With more and more leading fashion houses entering the beauty market, we evaluate the brands and products that are actually worth adding to your beauty routine.
In recent years, the beauty world has become fashion’s favourite playground. From runway to vanity, the biggest luxury houses have found new ways to bottle their magic and entice new customers, with fragrances, makeup and skincare from the likes of Prada, Dior and Chanel quite the fixture on our dressing tables.
Now, the latest headlines have been grabbed by one product in particular: a lipstick. More specifically, Louis Vuitton’s £120 lipstick.
The price tag has definitely got people talking – after all, a lipstick is small and doesn’t last forever, so how much can one really be worth? But, when you buy into a fashion brand’s beauty line, you arguably aren’t just purchasing a pretty pigment, but a slice of the luxury dream they’ve been selling on the runway for decades.
Like many covetable fashion house beauty lines, Louis Vuitton’s lipstick is housed in refillable, jewel-like packaging designed by Marc Newson, positioning itself less as makeup and more as a collectible symbol of the house’s craftsmanship. That, of course, is the brilliance of beauty lines from leading fashion houses. They offer an accessible way to purchase something from your favourite label without needing to spend thousands.
So whether you see a £120 lipstick as an indulgence, an investment, or maybe even a conversation starter, one thing is clear: beauty has become fashion’s latest accessory. Here, we’ve rounded up the standout beauty lines from the world’s most prestigious fashion houses that are worth adding to your wish list.
LOUIS VUITTON
View this post on Instagram
Louis Vuitton’s new beauty range turns your products into luxurious accessories. The conversation-worthy lipsticks come in two textures – matte and satin – as well as a whole host of skin tone-flattering shades (25 in fact), although you can’t go wrong with the signature Monogram Rouge. In good news, they are all refillable too (which can save you a little bit if you want to repurchase them).
Lip balms are another trending essential in the beauty world right now, and LV also has you covered, with a formula that’s as nourishing on your lips as the case is tempting to get out of your makeup bag and show off to your friends. Speaking of makeup bags, we’ve got our eyes on the incredibly beautiful new vanity case too. Nothing quite says travelling in style as storing your essentials in the brand’s iconic Monogram canvas. We predict that Louis Vuitton is quickly going to be top of beauty insiders’ wish lists.
PRADA
View this post on Instagram
The statement pieces from Prada’s full beauty collection have, perhaps predictably, fast become must-have items for beauty insiders. The eye-catching art deco-inspired packaging is instantly covetable, and it’s also refillable, as a chic way to increase your beauty regime’s eco-credentials.
As for what to add to your wish list, the foundation has been getting a lot of excited reviews, with a 33-shade offering and soft matte finish that makes it seem like you’re not wearing coverage, while still instantly blurring away blemishes. But if you want to invest in just one thing, make it a signature red lipstick. The formula is long-lasting enough that you won’t need to reapply, so your makeup lasts as long as you do, through business meetings to evenings out.
CHANEL
View this post on Instagram
The number 5 is an iconic part of the Chanel brand (almost as much as monochrome or the intercrossing Cs) such is the vitality behind the fashion house’s classic fragrance and the tale behind its creation. So the story goes, Chanel No.5 is so named as it was the fifth iteration tried by perfumer Ernest Beaux that Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel fell in love with, and it’s been delighting fashion insiders ever since.
The powdery feminine floral, with its heart of jasmine and lily of the valley, can also claim to be the first floral-aldehyde fragrance. Able to add both an airy softness to the florals and heighten the scent’s overall projection, the overdose of aldehydes among the top notes make this fragrance instantly recognisable and a signature scent that will never go out of style. That’s why it is also the perfect gift.
DIOR
View this post on Instagram
Beauty editors often talk about the ‘classic red lip’ and there’s now a wealth of options to help achieve it. But the true classic red lipstick arguably belongs to Dior Rouge, an iconic blue-red tone which pops on all skin tones, the satin finish allows for both a smooth appearance on your lips and impressive longevity.
The devil though, is truly in the details. The signature band, featuring the CD initials, is an echo to the fitted waists of the House’s runway look, and the packaging now includes refillable options to increase the sustainability of your routine too. The lipstick formula is enriched with truly nourishing ingredients as well, just like the always-trustworthy long-wearing mascara that’s another top-seller for the brand.
TOM FORD
View this post on Instagram
Known for exceptional tailoring and pushing boundaries in fashion, it’s no wonder that Tom Ford creates equally well-balanced and impactful fragrances. With names as striking as the scents themselves – including Rose Prick and F*cking Fabulous – Black Orchid is an industry-wide icon. You can guarantee the scent will delight with its heady spicy floral aroma that really lasts on the skin.
