Too Faced (too many misses for me to get enthused about their releases) and Bobbi Brown (either feels like a rehash or overpriced to me) come to mind.
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I’m with you on Too Faced (a company whose products I used to love a lot but in the past couple of years – those “melted” lipsticks turned me off and all the “theme-scented” eye products REALLY turned me off) and also MUFE. I love most of their eyeshadows but so many of their other products I’ve tried have been expensive but disappointing. And I wish they’d left their eyeshadows alone, just making them smaller and rectangular but not messing with the formula.
I want to love Becca, but everything is so sparkly! I would love to use their products with options of satin, micro shimmer, etc.
Urban Decay – I’ve bought all of the Naked palettes, most of the eyeliners and I wind up giving them away.
Same about Too Faced, their releases, esp. the palettes seem to be released just for the sake of releasing, the creativity and novelty I’m looking for isn’t there much of the time.
Elizabeth Arden(screams old), Estee Lauder, Too Faced, Bobbi Brown(same reasons as yours), charlotte Tilbury(great marketing and a couple of good products but way overpriced).
NARS. I do like a few of their products and I don’t particularly hate anything, but I feel like everything I’ve ever tried just doesn’t live up to the hype. I feel the same about Viseart and to an extent, Urban Decay.
Too Faced — absolutely agree.
Chanel — when I could first afford beyond drug store, I went to Chanel and felt I’d achieved something. Though in reviews I find few real failures, it doesn’t feel so special anymore. Perhaps because there are so many options now or maybe it has lost its something special.
Bite– I just cannot seem to find a shade that works for me. Could be I am too finicky. Love the agave masks though.
It’s probably time I give up on Colourpop. I like the idea of a brand where I can try out trends, colors, finishes that I don’t want to spend a lot on, but I buy things from them, use it once, and never touch it again, with the exception of some pressed shadows. Their colors aren’t accurate on the site, many of the textures are weird, and I’m in my 20s and feel too old for their branding.
OMG just when I made my first order on their website ! But I’m French, so don’t have access to them in-store, which kinda makes the brand attractive – I love trying brands I can’t easily find.
So well, I wanted to try their SSS formula and picked up 5 shades – Bouncy, Revolution, Muse, I heart this and Cosmic Charge – plus their Hippo highlighter.
It’s not expensive and the quality seems good and cohesive, according to Christine’s reviews. I didn’t grab shades I’d wear only once in a while like bright turquoise blue, although I have to admit Coconut looks amazing, but I guess easily dupable with a turquoise and a black eyeshadow to darken it up. I do agree on the swatches quality on their website though: you have to read comments and look online to get a better idea
Aww no, I hope you’ll like it! It was fun to try out, I’ve just already settled into what kind of products I like wearing and colourpop doesn’t make them. Hippo looks cool and different for instance, but as gorgeous as it is in the pan, I just don’t like how I look in things like pigmented highlighter or the ultra matte liquid lips, and that kind of thing is what colourpop does best. I always reach for more classic products when I’m getting ready.
I totally get your point. After all, makeup is all about personal preferences and feeling good about the products you’re using. But it was funny to read your comment that shortly after making my order :p
I really like Colourpop. The SSS are very good. Especially for the price. Their Supernova eyeshadows are alright. Not the best. I think you’ll be happy with your order. 🙂 I’ve ordered from them quite a few times.
I’m sure I will 🙂 I really just want to see what the brand has to offer after hearing so much about it. Thanks for your input!
I also love Colourpop and I’m 36 years old! They only thing o got from them that I wasnt a can of was their eyeliner pencils but I’m not sure if they even sell them anymore. Their SS shadows are the best shadows I’ve ever used. When I use them I know my eyeshadow isn’t going anywhere for the day which is a big deal to me because I have oily skin and everything except Colourpop just slides off. Hopefully you love them too!
Thank you, Jess. I always use a primer anyway because everything ends up creasing a little bit, but I might try to wear them on their own, to see if it works. I tried to pick standard neutral shades but with a little twist, thanks to glitters, and a few more colourful. I should be able to have some fun ^^
Too Faced – I’ve given up on mediocre, cutesy, gimmick products
Tarte – just, so, blah… (plus they can’t seem to formulate an inclusive shade range)
Becca – their highlighters are just too much for me
Natasha Denona, Viseart, Pat McGrath – too rich for my blood (and their cruelty free statuses are iffy at best)
Huda – seems to be mostly hype
Nars – for like the millionth time, why did they have to stop being cruelty free???
