Whether you're looking to smooth, hydrate, plump or bestow radiance, finding the perfect skincare to suit your derma needs isn't always easy. With thousands of creams, serums and oils to choose from, it can be overwhelming, which is why many of us will make our selection based on the formula we can afford at that particular moment.
While there are countless amazing affordable skincare buys out there, many of which are staples in our editors' respective routines, that doesn't mean you should disregard luxury skincare altogether.
As with every purchase we make, we don't take investing in luxury skincare lightly, but there is some truth to the saying "you get what you pay for." Between us, we've tried our fair share of products from luxury skincare brands, most of which promise instantaneous results. Of course, some fall short on that promise, but others? They're a skincare revolution!
So whether you're looking to up your skincare ante or you're keen to see if the cult product you've been reading about for years is truly worth the hype, we're here to help. Keep scrolling to see our edit of what we consider to be the best luxury skincare brands to spend your precious earnings on.
1. CHANEL
Chanel has some extraordinary skincare amongst its range. Beauty editor Eleanor Vousden says that the N°1 De Chanel Revitalising Mask was amongst one of the best new skincare products she has tried, saying that it leaves her skin looking like glass. The Sublimage is both luxurious and efficacious, and worth the investment if you want to address fine lines and wrinkles, while the Hydra Beauty range hydrates and plumps skin like none other. Naturally, the textures and formulas feel luxurious on the skin, and even the subtle scent makes your skincare routine feel that little more indulgent. And who doesn't want a jar on Chanel upon their bathroom shelf?
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This gentle mask floods skin with moisture and lightly exfoliates, leaving skin plumped, radiant and even-toned.
A serum is the powerhouse of your skincare routine, so it's worth investing more in this step. Chanel's concentrate helps to firm and plump the skin.
For fine lines around the eye, this eye cream in unparalleled. It contains micro droplets that burst on contact with the skin, flooding the eye area with moisture while brightening dark circles and de-puffing bags.
2. LA MER
No luxury skincare roundup would be complete without La Mer. The beauty brand's origin story is as epic as they come. It was initially developed by scientist Max Huber to treat burns sustained after a lab accident. La Mer's signature sea kelp formula has seen its moisturiser become one of the most iconic products on the skincare scene and counts many an A-list celebrity amongst its fans. Today, the range has expanded to serums, balms, and body products, all of which deliver seriously impressive results.
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One for those with dry skin, this moisturiser is about as rich (and glow-inducing) as they come.
This lightweight serum contains La Mer's classic Concentrated Miracle Broth along with a whole bunch of skin barrier–fortifying ingredients to keep your complexion hydrated and healthy.
One of La Mer's unsung heroes (but under-the-radar best sellers, by the way), this essence lotion can be patted into skin post-cleanse for a thirst-quenching moisture boost.
3. AUGUSTINUS BADER
The work of world-leading stem cell research expert professor Augustinus Bader, this skincare collection has been 30 years in the making, and it’s undoubtedly been time well spent. Augustinus Bader’s groundbreaking skincare uses a unique, patented Trigger Factor Complex (TFC8) to help visibly reduce lines and wrinkles, as well as damage caused by environmental stressors. Victoria Beckham has previously professed her love for this brand (so much so that she actually collaborated with Bader for her own line), and we all know how glowy her skin looks.
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The original and most iconic Augustinus Bader product, this moisturiser really does do it all—no serum or add-ons necessary.
Gentle and creamy, meaning it doesn't strip the skin of essential oils, this gel delivers the perfect cleanse.
If your skin is on the drier side and requires a more intensive moisturiser, this one is for you.
4. TEMPLESPA
Templespa's efficacious formulas have earned the brand a number of beauty awards. Not only do the products have sensorial, spa-level formulas, but you only have to take a look at the several 5-star reviews from the brands loyal customers to know that these products really work to deliver visible results. The Trufflelixir range is particularly worth the investment, which features the namesake ingredient that delivers both short and long term results to leave skin looking smooth and radiant. We'd also recommend the bestselling Let's Concentrate serum if you're looking to address pigmentation while giving your skin an unrivalled glow.
