Share: Tell us what you love and hate about Maybelline!
my answer: I love a lot of their lip products and how they have larger color ranges, but they can be inconsistent and have some really strong scents/tastes to them, which is a huge bummer! I love their original range of Color Tattoos but find their LE releases hit or miss.
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I love most of their Colour Tattoo shadows. What I hate is that some of the best shades (like Nude Compliment) aren’t permanent. And I love some their little eyeshadow palettes but it seems they discontinued some of the best ones (like Caffeine Rush).
Rave: MASCARAS!!! I only wish we got more of the waterproof versions in Finland. The Instant Age Rewing concealer. Affordable, accessible and at least serviceable if not awesome makeup for most white people.
Rant: Apart from the Fit Me range, disappointing shade selection with mostly pink-leaning undertones in powders and foundations. Not all shades or ranges ever launch in Finland at all, like the Creamy Mattes, and definitely no sign of the Fit Me Matte+Poreless line yet :'(
Rant: Never been impressed with any of their foundations, blushes or pressed shadows (though it’s rare for drugstore foundations/blush/pressed powders to impress me anyway).
Rave: The entire Volume Express mascara line (which I think includes The Falsies, Colossal Volume, etc) performs really well (in my experience) and doesn’t irritate my sensitive eyes!
Also love the original Color Tattoos, esp. Barely Branded and Bad to the Bronze.
Great value for money!
Pretty much the only drugstore mascaras (available over here) that I use are from Maybelline, most of the ones I tried are pretty good! I especially like the Cat Eye one (can’t remember what it’s called exactly) and the Colossal Volume one. I like some of the coloursensation lipsticks too, although besides the smell/taste I find some of them to be a bit drying.
Okay, rave rave rave: Master Hi Light in Deep Bronze. This is like the Bobbi Brown Brightening Brick in Cranberry at a fraction of the cost. For me, I can use it as blush or layered over my blush and it’s just the perfect glowy highlight on my cheeks. No chunks of glitter, no worries about the colour. It’s just perfect. It’s one of the very few makeup products I can say I 100% love. I want to try their other Master Hi light blushes/bronzers to see, but I doubt that lightning will strike twice!
I like some of their lipsticks, but after some disappointments, have been boycotting the rest of their products. I bought some lipliners from them, and they were the worst – super dry, dragged on lips to point of torture, barely had any color. Then I tried an eyeshadow kit, was terrible – dry, chalky, little pigment. I had one of their Fit Me Powders, but it didn’t do much to prevent shine, and my skin isn’t that oily either. And I got 3 of the Color Tattoos, but some of them are hard to blend, and all of them creased faster and dried out much faster than other cream shadows that I tried from competitors. And reviews of some of their recent products are really mixed. I think they have “MAC syndrome”, too many new products launched without a focus on quality.
Oh, and the very last straw was this Superstay 24 hour liquid lipstick, with a clear balm at end to “lock in” the color. The color was a gorgeous red. I was eating lunch with a client, having a great time, and at the end, I went to the restroom to check my makeup. To my horror, the color had “cracked”, with some parts falling off, and others left behind, as red patches/dots randomly scattered all over my lips! The client was too polite to say anything. I had to scrub everything off my lips before returning to the table. I was so embarrassed!
Rant: I’m allergic to their mascaras. I’ve never been to crazy about their other products, aside from lips. It’s not a brand I buy a lot of.
Rave: I like BabyLips, and their lipsticks are good.
I love the entire Fit Me line and the new Master Conceal. I’m also a big fan of their lippies but the scent is awful. It smells like floral scented pampers or something. Lol it’s not unbearable but it’s pretty bad
I love so many of the lip products they carry but they end up laying around, unused. I just can’t stand the smell…
Mostly a rave! Maybelline is one of my favorite drugstore brands. I love their Superstay 24Hr foundation (easy to blend, nice medium coverage, natural finish), their FitMe concealer (very versatile – thin yet nice coverage), color tattoos, their eyeshadow quads (the ones that look like 4 arrow-pans in a row), Master Hi-light, Full N Soft Waterproof mascara (buildable, naturally full, easy to take off with remover), and almost all of their lip products. For the latter I love their colorsensational lipsticks and high-shine glosses.
I also like the variety of shades and innovation they bring to the drugstore every new season. I do wish their lipstick packaging was a bit less bulky, and their basic eyeshadows to be reformulated (a bit lacking in the pigmentation and texture department).
The cloying scents and cheap packaging tend to bias me against Maybelline. I have a couple Maybelline lipsticks but I don’t reach for them as often as my “prestige” brands, even if they’re dupes or almost as good… something feels off. For better or worse, that’s the power of branding.
