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What was the last product you were disappointed by?
Becca’s Apres Ski eyeshadow palette… it was more of a let-down than the Tarte Buried Treasure, since Tarte has been hit or miss for awhile.
— Christine
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The last product I got disappointed by was the Sleek Solstice palette. The ‘different’ highlight shades in that palette all look the same when they are blended out on the cheek. I feel like it is because of the white shimmer used in all of them
The Chantecaille eyeshadow I just ordered. Not the eyeshadow actually. It’s a decent eyeshadow. But I ordered the limited edition packaging and when it came in the mail, it came with just ordinary packaging. I was let down. But I contacted Barneys and they refunded my money so I could order again to get the limited edition. I’m still deciding if I want to do that. Such a hassle for an elephant on an eyeshadow lid lol
The Marc Jacobs Edgitorial palette. I actually returned it and I haven’t returned a makeup product in years and years.
The Fenty foundation and primer. I really love how extraordinary the shade range is in the foundation and I hope more cosmetics companies sit up and take notice of that. Far too often, brands ignore the deeper end of the spectrum, or only make token gestures. One ‘deep’ shade doesn’t and shouldn’t cut it – women of ALL colours have undertones that can range from warm to cool to olive and neutral. I really want to emphasise this point because, while the Fenty foundation wasn’t right for my skin type, I love the fact that it now exists. I think MAC’s range of NC/NW shades are actually quite paltry, not just in terms of the number of colours. I think there’s something uncomfortably….binary about the MAC shade system (which is probably why all their base products look dreadful on me). And yet we continue to use the MAC system as a common reference point across the online beauty community. I have a shade match in Fenty.
I didn’t like the primer at all. It didn’t enhance the appearance of the foundation and was quite heavy on the silicones and texturally not pleasing. I tend to prefer illuminating primers rather than mattifying ones which is important to note! The foundation looks great on so many people. I just found that it really didn’t wear well – I now know what people mean when they refer to their foundation separating! It exacerbated my dry patches and collected in those areas. It was a much thicker consistency to the liquidy serum like foundations I prefer. And last of all, it did oxidise and turn rather yellow on me by mid day.
That said, I think that the Shimmer Stix are cute. I got two, Starstruck and Yacht Lyfe. I was surprised by the cream to powder sort of finish, I definitely expected more glow but I actually appreciate the subtlely of these. I am enjoying the Matte Stix in Porcelain as a concealer/lazy way to even out red patches, and in Amber as a contour shade. The finish of the Matte Stix is really natural on me, it looks like skin.
The one Item I love is the Cheek Hugging Brush which I think is such a cool shape and am having lots of fun using it for contouring. It reminds me a little of the angled Koyudo fu-pa brushes but of course, the hair is very different, it’s much more suitably shaped for hugging the hollow of the cheekbone and I’m now very curious about the foundation brush!
Oh golly. Nearly every DS eyeshadow & concealer I’ve tried.
I feel like I should know what DS is, but I’m having a low-wattage day (year). My brain keeps hitching itself to “Dior” but that’s clearly not it… ???
Drugstore!
Drugstore maybe?
Yes, of course! — drugstore. [facepalm]
Thanks, folks.
Neutrogena’s cleansing oil. Can’t decide whether or not to throw it away. It irritates my eyes.
The Fenty shimmer stick. I heard you could use them as eye shadow, but it didn’t have much pigment.
Oy, vay. Cut and paste from FFHF. Lorac mega 4 and CP yin to my yang. Within a week. Dismay city. Home Alone/Munch The Scream Face. The first is bad, the second quite dreadful. That was easy!
Natasha Denona All Over Face and Body Shimmer Powder. I was expecting a little more glow and this was so subtle on my skin as to be invisible and yet somehow it managed to highlight the texture of my skin.
The Nudestix lipstick in Raven. Love the color, love the name, but it goes grainy on me after a couple hours, and can’t be smoothed by applying balm over top (something that manages to correct most other matte lipsticks that I have this problem with). Very sad. I’m not getting rid of it though; the color is worth trying to salvage. I’m going to experiment with base coats (primer, balms, etc.).
YSL touche eclat. Seems to have been reformulated, doesn’t seem to have reflective, light effect it used to. Now just a so-so concealer
Oh now I understand why I don’t like it that nuch anymore…
Probably that great big Sephora Skin Wonderland kit. Not because anything in it is a bad product, or unusable, but within that truckload of great products, there isn’t even one cleanser! LOL! I didn’t realize that it was primarily masks, exfoliants and moisturizers. Or that the Foreo cleaning device would be a bit too small for my hands! Man, that thing is hard for me to get a good trip onto it while compressing the “On” button! The saddest part? The biggest selling point for me was that Foreo being included.
