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The Hit List: Worst Drugstore Lipstick
What’s the Worst Drugstore Lipstick…?
What brand/product wins this category? What makes it so terrible?
Thanks to Christina for today’s topic!
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I don’t know if this counts as “lipstick”, but the Revlon Colorstay liquid lip colors (their version of the prolongwears) are horrible! They dry lips out in no time!
Oh yeah, I agree about those, they are vile!
Milani Lip Flash- Oh my God the taste and smell on these (to me) is horrible. 🙁
OMGoodness, YES!! I just bought two during my lunch hour (Snow Flash and Photo Flash). I tried one immediately and it made my lips burn (maybe the formula or glitter?) And it smells aweful, I’d rather put a Crayola on my lips.
I also just bought a Milani lipstick and, though this one didn’t smell terrible, it made my lips tingle and feel hot. wierd! allergic reaction to something in it, maybe?
Why does Milani look amazing in the packaging and always disappoint? I have this one, FAB eyeliner from them and everything else has been a bummer.
I don’t usually go for drugstore lipsticks cause lipstick never lastson my lips, so I usually get more expensive ones that tend to be more long lasting. The ones I have tried last year and was disappointed with, that are sold at the drugstore, are the NYX ones… they have a great variety of colors and are fairly creamy. But don’t last even 20 minutes in my lips, whereas MAC lipsticks do last for at least 1/2 hours.
Wet and wild. They smell bad and make a mess of whatever you put them in!
The older formula, definitely. It had the color consistency of a crayon on paper and smelled like Play Doh. Blech.
Borjouis lipsticks are the worst !!
Yea they do have a good colour payoff
but they smell like coconuts and taste like poison !
No lasting power even with opaque shades
I agree with you!
I bought one yesterday that was in sale, and I regret it!
The one that ? bought has a horrible smell, and it tastes worse…
could they have been outdated?????
Which one did you buy? I have the Natural Kiss in Rouge Soyeux and, to me, it smelled like pineapple juice.
Definitely Maybelline Color Sensational Pearl Lipstick. I liked the regular Color Sensational line, but the new pearl finish ones are WAY to frosty with little to no color payoff:(
Totally agree! I bought one that looked absolutely gorgeous (So Pearly I believe) and it was completely drying and skipped like no other. Worst ever!
OMG Wet N Wild for sure! It smells like paint, it bleeds terribly, and 99% of the colors are awful… And how about the name? The name is SO bad!!! (I know all about it because I used to wear it when I was 14.)
LOL!!!!
loreal. it has the worst smell ever. like plasticy mixed with rotten cherries. ew.
Totally agree! Very waxy smelling!
I totally agree. I cannot get near L’oreal lipsticks because of the smell.
Absolultey agreed. I keep telling myself I won’t use them ever again, but occasionally some of the colours tempt me, so I put them on… and then… NEVER AGAIN!
Agreed. Awful smell and putting them on is like dragging a crayon across your lips.
Also, Maybelline has got this new horrible watermelon smell in their lipsticks – it’s disgusting.
THIS! L’oreal lipsticks are by far the worst smelling/tasting lipsticks ever. Nope! Can’t do it! It’s like smothering baby powder all over your lips! Blech!!
I agree. Loreal! The smell…hmmm…I get headache from it.
Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick. It tastes like castor oil, smells like an old lady, and is so greasy it lasts like five seconds on your lips. I am still kicking myself for buying it.
L’Oreal by a landslide. Has the worst smell of any lipstick I have ever used!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybelline
Love the formula, the range of colours, but I absolutely hate the smell! Turns me off so bad I can’t even bring myself to buying one.
I bought one and I love the color but the smell is so horrible I can’t wear it! That was my first and last drugstore lipstick purchase.
I hate NYX lipsticks! They apply streaky and don’t last at all on me, and they taste like dish soap 😛
I absolutely loathe L’oreal’s lipstick! I tried two different ones, but I couldn’t stand the smell! To me, it smelled EXACTLY like Dum Dum lollipops in blue raspberry. And it never faded! The colors were pretty but were quite sheer until built up.