Lime Crime – I just don’t dig what they’ve been putting out, and I feel it lacks creativity. Like yeah, the Venus XL is pretty, but it just looks like every single other warm red/orange/pink neutral palette that has come out in the last few years (including their own original Venus palette)
MacKenzie, I can understand why you think the Huda products are mostly hype because of all the Instagram and YouTube promoting. I personally didn’t buy anything of hers until I saw a lot of her products in action and read a lot of reviews. I’ve tried it all from the lip products to the eyeshadow palettes and I haven’t tried a product of hers that I didn’t like. I only have the Winter Solstice Highlighting Palette none of the other highlighting sets so I can’t speak on the others but the Winter one is great. The foundation is so good but only if you like full coverage like me!! From my experience it is solid quality. I just wanted to share my experience with the brand. I respect your opinion.
Totally agree with Bobbi Brown. I like their aesthetic (working gal type thing) but the only product I’ve really liked are their highlighters. Plus their prices keep creeping up.
I finally realized that I’m just not into Colourpop. I recently gave away and threw out everything I’ve purchased from the brand, and I feel like nothing of value was lost. For on-trend and inexpensive makeup I gravitate toward Wet n Wild anyway.
I think I’m over most e-commerce brands. I used to love them or I’m trying to love them and I don’t. No reason to force myself to love them just because hype swirls around them.
I think Hourglass deserves and honorable mention too. I’ve tried many of their products, wanted to love them, and I just don’t. I still have the Ambient Lighting palette in a box and I should really throw that away.
Just curious why you don’t like Colourpop?
It really came down to two things: I couldn’t get into the products (I didn’t like the super shock anything and I felt like their liquid lipsticks were way too drying) and I felt like I couldn’t keep up with the releases. When I found something I really liked, it would get pulled in favor of something else.
There are two eye pencils I really liked that I think are still around, but I’m not a fan of fast fashion and I’m not a fan of fast beauty. When I find something I love, I want it to stick around awhile and I feel like Colourpop’s releases are just too fleeting and too overwhelming for me to follow.
Lancôme, their line seems very outdated, even with the partnership with Lisa Eldridge. Their packaging seems really clunky and reviews of their product releases are less than stellar.
Bobbi Brown, I agree some of their products seem ridiculously overpriced.
The packaging of most of Lancôme’s products looks so dated to me, it looks like something I’d find in my mom’s forgotten bag of cosmetics she wore in the 90s. When I saw the new Anastasia Amrezy highlighters, I thought they were Lancôme because they looked a little tacky.
Oddly enough, I personally think Lisa Eldridge is “dated”… I realize she’s trying to do “classic”, but it just comes off as 80s/90s “natural” looks… As for Lancome, my issues come down to quality, primarily eyeshadow; back when I was purchasing Lancome shadows, in the mid-90s, they were pigmented & creamy, but when I revisited the brand 10 years later, they were thin & sheer. I still love their base & cheek products, though.
What an interesting point of view. I’ve never thought of her style like that. But I do know what you mean. I do adore her philosophy about base makeup though.
I really want to like Tarte, but every palette they put out looks the same.
Omg it totally does. How many plain brown, neutral palettes with 1 plum shade can they possibly crank out?
Pat McGrath Labs. I love the idea of her products, but they’re never quite exciting enough to justify the price for me.
I agree with the commenter who mentioned Hourglass, too. I have the Ambient Lighting finishing powder and blush trios. I almost never reach for the former, and I used to use one of the blushes all the time, but since getting my Lunatick contour kit, I usually just use one of the blushes in that because I already have it out to do my contour. And nothing else that they’ve ever made has been exciting enough for me to pay their premium prices.
Same! TooFaced. I used to love Bobbi Brown, but their new stuff doesnt impress me.
Definitely Too Faced. I’m not 12-15 years old and that seems to be the demographic that they are reaching for with the cutesy themes.
Estée Lauder, Lancome- I can no longer tolerate the perfumed makeup/skincare products. I don’t need perfume in my makeup and especially not in my skincare.
Bobbi Brown- since she jumped ship and left the company, I’ve lost any interest in the products. I have a palette of three blushes that I never reach for. Boring and spendy.
Natasha Denona- I would splurge if only the products weren’t so blindingly frosted and glittery. Too over the top for me.
Tom Ford- I want to love it. I probably would enjoy things from the line, but I can’t get past the price point.
I agree with all of these!
