15 luxury makeup products I swear by

The products I reach for when I want to look and feel my best, while relishing in the experience of getting ready

Today’s post is dedicated to the products that not only make me look my best, but also make me feel special while doing so. These are the products I reach for when I want to relish in my routine and luxuriate in the process of putting on my makeup from the moment I open the product till I take it off at the end of the day. 

Today’s post is all about the luxury makeup products that do all of this and more; the ones that I would repurchase in a heartbeat if I wanted to indulge and give myself something special.

Your best base forward

1. Sisley Double Tenseur Primer - this is the ultimate way to start my makeup routine - it makes even my most tired skin look fresh for the whole day. As soon as I apply this gel-cream primer, I get an instant lifting effect to my skin, and it grips to my base makeup so that it lasts all day. I wear this primer on travel days when I know I need to take a train ride or fly somewhere where I immediately need to go to a meeting or an event because this will reliably keep my makeup looking fresh - this is one of my best secrets for faking healthy skin before I even put on makeup and thankfully right now it’s  also currently on sale on their website.

2. Chanel Water Fresh Tint - this ultra lightweight water gel tint gives me the ideal everyday naturally radiant glow while evening my skin tone out just enough. It has the perfect amount of coverage I want for everyday, or it mixes fantastically with other foundations to sheer them out a bit, or to add a hint of glow to something more matte. Because it’s water based, it also works fantastic for my combination-oily skin, even in the summer. It gives me that healthy glow and keeps that healthy glow, without adding extra oiliness to my skin. I’ve used up a whole bottle already, which really says something for the amount of foundations that I have. 

1. Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter - This is another healthy glow secret for when my skin needs a little more help to look glowy, or when I need to add some dimension onto a fuller coverage or matte foundation. However I wear this - under my foundation or over my foundation on the high points on my face, it leaves the most pretty shimmer-less glow  that adds a bit of a soft focus effect onto my makeup. This is essential for any makeup in the winter, but I also love this in the summer for that extra juicy glow. Shade 4 is my perfect shade. Plus, save 15% off your first order on the Charlotte Tilbury website with code stephanieFA5XR.

Sculpt and Glow

4. Victoria Beckham Matte Bronzing Brick - If I could only have one powder bronzer, this Victoria Beckham one would be it. The experience starts with the heavy metal tortoise-shell packaging and continues with the dual powder inside that is so silky it practically blends itself. As someone whose skintone changes pretty drastically from winter to summer, I love that there are 2 shades in each bronzer so I can keep one product going the whole year. The tones of these bronzers are just perfect, too - it provides just a hint of warmth but never leans too orange or red on my skin, which is so hard for my warm neutral olive skintone. I wear shade 02.

5. Westman Atelier Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Peche - I’ve raved endlessly about this, but it’s basically a 3-in-1 bronzer/blush/highlighter for me. The dry cream formula is so easy to apply with fingers or a dense brush (like this one), and the peachy bronze shade gives me a sculpted and glowy look in about 10 seconds. The subtle catches the light just right and makes your face look sculpted and flushed and glowy all at once. I wear this most during the summer, but I really love it any time of year to streamline my routine when I’m in a rush. If I were a makeup minimalist, this would be the only cheek product I’d really need. 

6. Hermes Silky Blush Powder - this blush proves that powder blush can truly be something special. I adore the minimal but elegant packaging - which is refillable, by the way - that feels sturdy but not so heavy it’s like carrying a paperweight. The blush itself also feels more than just a standard powder blush - it’s so buildable and silky it instantly blends into my skin. There’s no fallout or powderiness or patchiness with this, and the satin matte finish still manages to leave a lit from within kind of glow that lasts the entire day.My favorite shade is Rose Tan - it’s the perfect warm terracotta beige that I still haven’t found a dupe for.

7. Chanel Baume Essentiel - if you’re looking for healthy glow in a convenient stick formula or want to fake plump and moisturized skin after a long day, you need the Chanel Baume Essentiel. Many brands have clear glossy products, but Chanel does it best. I  apply it by dotting it on with fingers or swiping directly on my skin where I need some extra help, like the tops of cheekbones, center of eyelids, and cupids bow, and the formula sticks around but isn’t actually sticky. I have 3 of these now, which might be excessive given that they’re all basically transparent, but I need to have one with me at all times. I love Dragee, which has just the sheerest pink reflect from a microdose of shimmer that translates as an ethereal glow on the skin. 

