For most people, a luxury beauty shopping trip is a treat to celebrate a milestone or to try a product or brand you’ve saved up for. For someone who became beauty-obsessed as young as I did, it felt like I was always meant to walk this inevitable path for quality products.
To me, luxury beauty isn’t just about the product itself but about the experience you have when engaging with a brand. I get that not everyone wants—or is able—to spend serious cash on these items, but the allure and creativity behind them shape the trends, standards, and formulations that trickle down to every price point.
“Luxury beauty brands not only offer customers innovative products with quality craftsmanship, but they also give them a sense of aspiration,” says Nordstrom’s National Beauty Director, Autumne West. “Consumers can buy into the world of a designer brand through their beauty products. We also see a level of trust customers have in established luxury names, making them gravitate towards them both in-store and online.”
Yes, a $160 Louis Vuitton lipstick is simply that—a product for your lips. But there's a big difference between grabbing a quick tube at your local drugstore and visiting a Louis Vuitton store, exploring the brand's luxurious brick-and-mortar lineup, and leaving with a new relationship with a sales associate. On top of all of this, many luxury beauty brands have a clear artistic vision, often collaborating with experts who act as intermediaries, translating runway trends for everyday consumers. That’s why I, someone who started with dollar store makeup, find myself justifying $100 foundations a decade later.
That being said, the world of luxury beauty can feel overwhelming, so not only have I chimed in on some of my personal favorite brands below, but I’ve also tapped a few industry friends—celebrity makeup artists, manicurists, and more—to help me curate a list of the best luxury beauty brands on the market.
Ahead of the 2025 holiday season, consider this list your ultimate guide to luxury beauty brands, whether you're shopping for loved ones or yourself.
Best Luxury Hair Brands
When it comes to a good hair product, Rob Peetom’s creative director and L’Oreal Professional hair artist, Drew Schaefering, knows a thing or two. “In the luxury haircare world, I lean towards Davines and L'Oréal Professionnel,” he tells me. “Davines, being a certified B Corp, utilizes natural ingredients from local farmers in Parma. They are a beautiful example of responsible innovation with products that also smell amazing. L'Oréal Professionnel is a market leader in scientific innovation in color, care, and repair, and it’s a brand that I fully trust and stand behind.”
Give your hair some volume and a silky soft texture using this leave-in foam.
Strengthen, repair, and protect colored and damaged hair with a weekly hair mask.
I would be remiss not to mention one of my favorite luxury haircare brands of all time: Oribe. From the dedicated curl care line to the texturizing spray, this is one of the first luxury hair brands that “made sense” to me, and it’s still one of my favorites to this day.
Breaking your wash day up across a few days? Detangle with this conditioner that also doubles as a leave-in treatment.
Give your hair that airy, piece-y look (and tons of volume) with a few spritzes of this formula.
Best Luxury Makeup Brands
Makeup artist, Theo Turner, has had a few gigs in the beauty industry, but two brands have made a lasting impression on him. “My two favorite luxury brands would have to be Chanel and Tom Ford,” he tells me. “These two maisons have shaped my artistry, my eye for luxury, and my career. Chanel was the first luxury brand I ever worked for, and Tom Ford was the last. They both represent two distinct languages of beauty, one rooted in timeless elegance, the other in bold modern sensuality and outspoken expression.”
A sleeper hit, this color corrector from Chanel glides onto the skin like butter and makes dark circles and hyperpigmentation disappear instantly.
A classic for a reason, this duo is the perfect compact for both contour and highlight.
Content creator and professional makeup artist, Jonet Williamson, also has a few staple luxury beauty brands in her kit. “One of my favorite makeup brands right now is YSL,” Williamson tells me. From the variance in shades to the actual color payoff of their formulas, and even the longevity of the brand’s products on the skin, it’s a love affair that she didn’t see coming. “I love their blushes, powder bronzers, mascaras, and their lip products,” she adds. “They’re killing it right now, and they feel like a true luxury brand.”
Williamson is also a big fan of Dior, particularly one product. “I especially love the Backstage Face & Body Flash Perfector Concealer,” she says. “It has caffeine in it, which is extremely helpful for people with puffy undereyes. It also has self-setting properties in it, which is great for helping with flashback since you don’t have to put a ton of powder under the eye.”
Tons of pigment, easily blendable, and available in a stunning range of shades? What's not to love about these blushes from YSL?
Just like the foundation, the Dior backstage concealer is like skin in a bottle.
Best Luxury Nail Brands
Tom Bachik is a celebrity manicurist with a stacked client roster, including Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez, so when he talks, I listen. “Chanel and La Mer make some of the most luxurious products on the market,” Bachik tells me. “Two of them that I keep in my kit are Chanel’s Huile De Jasmin facial oil and LaMer’s The Hand Treatment.” Using a combination of the two, Bachik creates what he calls a “cuticle cocktail,” which he says whips his client’s hands into shape. “They are the perfect combo to moisturize cuticles and rehydrate skin after a service,” he says. “It’s the most luxurious, a-list-approved combination that I absolutely swear by.”