I have to put Chanel on the list too for lack of foundation shade inclusion. Someone else mentioned them as well.
I’m with you on Too Faced. I was really disappointed with the Power of Makeup palette and it seems like it’s been all downhill from there.
I keep wanting to love Urban Decay but having been in the makeup game for around five years now, I can clearly remember when UD was one of the game-changing edgy brands on the market and unfortunately that is just not the same today.
On the plus side, one brand I used to feel this way about, I no longer do! Yay Smashbox! Going cruelty free, releasing an awesome brush line and liquid lipstick formula (I’ve only ever heard good things and plan to try both very soon) as well as having already had an amazing line of primers on the market, they are really keeping up in a great way!
ColourPop for me. The colors are really different than how they look on their site. (even worse than Zoya) and I have to spend loads of time looking for blogger swatches. I do have one blush Bardot, that I love but while my Super Shock shadows look lovely swatched on my hand, I just can’t seem to get them to work out on my eye. I can’t seem to get them bullt up enough, and i don’t get much wear time out of them. I just end up using them as bases or toppers for my regular powder shadows.
Too Faced! I’ve tried lippies, eye palettes, foundation, primers… and I really only liked two or three products. I don’t like all the cutesy packaging, the scented products, or trying to make everything into a collection.
Estee Lauder – I’d started off with the mindset of “it’s expensive so it must be good”. I found one HG, but everything else was so-so and I didn’t see it. And every couple yearsit seems like they dump their line of this or that product to come out with a “new” line of similar products but a higher price tag.
It Cosmetics – average products af best, despite all their scientific claims, with more of an infomercial-like sales style that‘s too pushy for me.
As many have said, Too Faced. Their marketing doesn’t speak to me. It seems very juvenile and the products that I have purchased, with the exception of just a couple, are terrible performers.
Stila is another brand that until very recently I would purchase something, use it and realize that it just doesn’t work for me and then I get rid of it. The only exception is the Glitter and Glow eye products which I love. Tarte just doesn’t work for me and their lack of inclusivity was really just the straw that broke the camel’s back, for me.
I had a whole rant prepared about a few brands, but at the end of the day, I think it’s that I’m happy with my collection and I don’t want to make room for another brand right now (unless it’s worth it – helloooo PML). I’ve tried a few and they were disappointing so I gave it all away. Others I’d like to incorporate in my stash and start collecting (Guerlain, Dior) but I only buy 1 or 2 things from them and the quality seems to be lacking for other products I’d want to buy (eyeshadows, blushes).
Bobbi Brown, MAC (too many subpar releases too fast) , colourpop
Tom Ford looks sleek and pretty but too expensive and the products I’ve tried seem mediocre at most. Charlotte Tilbury has nice packaging but caters to mostly light complexions and is too expensive. Kinda bummed that Viseart’s last 3 releases were underwhelming to me , I used to buy all of their new releases.
Lancome – I never got past their Juicy Tubes. There’s nothing really wrong with them (apart from egregious photo retouching of their spokeswoman’s faces) and their mascaras and Bi Facil always get raves but I’ve never found a single thing that screams “BUY ME!” from their range. I swatch their shades and think they’re pretty but it’s so easy to walk away…
Hourglass – I have a couple of their Ambient Lighting powders and I never reach for them. I don’t like the veil primer either, it just slides right off my face. Haven’t tried anything else, and after those fancy schmancy super spendy Ultra Slim lipsticks designed to look like cigarettes, I won’t bother.
Too Faced – I just stopped trying.
Because of certain companies having questionable business practices or horrible attitudes, I may want to love them for their products, but cannot let myself. For example: Jeffree Starr or Lime Crime.I just cannot with them.
Or some brands that used to have some awesome products in their line, but then went kukoo with putting fragrance and FLAVOR in their products! Too Faced Chocolate/Peach/Peanut Butter obsession has gotten out of hand. They do not listen to customers feedback on this either. Also, their quality has been all over the place in recent years.
Colourpop, for all the reasons given here. I would like to love Tarte again if it ever fixes its corporate culture.
Bobbi Brown
Too Faced
Natasha Denona (my experience makes the products sub-par for price range)
MAC (old school classic line still have some loves)
NARS
Limecrime/Illamasqua/ColourPop/OCC/By Terry/Givenchy/Chanel/LMdB/YSL/Giorgio Armani/Tom Ford – all lines I used to be interested in and now don’t bother… at all.
