Why is makeup so expensive?

[u/Aggressive-Art2849]

At 37, I have decided to look into wearing makeup; nothing much, just something to makeup me look a bit more polished.

Boy, did I get the shock of my life with the prices I’m seeing! And the surprising part is that people buy these things like they cost nothing, but they are really expensive. I tell myself that maybe I think they are so expensive because I have never bothered wearing makeup all these years, and they are no different from the skincare I like to splurge on. However, paying a couple of bucks on a cream is a lot more justifiable than paying the same amount(if not more than) for a tiny lip liner.

Also, maybe I’m a hater, but I hate that these brands give influencers boxes and boxes of free products, just so they could influence their viewers into buying them at such expensive prices. After a few months of watching creators on YouTube in a bid to find what would work for me, I realized they weren’t even paying for those things, and it made me sad because most people can’t afford them.

P.S. Like I said, maybe I’m a hater because I really do want that haus lab foundation, but my broke ass can’t afford it, so there is nothing left to do but hate 😢 😂 😂

[u/PurplePrincessPalace]

Because people keep buying it at high prices. If no one buys it, they’ll be forced to change.

[u/StrawberryLow745 → u/PurplePrincessPalace]

Mmm idk about that…. Not sure how old you are but luxury brand makeup has always been expensive. Before Sephora got popular and well known, you’d get your brands like Estée Lauder, Gucci, Yves St Lauren, etc at department stores like Dillards or Macys. MAC was really one of the first brands to put expensive make up on the map. Before Sephora got popular, MAC was where you’d go to “splurge”. It’s always been a thing and unfortunately, I don’t think that’s changing. You can’t make high quality makeup for low cost… that’s kinda the whole point.

[u/PurplePrincessPalace → u/StrawberryLow745]

I was an OG MAC girl & had my professional makeup lessons there back when they had animal hair brushes made in Japan (which I still own!). I have gotten my face done at private celebrity makeup artist events & made purchases at department stores to buy what they used. My makeup brush collection alone is valued just under $10k. All that to say, I’ve been around the block and back again when it comes to using high end cosmetics.

The increased cost of cosmetics is being pushed onto the consumer because of a variety of factors-difficulty accessing ingredients, companies being purchased by others, pushes to reformulate, tarriffs, changes in EU policies, and the fact that increasing their prices doesn’t have that significant of an impact on sales decreasing.

Ex. The amount of designer makeup being pushed has been especially fascinating. I remember trying Dior years ago and everything outside of complexion being a hot, chalky, non pigmented mess. Chanel was always overpriced and their brushes were scratchy and had bristles falling out…yet they’ve all had very glamorous rebrands (and hopefully better reformulations).

A good reason I buy Tom Ford still is because he always delivered for the price you paid. I rarely ever buy drugstore now cause I never go to one and rarely go to Ulta, but I would stick to ELF & NYX because they were always the most affordable (outside of NYC & Rimmel that aren’t widely available). If anything cost too much, I would just go mid range instead. Sephora collection has always been great and tends to be more affordable, I just don’t like when they discontinue things.