Other than that, the one product that totally let me down was when I bought a replacement for my one HG finishing powder; WnW Reserve Your Cabana. My replacement is not only lighter, but seems more shimmery, too. ?
Polish: Color Club “Trees Please” polish. Beautiful bright green shade, but thin and streaky. Doesn’t get opaque on its own, and I hate doing white bases unless it’s for nail art like sponging.
Skincare: Pacifica Cactus Water micellar cleansing tonic. I’ve been looking for a cruelty free/vegan-friendly product to remove my eye makeup for a while and this one just doesn’t remove my mascara without too much eye rubbing, even when I skip waterproof mascara. It works fine for other makeup on my face, though.
Tom Ford lipstick (the few I’ve tried). In fact, I’ve been disappointed by every Tom Ford product I’ve tried–foundation, blush, shadow, lipstick. In a way I’m glad, because I can spend the ridiculous amount of cash charged for each on things I like better (and are, frankly, better quality), but I’m dismayed that he’s ripping people off with these cosmetics. Sure, they work for some, but they’re only worth about half the price.
This is a weird one because it’s my all time favorite mascara, but Benefit Rollerlash. This summer it just decided to transfer all over my browbone throughout the day as I wear it, and my eyelashes don’t seem much longer than they were before? Not sure if the formula is wetter than before or my eye skin is just oilier but I have to switch to something else now, or retry in the cooler weather. Bummer! I’ve loved it (and its packaging) since it launched.
Sisley Foundation in Phyto Tient Eclat. Oh no, just no.
ColorPop Super Shock shadows. They were not as pigmented as I hoped they would be and I found them difficult to apply. The gel eyeliners were decent but the packaging was awful. And I was really glad to see the last of a NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner. Even though I kept it in the freezer, it broke off just about every time I tried to sharpen it.
Kat Von D Glimmer Shade + Light eye shadow palette. Too much fallout even with glitter primer and the special KVD glitter brush I brought to go with it. I love the matte version so much , I couldn’t wait to get this glimmer one. Only to be disappointed, hated to but I had to return it!
Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation – the light vanilla shade was meant to have a neutral undertone, but I think it’s yellowish.
Genevieve, that’s the shade I wear, and it definitely is more warm than neutral. It works for me, especially in the summer, but I can see where it wouldn’t work for someone with pink undertones like you have.
Milk Makeup Flex Concealer. I’ve been looking for a dupe for the Nars Radiant Creamy ever since Nars gave up its cruelty free status. It’s a pretty good color match (maybe a tad too yellow), but it creases on me EVERY TIME. I’ve tried using it by itself, with color corrector underneath, set, different setting powders, not set, etc. It. Always. Creases. I’m going to finish the tube and then try to find another CF concealer. If anyone has any recommendations I’m all ears!
I don’t have recommendations, but I share your frustration at giving up NARS. The longer I go without, the more I miss them. 🙁
Two things so far, the Lorac MegaPro 4 palette and the Becca Apres Ski eyeshadow palette. They both looked good in theory, but missed the mark in practice.
MAC Plum Dandy lipstick is so pretty but it doesn’t look very good on me (too dark).
DS I would have to say Essence blushes they don’t last much I have the peach and the pink bith brught ones but also one which has small squares they have a bronzer and blush looking pretty similar. But the princess mascaras I love and the highlights! And eyeshadow palettes. Oh! To end in a positive note, I’m surprised by Cover Girl’s rose palette smooth easy to apply and lasted on my lids! Good job CG on those!
Super-disappointed by the new Shiseido lipstick in Rose Syrup — the formula was terribly drying, so much that I could peel it off my lips. I love the original Rouge Rouge lipsticks but wish this one had been marked as a matte — it really is a different formula!
ABH Subculture palette. I never return makeup, and I returned this after I saw how much excess it kicked up. What a waste. Instead of actually saying it was a poor product, they just made a bunch of crappy excuses about that palette. It was awful, and I won’t be buying anymore ABH products ever.
The Tarte Big Blush Book Volume III. The blushes themselves are wonderful. But I’m not crazy about the packaging. The pattern on it is really fun and pretty, but I do’t like the quality. The cardboard is really soft and bends easily, and I don’t feel like the pans are super-secure inside it. I also think the packaging is too big and bulky, and it’s awkward to hold when using. I’m probably going to end up de-potting it.