Dont come for me y’all but I just cannot get on board with Fenty for the most part. I’ve tried the foundation, killawatt highlighters and a few of their stick products and not a single one really blew me away. I have a feeling it’s just they are good products, just not what I like so I don’t dislike the brand; I just know I won’t rush to keep trying products.
I agree mostly with Too Faced – too many misses but their Born this Way foundation is an old favorite. Other than that it’s mostly cutsey stuff. Another product that I do like but don’t buy much anymore are the original Colourpop eyeshadows. I do like them but I dont like that they are single pots and that they dry out relatively quickly. I do like their powder products so I guess I’ll keep checking the brand out from time to time.
I’ve only tried the Fenty foundation, and I wasn’t impressed; while it was okay the first time I tried it, on a hot/humid day, it was awful a few days later, when the temperature dropped… Also, for a brand to have launched with 40 shades, I expected one to at least come close to a match… I still do want to try a couple of other products, though, before I form a complete opinion.
Colourpop because of their customer service, which is totally absent, their lipsticks are thick, hard to spread and don’t last very long. Their eyeshadows in anything other than matte are too sparkly and “in your face”. Chanel is overpriced and too often discontinued.
Charlotte Tilbury hands down. I wanted to love everything, I tried to like some things, but I’m left just not being able to even. The lipsticks have a great formulation, truly – especially the mattes, but the colors lean so warm they look terrible on me. The only one I could get away with is Secret Salma, but there are far better plums on the market. Her cream shadow sticks are a nightmare – poor pigmentation and zero lasting power. The shadow quads just strike me as a smaller, lesser attempt at Tom Ford, which I know she used to be a MUA for, but they just never grabbed me like TF ones have. Given those experiences I’ve given up on the line I’m afraid.
Nars and – don’t kill me – Pat McGrath are also ones that I just can’t, but for very different reasons. Nars occasionally has things I like, but more often than not, anything I buy wastes away in my collection until I toss it. The exception has been the lip glide in Bound, which I love. I don’t care for the Audacious lipsticks, though I know they are well loved. They’re too thick looking to me and I had to toss the ones I had. For McGrath, initially I found her pricing to be obnoxiously high for the exceedingly cheap looking product she put out. Her name didn’t justify the pricing or buying in a bundle to me. Of course I’ve heard raves over the lipsticks, but I honestly don’t like the packaging with the lips. I know I wouldn’t pull it out to use, so I’ve stayed away thus far. I suppose if I truly found a color I had to have that I couldn’t duplicate elsewhere, perhaps. The new smaller shadow palettes have a bit more appeal, but is still TBD. I didn’t love the initial release enough to want to shell out the money for it. As much as I appreciate her artistry, it just hasn’t been enough to date.
Agreement on both counts with you, Christine — Too Faced skews too young (and tacky) for me, and Bobbi Brown is just meh and boring. Others I just can’t get interested in:
– Elizabeth Arden — strikes me as a really old-fashioned line
– Lancôme — ditto
– Estee Lauder — also old-fashioned, though perhaps slightly less so
– Pat McGrath — waaaaay too expensive
– Viseart — ditto
– Tom Ford — double ditto
– Natasha Denona — no idea who she is, or why she warrants such hefty prices
I’m sure there are others, too. My current interests lie with exploring Canadian brands. I feel it’s my patriotic duty! 😉
Kay von d, tried it and dont like her products, tarte eyeshadow lacks a lot, I’ve tried so much Bobbi brown too and never care for her colors and her eyeshadow colors never look good on me nor her lip liners. Don’t ever buy too faced or smashbix either.
Urban decay, never use there shadows which are chalky and their eyeliners make my eyes water.
Great question — so we don’t feel alone with our thoughts. Too Faced for the mascara being overrated. Tarte somewhat as well.
Tarte- products are really hit or miss for me, like I bought a Xmas set of their Smoldereyes pencils that crumbled to dust in 6 months, new releases look boring & their Amazonion clay is just kaolin (same stuff as in antidiarrheals.)
Bobbi Brown- once an innovative brand now boring & ill performing
MAC- obnoxious SA’s. The only thing I’ve liked from MAC ever are their eyeshadows & brushes.
Clinique- boring products that don’t perform well. Their skincare is crap.
SKII- Lisa Eldridge uses this stuff? Drying & did nothing for my skin in 6 months. I think Lisa’s just pushing products anymore.
La Mer- heavily fragranced mineral oil, like Nivea cream with some magickal brew- too heavy for my dry skin & gave me clogged pores
La Prairie- same as La Mer
Amore Pacific- Another overly drying & over hyped luxury skin care line.
