUCH cheaper than luxury skincare, and very effective.

Some of the brands you should definitely check out to rival luxury skincare brands are The Ordinary, The Inkey List, COSRX, Versed Skincare, and Krave Beauty. Check out the article for the full list!