What beauty product worked well on you that you didn’t think would? Share!
Marc Jacobs Shooting Stars was a surprise hit for me – I really liked it. In general, I shy away from brown-based lip colors (I think it is all the backlash for “90s” colors I see), but I find I quite like them on me.
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UD’s Anarchy lipstick! I never thought bright pink lipstick would look good on me or that I’d want to wear it! I’ve always gravitated towards darker/vampy colors.
Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie! I used to shy away from cool-toned lip colors, but I like this one on me, partly because it has just enough red in it not to read straight-on purple on me.
Nude lip colors were hard for me to wear-the color would always fade into my face.Lately, I have been able to have wear them -I think because my skin isn’t as tan as it once was.
Pop Beauty Peak Performance Mascara in Brilliant Black — I picked it up on clearance at ULTA for $5. It looked so gimmicky, but I figured why not. You twist the bottom and product oozes up out of the comb applicator. It looks so dubious… which is why I did not expect this mascara to work SO well! It separates, defines, and lengthens my lashes beautifully. It’s not extremely volumizing, but it gives me such long, flirty, fluttery lashes. I’ve been using it every day since i got it and even hunted down a back-up on eBay.
Nude lipstick! didn’t wash me out like i thought it would! 🙂
Not so much a product as a color… Urban Decay’s Gash actually looks kind of awesome on me. I was shocked.
Nude lipstick. Even though on some people it washes them out, it looks pretty good on me with even only winged eyeliner.
Revlon’s Smoked Peach Lipstick worked much better with my skin tone than I expected!
MAC Myth and MAC Blankety. nude lipsticks that surprise me how they don’t make me look like sick women
That happened to me too! I bought this lipstick called Fudge Brownie by Rimmel and it’s a rosey brown with slight frost, looks so pretty when i dab it on my lips over balm, but I used to be afraid of wearing it because of the fear of looking “dated”.
L’oreal’s impulsive fuchsia really was an impulse buy, and i was afraid of it being tacky but it turned out beautiful
It’s more of a beauty routine. I never thought I’d be able to go light on foundation, but recently I have. It’s so much nicer for my skin. Also giving my face breaks is so nice. I’ve been surprised by the improvement.
MAC Vegas Volt. I’m not an orange lipstick girl and bright colors are a little out of my confort zone, but it’s a gorgeous shade and I decided to purchase it. Now, I always get complements when I’m wearing it.
This one is a hit for me too! I don’t consider most coral/oranges to look good on me
Face oils! I didn’t think they were for me, with my oily skin and all, but turns out I can use them just fine.
Not a colour cosmetic but a skin care product. I won a box of Olay Fresh Effects products. The “Bead Me Up” cleanser surprised me by how gentle the scrub particles were (almost like when you mix baking soda with a cleanser). I thought this would be sort of harsh, cheap and nasty (like many of the less expensive skin care products aimed at young girls) but it’s actually quite nice and I may keep it (I’m giving most of the other items to my daughter)
Red lipsticks! 😀 I never though brights would look good on me especially reds but a few lipsticks changed that for me! Thankfully!
Marc Jacobs gel liners. I couldn’t figure out what could possibly be so exciting about an eyeliner. I love these and use one every day I wear makeup. It was an actual eureka moment for me. The micro glitter in the lighter colours is particularly good for opening my eye. I wear these usually on my lower lash line and layer below with either another liner or shadow.
Peach/orange based blush. I assumed it wouldn’t work with my skintone, but actually the contrasat is so pretty! Hello Peach Pop! 😀
Hehe, I have to say brown and brownish lip products, too 😀 (not simple nudes). I thought they are…too weird but also boring, which is kinda impossible. I don’t like that many contain shimmer, though.
Maybelline Color Tattoos…I didn’t think that they would work on my oily lids.
Totally agree Christine, I just started wearing brown lips, my mom told me not to because I would look too old-fashioned, haha!
There are many for me because growing up I was told so many things about how makeup doesn’t suit my small features, so sad. Foundations without a matte finish, always thought it’s what my oily skin needed, but discovered Silk Creme and realized I love a radiant/natural look enough to blot more often. Colorful lipstick, it’s been two years since I discovered small lips can go bold, and look amazing. Another common one is eyeliner, I was told to only wear brown and that even so, it will make my small eyes look smaller (I want to slap my cousins for this one!!). I never wear makeup without a winged car eye now, it makes my eyes look so big and pretty! I could go on, haha! 😛
I meant cat eye not car eye, haha! I’m typing on the train. XD
Highlighters in general. I am really fond of BECCA Topaz and Opal. It started with your review and hype of Stereo Rose (MAC).
Definitely the NARS Instant Line & Pore Perfector primer! I read a lot of mixed reviews so I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. I ended up loving it the first time I tried it though. It’s the best! It really smooths everything out and keeps my t zone matte.
Mac Sheertone blushes. I thought they would not have enough color pay off for me but Gingerly and Sincere are just perfect for me.
Philosophys The present face primer. I didnt have much hope for the product and actually hadn’t used it in years until I pulled it out a month or so ago. Its great under my Bareskin foundation and really extends its life. The tube says to let it sit 2 minutes before applying makeup and that makes a world of difference. It sinks in and creates a perfect canvass. Its $30 though so I dont know if ill repurchase but I really like it now.
MAC Crème d’Nude lipstick. I was iffy about it when I would apply from the bullet and it’d ghost out my lips, but it looks awesome when applied more thinly with a brush!
