BEST & WORST New Luxury Makeup // What’s worth the price?

I have already tested a lot of new makeup in 2026 and today I'm here to talk badly about a lot of it. Not all of it, but a lot of it. But here's the thing, okay, this is not just a negative rant. I am going to tell you for those products that I do not recommend what it is about them that didn't work out for me so that you can decide if maybe a product is still right for you. And yes, there are some products that I'm going to be talking about today that I absolutely love. I've also got some demos that I'll be rolling in as I am talking about them. So if you are ready to hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly for some of the new 2026 makeup releases, then let's get into it. All right guys, the first lip product on the list today is this. And I'm going to refer to my notes now because I want to make sure I get in all the words. This is the Dior Lip Glow Oil Hydrating High Shine Gloss. This is the shade 104 Black Cherry. This is in the glazed finish and this is $42. This is described as a high shine lip oil that hydrates lips for 24 hours. Let's stop right there. Am I alone in this disbelief that any product lasts for 24 hours? These longevity claims I feel like for makeup products have gotten completely out of hand. And we're going to see that again and again in many of the products that we're talking about today. But really, this is going to hydrate my lips for 24 hours? I didn't need to even test it to know that that is not true. The second thing is, is that I would never call this a lip oil. Okay, it is far too thick to be a lip oil. Brands want to call things a lip oil and a lip gloss to try to bring in as many people as possible. Okay, in my book, this is a lip gloss because of that gloss consistency and what I think is a rather fat doe foot applicator. It's bigger than my pinky nail. Because of that, I cannot put this on unless I am looking in a mirror and concentrating. Unless I want to look like Robert Smith from The Cure. And I love The Cure and there was a time I may have been going for that look. But I'm kind of like not at that place in my life anymore. So I am less likely to reach for this and the color and the moisture dissipate pretty quickly. Now, if you prefer a lip gloss, this may be a better product for you. I know a lot of people love this. I am apparently in the minority here. So let's move on to the next lip product, which is a lip balm. And this is not your average lip balm. This is from Idem and this is their exfoliating and softening peptide lip balm. And this retails for $24. One of the things that makes this lip balm unique is obviously the packaging. I mean, this is a lot more elevated than your traditional lip balm squeezy tube. I got the shade Bishop Glaze. I do think that that is a really, really beautiful shade. Here's the rub. For me, I think it applies weird because of the way that this comes out. I have found that it kind of lays down almost in a stripe. And because it's thicker, I have to work a lot harder to get this to smooth out so that the application is even. So again, I need a mirror for this. I know I'm obsessed with being able to put things on without a mirror, guys. But I mean, that is where I tend to fall with lip products, especially things that I want to use to touch up later in the day. I mean, I don't mind first thing in the day as I'm applying my makeup, using a mirror to apply whatever I want to wear. But as the day goes on and I'm in a rush, like a lot of times, I just want to be able to touch up and kind of put something on to add some color and moisture back. I really am not comfortable doing that with this without a mirror. This might be a great nighttime lip balm in either the clear or one of the new light pink shades. I do think it delivers more long-lasting moisture than a traditional lip balm. This is priced pretty comparably to other squeezy tube lip balms. The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm is also $24. That's for 15 grams. And then the Hoola Henriksen is $23 for 12 grams. So I would recommend this, but you got to pick your application that works for you. All right, guys. And to close out the lip product section, let's talk about the lip blushes from Merit. I have purchased four of these now. I had the shade Archival from a holiday set they released before they released this entire line of lip blushes. I then bought Andy, Gammy, and September. And then I was recently in a Sephora and picked up yet another shade. This is the shade Frembois. These retail for $28. These are described as a lightweight blurring lipstick that gives a sheer soft matte wash of color with a smooth balm-like texture that feels comfortable all day. All of those claims are true. We've talked some about ridiculous claims. These claims are not ridiculous. Believe the hype. In fact, since buying these, I have seriously looked over at my lipstick collection and thought, I think I want to do another declutter because I have been reaching for these nonstop since I bought them. These kind of stain the lips as well. So another pro on that that they don't even really talk about in the description. This is the shade that I am wearing currently. This is Andy and this is described as a neutral pink. I'll just put a little bit more on here. I just love how soft this looks. Maybe what I should say is how soft it makes my lips