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If you only buy one product, make it this retinol serum. Used regularly, it helps to visibly plump the skin, smooth lines and unveil a more even complexion. Retinol is one of the only products proven to address signs of ageing, so it's worth spending more on a high quality serum like this one.
Another of Templespa's bestsellers is the Let's Concentrate Skin Glowing Serum. Who What Wear UK's beauty editor, Eleanor Vousden, loves it too. "I've been using this serum over the past couple of weeks and I've noticed that my skin looks more even; acne scarring has disappeared and my complexion looks more radiant. The combination of vitamin C and alpha arbutin are a winning duo for brightening and leaving skin looking glowy."
The eye area is notoriously tricky to treat. But this eye cream delivers visible results on dark circles, fine lines and puffiness. It's absolutely worth spending a little more on this eye cream.
5. SKINCEUTICALS
SkinCeuticals products might not have the same luxurious packaging and texture as most of the others on this list, but trust us when we say the products work. Formulated to be used in clinical settings, the products are totally no-frills, but are created with science at their core. Do they look luxury no? But you'll soon realise that the hefty price tags are worth it once you try the products.
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Considered to be just about the best vitamin C serum on the market, C E Ferulic delivers potent antioxidants to the skin, leaving things looking suitably more glowing and even in tone. If you only try one SkinCeuticals product, make it C E Ferulic.
Beauty buffs love this barrier-restoring cream so much that it's become quite difficult to get your hands on (it's always sold out). With ceramides and fatty acids, it delivers the nourishment and hydration skin requires to function at its prime.
A new addition to the SkinCeuticals line up, this moisturiser is ideal for those with skin prone to redness and discolouration. Formulated with azelaic acid and alpha arbutin, it helps to even out tone and leaves skin feeling silky-soft.
6. STELLA MCCARTNEY BEAUTY
Stella McCartney beauty is the pairing of both luxury and eco-conscious skincare. Offering clinically proven results, you'll find a concise edit of sustainable and vegan skincare which focus on regenerating the skin barrier to reach optimum glowing results. What's unique about this luxury skincare brand is that each and every product is refillable (even its travel-sized miniatures) so you can play your part in cutting down on waste while indulging in great skincare, too. If you only try one product, make it the Alter-Care Serum, which boasts an award-winning formula of hyaluronic acid, squalene and rock samphire extract, which work in tandem to cushion and fortify the skin's delicate barrier. Fun fact: The serum is perfumed with the brand's High Cliff scent, created by Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian (yes, the very perfumer behind the TikTok-viral Baccarat Rouge 540 fragrance).
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This is the brand's hero product, which has been clinically proven to smooth the skin and boost luminosity.
All of Stella McCartney Beauty's products are refillable and come in recyclable packaging.
This travel edit contains 20ml sizes of the Alter-care Serum, Reset Cleanser and Restore Cream, making it great for weekends away. And how chic is this pouch?
7. CHANTECAILLE
While naturally derived beauty products are all the rage right now, Sylvie Chantecaille recognised the potential in botanical ingredients over 20 years ago, when the idea was less commonplace. She created a company that tapped into plants, flowers and ground-breaking science for its game-changing, high-performing skincare products. Today, Chantecaille is a family-owned, independent business that is committed to making healthy, clean beauty products as well as protecting the planet through philanthropy collections to support wildlife conservation.
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A balmy face cream that is every bit as luxurious as you'd expect, this stuff contains vitamin C for glow-boosting antioxidant protection and has a delicate (but divine) rose scent.
Not only does this eye cream contain 24-karat gold and silk to boost luminosity, but it also has a rollerball applicator that helps to depuff and awaken tired eyes.
This intensive 24-karat gold mask is so moisturising and skin-soothing that it is placed on a pedestal by beauty insiders far and wide.
