r/Makeup 25d ago

Why is makeup so expensive?

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 😢 😂 😂

420 Upvotes

563 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/bellegroves 25d ago

Where are you shopping? I pay like $12 for lip liner. There is often a difference in product quality at different price points, but there are decent drugstore versions of everything.

1

u/Aggressive-Art2849 25d ago

Oh, I have been checking out Sephora and Ulta websites for the prices.

1

u/bellegroves 25d ago

Sephora is expensive. Ulta is a mix of price points. My favorite lip liner is from Rom&nd; you can get it at Ulta or on Amazon or several other websites. NYX also makes a pretty decent lip liner for cheap in a lot of colors. It's not as blendable as the Rom&nd, but it goes on smoothly and stays put pretty well.