look. Obviously, I would highly recommend the lip blushes from Merit. I don't know. I really can't say anything bad here, guys. I really can't. We'll have to see if there is any other thing on the list that I don't have a single negative thing to say about. Transitioning over into eye products, let's talk about a mascara I have been trying. This is the YSL Lash Latex Sculpting and Lengthening Mascara. This retails for $34. It does have all these little micro bristles to help catch your lashes. I do think that this is a great everyday lengthening mascara. It adds length without looking terribly overdone. I find it easy to apply this without making a mess. I haven't had issues with clumping even when I have applied multiple coats. I think this wears really well throughout the day. I haven't had issues with flaking or smearing. So overall, I guess what I'm saying is that this is a good mascara. Do you need to spend $34 to get the look and the performance that this mascara delivers? I think the answer to that is no. I have been testing this up against the Tower 28 Make Waves Mascara, which retails for $20 for 8 mil. This is $34 for 8.5 mil. Tower 28 is $20 for 8 mil. And the Tower 28 Mascara is also water resistant and it's a clean formula. So would I recommend this mascara to you? Yes, it's a good mascara. However, if you either prefer products that are a clean formula or you just want a product where you can spend less money, I think you can certainly get away with picking up the Tower 28 Mascara instead of this one. The next product that I want to talk to you about in the eye category is the Apricotine Lumiere Palette from Viseart. This is a great, I would say, everyday neutral palette. It does have the quality that you can typically expect from Viseart. The mattes are really soft, they're buttery, they're easy to blend together. I think you've got a great range of shades here from light to mid-tone to deep. You also have two what I'm going to call lightweight duochromes here. I'm saying lightweight because they're not like super, super duochromatic or impactful, but these are shades that you can use to add a little bit more visual interest to your look. You also have this shade here which I could wear almost every day of my life. Okay, I love this. This is this sort of, I don't know, chocolatey bronze shade that I just I think is stunning. I'm actually wearing this shade today. In fact, this whole eye look is with the Viseart Palette. I was able to very quickly throw together this eye look. I brushed some of this shade through the crease. I picked up some of this on my finger, put that into the outer corner, then I grabbed this duochromatic shade for the center of the lid, and I grabbed this shade here for the inner corner. So I'll give you sort of a close-up of what that looks like. It took no time to put together, and I think this is a great daytime look. I think this is a really beautiful palette. I don't think it's the most groundbreaking palette from Viseart. If you have a large collection, chances are you've got these shades in your collection. Let's move into complexion, and we are going to start off today with, I don't know, this is probably the most expensive product that I have tested in 2026. This is the Hermes Plain Air Luminous Matte Skincare Foundation. This retails for $145. This foundation goes on really, really beautifully. I don't think it stays that way, at least not on me. It's funny, because when I first put this foundation on, if I sort of, you know, let it set down a little bit while I do other parts of my makeup, I almost feel like I don't even need to powder it. But let's say I go, yeah, of course, I need to set my face. So I apply some powder, I apply some blush. I notice, I mean, maybe within about four or five hours, that I look kind of oily. I do not consider myself an oily person. And this is like looking oily from five hours of, you know, sitting at a desk working. Okay, this is not me, like doing strenuous things that have caused me to break out in a sweat. That's pretty disappointing for a foundation that is this expensive. Now, will I use it up? Yeah. Yeah, I spent a lot of money on this. Okay, I am going to keep using this. But you know, now I know that I definitely have to touch up with this product, or that this is good for those times when maybe I am doing an activity where I want my skin to look just absolutely flawless for a very short amount of time. But now, would I recommend this to you? No, no. There are so many beautiful foundations out there that perform better and cost way less money. I guess we're on a roll here, because the next complexion product that I want to talk about, I also cannot recommend to you. This is the Laura Mercier Tinted Blur Balm Skin Tint. I got this in shade 00. This retails for $44. This is described as a balm to powder skin tint that delivers a natural matte soft focus finish with weightless long wear coverage. There's really only one word in that description that I would agree with, and that is natural. And in this case, it's way too natural for my taste. This does nothing for me, literally, except waste my time. Okay, this does not perfect my skin in even the smallest measure. I am aware that some people really love this product. I mean, when I did my first impression review of this, I did get, you know, a few comments, people saying this is the best complexion product that they