I guess the thing about Maybelline that bothers me the most is I feel like I can never tell if a lipstick’s performance is actually “good” or “good for a drugstore brand.”
I have to say rave about Maybelline, it was the first dependable makeup line I could trust when just starting out with a job out of high school. I still use the mascara, the Falsies is perfect for my lashes, with an overcoat of waterproof to hold everything on/up, deep black, easy removal, great wand. Lipstick is lipstick to me, and I actually like the process of re-application throughout the day, I love that they dupe colors. In eyeshadow, I used to carry around their 10 pan (or was it 12) palettes in brights and the softer colors, small palm size case. Well , that was in the ’90s. I just recently, say past 5 years, fell in love with the eye studio shadows, in the 4 and 5 pan palettes, so silky and full of color, wet and dry with no hard pan! I have to rant about the waterproof ultra liquid liner, it used to be just like indelible paint, and now it is so flaky, E.L.F is better for me. I will never be without the pressed powders they produce. 😀
I like their color tattoos as bases. Their quads are quite pigmented. Their master conceaker is decent
All rave, no rant! (Well, except for Great Lash mascara–I’ve never understood the appeal.) Love Baby Lips, the new Lash Sensational mascara, the BB cream for acne-prone skin, and the Dream Bouncy blush. Maybelline is probably my favorite drugstore brand.
I forgot about the Dream Pure BB! It is actually good even though the salicylic acid in it isn’t really effective, nice natural base 🙂
Love the prices, of course! I always buy Maybelline mascara (except for so-called Great Lash) and lipsticks. Foundations and powders, however, are never yellow based enough for my skin tone.
Oh yeah, forgot that I hate the scent of the lipsticks.
ALSO, I like that they use models in their ads and are not celeb obsessed like CG and Revlon (Olivia Wilde and Halle are exceptions).
Rave: I love the Color Tattoos. I use some as shadows in their own right and some as a base for powder shadow. The Color Show line of nail varnishes also has had some real stunners.
Rant: not only are there a lot of LE shades of Color Tattoo, but we don’t get all the same standard shades in the UK, either. Nor do we get most of the LE ones. That’s really irritating. And the Vintage Plum leather effect one I recently got (we only have that and the Creamy Beige in the leather effect version) was, hands down, the most unflattering product I have ever put on my face. It made 360 degree circles of my undereye smudges. I actually binned it immediately. Have occasionally wished since that I hadn’t, because that particular type of dead look would be useful for Halloween!
I didn’t like the Fit Me concealer at all. The colour was a reasonable match but it was such a flat matte on my skin. I don’t get along with their base products at all. And I don’t wear black mascara, so their vast range is basically useless for me as the majority come in like three different shades of black.
Interestingly, I used to wear a lot more Maybelline, mainly in my twenties and early thirties. I wonder if that’s really the change, that my skin is now 40+ and their products seem to suit younger people.
I LOVE their Color Sensational lipstick line, and so far I’m having really good luck with their Matte & Poreless Fit Me foundation! Very very impressed with at least their cream products!
Rave: I really like Colour Tattoos and their black gel liner (to use as a shadow base. I’m not a big gel liner girl). I also like the clear Great Lash as a brow gel.
Rant: Great Lash. I’ve tried it a few times and it’s always seemed like one of the worst mascaras I’ve ever uesd. It just does nothing at all for my lashes. No length, no volume, no lift or curl, yet it’s super popular! Maybe the people who like it are going for a more “natural” look… idk.
Rave: Absolutely love their matte lipsticks and most of their color tattoos. Also their new Lash Sensational mascara has quickly become one of my faves.
Rant: All of their other mascaras in the Volum Express line smell like Flonase. Their powder eyeshadows are nothing to write home about either.
RANT: Most of the mascara formulas are great on my lashes but smudge off under my eyes. I do not have oily lids and mascara usually doesn’t smear on me (except for the Dior Shows, come to think of it), but nearly all the Maybellines slide right off. Except …
RAVE: the new Lash Sensational mascara!!! This is the most beautiful mascara I’ve ever used and I’ve used ’em all, from Almay to YSL and everything in between. I’d resigned myself to shelling out for Chanel Le Volume because nothing else even comes close (though that Cover Girl Bombshell Volume in the bright pink tube is good) until I impulse bought a Lash Sensational at Target a few weeks ago. Game changer. For a week I wore the Chanel on one eye and Maybelline on the other, asking my friends which they preferred (without telling them the difference). Every single one of them chose the Maybelline: it’s much blacker, glossier, holds the curl better, is super volumizing and also defining. And no, I do not work for, nor have any affiliation with Maybelline! I have two new Le Volumes from Nordstrom’s last event and I may actually return them.