L’oreal, Maybelline, Wet n’ Wild, Cover Girl lipsticks= thick, waxy and synthetic smell. Had to tossed away many lipsticks 🙁
L’Oreal…they smell SO bad..like expired playdoh; I can’t take the odor.
Loreal because I’m allergic, but I’ve never encountered a drugstore lipstick with texture as horrible as all the Mac lipsticks I’ve tried. For me, a great color and finish means nothing if it feels gritty or drying on my lips
I think generally drugstore lipsticks have awful smell, I don’t buy many of them nowadays, instead go for Guerlain, Chanel and Mac. Much nicer. 😉
NYX had some cool colors and good color payoff but the smell/taste made me want to barf every time I opened the lipstick to put it on. Ick.
I had a similar problem.
I’ve had that same problem!! The NYX lipsticks are smooth and have a great variety of colors but the smell reminded me of like what motor oil would taste like or something. BLECH!
NYX round lipsticks smell/taste like soap and apply streaky. I like the black label lipsticks which are a bit more expensive, but the round ones are just awful!
Maybelline Color Sensational Pearl Lipstick it turns your lips pratically white! I also dislike Wet N’ Wild lipstick its way too dry.
L’Oreal, smell isn’t a problem… but the product itself is sub-par.
loreal lipsticks to me smell so strong and perfumed, well they do in England anyway. i like lipsticks to be fragrance free and not smell of perfume or plastic. some of them when you purse or lick your lips taste nasty and chemically aswell, yuk. the nyx black lipsticks are fine but in my opinion the round tube ones smell vile.
for me rimmel it made my lips chappy. I think it may have been an allergic reaction.
i hated rimmel for the cheap, sweet smell it had that made me want to vomit.
Oh god it smells awful I threw mine away.
For me its NYC. Got a tube as a freebie in a swap, tried it once, then threw it away. Patchy appearance, and no staying power whatsoever!
NYX colors are great but they smell and taste like death! It makes me so sad b/c they are so affordable!
Overall, I don’t love CG or Maybelline. Most of their brown shades are pink or even grey based. I like to see red-browns or yellow-browns and most of CG’s and Maybelline’s do not meet my need.
I’m on a quest to find tones of red that look good on me, so I’m experimenting with drug store ones til I find the right tones and finishes. That said, the Cover Girl Outlast liquid lipstick with gloss/balm is TERRIBLE! My lips were properly exfoliated and moisturized, but I had dry little lipstick balls in the middle of my lips within half an hour. DISGUSTING. The hunt for the perfect red continues!
l’oreal coz they smell terrible, feel terrible, hate the shades, all around crappy
The Almay Pureblends Lipgloss…not lipstick, but omg the smell was the worst smell ever. Kind of smelled like old playdough! I bought one, tried it on, and immediately threw it away.
I totally agree with you on this! I’m glad they discontinued them. I bought one and was absolutely repulsed when I put it on my lips. It smelled like a nasty mixture of clay, dirt, and Play-Doh! And it tasted even worse. I tried to give mine away because I knew I would never use it because of the smell, but no one wanted it because it smelled so terrible. Ewwww
Maybelline color sensational taste like beach sun block, horrible. I bought one and never use it.
Humm… honestly, all of them! :/
I have given up on drugstore lipsticks because they all seem to dry my lips a lot. Besides, some drugstore lipsticks are almost as expensive as some high end ones, so I prefer to spend a little bit extra but take home something that not only is pretty and has better packaging, but will also be good for my lips!
That’s exactly how I feel..most of the drugstore lipsticks that I like are nearly as much as MAC or Clinique. I’d rather spend a little more to get something that lasts longer on my lips, looks and feels better.
I’ve got to be honest…I’ve never tried a drugstore lipstick that I liked!…and I’m no makeup snob. They’re usually waxy and have some horrendous smell or taste.