A multifunctional oil that can moisturize your face and cuticles? Yes please.
This La Mer hand cream screams luxe. It's such a chic gift for the holidays.
Manicurist Erica De Los Santos is also a big Chanel fan. “The polishes from this brand have the best pigment and apply so smoothly onto the nail, thanks in part to the shape of the brush,” she says. Another luxury nail brand that she swears by is Gel Bottle Inc. “The builder in a bottle from this brand is self-leveling and so, so good,” she gushes. “And the gel colors are incredibly pigmented.”
Chanel's Le Vernis formula remains undefeated and is very much editor-approved. This deep red shade is perfect for your holiday manicures.
DIY nail lover? Builder gel should be in your collection.
Best Luxury Skincare Brands
Board-certified dermatologist, Dendy Engelman, MD, is practically royalty in New York City, so a skincare recommendation from her is worth its weight in gold. “Two of my favorite luxury skincare brands are Elm Biosciences and Lyma,” she says. “The former is inspired by the precision of clinical dermatology; I’m always drawn to brands that use rigorously validated ingredients, and Elm Biosciences fits that criteria beautifully. Their approach feels like skincare designed with the same discipline I bring to my practice: targeted, intelligent, and deeply restorative.”
As for the latter, it was innovation that first drew Dr. Engelman to Lyma. “As a dermatologist who values both innovation and evidence, I appreciate how Lyma pairs high-grade nutraceuticals with truly advanced topical technology,” she says. “It offers a comprehensive, inside-out strategy that aligns with what I often recommend to patients seeking longevity-focused skin health.”
"I love this serum for it's focus on regenerative actives and hydration," Dr. Engelman tells me.
"This product is wonderful for its combination of at-home low-level laser therapy and optimized topical support," she adds.
As for me, Sofie Pavitt’s acne-focused skincare brand continues to wow me, months after launching earlier this year. The mandelic acid, in particular, has done a fantastic job of reducing the texture of my face, which in turn has allowed me to finally move on to addressing hyperpigmentation and dark marks. It’s pricey, at $54, but I will never be without it again.
Textured, congested skin doesn't stand a chance against this serum.
The gentle gel cleanser removes trapped dirt and oil with ease without ever stripping your skin of hydration.
Best Luxury Fragrance Brands
Maison Crivelli is a luxury perfume brand that I will never stop talking about. I know people who have waited months to buy one of the brand’s most popular fragrances, Hibiscus Mahajád—it’s that good. A combination of floral notes like rose and, of course, hibiscus, leather, vanilla, musk, and even spearmint, this perfume is the definition of haute parfumerie and a clear commitment to the quality of perfumerie that this brand practices.
Not only does this extrait have incredible wear time on the skin, but it only uses the finest quality ingredients available on the market. In this fragrance, in particular, you’ll find the word “Orpur” behind many of the notes included. This translates to “pure gold” in French and is a quality designation by the fragrance company Givaudan, signifying that the ingredient has met the highest standards for purity, olfactive quality, and responsible sourcing.
Don't let the spearmint note fool you, this is a floral perfume that is equal parts sultry and uplifting.
Leather, bergamot, and raspberry mingle for a scintillating scent that's begging for a night out dancing with your besties.
Clive Christian is a fragrance house that dates back to 1872 and is said to have been a favorite of Queen Victoria’s. Every perfume from the brand has a fragrance concentration of 20 percent or higher, which means that technically, all of them could be considered Extrait de Parfums. It’s a distinction that immediately becomes apparent when you get a whiff of any fragrance from this house.
All of the scents that I have tried from this line have lasted over eight hours on my skin, and even when I’ve long gone noseblind to the intensity of each perfume, I get compliments like I just freshly applied them. This is one of those beauty brands that epitomizes quiet luxury.
A woody, chypre dream, Matsukita is for people who love the freshness of a citrus perfume, and the depth of a traditional musky fragrance.
With ginger, sparkling lime, and timeless French lavender, this is an elegant musk that wears close to the skin and smells better with every passing hour.
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Meet the Experts
Autumne West is the National Beauty Director at Nordstrom and currently resides in Seattle.
Drew Schaefering is a professional hair stylist and the creative director of Rob Peetom.
Theo Turner is a celebrity makeup artist and content creator.
Jonet Williamson is a professional makeup artist and content creator.
Tom Bachik is a celebrity manicurist.
Erica De Los Santos is a professional manicurist.
Dr. Dendy Engelman is a board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and media expert.