I am in the market for a new mascara and I will give this one a go based on your recommendations. Hopefully it will come in colours (fingers crossed). Thanks Lauren.
I think just Brown/Black, Very Black, and Blackest Black. No auburn, I’m afraid. My Mom is a redhead and she’s a great believer in brown-not-black mascara! Actually, come to think of it, Chanel Le Volume comes in colors: black, brown, plum, and navy, maybe more.
I think mascara is probably the most personal cosmetic in that what works for one may not work for another. That said, I stand by the Maybelline as well as the Chanel 100%. It’s just really great to pay $7 instead of $34!!!
Rant: I’m allergic to the color Blackest Black in their mascaras (boo) and some of the more recent Color Tattoo products are too drying.
Rave: I love the Buffs lipstick collection and I like the Lash Discovery mascara for my bottom lashes.
Rant: none of the foundations are light enough for me, their Colour Elixir lip glosses look great in the tube and on other people but they slip off my lips really quickly, and I end up with no colour left within half an hour.
Maybelline is actually my favorite drug store brand. I really enjoy their fit me foundation and concealers, their color tattoos and lipsticks.I just wish their foundation came with a pump and I see English bloggers have certain lip products that we don’t have here in the US.
Rave – Colour Sensational lipsticks are really good. I didn’t use the Colour Tattoo shadows because they are cream and I am not into cream shadows. BUT I believe they were excellent
Rant – we only get a limited edition of their stock in Australia – so the colour(s) that you like are often not available here. Which is a great shame because I am after their Untainted Spice lipstick.
The last Color Tattoo LE was TOO small and way too limited! I think they only had one or two of each color in the display and with such high demand it was IMPOSSIBLE to find any that hadn’t been all sold out. Everybody in the universe wanted Black Orchid and I think the entire country got about 111 of them for everybody to try and get one. Ridiculous.
I never was a Great Lash girl and don’t know what all the hype is about. Every once in a while I’ll try a new Maybelline mascara but I’ve never been wowed.
I managed to find all 5 just this past weekend, but just before I did, I scanned eBay, and several sellers had Black Orchid at a reasonable price. Also, my area apparently got them late, so perhaps other areas may still get them. I’ve always seemed to have the best luck with other LE Color en Tattoos at CVS. HTH!
Rant: wtf with the Great Lash hype?? Also, most of the LE products don’t arrive to my country, so that’s sad 🙁
Rave: The Rocket mascara is my favorite mascara EVER. I tried on Benefit, L’oreal, MUFE, etc. and The Rocket has stayed a favorite. Also, Color Tattoo eyeshadows (most of them, at least) are excellent.
My very first cosmetic purchase was Maybelline cake mascara in black. It came in a little red plastic case and had a small brush much like the ones you find in jewelry cleaner nowadays. LOL. That was in 1959. I used it as a mascara, to hold my long eyebrows in place, and to line my eyes. Talk about multi-tasking! As my skills improved–as well as cosmetics themselves–I moved on to better quality products and never looked back at Maybelline.
Rave – mascaras, Color Tattoos.
Rant – foundations are never light enough or neutral/cool enough for me. I can’t stand their orangy foundations.
I love love looooove the color tattoo cream eye shadows, color sensational vivids and the eyelash mascaras! The only thing I hate is the oxidation of the super stay concealer :/ makes me look like an orange
I love Maybelline mascaras ( Lash Sensational w/p in Very Black is my new HG!), many of the Color Sensational lipsticks, especially the Vivids and Mattes, and specific Color Tattoos as well. But, I do not care for any of their other stuff, in particular, their blushes, and other face products. Also not a fan of the eyeliners either.
Ok, so I forgot, there is one blush they make that I DO love, the Dream Bouncy ones! But I only bother with the two darker ones: Plum Wine and Hot Tamale.
I love their mascaras, Color Elixir Lip Glosses, Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation, and the Color Sensational Lipsticks. I’m not a big fan of their eyeshadows or the other foundations though. The individual shadows don’t blend well in my opinion. The other foundations I find are horrible with dry skin, making the skin look flakey. Plus they oxidize like crazy on my skin.
Love the Color Sensational lipsticks for color payoff and staying power. But the smell – UGH! It reminds me of the smell of medication or plastic toys or something.
The eraser concealer for the undereye area (with the sponge tip) is my HG. I’ve tried many but this is the best I’ve found at concealing dark circles. And I love the price!
I think with Maybelline it depends on where you’re located. Their products seem to be different in different parts of the world.
From the drugstore, I only trust them and L’Oreal with my eye products, and they make the best mascaras, some even better than high-end ones.