L’Oreal, for the awful smell and because they’re drying. Also, Urban Decay lipstick! They’re beautiful and pigmented, but the taste is so horrendously bitter I can’t deal with it.
I also hate UD lipstick. I was VERY disappointed. So now I have a full one that’s been used like twice and I don’t know what to do with it, because I don’t want to throw it away. 🙁
Hahaha uhhh all of them
L’Oreal. That sickly sweet chemical smell is nauseating. I’ve only used that and Revlon though.
Wet n Wild. They are dry but most of all I’ve only ever bought too of them. One broke off at the base right away, which I’d never experienced before and the other one melted into runny burgundy mush in my bedroom when I used to live in Florida.
Back in the day when Black Opal Cosmetics first came out their lipsticks looked and felt beautiful but sadly had a horrible plastc-y metallic taste which was very bitter. And once I tried a Maybelline lipstick years ago that looked far too slippery.
I think that for years and years now the best lipstick from the drugstore/pharmacy is Revlon as theirs have no taste
I meant to say that Revlon has no taste and at least a very negligible smell, and it feels comfortable on. To me anyway. Years and years ago though, I never thought that L’Oreal lipsticks smelled that badly; they smelled very faintly of perfume and at the time didn’t have a taste really either.
With drugstore lipsticks you get what you pay for. If you shade your lips with a lipliner and put Revlon’s lipstick over it it lasts me 3 hours if I’m not eating or drinking.
I agree! I paired Wild Orchid from Revlon and used Revenge is Sweet lipgloss over and I swear, it lasted me around 5-6 hours. 🙂
Revlon Matte Nude Attitude! its meant to be a nude but its really orange and really really really drying, I hate it
so true
OMG…I dunno if it’s just mine, but…..my Revlon Matte Nude Attitude lipstick has a weird sheen on it….like bluish? But when swatched it’s gone….but on the lips IT’S THERE!!!
It’s not even a good nude to put another color over it…
Not to mention hard and not creamy…ick
Oh wow! That happened to me too! I thought it was just me. The color looked gross on my lips!
Ugh i agree, nude attitude was the worst. I was expecting so much when everyone raved about how it was such a great nude lipstick… very orange and disappointing.
Rimmel makes some nasty, smelly lipsticks, I think!
I have a few Rimmel Londen shades, and I actually love the smell/taste. Maybe I’m weird though haha.
I have some BIG hate for NYC lipstick. OMG this stuff sucks! I know this isn’t a lipstick but Wet n Wild’s opaque lip glosses are a BIG FAT NO! The jelly ones are okay and I love them but the opaque ones are frost, trashy, and just downright nasty. Don’t do it!
I haven’t bought a ds lipstick in a REALLY long time, but from what I recall the original Wet and Wild had to be the worst. They made my lips feel like sand paper, smelled bad, and tasted even worse. I had quite a few of them anyway though! The W&W lip liners I used with them were the pits also.
NYX as they have such a bad smell, I ended up coughing like crazy.
And Alverde which is a German natural cosmetics brand. I’ve only tried one lipstick which I think was LE and had to take it off after maybe 30 minutes because my lips started to burn and dried out very quickly. I even had some slightly sore spots. It took a few days of dedicated care to get them back into shape.
All of them. lol
But I serious cant get any of them to last 2 hours on my lip. Longevity is what I like about some of MACs formulations.
definitely nyx! not worth the money at all.
Maybelline Color Sensational (I am talking about the original ones, but since I hated these I do not bother with any other kind they have). The ones I got were really dry & left the same feeling on the lips, they were frosty, & smelled like playdoh. Yuck.
Al lot of drugstore lipsticks are horrible, because most of them have big chunks of glitter in them, Ít’s hard to find a nice creamy lipstick at the drugstore
The texture of Rimmel lipsticks is waaaay off for me. Sit horribly on lips, and sinks into all lines and flakes. Won’t sit on smooth lips well, anyway.