8. 111SKIN
Upon hearing the words "Harley Street," chances are the words "plastic surgery" swiftly follow suit. The area in London is known for its industry-leading procedures, carried out by the world's most-skilled surgeons, one of whom is Yannis Alexandrides, MD. Recognising the gap in post-treatment skincare, Alexandrides set out to develop the perfect skincare collection for his patients. What he ended up creating was the renowned luxury skincare brand, 111Skin. Designed to protect skin against environmental aggressors, the products' potent healing ingredients promote a youthful and radiant complexion like nothing you've seen before. If you're new to the brand, we recommend starting with its face masks. They're the best we've tried.
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Formulated with 1% retinol, this face oil gives you all of the line-reducing, smoothing benefits of the powerhouse ingredient without the potentially irritating side effects.
This is 111Skin's original product, formulated to boost collagen production and elasticity. It's a real skincare multitasker.
Utilising both enzymatic exfoliators and alpha-hydroxy acids, this face mask tackles blemishes from all angles.
9. 3LAB
Another brand that brings science and beauty together is 3Lab. This technology-led range has been rigorously developed to tackle your every skin concern, from combating environmental damage to smoothing and hydrating. Expect surprisingly lightweight formulas that stretch way beyond what you might expect—a little goes a long, long way with 3Lab's creams, serums, and toning sprays.
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This oil contains 24-karat gold flecks and aims to hydrate, soften and smooth skin.
Yes, £320 for an SPF is crazy money, but if you have the money to spend, this is one worth looking into.
This toner helps to add hydration to the skin post-cleanse to prevent stripping the skin barrier.
10. SARAH CHAPMAN
As one of London’s most sought-after facialists, Sarah Chapman’s Chelsea Skinesis clinic has become a mecca for skin-savvy celebrities, editors and skin obsessives—all of whom were beyond delighted when she finally launched her eponymous range. Her products deliver results at a cellular level and on the surface, so you can apply your serums and creams confident in the knowledge that the results will be anything but fleeting.
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With plant stem cell technology and peptides, these formulas mean business. Expect visibly smoother and plumper skin from the get-go.
This cult night-time skincare product is widely adored in the beauty community thanks to its intense softening and glow-boosting abilities.
With barrier-loving omega oils, botanical stem cells to firm and vitamin A to smooth and improve texture, this is about as high-tech as it comes.
11. ALBIVA
Some of the best luxury skincare brands surpass all expectations, and Albiva is one of them. Albiva blends more than 50 high-quality active ingredients, which seek to stimulate and support the skin's cellular healing. The products are free from chemicals‚ synthetic compounds and fillers, so the impressive results you see entirely, down to its potent blend of sustainable ingredients. Owing to the active properties found within its bottles, Albiva products are best kept in a fridge (even though the wooden packaging would look stylish sitting on your bathroom shelf).
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This antioxidant eye cream works to hydrate, depuff, smooth and firm tired eyes.
An intensive face cream that aims to promote natural cell turnover, it leaves skin nourished and radiant.
One for those who want to even out their pigmentation, this serum contains a botanical brightening complex to help brighten the overall appearance of the skin.
12. LA PRAIRIE
Skincare stalwart La Prairie utilises the latest scientific breakthroughs to provide true excellence in skincare. Developed at Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland, its products help prolong the youthful appearance of even the most delicate skin. Using the most precious ingredients (think rich caviar, rare platinum and opulent gold), the term "luxury skincare" was practically invented to summarise La Prairie's range of cult products.
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With La Prairie's iconic caviar extract and cellular complex, this cult cream promises to plump fine lines and leave skin looking more youthful.
This eye cream might look like a work of art, but it also helps to boost radiance around the eyes in a really luxurious way.
You might recognise this stuff from your Instagram feed. Influencers swear by its firming abilities.