The only one of their products that I tried and didn’t like was Baby Lips, because it actually dried my lips.
Love : their Mascaras, Lasting Drama Gel Liners, Color Tattoo Eyeshadows, and some of their Color Sensational Lipsticks (not all because of their inconsistency).
Hate : most of their pressed eyeshadows and foundations especially Fit Me Foundation.
I agree with you Christine, I love a lot of their products but some of the lip product scents are way to much. I’m not usually scent sensitive but the only lip elixir gloss I bought – I can’t wear. I put it on once and had to take it off within a half hour, I was so nauseated and had a headache from the smell!!
Love most of the items I have purchased over the years (and years lol!).. Their eyeshadows are usually pretty good, the Colour Tattoos are awesome, they have really stepped up the foundations, love SOME of the mascaras. My complaints would be a lot of the time their mascaras smudge on my orbital bone by halfway through the day (Covergirl doesn’t) and the Downtown Brown nail polish I bought from them is awful. Chipped in only a few hours of wear.
So all in all, for a huge drugstore brand, I give em a thumbs up 🙂
I have a love/hate relationship with Maybelline. They discontinue great mascaras and keep that awful Great Lash mascara. I used it when I was young, it was awful, tried it again over the years a few times, and it was the same awful mascara from my younger years. They have made some great mascaras over the years that they have discontinued, and kept Great Lash. I get that a lot of it is sold, but I also wonder how many people trash it after the trying to get it to work. I find it unworkable, and it doesn’t wear well at all. I preferred the tube mascara they made in the 70’s and the cake mascara they made at that time as well. They were great, and now everyone knows how old I am because these haven’t been available for many years.
Rave: One of the few drugstore cosmetics I still buy are the Color Tattoos but…
Rant: I really really hate the Limited Edition releases! It’s ridiculous — most of the displays contain only one or two of each color – and unnecessary. And you’re right, the quality has become hit-or-miss.
I feel disappointed with almost all of the products I have from them after a time (the exception being the matte lipsticks). But I found out that they use bunny fur for their color elixir applicators, which really grossed me out. Seems highly unnecessary. :/ So I tend to bypass the brand at the drugstore because of that and product performance.
Other than the Color Sensational line, I haven’t purchased anything from them recently!
I want to try Master Glaze, Master Kajal, and the Color Tattoo’s though.
I did like FitMe when it came out. I still use the concealer from time to time.
Rave: I love The Vivids’ formula and color range. The Color Tattoos also work great for me. The Dream Fresh BB Cream is nice for days when I want a natural look.
Rant: The Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner smudges very easily (I was surprised by all the positive reviews). The Colossal mascara (in waterproof) gives me those annoying racoon eyes after a few hours. The Oh La Lilac lipstick (from the Color Whisper line) dried my lips really bad.
Rave: FIT foundation. It just really works well on me, good coverage doesn’t emphasize dry patches or fine lines.
Rant: Dream Wonder foundation! I wanted to try it because I read it was really close in formulation to Armani Silk, and I used to always splurge on high-end foundation. I hope it’s nothing like Armani Silk, though. On me it feels dry, and up close every texture flaw is highlighted.
Rant: their Great Lash mascara is awful and I’m not a fan of their dream mousse blushes…
Rave: however I’m a huge fan of their dream mousse foundation which gives my skin a beautiful dewy glow, I love their volume express mascaras esp waterproof versions (falsies, the rocket, etc), and i have one color tattoo and I really enjoy using it and don’t have any complaints with it
Maybelline’s probably one of my favorite brands simply because I can’t live w/o their concealers (Instant Age Rewind is holy grail for my undereyes, the FitMe concealer is great for spot concealing, and Dream Lumi is awesome for highlighting/undereyes). The downside is the shade ranges for the concealers aren’t that great. Besides concealers, their mascaras are awesome (The Rocket Volume is my fav), color tattoos are great, the dream wonder powder is good, the Dream Bouncy blushes were quite innovative imo, and I quite like their lipstick (I don’t mind the scent) especially the creamy matte line. Overall they have a lot of solid products in various categories. I agree that they can be a bit inconsistent with product quality in the same range however.
Rave: their mascaras, especially The Falsies and Pumped Up Colossal. Love the colour tattoos too.
Rant: this took me a while, but then remembered their Great Lash which I tried as an early teen about 10 years ago, ugh. Also wasn’t a fan of their Better Skin foundation as it sat so badly on my skin and was way too matte for my liking.
I never did care for Great Lash mascara. The Colossal line is good, and Lash Stiletto is great for lash length. I have recently started using Lash Sensational, and it is amazing! I have long lashes already, but this mascara lifts and gives a slight curl; two or three coats gives me the look of false eyelashes!