I had a terrible experience with Maybelline Color Sensational- I purchased several different colors, and within a few months they started to smell so awful-I couldn’t bear to put them on my lips. 2 of them also dried up to the point that they were unusable, so I had to throw them out.
One of mine dried out, too! I was wondering if that was normal for the formula or if I just got a bad one.
Wet n Wild for sure!! They are the tackiest, frostiest, shades of wax ever! And I also don’t like the shape.
l’oreal b/c it smells god awful!!! i use to love the shine delices (they smelled like raspberry) but they dc’d them-of course!
almay
I was really disappointed with the new Covergirl Lip Perfection. The colors were so frosty, ugly and unflattering on lips. They looked VERY cheap, and like something from the late 80’s (I got Verve and Feline). Not very happy, basically. Maybe the creme ones are better.
I got “Feline” at Target today and am sort of upset about it – I should have known better than to buy it sight unseen. It’s a super frosty, 80s hot pink color. 🙁
I picked up two (Coquette and Euphoria, I think…) and Coquette was frosty, the other was cream… I like the look of the cream one much better! Overall the formula seems to be better than other drugstore makeups, though. Way better than the CG lipsticks that come in the package, those are terrible! I think they’re being discontinued, thank God!
It’s gonna be REVLON!!!
Not only it makes my lips chapped, but also bled (after removal)! Seriously.
Oh ya, and after removing, I can’t even feel my lips, like literally numb.
Now I only use it for FOTD/LOTD/swatches photos property. Basically for playing around, not for serious few hours-wear.
Aww, that sucks!
Revlon ones (not in the quilted packaging) are loveee to me! They are so creamy and nice, not dry at all.
Sorry to hear your experience was bad. 🙁
It seems like a lot of people are put off by scents in lipsticks… they don’t really bother me once the lipstick is on. Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick can smell funky (depending on the shade for some reason), but I like the formula. However, the first one I ever bought- about a year ago- has now dried out and is unusable.
I’ve never had that happen with a lipstick that wasn’t really, really old (like 6 years old or more).
Maybelline Colorsensational Lip Color fell short, delivering less thickness than a “tube of chapstick” and short lived color
Hard Candy by far. Cute packaging but it doesn’t make up for the absolute horrendous, streaky application. My lips have to be COMPLETELY dry before applying but even then it applies uneven and sheer.
If you’re talking about the ones with the ribbon on the end- those do have adorable packaging! But yeah, they are terrible. 🙁
Nyx! I pick this over wet n wild and nyc because even the matte shades look streaky and way too opaque on me. It just doesn’t sit right on my lips. :s
Wet and wild sux because it smells like paint and is also wayyy too creamy.
Revlon super lustrous lipstick, the frosty shades are awful! Feel so dry on lips
LOOOL! I’m loving everyone’s descriptions of how terrible some of these lipsticks smell: old lady, expired play-doh, rotten cherries, crayolas…..
LOL rotten cherry & old lady are my fave!
I hate Maybelline Color Sensational lipsticks! I’ve tried like three of them maybe, but man, I really don’t like them! The application is so uneven and they are so dry. The waxy scent is also bad. I really want to love them – or at least like them!
I’ve never come across a drugstore lipstick that I actually hated, but the Cover Girl Continuous Color and Revlon Matte lipsticks leave my lips rather dry. and the L’oréal Colour Riche ones smell like baby powder! nasty.
Revlon…the street wear collection is too dry.
NYC
The liquid lipsticks by Revlon! UGH HORRIBLE & accentuates the fine lines in your lips!
Hehehe….rotten cherries, crayolas…..
NYC, definitely, More specifically, their $2 longwearing lipsticks. They smell like plastic. Even though it’s long lasting (you’re going to be wearing it for the next day, since it doesn’t wash off easily at all), it still smears and smudges on contact.
maybelline color sensational. no lasting power.
Cover Girl Continuous Color. I used to buy it when I was 14 and restricted to inexpensive drugstore makeup. The texture and consistency were horrendously bad, and every shade I tried somehow managed to look completely different than what was in the tube. It was not pretty.
