4 Benefits to Buying Luxury Skincare Brands

Are you getting bored of your drugstore products and wondering whether it’s time to make the switch to luxury skincare products? Brands like La Mer, Prairie, Dior – these are some of the most recognizable and best luxury skin care brands in the world, but are they really worth the splurge and what are you actually paying for?

Without knowing everything that goes on behind the scenes in every luxury brand, the short answer is: it depends. The word luxury used to mean high quality, but with the way consumers shop today what is considered luxury pricing may only be a reflection of increased demand based on trends and hype, not necessarily better quality.

Although choosing luxury may not mean you’re actually getting a more effective or better end result (i.e. better skin), it’s more likely that luxury skincare brands have superior products given their cost of goods are often higher than affordable drugstore dupes. 

For us, truly innovative and transparent skincare brands spend considerable amounts of resources investing in high quality packaging, R&D, ingredients, and formulation — making it necessary to charge premium and luxury prices because products are actually costlier to make. As such, here are 4 top reasons why we think buying luxury skincare brands are worth it (when they actually invest in these things):

 1. Unique formulas incur high research and development costs  

Developing a unique and effective skincare product not only takes time, it takes a lot of money to conduct R&D and testing. Think about how those affordable skincare brands will release product after product, each only slightly different than the last, aiming to sell as much as possible. On the flip side, luxury skincare brands with proprietary formulas developed from scratch are investing resources in research, patents, high quality ingredients (more on this below), advanced technology and equipment, and trial and error. The end result being higher costs for formulations, and higher prices for a luxury skincare product that is truly different from the plethora of choices out there. 

2. The best skincare ingredients can be more expensive (but better quality)

Luxury skincare products are also more likely to contain higher quality (and more expensive) ingredients than their cheaper counterparts. This is because premium ingredients, such as rare botanical extracts, peptides, vitamins, and minerals are often more difficult to source and may also require further extraction and processing before they can be incorporated into formulas. Furthermore, products without many active ingredients will largely consist of cheaper commodity-like ones (e.g. fillers, thickening agents, or emulsifiers) which don’t have as many benefits for the skin. For us, products that contain higher quality materials lead to higher quality results. 

3. Luxury skincare products contain ingredients in efficacious concentrations which lead to faster results

As mentioned above, the quality and choice of ingredients matter. However, what also matters is how much of each ingredient is included in a formula – this is often referred to as concentration or dosage. Luxury skincare products tend to contain active ingredients in concentrations that will actually work to target specific concerns, resulting in better and faster results. On the other hand, cheaper products may only include active ingredients in trace amounts simply to appear on the ingredient label. Therefore, the costs to create a product increase as higher concentrations of active ingredients may be needed in order for formulas to work quickly and effectively.

4. Luxury self care is an experience – from texture and feel, all the way to packaging

From how a product catches your eye with packaging to the way it feels when applied, luxury products provide what is necessary in creating a full sensory experience from start to finish. Customers look forward to the experience of a product’s scent or cooling effect, the feel of its texture when applied and absorbed into the skin, and the premium feel of packaging materials that are thoughtfully designed and one of a kind. For these reasons, not only are customers more likely to gravitate to a luxury skincare product, they’re also more likely to consistently use it when it’s truly enjoyable for them — leading to better skin results as consistency overtime is often key to seeing a difference in the skin. 

Purchasing a luxury self care product brings a level of excitement and sophistication to your beauty routine. While luxury may not always equate quality — it’s our belief that transparent and luxury skincare brands investing in R&D and high quality ingredients create superior and unique products that are worth the premium. 

Nonetheless, we know that the luxury beauty industry can contain a lot of fluffy marketing to earn your trust (and dollars!). That’s why we reviewed our favorite 6 luxury skincare brands that are worth trying. And if you're curious to try Motif's dermatologist-developed products, we also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can see and feel the difference a luxurious high-quality product makes.