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Do you ever buy poor quality beauty products?


Do you ever buy poor quality beauty products? Maybe it’s a really unique color? Need to know if it’s really as bad as everyone says it is?
I won’t go for a really poor performing product, but I’m willing to sacrifice *some* quality for uniqueness in formula, texture, or color–but only to an extent. It also depends on the sacrifice and whether I can use something else to minimize it (e.g. wear, add a primer).

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xamyx Avatar

They work very well for me. I switched when I was pregnant, and even in the peak of Summer, I had no issues. It’s not a matter of “quality”, but more “chemistry”.

Carrie Avatar

Generally try not to. Recent exception was for one of the 88 color Coastal Scent knock-off pans (totally that palette, without the label). With primer + Nyx’s milk, it’s a workable product. I find it worth it since I bought it for colors I wear rarely enough that it isn’t worth buying for $15-$20 in formulas I prefer.

zainab Avatar

On the whole I really try not to. I don’t think buying something cheap is worth it if means I have to use a slew of other products to get the effect that a more expensive item would have achieved by itself. I also won’t buy things (even if the formula is good) if I think the packaging looks flimsy or annoying, or if I think the value is poor for the price.

That said, I’ll accept fallout (up to a point) from glitter shadows and I don’t expect anything to stay on forever.

Sylirael Avatar

Honestly, stuff is so expensive in this country, I just can’t bring myself to purchase a subpar product – even if it is purple (shocking, I know!) 😛

That’s why I love Temptalia, because you give us all the lowdown on everything! ^_^ It really makes all the difference for people like us in countries where a MAC lipstick is $45 and a Revlon lipstick is almost $30. Even if you can technically ‘afford’ the loss on a dud, it just makes you feel bad inside.

But it’s Christine to the rescue! 🙂

It doesn’t have to be A+ material *necessarily*, but it needs to be at least a decently performing product, or I’ll never enjoy that unique colour because I know how badly I’ve wasted my money

Jan Avatar

For drugstore and online – one often doesn’t know if it’s poor quality until they try it.
Also, for one off stage productions (schools, church) involving a group – I tend to purchase something inexpensive and let everyone do their own thing.

Ondy Avatar

I am susceptible to impulse buying when it comes to makeup. I try and do as much research as I can on a product before buying it. But every now and then I see something and go “OMG SOOO PURDY” and I grab it; which on occasion has lead to regret.

Most recently I purchased a few of the Hard Candy creme shadows. And boy was that awful. I saw them in the store and was very excited. Got them home and they were all sucked up and bone dry. After opening, I did some research online and found that they’ve got a packaging issue and that is why they dry out. (If I had read that before I wouldn’t have purchased them).

When I took them back, I decided to swap them for the Hard Candy Shadowholic sticks. These again are not the best at all but I am going to stick with them and try and make it work

StrangeOne Avatar

I don’t wear makeup everyday and when I do its for a few hours at a time so I don’t mind a shade that looks great on me but isn’t going to last very long.

desiqtie Avatar

My work involves a lot of local and international travel so I frequently end up changing outfits and makeup throughout the day – occasionally three or even four times a day. So I definitely feel the same way about not needing my makeup to last more than 2-3 hours at a time. I looove playing with the really unique shades regardless of the quality.

Mariella Avatar

Deliberately? Not a chance! I love makeup too much to part with any of my “beauty budget” on crummy stuff when I can use it for good stuff. I did ask for a sample of MAC’s Prep+Prime Eye, after reading so many awful reviews, because I wanted to see if it was as bad as so many people said. I mean, a company that can make Paint Pots that work so well as shadow primers HAD to be able to make a good eye shadow primer, right? Well, my own experience showed me that I was in the majority…it didn’t work for me and I was glad to have got just a sample. I don’t like buying and returning cosmetics because I know that in the long run, those costs are passed on to us all. It’s just one reason I almost always make sure that I’m going to love a product before spending my hard earned dollars on it. And it’s on reason I love Sephora – you can get samples – decent sized ones that will last a few days – before buying.