13. RÉVIVE
Drawing on his expertise as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Gregory Bays Brown developed his luxury skincare brand, RéVive, to help restore the skin with a luminous glow. Inspired by patented and Nobel Prize–winning science, RéVive's groundbreaking formulas help renew and rejuvenate skin by boosting collagen and elastin production for a youthful, glowing complexion. Its Radiance Oil is a great product to start off with. Though, RéVive's anti-ageing serum is fast becoming the stuff of legend.
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If you're looking for a way to get your skin glowing, look no further. This nourishing oil has a bronze, pearlescent finish that breathes life into dull skin in the most beautiful of ways.
Few hydrating hyaluronic acid serums plump, moisturise and refresh skin quite as expertly as this one does.
Révive's sunscreen offering is exceptional, and this SPF50 feels almost impossibly weightless.
14. EPARA
Epara was founded by entrepreneur Ozohu Adoh, who had long suffered from a condition that made her skin dry and uneven. She couldn't find a product that solved her skincare woes, so she set about developing her own formulas. As such, Epara was born. An edit of high-quality, scientifically proven products, all derived from the rich soils of Africa, Epara skincare boasts potency and luxury in equal measure. The products work to repair and pamper simultaneously, leaving skin moisturised, hydrated and looking its very best.
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Lightweight but filled with antioxidants, this hydrating serum is refreshing and helps to tackle hyperpigmentation.
For oily skin types, this mask hydrates the skin to prevent irritation but also helps to regulate sebum production.
Delivering more softening nourishment to the skin than the aforementioned serum, this face oil is unarguably luxe and chic.
15. DR. BARBARA STURM
Barbara Strum believes that the secret to beautiful skin doesn’t lie in an exhaustive routine. Instead, she insists that you only need a minimal number of expertly crafted products to see the best results. And that’s precisely what she has created with her namesake luxury skincare brand. Based on a thorough medical understanding of cells and anti-ageing, her products protect, strengthen and detoxify without overburdening the skin and are gentle enough for sensitive complexions. While her entire range is noteworthy, her most iconic product is undoubtedly her hyaluronic serum.
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This seemingly simple hyaluronic acid serum also contains a plethora of really impressive ingredients, including anti-inflammatory purslane and protective antioxidants.
Utilising the power of cress sprout extract, this antioxidant serum promises to fade dark spots, boost luminosity and plump skin with hyaluronic acid.
A powder cleanser that contains exfoliating enzymes, when mixed with water and massaged into skin, it leaves behind a suitably soft and glowing complexion.
16. VALMONT
The expert clinical team at Valmont, another Swiss skincare offering, has been creating top-of-the-line skincare on the banks of Lake Geneva for over 30 years. Utilising pure and natural ingredients and implementing them with unique cellular cosmetic research, Valmont's efforts have resulted in highly effective products that instantly revive and rejuvenate the skin, leaving the complexion radiantly healthy and smoothed.
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If you're asking us, this is one of the very best barrier-restoring and skin-loving serums out there.
Turns out luxury skincare can also have even more luxurious lines. This skin essence addresses virtually every skin concern, including fine lines, dullness, dryness and loss of elasticity.
If you're looking for a cream that will better the appearance of the skin on your neck, this luxury cream will do its best to help.
17. SISLEY
Sisley might not be the first French beauty brand that comes to mind, but it's certainly deserving of your attention. Founded in 1976, Sisley was one of the first companies to use botanical essences in cosmetology and to this day remains a family business—albeit one with worldwide success. Renowned for its advanced scientific formulas, which combine the best of technology with the best of nature, Sisley skincare is known for its outstanding results and formulas of the highest quality.
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Makeup artists adore this mask thanks to its hydrating and plumping abilities.
This concentrate tackles a variety of skin concerns, such as the appearance of enlarged pores as well as general texture hang-ups.
This night cream delivers sumptuous hydration that will have you waking up looking (and feeling) like your best, most radiant self.
