The Only 38 Splurge Beauty Products That Are Actually Worth Your Money
by The Candidly Team
The world of “luxury” products is wildly confusing—and that’s juuuuust how most brands like it.
We’re all kept in a state of utter chaos and confusion so we just keep buying crap and praying it will work and then not remembering what we looked like before so we don’t know if we like it or if it actually works so we switch to something else and then repurchase the original thing and try it again and then feel totally duped and dumb and then take a break to look into the mirror, and blow the stray hair from our face in exasperation while looking up and away like girls in the infomercials do when they’re at the end of their rope.
So let’s fix that.
If you need anything in any of these categories—hair, skin, makeup—and you want to be sure you’re being pointed in the direction of products that actually work, look no further.
They’re all proven. They’re all special. They all work.
1. Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel
If you like your current skincare routine but you also feel like maybe things have gotten a little blah and you want INSTANT results, this is the product for you. Over a thousand 4 star reviews can’t be wrong. Right?
2. Bite Beauty Upswing Full Volume Mascara (clean)
This mascara gives you that one-swipe, holy s*!t moment where your lashes seem suddenly transformed into lash extensions and you wonder why you didn’t know about this brand sooner. Seriously.
3. by terry hyaluronic pressed hydra-powder
Knocks back shine. NEVER sinks into pores or lines or cracks or crevices. Never.
Find out more about why we love it here.
4. Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection Foundation
When we say luminous finish, it’s not hyperbole. This foundation makes your skin look like literal, actual glass. Texture? Gone. Pores? Adieu. Wrinkles? Don’t know her. Honestly, it’s worth twice the price.
5. Droplette
This magical, newish device delivers a mist of wildly powerful ingredients (think: collagen, glycolic, retinol) as teeny, tiny molecules—so that your skin actually absorbs them. And if you have dark circles or bags? The collagen capsule is an instant game changer.
Find out more about why we love it here.
6. The Nue Co. Forest Lungs Perfume
Verdant. Fresh. Cedary. Bright. Lemony. If you like those 5 words this will be your favorite new daily scent. Unisex, to boot.
7. PCA Skin Retinol Treatment for sensitive skin
Everyone’s all, USE RETINOL!! But then you Google retinol and you want to lie down in a dark room because the options are so endless. Just get this one. If you’re sensitive it’s a dream. But you’ll see actual results. Quickly.
8. Anfisa Skin Lilou Radiant Hydra-Balm
If you’re perpetually dry or you want a moisturizer that gives you that all-day-glow, your search is over. This. Is. The. One.
9. Fresh Soy Face Cleanser
Can over 8 thousand glowing reviews on Sephora be wrong? This cleanser leaves your skin perfectly clean—never dry, never tight. The tube is heavenly to use, it’s perfect for travel, and the scent is like a cucumber and a watermelon had a juicy baby.
Find out more about why we love it here.
10. NuFace trinity facial toning device
What can we say? This device seems like ridiculous hype, but it actually visibly tones and tightens your skin. If you’re one foot out the door to finally book some invasive plastic surgery/filler/needley procedure, try this first. Truly.
11. By Terry Hyaluronic Global Face Cream
Ok. You want a delicious, hydrating drink of water for your parched skin. But you also get so shiny by 3pm that you could fry an egg on your forehead. What’s the answer? This cream. This cream is the answer.
12. Westman Atelier Blender Brush
Use this with your foundation, any foundation, and it will make it look 87% better, smoother, prettier, more natural.
Find out more about why we love it here.
13. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush
Powder blush lasts so long that it barely feels like a splurge. And when you find something that LITERALLY BLURS YOUR PORES INTO NOTHINGNESS, you buy it.
Find out more about why we love it here.
14. True Botanicals Chebula Active Immunity Serum
A true, honest to goodness anti-aging serum. Incredible for dullness, even better for hyperpigmentation, and you will see a visible difference in a week. Will.
15. Ouai Scalp & Body Scrub
This feels like a product you don’t have to have, but if your head feels itchy or gets build-up from products, this ultra-refreshing scrub gives your scalp a deep exfoliation that you’ll become hooked on immediately.
16. Dyson Airwrap Styler
OK. The price is madness. Don’t yell at us. But if you literally cannot do your hair to save your life, this will change everything.
17. PCA Skin Daily Defense Mist
Yes! You need a blue light mist! This one happens to give the most insane, all-day glow. Spritz it over your makeup when you’re ready to slump into your computer and give up. It’ll bring you right back to life. Additionally 3 iced oat milk lattes. But who’s counting?
18. neuLASH Lash Enhancing Serum
It’s simple. Use this. Your lashes will grow. You will stop commenting on babies’ gorgeously long lashes. Because you will BE that baby.
19. Tom Ford Cream and Powder Eye Color
If eyeshadow scares you (aka all of us) just get this. It blends out easily with your finger, the shade looks gorgeous on all eye colors, and it will last you a full year. It’s worth it.