I hate the L’Oreal Lipsticks. They smell disgusting! Sometimes I see a shade that is really pretty, but I can’t bring myself to by it because of the awful smell. It really does smell like old ladies. >:p
I hate the L’Oreal Lipsticks. They smell disgusting! Sometimes I see a shade that is really pretty, but I can’t bring myself to buy it because of the awful smell. It really does smell like old ladies. >:p
That Revlon lipstain…horrible! Doesn’t apply evenly at all, the edges of my lips turn out way darker than the middle!!!
L’oreal, definitely. Smells like rotting fruit and some sort of weird playdough/baby powder scent mixed in… makes me want to barf everytime I get it close to my nose. Plus, the texture feels disgusting on my lips!
nyx lipsticks! it has the most horrible taste and smell to it!
definitely the wetnwild matte lipsticks. the pigmentation is excellent and it’s dirt cheap. BUT the packaging is the WORST. the lid doesn’t close all the way (no click, loosely spins around), and the lipstick comes loose and gets smeared all over the inside of the tube, horrible!
Why is your pick never listed? I see your answers for other questions you post.
I don’t participate in these posts!
The one that I was actually kinda excited to get, and I love the smell/taste of and all…but it has ABSOLUTELY NO STAYING POWER like, at all, is my Hard Candy lipstain (I have “Sangria”). Drives me nuts because its so pretty, but 20 minutes later? All gone. 🙁
No opinions on most DS brands, because I don’t often buy any except the Rimmel Londer stuff (Which I love, but again, minimal staying power). I do have a Revlon Colorstay lipgloss type thing, and I have no smell/taste issues with it, and its got good staying power until it DOES wear off, then it balls up and just…ARGH.
Yay overly long comment. >.>
I read many comments about people throwing away lipsticks after trying them. Just wanted to say that drugstores and places like Target/Wal-Mart *will refund your money* if you return the item (and have the receipt for it) within the time of their refund policy.
So, you don’t have to ‘throw away’ money if the product isn’t to your liking . . . just return it, but fairly quickly. Hope this helps . . .
For me, MAX FACTOR has the worst lipsticks, as when you demakeup they leave a nasty stain on and they come in awful colours!!!!
Really? I LOVE max factor lipsticks! They last forever! Was so sad when they stopped selling in the u.s. 🙁
I know this isn’t a drugstore brand, or at least I don’t think it is, but I gotta throw it in there because it is just haneous – Anna Sui lipstick #001. I thought it would be a cool silvery or clear lippie with multi-colored sparkles, but what it actually is, is drying, waxy, clear with craft store, xmas looking glitter – and you’re talking to someone who is alllll about shimmer, glitter, sparkle. I tried to be a sport and wear it a couple times, but the smell is just so incredibly weird and unpleasant that even I couldn’t deal with it – it’s the first lippie I actually gave up on and threw in the trash – the only time I throw lippies away is when they are no good anymore and need to be thrown out, otherwise I try to find some use for them. And I thought Anna Sui was a more higher end brand, no? I mean there are other things I’d like to try and the packaging is really nice, but no not that lipstick, not ever again!
NYC Mineral Lipsticks… colour looks pretty but smells toxic! bleh!
wet n wild regular round lipppies. they taste absolutely terrible, their drying and only 2 or 3 are really nicely pigmented but honestly the taste is abhorrent
jordana has the best matte lipsticks i swear best drugstore lipsticks but dont buy wet n wild round dollar lipsticks the taste is so gross
the gross halloween makeup kits in drugstores. I wouldn’t even put it on a kid for a costume.
I found the perfect shade: Maybelline’s “Crazy for Coffee”, but it tastes like dust. Strong, lingering dust. I honestly thought it was an expired batch, the taste is so vile…so I looked it up on http://checkcosmetic.net/ and it turns out it’s not even a year into its 3-year shelf life. Now I’ve got to decide whether I’d rather have attractive lips and walk around tasting dust or go pale and dust-free. Or go shopping again. 😛