High End Makeup That’s Worth the Money

Jessica Andersen

In the past few years, the beauty community has exploded. Makeup brands are constantly coming out with new flashy products that reflect whatever is trendy at the time. Over the past few years, companies have come out with countless translucent powders for baking, liquid lipsticks, and an overwhelming amount of warm toned eye shadow palettes. Considering the price point of high quality makeup, it can be difficult to sort through products and decide what is actually worth spending money on. There’s nothing worse than spending money on a high end product only for it to suck. I love to try new makeup products and since I started wearing makeup, I’ve tried my fair share of bad products. So I’ve rounded up my top high end products that I couldn’t live without to give some insight into which products are actually worth it.

• Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

If there’s one thing that every makeup lover should splurge on, it’s nice foundation. Nars Sheer Glow one is hands down the best I’ve tried.  I love trying new foundations but there’s something about this one that keeps me coming back. Nars Sheer Glow is a lightweight, medium but buildable coverage foundation with a natural looking finish. It’s not too glowy, not too matte making it the perfect for every day. This works great on all skin types because it doesn’t accentuate dryness and doesn’t get oily throughout the day. Trust me when I say this $47 foundation is worth every penny.

• Benefit Precisely My Brow Eyebrow Pencil

I get it, $24 seems extremely excessive for a brow product but if I could only choose one makeup product to use the rest of my life, it would be this. I prefer a pencil to a pomade or power and this is the best one I’ve ever tried.  The super fine tip makes it easy to get really fine, hair-like strokes. My eyebrows have never looked better since I started using this product. It’s pretty comparable to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz, but I prefer this one because it has my perfect shade.

• Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush

Hourglass gets their claim to fame from their Ambient Lighting finishing powders. Don’t get me wrong, these are amazing but every beauty guru on the planet has already confessed their love of these. The real star in my opinion is the finishing powder’s sister product, the Ambient Lighting blushes. Not only are these absolutely gorgeous to look at, they are the most pigmented blushes I own. They are silky and apply like a dream. My go to shade is Luminous Flush. They’ve got shimmer in them but they don’t highlight any texture on the skin. Instead they give a beautiful glowy flush to the skin making the $38 price point worth the splurge.

• TARTE Tartelette Clay Eyeshadow Palettes.

TARTE’s Tartelette eyeshadow palettes are the best eyeshadow palettes I own. Specifically Tartelette In Bloom and Tartelette Toasted. The mattes are some of the best matte eyeshadows I own. They’re so creamy and pigmented and they blend beautifully with almost zero effort. The shimmers are so velvety and they don’t even need any sort of spray to make them pop. In addition to the quality of shadows the shades are beautiful and versatile as well. These are great for every day and special occasions and ring in at $39 per palette. 

• Kat Von D Tattoo Eyeliner

It’s no denying Kat Von D is incredibly problematic. She’s been very vocal in support of the anti-vaxx movement and has been known to get into public feuds with fellow beauty gurus. This for sure doesn’t make people want to spend $21 on an eyeliner from her line. But despite that, her liquid eyeliners are the best hands down. I started using this eyeliner in the shade Trooper in high school and it’s the only eyeliner I’ve tried that allows me to create a precise wing. What really turned me on to it was the brush tip. I used to use felt tip liners, but the tip would always end up fraying before the product actually ran out. The brush tip doesn’t fray, holds its shape, and on top of all that it’s waterproof. Definitely worth the price.

• Makeup Forever Ultra HD Micro-finishing Loose Powder

I have no idea why literally no one talks about this powder because it’s amazing. I set my entire face with this and it completely fills in my pores giving an airbrushed effect. It sets any cream products without looking cakey or dry which is honestly the best thing for a translucent powder. This powder doesn’t work for baking but it does give a similar smoothing effect. My skin type has changed throughout the years but this powder works great on both oily and dry skin types. I’ve repurchased this $36 powder 3 times and I’ll probably continue to repurchase until something better come along.

Makeup is an expensive hobby and there are so many products out there, it can be overwhelming to choose. High end makeup is worth investing in because it’s better quality and it does come with some level of prestige. These products listed above are worth the money due to their quality, pigmentation, and formulas. While these products may be more expensive, they’re higher quality than drugstore brands. That’s worth every penny to me.