A little indulgence is an important proponent to any beauty product and brand for that matter. Some lines offer more decadence than most - commonly with a penchant for extraordinary ingredients and history in spades. BD highlights 10 of the most memorable luxury brands below:
Originating within the renowned Clinic La Prairie in Switzerland, La Prairie (the brand) found its origins in anti-ageing cellular therapy. The indulgent range of creams, skincare and make-up is well known for producing beautiful skin, thanks to the brand’s incorporation of an exclusive cellular complex and a love for luxurious ingredients such as caviar.
Lancôme
Formed in 1935, Lancôme was born from founder Armand Petitjean’s passion for promoting French style and taste worldwide. Within six years the brand was distributed within 30 countries and shortly opened its first beauty school. Today Lancôme is available within 135 countries and employs 20,000 beauty advisers promoting French excellence in skincare, make-up and fragrance.
A social conscience guides Kiehl’s philosophy - one that was born with the brand 30 years ago. Based upon the premise that “a worthwhile firm must have a purpose for its existence”, the brand’s ingredients and manner of creation are closely monitored. Despite Kiehl’s growing product line, the American brand maintains a cult-like status thanks to its incorporation of natural ingredients and specialist skincare lines.
The undisputed number one cleansing brush was crafted by a team of engineers and entrepreneurs in Washington. While the Clarisonic was first formed for skincare professionals to use in treatments, the tool soon became suitable for home use and is recommended by dermatologists, aestheticians and spa professionals alike thanks to its premise to reduce pore size, fine lines and wrinkles, as well as deep-seated impurities.
British fashion house Burberry first gained notoriety for its classic trench coats, but the brand has grown since its 1856 origins and now produces a great expanse of make-up and fragrance. With Brit It girls Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss as the faces of many a campaign, Burberry is renowned for its English charm and quirky takes on the classics.
Another former runway extraordinaire is Elie Saab - the Lebanese designer whose trademark gowns are a regular occurrence on JLo and co. As is fitting of the lavish style of Saab, his new fragrance range for women is light, feminine and largely decadent featuring ingredients such as ylang-ylang and rose.
For those with a true passion for the art of make-up there is Shu Uemura, a brand founded and named after the Japanese make-up artist and beauty icon of the same name. Science, nature and art intermingle with the brand’s make-up and skincare offerings, boasting cutting edge tools, innovative formulas and rather outrageous colours.
Viktor & Rolf
Amsterdam’s fashion power couple Viktor&Rolf are renowned for their extravagant designs but are shortly becoming a brand to watch in the fragrance market thanks to their famous cult-like fragrance Flowerbomb. Now available in several different incarnations, Flowerbomb is just one of several V&R fragrances - the line now also includes a men’s offering Antidote.
“If fashion is my profession, then fragrance is my passion,” famously proclaimed Guy Laroche. The French designer first began his career in millinery before journeying over to fashion in 1949. Produced alongside the frenchman’s runway collections is a range of heady fragrances that utilise the strong scents of musk, sandalwood and patchouli.
The glamourous rebel who transformed Gucci in the 1990s - Tom Ford - has now re-established himself as a lifestyle designer of sorts. Alongside his self-named label of outrageously decadent clothing, the Texan has developed an equally (if not more) successful fragrance line after his signature original Tom Ford Black Orchid stopped every fragrance aficionado in her tracks. Now the beauty industry is firmly on Ford’s repertoire with the release of a burgeoning range of make-up, which includes a widely celebrated lipstick line.
