Buying cosmetics in Pakistan can be very overwhelming because of the choices available, local or international. Where to buy what from? If you have asked these questions, you’ve landed in the right place. We’ve put together a list of the top 10 cosmetics brands in Pakistan that will make choosing what to get much easier.

Just until a few years ago, the only real makeup products Pakistani women would wear would be Lipstick and Foundation, everything else was just alien to us. With the internet becoming a big part of our everyday lives, we slowly began to learn more and more about how makeup is done.

Turns out, there’s a lot more to make up than we thought, the possibilities are truly endless! But with that comes the fact that the options are endless too. Even if you just focus on lipstick and know the exact type of shade you’re looking for, you will be met with hundreds of options not just in terms of brands but also in terms of formula too. This can make the process of buying one item pretty stressful.

Generally, it’s pretty difficult for one brand to be great at everything they make. Each brand tends to have one or a handful of products they are great at, the rest tend to be a work in progress and just there to fill out the shelves. Now, experimenting and not knowing which brand is good at what could be a fun thing, but not with the way make-up prices work today. Even good quality drugstore products run you a couple of thousand rupees. That means that everything you buy, you must use, and if you have even worn makeup for a little time in your life, you would know how not-fun it can be if you don’t love the products on your skin. So when you decide which brand you will buy a product from, you need to be 100% sure that you are making the right choice.

If just reading all of this has you a little freaked out and overwhelmed, don’t worry, we have put together this list that includes the best cosmetics brands available in Pakistan, both local and foreign, their price ranges, and which products they are best known for. By the end of this article, you will have a good idea of where you will be getting your makeup from!

Read more: List of Top Pakistani Brands

Most Popular International Cosmetics Brands in Pakistan

1. MAC

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MAC, Makeup-Art Cosmetics, was a brand that wasn’t really made for the common woman. It wasn’t even made out of a want to sell! In 1984, Frank Angelo, a beauty salon owner, and Frank Toskan, a photographer, discussed how frustrated they were at the fact that makeup looks so bad in photos (credits to the pre-photoshop era). The makeup was ruining the photos which was a problem for them and they wanted to do something to fix it. So, they did. They created their own makeup line that was initially only used by makeup artists but slowly became available to the rest of the world too. Today, they own hundreds of stores all across the globe and have managed to become something of a household name. Their specialty is their lipsticks. They sell more than any other non-drugstore brand in the world! Even the Emirates cabin crew has a signature red lipstick by MAC that they all wear called the MAC Ruby Woo, sometimes also Russian Red. MAC is on the higher end when it comes to price. Their lipsticks retail for 1,700-2,500 and the rest of their makeup items are priced similarly too.

 

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2. NARS

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In 1994, Francis Nars, a photographer, and makeup artist created NARS’s makeup line with only 12 shades of lipstick that sold exclusively at Barney’s in New York. He did so because he too was frustrated with the quality of makeup available in the markets and wanted to change the status quo. Within the next 6 years, his brand had garnered so much demand that he had to come out with entire makeup lines and over the next 20 years, became one of the biggest cosmetics brands in the world. One of the products that NARS is most well known for its blush. In any “best beauty products” list, you will most definitely find the mention of NARS’s blushes on there. Like MAC, NARS is also a high-end brand. A blush will run you around 6,000 rupees but the quality is worth the price. If you’re someone that wears blush all the time, this might be the best one you can get your hands on and it will last you until you hit pan!

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3. Tarte

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Tarte is a cosmetics company founded by Maureen Kelly in 2000. She wanted to create makeup that didn’t only work well on the skin but was also good for it. This stemmed from the fact that most makeup products can cause reactions and can clog your pores. Their products are both, cruelty-free and hypoallergenic so they help you elevate your look without even being tested on animals! Without question, the best product Tarte makes is their concealers, specifically the “Tarte Shape Tape”. It’s been deemed one of the best concealers in the world! It comes in 2 sizes, the full size that retails for around 5,900 rupees and the travel size which retails for about half of that at 2,950 rupees.