18. NATURA BISSÉ
Barcelona-born luxury brand Natura Bissé uses groundbreaking technology with high-performance, pharmaceutical-grade ingredients for targeted smoothing results. Natura Bissé's powerful concentration of amino acids works to stimulate skin cells, fight free radicals and erase imperfections, leaving you with glowing, rejuvenated and visibly plumped skin. What more could you ask for?
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This tinted cream uses clever colour-matching pigments to deliver a blurring, airbrushed finish.
Again with colour-matching pigments, this best-selling eye cream helps to reduce the appearance of dark circles while tackling puffiness and fine lines, too.
Behold a hard-working cleanser that doesn't trouble the skin too severely. It uses enzymes to deliver a deep, exfoliating cleanse, but its lightweight mousse texture also aims to minimise the risk of irritation.
19. DIOR
While we understand that people can be dubious of buying skincare from brands that have their eggs in many baskets, trust us when we say that Dior get it right across the board. The brand's skincare labs, based in France, are at the forefront of cutting-edge skincare technologies—and it shows from the products. If you like your skincare to ooze luxury while knowing your skin is in safe hands, Dior is a great place to start.
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With hyaluronic acid and some high-tech, patented Dior technology, this serum doesn't just hydrate skin, it supercharges glow and leaves your complexion looking like its very best self.
If you're looking for a trust-worthy second cleanse, this is a great option. Working into a gentle lather, it remove the day's dirt with ease and doesn't leave skin feeling irritated or tight.
Potentially Dior's most luxurious product, this serum feels every bit as good on the skin as it looks in the bottle. Enriched with rose sap, it delivers intensely plumping hydration, leaving your complexion looking unbelievably soft and supple.
20. SUSANNE KAUFMANN
Formulated and created in the Alps, specifically in Kaufmann's hometown of Bezau, this eponymous skincare line is one that beauty editors swear by for healthy skin. Yes, it's fairly expensive, but the formulations are science-led with a spa-like feel and they genuinely work. Plus, the unassuming packaging is both chic and also sustainable. The brand prides itself on running their production units on renewable energy, the glass packaging is made from recycled glass and a great many of their products offer refills. If you haven't tried it yet, then it's well worth the investment.
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Formulated with 3-O-ethyl ascorbic acid, a modified form of vitamin C that improves its stability and therefore its absorption and potency, this daytime serum protects skin against environmental damage while minimising the appearance of everything from age spots to acne scars.
Forgoing harsh actives in favour of a complex blend of essences taken from nature, this soothing serum reduces inflammation and promotes plumper, more youthful skin. It contains white pine extract and oat oil to brighten while argan tree and mountain pine extracts smooth the skin.
Moisture is the aim of the game with this lightweight serum. It contains both large and small hyaluronic acid molecules to lock moisture into the skin and promote elasticity and firmness for a dewy, healthy complexion.
21. EVE LOM
Founded by Hollywood facialist Eve Lom, this skincare line is one that beauty editors and skincare professionals have long since recommended to those looking for spa-grade products to use at home. The nourishing formulas are focussed on restoring and rejuvenating skin with healing and reparative ingredients. Plus, every product is designed to feel and smell incredible, so you really can recreate a spa facial from the comfort of your own bathroom.
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If you're familiar with Eve Lom already, then you're probably already aware that this cleansing balm is not only a hero product for the brand but a truly cult product in the beauty world. Not only deeply cleansing, but simultaneously nourishing, brightening, and exfoliating, it transforms skin tone and texture.
Powered by retinol and hyaluronic acid, this rejuventating moisturiser works hard to target signs of skin ageing. Fine lines, loose skin, wrinkles, and dehydration are all clinically proven to be reduced with continued use.
Designed to combat the dehydrating effects of central heating and air conditioning, this intensive moisturising treatment quickly rehydrates skin while improving moisture levels in the long term too. What's more, the light gel texture is soothing, cooling, and works for all skin types.
This piece was published at an earlier date and has since been updated.
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