have ever used. Most of the people who commented that they really liked it said that they had mature skin. I have mature skin. I mean, I'm 54. It may be that if you have mature skin and you truly just want, I mean, the lightest touch of complexion product on your face, maybe this is a good buy for you, but I don't know. I just, I don't think it's worth the money or the time that it takes to apply it. I cannot recommend it to you, okay, but my opinion only. So now let's get into the concealer that I have been testing. This is the Prada Beauty Micro-Correcting Blurring Concealer, and I got this in LN1. This is $48 for 9 mil. This is supposed to deliver a blurred radiant finish with 24-hour medium buildable coverage. Look, this performs fine, okay. This concealer is fine, okay, but it's $48. It is no better, in my experience, than the Serum Concealer from Tower 28, which is $24. I think that you can go with Tower 28 and have great results for a lot less money. Let's talk blush. We have three different blushes to talk about today. I am going to start off with the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Matte Bouncy Blush. This is my second shade in this blush, which probably tells you everything that you need to know. I love this formula. This is a beautifully blurring blush. It is so easy to apply. This is in my goof-proof makeup category, and it has great longevity. This is actually the blush that I am wearing today, and let's just put on some more because I'm going to be on camera. I have to be applying blush. This is the shade Divine, and I think I like this more than the original shade that I picked up, which is Hope. They look pretty close in the pan. This first shade here is the shade Divine, and then this is the shade Hope. I love them both. They're both just absolutely gorgeous. This is only $27, this blush, so I think this is a phenomenal blush buy. If you watch me, you're probably tired of hearing me rave about this blush, but I will not stop, okay, because I think it is just that good of a blush and value for your money. Now, let's talk about a blush that I do not think is a good value for your money. She's beautiful on the outside. This is the Gucci Glow Blush. I started off buying one shade because these are pricey. These are $49 a piece. I got the shade Arctic Rose because this was the lightest shade in the range. It looks very intense in the pan. Even when you swatch it, it looks pretty intense, but my experience has been that it looks like next to nothing when you apply it on the cheeks. I find that I have to keep applying and keep applying and keep applying to get sort of the depth of color that I want, and then because I have applied so much, the glowy, dewy part starts to come out a bit more, and what I'm really saying there is that this emphasizes pores and textures. You want to talk about a difference in terms of the effect on how perfected your skin looks, whereas this is blurring. This is going to bring out texture, lines, pores, especially if you have, I think, more mature skin, but guys, I wasn't ready to give up. I was like, you know, maybe I just picked the wrong shade here, so let me get a different shade, so I went to the other end of the spectrum, and I picked up the shade Soft Plum. I decided I wasn't going to be afraid of how deep this was in the pan, given what happened with Arctic Rose, so there it is. I thought, well, okay, I'll be able to apply less product, which means I will be applying less of the shimmery aspect, so I'm not going to have problems with texture and the pores, but here's the problem with this one. On me, this shade comes off orangey. Someone commented that, you know, obviously, Gucci meant the inside of the plum. I think that was spot on, not the outside, not the skin portion, the inside, the flesh portion. One of the things that I have done, if I'm gonna wear these, is I'll put down Soft Plum first, then I will take Arctic Rose and apply just a little bit of that, more sort of in the center of the blushed area for kind of a pop. If you are interested in these, I would just recommend that you actually swatch these on your skin and really kind of blend it out to see how that blend out is going to look, given your undertone. Next up, let's move from blushes that are virtually highlighters to a true highlighter. This is the Kosas Shiny Objects Wet Glisten Highlight Powder. I got the shade Glimmer Rose because this can be used anywhere on your face, and I thought this kind of shade would work well over a matte blush, and I could also use this on the eyes. Here's the thing. I think it has too much shimmer for my cheeks, and it has too little shimmer for the eyes, okay? I mean, this is like, you know, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but there's no bed that's just right for me for this product. I'm not typically a highlighter person because I feel like it ages me, but I thought maybe this is the one, and unfortunately, guys, it isn't the one. That looks so much better, I think, on camera than it does on my face. I just can't make this work. I regret buying it, guys, and I wouldn't recommend it for you. I kind of have to say the same about a bronzer, and this is from a brand that I really, really love. I love Kosas, too, but typically, I really love cheek products from Rare Beauty, and this Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Soft Matte Powder