Primer was sort of a shock. Which shouldn’t have surprised me, because priming is important in literally every other art form, but it was still strange to see it happen.
What really blew me away though was a tinted moisturizer sampler from Trish McEnvoy. Blended flawlessly, covered my undereye circles… Now if only I could justify spending that much!
Coral and orange lip colors. I took a gamble and ordered the MAC Editorial Orange palette because I loved my three other sets (red, pink, and plum). I love it! I usually wear cool colors to match my complexion, but these actually worked very well for me when I thought they probably would not.
Tarte Maracuja Oil. I have oily skin but this stuff is AMAZING!
Revlon Balm Stain in Adore. It’s warm but my cool lip tone makes it more neutral. It warms up my whole face!
MAC Lady Danger, I’ve always gone for cooler reds, I really thought I’d look like weird, but I really like it a lot.
I would have to say the new foundation I recently purchased. IT Cosmetics Celebration Illuminating Foundation. The medium shade was maybe a tad dark but it covers well. It did accentuate my pores and a few fine lines but over all I liked it. I have tried several foundations in the past year and this one is my favorite.
Hmmm…don’t think I have. I never buy makeup because I think it would not flatter my skin tone and etc. I buy things because I like the colour. If I like a colour of a lipstick for instance but it looks a bit off – just tweak the colour to make it work. As for foundation – more than likely won’t by a certain formulation because I believe it won’t work well with my skin type. Like the Loreal Magic Nude for instance. I tested the product on my hand and I knew in an instant that if I applied that foundation on my face. It would break down very quickly. Oh and speaking of brown lip colours! I’m a sucker for the 90’s look! Hehe
Benefit Gimme Brow. That stuff is amazing!!
Cooler toned pink lip colors, especially lighter natural pinks and bright fuschia – I thought they would not work well with my warm undertones, but they are not bad
Baked blushes and highlight – I am a combo skin girl, having oily parts on my cheeks… I thought they would defeat the purpose for me, and make me look greasy, but with good foundation, they look really nice and glowy, not an oily mess
Emma Hardie and Eve Lom cleansers: the oil-based ones that liquify into milk with water. The leave your skin feel amazing. I was sceptical, thinking they wouldn’t work on my normal/combination skin, but they’re superb. And gradual tanners. Decleor is amazing.
Two recent realizations come to mind. 1) Mauve-y/Rose shades of lipstick. I think I finally got old enough to wear them and not feel like it ages me. It ends up looking super natural and awesome with my coloring. They have to be fairly matte and have no shimmer tho, to keep them more modern. 2) dewier skin (highlighter induced or a less matte foundation). I have super oily skin and always assumes that any kind of shine is bad. turns out there is a happy medium between too shiny and too matte.
Any taupe or greige varnishes. First time I saw Chinchilly in a video I thought people were mad wearing such colours ( other one is Rimmel’s ” soul session”).Now they are my all time favourites. Also eyebrow pencils and powders. I just get them threaded once a year by a lady born in Uganda, of indian ancestry. But after a visit to Benefit mow I have _ and use_ lots of brow parafernalia too.
Cleansing oils have worked fabulously on my combo oily skin. New nighttime ritual.
When the Kat von D Ladybird palette was released, I was immediately taken by every shade-except Cleopatra (burnt orange). I bought it as soon as it was released in-store, figuring 7/8 shades was still worth the price, especially since they all could work back to all the previous palettes that leaned more shimmery. I happened to mention to the SA that I didn’t care for Cleopatra, and she said she felt the same, but when she paired it with the navy shade, it was really flattering. Her coloring was very different b than mine, but I decided to try it with the eggplant shade, and was surprisednat how much I actually like it! This revelation made me more open to try her Monarch palette, and so far I really like the left-hand quad.
SMASHBOX
Master Class Palette III – I looked at it a few times and decided to buy higher end individual eyeshadow, blush, contour, bronzer and eyeshadows and I bought only 5* products however
I returned them all when I tested this in the store and found everything worked as good or better than
what I had purchased. So happy with it. I am fair skinned and the bronzer did not make my face orange, the contour was as good as Nars, the Blush as good as Tarte and more colors than the Lorac Pro or Chocolate bar. Love it. Packaging is awesome !
Navy blue on my eyes. Blue is not a color I naturally go for, but I’ve come to realize that it makes my green eyes pop even more than purple. The deeper the better. UD Liquid Eyeliner in Sabbath for example looks really good on my eyes.
Anastasia browpomade brow gel…
Excellent!! Best i have ever used and I have used
Ton’s of brow products!!!
The BaoLiShi 12 Color Eyeshadow Palette from the dollar store. Wondered about those extremely cheap palettes, because they seem to swatch beautifully. Watched a review on YouTube about it, apparently they are as good as the Loreal Paris Infallible. Rushed out to get one, true enough, they were excellent but on further research, there was an article saying that authorities is Indonesia has banned that particular makeup because they tested toxic printing inks’ been used:P
Benefit Watt’s Up Highlighter as I am extremely fair with cool undertones and I thought this would look too dark and cream products in general make me nervous. Turns out this is as easy as pie to use and gives me a subtle glow.
Rimmel’s Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Stick Crayon. I have the oiliest lids on Earth so not even MAC’s Paint Pots or Maybelline’s Colour Tattoo work on them. The Rimmel’s pencils did last and it was a really lovely surprise.