Our beauty director’s favourite holiday perfume for travel is also a Tom Ford classic, Private Blend Soleil Blanc. The smell of coconut and white florals will transport you to a tropical paradise in a single spritz whatever the weather outside your window.
VICTORIA BECKHAM
View this post on Instagram
The makeup offering from Victoria Beckham Beauty goes far beyond helping you simply mirror some of the fashion designer’s iconic looks – although the Satin Kajal Liner does provide VB’s once iconic smoky eye makeup with ease. In fact, the collection offers a chic and ever-growing range of easy-to-use essentials to upgrade your cosmetics case, from smooth, high-pigment lip colours to the new eyeshadow sticks, to cover all occasions.
A clever collaboration with leading skincare brand Augustinus Bader, in the form of a glow-boosting priming moisturiser, is also a standout. As is the fact that the designer has long championed sustainability with a minimalist approach to ingredient lists, as well as minimal plastic, and recycled (and recyclable) packaging for all the products.
ARMANI
View this post on Instagram
From perfume to makeup and skincare, Armani Beauty covers all your beauty needs and is our recommendation for your next big event, because it’s such a confidence-boosting array of products. In particular, the brand’s Luminous Silk Foundation, available in 40 shades, is a multi-award winning foundation for a reason. Its lightweight oil-free coverage perfects uneven tone and redness, with a glow-boosting finish that’s flattering in all lights. You can colour match for your shade online too.
Complete your look with a spritz of Armani Sì Passione – a joy-inspiring rose scent that is sure to get you compliments – and a swipe of Lip Power Long Wear Lipstick in a glossy nude or impactful red. Both will last throughout your networking.
VALENTINO
View this post on Instagram
If any fashion house proves that makeup is the ultimate luxury accessory it’s Valentino and we mean that literally. A true standout, the beautiful lightweight face powder compact from the beauty line is modelled like a clutch bag, so you can actually wear it – both as a statement piece and to touch-up your makeup.
The compact and the rest of the line, which includes refillable lipsticks and a foundation that was developed based on the feedback of over 5000 women across every continent (so you can trust that it’s good), is even more covetable due to the brand’s iconic red and gold colouring and a satisfying heavy click on close. It’s the type of makeup you can’t help but take out of your makeup bag to show off in public.
HERMÈS
View this post on Instagram
Hermès demonstrates how makeup packaging can truly be an art form: you’ll be pulled in by the gorgeous Art Deco cases and stay for the highly pigmented shades across the nail lacquers and lipsticks.
What also sets the brand apart is the uniqueness but still wearability of the colours. You can find inky green and purple polishes that warm all skin tones in a swipe – no wonder they are our recommendation for holiday mani-pedis. The wide selection of off-reds, pinks and orange-browns for your lips provide signature shades that feel fresh and subtly different from what everyone else is wearing too, in both satin and matte finishes. Plus, there’s a really good lip balm, if you are in the market for a little luxury.
JIMMY CHOO
View this post on Instagram
For anyone dreaming of getting married with a pair of Jimmy Choos on their feet and a matching clutch in their hand, the brand has a range of whimsical fragrances that can also provide the signature scent for your big day and beyond.
The epitome of light, big bouquet fragrances, there’s options for scents that transport you to busy floral fields, alongside skin-nuzzling vanilla aromas and warming but not overpowering ouds. The pinky neutral lip colours are a makeup artist-recommended bridal bag addition too, for their ability to subtly define and warm your complexion.
GUCCI
View this post on Instagram
Gucci is another luxury fashion house that has mastered the creation of beauty products that are as much collectibles as functional makeup pieces. Encased in different patterned packaging – from traditional florals to statement metallic golds – the vast array of lipstick textures and colours in the line up is seriously impressive. That’s because they are designed to encourage creativity and self-expression, just like the fashion house itself.
Aside from lipsticks, the fashion house also has covetable makeup compacts for blush and bronzer, as well as a fragrance line that uses only the most precious of ingredients. Yet, the true standout is arguably the L’Obscur mascara. The long thin wand can reach to even the shortest of your hairs, and the jet black formula brings buildable length and volume by fanning out your lashes.
BOSS
View this post on Instagram
Nothing pulls your look together before a big business meeting more than a spritz of a bold – yet not overpowering – scent, and Hugo Boss’ collections for men and women are as well-tailored as their workwear.
The Boss Alive fragrance is the perfect balance between femininity and ‘what are you wearing’ noticeability, with sweet gourmand top notes of apple and vanilla invigorating a heart of Indian Jasmine Sambac and a balancing light woody trail. Boss Bottled Parfum is the one you’ll want to steal from the men in your life. The combination of woods, spices and leather is a confidence boost in a bottle that doesn’t lay heavy in the air or on the skin.
Lead photo credit: Louis Vuitton
We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.
Any Questions or Tips to add?