Archived Post
What brand do you find least reliable in quality?
Here are ones that come to mind…
Bobbi Brown, Dior, LORAC, Maybelline, Tarte, and Too Faced.
— Christine
Explore Temptalia
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
27 Comments
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
Comments on this post are closed.
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Bobbi Brown, Benefit, Covergirl, Revlon, Dior, Gosh, By Terry, Jane Ireda;le, Bare Minerals, and Almay.
Unfortunately I’ve had to add Lancome & Lorac to the probation list recently.
NYX is the one that immediately comes to mind. I don’t experiment with a lot of drugstore brands since you can’t test them in the store, but I’ve blind-bought lots of NYX products based on reviews or just taking a chance. Some are great (face and eye primers), some were just so-so (Micro Brow), others were awful (HD loose powder, which flies insanely all over the place the moment you take off the lid and has a difficult texture to use).
I think most drugstore brands are unreliable, actually. Some of them I swear by only for very specific products (such as Rimmel and Cover Girl mascara), but haven’t been impressed with their other products.
Dior, Tarte, Benefit, Revlon, and Too Faced.
Some years ago Tarte wouldn’t even have been on my list for least reliable in quality but they’ve changed.
I agree with all of the brands that you’ve choose.
Tarte and Too faced are most known for it in my eyes. When it comes to eyeshadow palettes I don’t even own any tarte because I have never trusted that it would be a solid purchase.
I have a holiday Tarte palette from a few years ago and it’s fantastic. Sad to find out how their offerings are suspect or inspire doubt (at the moment).
Too Faced eyeshadows are very chalky!
Maybelline, Revlon, Bourjois, Kat Von D, Jefree Star, Too Faced, Lorac, MUFE
MAC! so much hit and miss
I was about to post MAC! I generally have good luck with their cream products, but the powders (shadow, blush, face powder, etc.) are wildly unpredictable. And I’m very wary of holiday sets from any brand now. The quality, even from reliable brands, can be terrible (looking at you in particular, MAC).
Similar replies as several others – Dior (because they’re pricey and unpredictable) and Tarte, especially lately. I’d also add Marc Jacobs to the list. He has several products I really love but, so far, his eyeshadow palettes haven’t been great purchases for me.
Too Faced for sure…
Tarte is very hit of miss in my opinion. Their permanent line is good. Base products are generally good. Eyeshadow can be a serious miss.
Others are too faced, Dior, Lorac, NYX, actually most drugstore brands.
Oh yeah! Definately Tarte, Too Faced, Lancôme, Dior and Lorac for mid to HE. MAC and UD holiday collections are *always* a mixed bag. For DS or LE, I’d say Revlon, Maybelline and Covergirl, of which I only still buy Maybelline.
Mac, Dior, Smashbox, Colorpop
The first brand that came to mind is IT.
Yes, all the ones you have named: Dior (for eyeshadows), Tarte, Too Faced, Bobbi Brown and lately LORAC and nearly all the DS brands for eyeshadows.
Crazy as it sounds so many fall in the failure list. Dior,Lancome, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Burberry,Benefit, Maybelline,Cover Girl, Loreal. KAT VON. Mac,.Tarte,UD, makeup 4 ever. And many more . What has happened to the cosmetic industry? I am starting to think that they are using glamorous packaging,higher prices, They aren’t putting an effort into producing quality cosmetics anymore. Very sad.
I’ve read and heard a lot of hype about tarte but was very disappointed in Dream Big palette. My only tarte purchase. Eye shadow everywhere when I apply. Even after blowing on brush first.
Colour Pop seems to be inconsistent from batch to batch. Christine would give something a wonderful rating and when I order it, it becomes hit or miss: sometimes as wonderful as reviewed, other times dry and patchy and not at all as described (and I usually order multiple colors of a certain formula so I do know what the correct version is supposed to feel like. It was super frustrating BC I could not return due to shoddy quality – only if things are damaged. I’m glad that Sephora will begin carrying colour pop, this way, exchanges are facilitated.
Shiseido, chanel, Dior, YSL, the Ordinary, bourjois, Urban decay, L’Oreal, MAC and Bobbi Brown.
Of what I’ve used/own: Too Faced, Tarte, LORAC, Smashbox, YSL, Maybelline, CoverGirl, Revlon, Rimmel, and MAC Limited Edition collections.
ALL brands, depending on the item. Quality control sometimes just isn’t there. Other times, products are great. I quit trying to figure the mystery out and just wait for trusted reviews or until I can get to a store in person to check things out. I’ve been let down by too many brands.
Any of the “cutesie” ones….Too Faced, Tarte, and lately…MAC. MAC used to be my go-to brand and I always paid close attention to their releases. But their collections all run on top of each other and I can’t keep up, plus their quality has gone down. I’ll repurchase my old favorites, like Knight Divine eyeshadow, and a handful of their lipstick shades…..Sophisto and New York Apple are two of my favorites. I prefer a company that focuses on quality over quantity. And I hate Disney or cartoon character collections. Leave those for grade school girls.
I’d consider Tarte one of the more reliable brands for sure. I’ve never been disappointed in anything by them. I know their holiday releases are sketchy, but I generally avoid them and pick from their permanent lines.
The eyeshadow palettes from MAC, Lancome, and Bobbi Brown have quality issues that cause me to shop elsewhere with one caveat: IMO, Bobbi Brown’s best eyeshadow palettes are in their Holiday/Christmas collections and I often buy one or Santa brings one at that time of the year.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Too Faced, Kat Von D, Marc Jacobs, UD, Tarte – I can’t take the chalky shadows. The fallout is such a pain. Usually fallout happens because a shadow is fine-milled but this is ridiculous. Too Faced barely has pigment PLUS it’s so powdery. The line is too kitschy. Enough with the chocolate and peach. Bobbi Brown, I used to love Bobbi, but the shadows have no color pigment, the lipsticks are so drying, and the gel liner dries up too fast. Then, Anastasia. I find the individual shadows are OK, but the palettes are another drag – same for UD. Clinique has never had enough pigment. Lipsticks? I can’t stand the dry cakies (Kat, Marc, Anastasia). Who do I even like anymore? Forget the drugstore usuals like CoverGirl, Maybelline, L’Oreal (although there are a few Essence lipsticks I love). And then when there IS a product I like from a line, they discontinue it.
I think the main problem: The lines keep trying to keep up with each other and never focus on the quality of the products. Too many product releases. In order to be “relevant,” they have to keep producing new products. Enough with the highlighters, enough with the contour kits, enough with the liquid lipsticks.