It’s all about the eyes

Eyeshadow is undoubtedly one of steps where I like to experiment with my look through texture and depth, and yet I narrowed this category down to just 3 eye products:

8. Dior Eyeshadow Palette in Soft Cashmere - Soft Cashmere in particular is an eyeshadow palette that always makes me feel instantly glam and and like the most confident version of myself. The mix of neutral satin and shimmer shades with the cool toned glitter toppers. The tones meld perfectly with my skintone for any easy daytime look while the cool tone shimmer adds just the right amount of glam to bring that extra bit of oomph for a night out (or during the day too, if you love glitter as much as me).

9. Surratt Beyond Beige - this is simple understated elegance in a quad. If you need an everyday quad that will make you look polished but not like you tried very hard, Beyond Beige is it. The combination of shades is really all your need from the satin bone shade to highlight, to the almost matte cool tan to sculpt, the peachy-champagne-bronze shade for shimmer, and the cool deep brown/black to line or smoke. The finish of Surratt shadows is really the definition of luxury - they have an exquisite silkiness to them and the textures just blend beautifully on the eyes. This is worth the splurge, trust me. Save 15% with code STEPH15.

L: Surratt Beyond Beige, Dior Soft Cashmere R: Tom Ford Golden Mink and Smoky Quartz

10. Tom Ford Eyeshadow Quad - there’s always something special about a Tom Ford eyeshadow palette and the color combinations they come up with that just do it for me. I find that some of the combinations and textures can be misses, but the ones that are hits (which tbh, is most of them), are hits. As usual, most of my favorite shades are limited edition, but I have 2 essential quads that are permanent: Golden Mink, with 2 glitter toppers and 2 shimmer shades for a look fit for a golden goddess; and Smoky Quartz, a cream powder formula with super blendable satin shades in smoky rosy bronze tones.

The Statement Lip

11. Victoria Beckham Beauty Lip Definer - Victoria Beckham’s lip liner formula is about as close to perfection as you can get for me. The wooden pencil formula isn’t your dry pencil formula from the mid-00s, there’s a soft touch skin-like creaminess to it that doesn’t deposit too much pigment, which I find the gel lip liners can do sometimes. The effect is extremely natural, tinting your lips with a soft matte wash of color. And speaking of color, the shades in this line are just perfection in natural neutral and pink tones. Shades 02 (a neutral nude) and shade 03 (a neutral pink) are my most used shades.

12. Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick - does it get any more classic than a Chanel lipstick? I enjoy all of the formulas, but the definition of indulgent luxury is the Rouge Allure formula, which has the click packaging that is as satisfying to use as it looks cool. The formula itself is exquisite - it’s smoothing, pigmented, comfortable to wear and even a little bit hydrating, all while lasting me 4-5 hours, easily.  If you want to indulge in a little luxury, this lipstick and formula would be it. My favorite shade is 199 Inattendu, a mauvey brown that is fantastic for olive skintones.

Chanel Rouge Allure (199, 209, 212), Byredo Auburn, Molasses, Reasonable Doubt

13. Byredo Liquid Lipstick Vinyl -this liquid lipstick formula has totally captured my heart, from the packaging to the shades to the incredibly comfortable formula. Byredo’s makeup packaging is always a work of art, and these lipsticks look like mini statues that are vanity display worthy. But the formula of these lipsticks matches up to the packaging too - they’re by far the most comfortable liquid lipstick formula I own. They have a slightly creamy finish, so they’re not going to be completely transferproof, but they do stick around for an impressively long time. The shade Molasses is also what my signature lipstick shade would be….if I were the type of person to have just one signature shade.

14. YSL Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick - of course this lip balm/gloss hybrid would make it to this list, not only because it’s currently my most used lip product, but also because they really are worth the hype and more. The packaging is far superior to other glossy balm products, in that they twist up and down, and they have a nice weighty feel to them that other products like this haven’t managed to do. The thick balm formula is actually nourishing on even my most dry lip days, and the shades are so good I have nearly every single one and it’s an essential wherever I go. P.S. don’t sleep on the clear balm! It’s easily one of the best balms I’ve ever used.

15. Tom Ford Gloss Luxe Lip Gloss - There’s an overwhelming amount of lip glosses on the market, and this is the one that stands out in my memory and that I reach for day after day. The formula is light and not sticky in the slightest, but it feels cushiony and moisturizing. Despite the light feel, the formula actually wears for a few hours, and leaves my lips in excellent condition when they wear off. The shades also have this really beautiful jelly formula that makes your lips look glassy in a really gorgeous way. My 2 favorite shades are Exquise, a berry mauve shade that I wear most during the winter, and Phantome, a warm chestnut shade that I love for summer and fall. 

YSL Candy Glaze swatches

What are the products you buy when you want to treat yourself? What do you reach for when you want to feel at your best and enjoy the experience of getting ready? I want to know all about it so tell me your favorites in the comments. 

As always, thanks for reading.