Sarah M Avatar

Not knowingly. I’m always looking for a good drugstore mascara and obviously there are no testers so I often just go by descriptons, images or commercials. I’m often disappointed with the results though.

Maddie Avatar

Yes–if they’re cheap. I saw this pretty sparkly jewel toned palette at Forever 21 last night and bought it. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m expecting it to be a bust. But 10 (or 12) eyeshadows for $5 is a steal, so if it does end up sucking I wont mind. However, it’s EXTREMELY frustrating to pay a kidney for a beauty product that’s a flop. Thank to Temptalia that has become extremely rare! I am a firm believer in returns/exchanges for things that just don’t work though.

Danielle Avatar

If I know that a product has gotten bad reviews, I definitely won’t purchase it. So if I do buy a poor quality product, it would be because I didn’t know much about the product prior.

Nikki Avatar

I’m big on reviews and recommendations, so if I see that a product has more negative reviews than positive reviews, I will usually skip it for fear of wasting my money. If a product has mixed reviews, I’m more likely to give it a chance and draw my own conclusions.

Sarah Avatar

No I don’t. I have to try them out first usually at Sephora to find the right quality for me. Sometimes it doesn’t work right, so I return them.

Kim Avatar

Definitely not. Even if I think it’s a unique color, I know myself well enough to know that it just won’t get used if I’m not happy with the quality. So, I’m willing to wait or spend more money on something that’s better quality.

joyce Avatar

Yes, sometimes. Not with pricey beauty items, but occasionally I’ll pick something up at the drugstore in spite of bad reviews because I’m curious about it, plus there’s always a chance I might like it better than the bloggers did. And tbh, sometimes I just feel like buying *something* even if I suspect it’s not great. If I’m going to impulse buy, it might as well be something inexpensive!

lolla Avatar

I try not to, but I made a big mistake with Lime Crime products. The company was going on about how any negative review was from jealous haters and only after I had spent over a hundred dollars did I find your review on them. The packaging is pretty, but $16 a tube for lipstick that is like dollar store Halloween makeup is a big beauty no-no I regret!

desiqtie Avatar

Not knowingly 🙂 The exception being when I can’t easily get the same color in a better quality product.

Also, one time I suddenly had to do makeup for a bunch of relatives for everyone’s dance performances at my cousin’s engagement – I needed lots of different colors but only needed the looks to last for a few hours so I got one of those 88 color palettes since it wasn’t useful to buy so many different bright colors for my own use in a better brand.

xamyx Avatar

I rarely judge the “quality” of a product, and if I can’t make it work one way, I’ll try another. Also, just because *I* don’t care for something, it doesn’t mean it isn’t a “quality” product. I’m not a big fan of MAC lipstick, as they just don’t feel good on my lips, but I know many people love them. Also, NARS Daphne gets a ton of negative reviews, but if used to blend/layer, it’s amazing. The same goes for MAC Carbon. Finally, there is a *reason* primers were developed-they work. If I can’t get a product to work with one, then I’ll move on, but that hasn’t happened, yet.

I also stay within brands that I know to be consistent, and maintain an overall “feel”. I prefer strong pigmentation, so I tend to lean toward brands like NARS, Kat von D, & Urban Decay, and stay away from more “luxury” brands that tend to lean sheer, as the demographics tend to be different.

C Avatar

I actually do. I bought an Etude House blush just because I fell in love with the princess packaging. I’d seen from reviews it was awful colour payoff, but how could you pass those little pink hearts up..?

Karen Avatar

I won’t deliberately buy poor quality beauty products of course not. I love UD shadows and don’t think they have that much fall out – glitter shadows from any brand have fall out – but I’ve seen YouTube gurus wrinkle their noses because they swear by MAC only. That’s why I rely on your reviews. My budget is the only thing that would make me buy something that isn’t as high quality as another brand that may be out of my price range.

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