Find out more about why we love it here.
20. Foreo Luna Mini 3
If you’re doing everything right but your skin still seem meh, this is what it’s missing. Cleanse morning and night with this tool and the radiance you’ve been missing in your skin will be back. Give it a week.
Find out more about why we love it here.
21. iS Clinical active serum
There’s a reason this is a cult favorite for blemishes and acne. It’s the best there is.
22. Clé De Peau Beauté Concealer SPF 25
Ok. The price is a touch hyperventilatey. But it will last you more than a year and there is NOTHING like it in terms of totally opaque but imperceptible coverage. Nothing.
23. Augustinus Bader The Cream
Simply put, it’s the best moisturizer for aging skin on the market. Hands down. There is nothing like it.
Find out more about why we love it here.
24. PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Boosting Serum
If you know you need a serum but you also just want it to work and make your skin look younger and glowier and you don’t want to have to think about it like at all, this is the one.
Find out more about why we love it here.
25. Burst Oral Care Toothbrush and Water flosser
Listen. There are plenty of different brands of these at varying prices. We’ve tried…a lot of them. This one just works better. Your teeth and gums will never feel cleaner. And if you can’t invest in your own mouth, what’s the point of anything?
26. Kevyn Aucoin The Volume Mascara
If you’ve tried every dumb mascara under the sun for your stubby, straight lashes, you haven’t tried this one. The super thin wand lets you wriggle into each lash, so that they stand at attention. Zero drooping. Zero flaking.
27. Farmacy Honeymoon Glow AHA Resurfacing Serum
The whole world goes on and on about AHAs but most of us are like, just HAND me the right product that works. Sometimes they can be harsh for sensitive skin, but not this one. It’s perfect and you will wake up to near-perfect skin after one use.
28. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask
Um. Over 13k reviews on Sephora. Makes your lips look like they’ve been injected full of filler. Makes your lips softer than a horse’s muzzle. So.
Find out more about why we love it here.
29. JLo Beauty That Blockbuster Wonder Cream with Hyaluronic Acid
Yes. We are telling you to buy J L O moisturizer. Its texture is like nothing we’ve ever felt. If you hate the feel of super rich, tacky moisturizers that feel almost sticky on the skin, but you still require a huge burst of moisture, she’s your girl. The scent seems to be polarizing but we can’t get enough.
30. AMORE PACIFIC Moisture Plumping Dewy Mist
Real talk: this is only for the truly obsessed when it comes to face mists. Which we are. Though come to think of it, this product will make you obsessed with face mists.
31. SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Eye Complex
We don’t believe in eye creams for the most part. Why? They just don’t do anything. But this one absolutely does. Incredible for dark circles and puffiness.
32. Augustinus Bader The Body Cream
Yes. You saw this brand higher up on this very list. Their body cream is quite the splurgey treat. But you need so little the jar will last a full year. And the way your skin feels, well, it’s unmatched. Soft. Supple. Gorgeously hydrated all day. Isn’t supple a good word?
33. IT Cosmetics Confidence In A Neck Cream
Similar to eye creams, we sort of don’t buy into neck cream. Can’t we just rub our regular moisturizer on our necks?! Well. We can. And we do. But this product really seems to firm lines around the neck and the décolletage in a visible, immediate way. Witchcraft? Perhaps.
34. The Laundress & Le Labo Santal Detergent
Well this is just silly. But if know this scent, you get it. And if you haven’t? You must. There’s a hint of violet maybe? A whisper of cardamom. The lightest whiff of leather. If you haven’t smelled it you haven’t fully lived. And if you haven’t smelled it on your clothes, what are you waiting for?
35. Kérastase Nutritive Mask for Dry Thick Hair
It’s the true OG for a reason. The tiniest amount literally enrobes every strand of hair for the most intensely nourished, shiny locks you’ve ever experienced. Lightly perfumed with Chanel No. 5, it will also be the most lovely smelling product in your shower.
36. Victoria Beckham Smoky Eye Brick
We typically loathe a palette. You never use all the colors. They’re always bulky. They’re just all scams and we hate them. But this one is petite, beautifully proportioned, and all the color options are perfection. Really. Go look. You’ll have trouble even deciding.
37. Crown affair The towel
Yes, you do need a hair towel. Why? It’s shocking to see how using one can reduce frizziness. We didn’t believe it either. Until we tried it. And this one is the best one.
38.
Biologique recherche Lotion P50
We end our time together today with possibly the most beloved beauty product on planet earth. It smells literally like embalming fluid (because it is), your husband will never let you wear it to bed because it smells so bad, and it is quite possibly the most magical product on the entire list. It tones, hydrates, exfoliates, and primes, all in one. It didn’t earn the name “magical potion” for nothin.’
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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