Bronzer, unfortunately, is a miss for me. This is the shade Summer Feels, which is the lightest shade, and that may have told you everything you need to know because this is fairly deep and warm. I think the entire shade range is really warm. I don't think there's a single shade in the bunch that is really neutral and for someone who is as fair-skinned as I am. It looks orangey. I feel like it makes my face look dirty. The formula is beautiful, okay? I think Rare Beauty is great in terms of their formulas. Hopefully, they will extend the shade range to accommodate people like myself. Let's close out today with multiple product categories from a single collection. I am talking about the Rouge Noir collection from Chanel. I picked up three different items, and we are going to start off talking about the Chanel Noir Allure Mascara in Rouge Noir. This is supposed to deliver volume, length, curl, and definition, and it didn't do all that, okay? I don't know if this is a case where they were trying to do so much with this mascara that it basically just falls short across the board. And I'm not really saying that it's a bad mascara, but it's certainly a mascara with a lot of big claims, and it's $43, okay? And it's not $43 good. Also, this is in the Rouge Noir shade. You know, once you get this applied onto the eyes, it maybe looks like a brown mascara at best. I mean, I don't think you can really tell that this is some sort of special mascara. Also, and this surprised me quite a bit, I feel like it dried out quicker than other mascaras. I would say maybe after about three weeks, I started to feel like either it had dried out in a bad way, okay, not the good way, or I'd already used it all up because, like, it just was not performing as well anymore. Usually about two to three weeks is the sweet spot, so this is way too expensive for that to happen. I love this little click mechanism component, but I don't love it enough for me to spend $43 on this mascara in the future and do not get sucked in by the hype. Next, let's talk about the Rouge Allure Velvet Lip Color in Rouge Noir. This also has this click mechanism. This is a $53 lipstick. Plot. This Rouge Noir shade, which is, you know, iconic. It's a look. It's a commitment. Very, very deep, especially for someone like me. I wanted to go there because there is a nostalgia factor here for me, but I don't want to wear that nostalgia on my face every single day, okay, and the truth is that it's just not practical enough for me, and opportunities in my life where it would make sense and look good are just very, very few and far between. I want to wear it, so I've, you know, continued to test it and try to sort of tone it down a little bit, so like apply it and sort of blot it some. If I do that, it just becomes really dried out looking. I regret this purchase. And the last piece in this collection that I picked up is the Rouge Noir Confidence Eyeshadow and Blush Palette. This retails for $95. This is not an eyeshadow palette. This is a blush and a highlighter palette. I don't care what they call it. I don't care if it's safe to put this on your eyes. Yes, there are pinks in here. You can wear these on your eyes. I built a look with this, but guys, this is a blush palette. I think they called it a blush and an eyeshadow palette because it is formulated for both, okay, but because that meant they could charge more money. That's what I think is going on here, so these are lovely as blushes. This is a really beautiful formula, so this is the product that I'm probably happiest with and will get the most use out of out of this collection. The shades are beautiful. The formula is beautiful, but just know if you buy this, I mean really, this is a blush palette, okay, so you're paying $95 for a blush palette. I'm trying to remember like how much are the hourglass palettes because they're pretty expensive too and it might be you're getting more product here. I will pop something up on screen if I can figure that out. Those shades are really, really pretty, but I guess in a way it doesn't matter because this is sold out. I am really kind of over these limited edition products, especially these luxury limited edition collections where you'll see the release and then it's sold out. I mean fast, okay, and then miraculously there's more product and then it's sold out and then miraculously there's more product. I mean they're not going back and producing more product. They're not finding more product in their storeroom, in their warehouse, okay. This is them creating false scarcity to create FOMO to make you pull the trigger quickly. I'm kind of becoming more and more irritated by that. So wow, you guys have gotten quite a few little rants today. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you have enjoyed this video overall. If you liked it, please consider giving this video a thumbs up and if you shop the affiliate links in my description box, it really helps my channel a lot, but please do not feel pressured in any way to do so. I would be here reviewing these products for you regardless. Also love to have you here for my future makeup videos, so please consider subscribing if you are not subscribed. Next up, I am going to be doing a review of several of the new Tom Ford products. I am super excited about that, so watch for that one coming up. Again, thank you so much for watching and I look forward to seeing you next time.