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4. Bobbi Brown

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Bobbi Brown is a makeup artist that decided to change the makeup game and come out with her own makeup line back in 1991. In the past two decades, the brand has reached the top and stayed there. Today, it’s one of the biggest names in the cosmetics world! Their simplistic design and “to the point and great” products show you how they aren’t about the fluff, they only care about the makeup they’re creating. Bobbi Brown was the first brand to ever come out with gel eyeliner. It’s still one of their most loved products today! The liner retails for around 1700 rupees. They’re also loved for their weightless foundation, which feels like skin and looks like it too. It retails for around 5700 rupees for the full-sized bottle.

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5. Anastasia Beverly Hills

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In 1998, Anastasia Soare, a former aesthetician came out with a makeup line dedicated to eyebrows as she believed they could change a person's entire face. Two decades ahead of the rest of the world, she knew exactly what she was talking about. Today, brows are one of the most important parts of makeup! The two most popular products from Anastasia are the Anastasia Brow Wiz which retails for around 4000 rupees and the Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade which retails for around 3,800 rupees. Because these are international brands, by the time a product makes it to Pakistan it ends up being twice or three times its original price and you mostly don’t even have access to testers so you’ll have to guess your shade, which can be very inconvenient. If you don’t want to deal with taking a chance and spending thousands on something you’re not sure about, you might want to try out a local brand instead.

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The Best 5 Local Cosmetics Brands in Pakistan

6. Medora

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Even when Pakistani women didn’t have access to many makeup products, we still had the trusty Medora to get us through the day. Medora lipsticks have been a favourite of Pakistani women for the past few decades. Back in the day, they had a pretty safe shade range, with lots of deeper pinks and maroons but today, their shade range rivals the international market, without the hefty price tag. Medora remains ridiculously inexpensive, even in 2023! You can easily find a Medora lipstick in the 200 - 250 rupees price range!

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7. Luscious Cosmetics

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Luscious was first established in 2008 by Meherbano Sethi. It is one of the only brands in Pakistan that is a member of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and is a totally vegan and cruelty-free brand. Even though Lucious is pretty good at almost everything they make, one of their most popular products is their Face contour kit. It retails for around 2500 rupees for the entire kit and you get 4 shades. The pans are pretty big too so they end up being great value for money overall!

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8. Masarrat Misbah

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Masarrat Misbah is one of the most inspiring women in Pakistan. She’s been involved in social work longer than most of us have been alive and has been known for her activism and for being the owner of Depliex. She came out with the Massarat Misbah Makeup line in 2014. This was the first-ever Halal-certified makeup line in Pakistan and has been curated specifically for the needs of Asian women. Keeping in mind our shade ranges, undertones, and even the climate we live in. The most popular product from Massarat Misbah is her MM Silk Foundation. It is exactly what its name suggests, a foundation that’s like silk. It has a satin finish and merges beautifully with the skin. It retails for around 2700 rupees, which is even less than one brow product from Anastasia does!

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9. Rivaj UK

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Manufactured by Sheikh Javed and Sons, Rivaj UK is one of the most well-known brands in Pakistan. Most of their products are prices similar to Medora, while also carrying products that can be considered dupes of products from International Brands! One of their most popular lines are their lipstick/lipgloss lines. They’re popular because of their reliable formulas and impeccable shade ranges, all while staying under the 150 - 500 rupees price range!

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10. Zay Beauty

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Zay Beauty didn’t start off like all the other traditional brands. They didn’t have an influential name behind them and they are purely sold online. The fact that despite all of this, they’ve managed to become a huge name in Pakistan in the span of only 3 years! Zay Beauty is known for being a very “desi” cosmetics brand. They take inspiration from our local culture yet, they rival the quality of brands like Anastasia! Their most popular products right now are their highlighters. With shades like “Chaand tara” and “Chamak Dhamak” they’ve become a favourite for their quality and quirk! The highlighters retail for 2,300 for a dou that’s got enough product in it to last you at least over a year, unless you shower in highlighter, even then, it’ll still get you through a few months easily!

 

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