Kiehl’s – used to have great products with quality ingredients, ever since L’oreal bought them their product is like drugstore silicone loaded rubbish.
Benefit- gimicky products that don’t perform
Whew, that was a bit of a rant!
Omg I forgot about Clinique! The only thing I ever found I lined from them were the sheer chubby lip pencils, but refuse to buy full price after L’Oreal came out with a better, $5 version that is regrettably discontinued.
And La Mer. Their prices are a joke for the quantity of product, and Tatcha and Mario Badescu blow their formulas out of the water.
I also have to agree with Benefit, though I do really like the brown They’re Real mascara and repurchase every 6 months. There’s always that one product ?
Tarte – now that they are available in Aus, I have had a chance to look and check out their products in store and I don’t find them to be anything special. Lots and lots of releases of the same kind of shades.
Lancome and Guerlain – both have been really average for quite a few years now and so, so expensive – even on sale. I feel their skincare range is over priced and I don’t think they are that good.
Most brands that are just putting out one colour theme at the moment – warm pink/red/orange shades.
Too Faced – all the juvenile cutesy packaging looks like it should be in the toy department as little girl play makeup instead of for grown women.
Tarte palettes look all the same, Brown.
I’d have to go with Smashbox… While I do love some of their face products, and I had a set of glosses I bought years ago that was nice, I just can’t get on board with the eyeshadows, which has historically always been where the bulk of my beauty budget has gone. I have a couple of barely touched palettes, and while I love the colors, they just seem lackluster compared to UD, NARS, & MAC…
While not a brand per se, I just can’t get excited over MAC lip products; again, beautiful shades, decent pricepoint, and easily accessible, but take too much prep work, and lips are where I prefer not to spend too much time/effort, as I’m constantly reapplying throughout the day.
Overall, I feel some brands just excel for me in one area or another, and I don’t tend to stray from what I know works, unless the specific color calls to me. I have a few Kevyn Aucoin cheek products that are HG, but I don’t feel a need to explore the brand. As much as I love NARS eyeshadow & blush, the lip products are more than what I’m willing to pay, and I haven’t found a solid enough of a foundation match, but I don’t feel I’m missing out. Many of the “Luxury” brands aren’t carried in the stores I frequent, and are too expensive to make it worth jumping through hoops to get, so I just write them off, and have no interest. That said, there are brands I just have no interest in, for whatever reason, and I don’t have strong feelings for them either way…
I think we, the consumers, have become much more discerning, faster than these companies can keep up with, apparently. It’s also true that there is so much more competition in cosmetics these days, it’s hard for them to keep up – I wish they’d concentrate on quality instead of volume.
I feel like it’s been years since Revlon has come out with something that has intrigued me.
I completely agree! The only thing that I think of for Revlon is the Colorstay foundation. 95% of the other products are just duds; especially mascaras. I think Covergirl has done a better job at trying to stay relevant but Revlon has remained the same.
Tom Ford. I do so try to love or even like the very few products I have, but no I just don’t and I don’t want to try anything new from the brand. I really want to at least like the bran.
Bobbie Brown, I imagine the products are really good, but I never feel tempted walking by their counter.
I’m going to have to say Lancome. I bought the Grandiose Mascara from Ulta on its original launch used it for maybe two weeks and the stopper that keeps the wand from filling up with too much mascara got stuck in the top of the wand side and it could not be fixed. I tried multiple times. So when Grandiose Extreme was released I purchased it from Ulta again. I was like I’ll give it one more shot because before the packaging issue I liked the mascara. The same thing happened within a couple of weeks. So I’ll stick to L’Oreal mascara. I did get a free sample from Ulta of the Monsieur Big. I really like it but I’ve been traumatized from my recent mascara experience with them so I will not be purchasing a full size. I agree with a lot of the others on here their products and packaging aren’t that exciting.
Jeffree Star. I love his products, but his behavior is so distasteful that I stopped buying them. I wish he’d grow up and clean up his act, so I could enjoy buying his stuff again.
Stila. I have a sentimental history with the brand from some kindness they did me when they very first started. But after they were sold, things changed too much.
Bobbi Brown. Her look and low-key approach is a great fit stylistically, but her yellow-undertones-warm-the-face theory means she rarely makes anything that works on me. I remember I got her book back in the day, tried it and looked so awful that I stopped wearing makeup for years. I left thinking that I didn’t have a makeup-friendly face.
Tarte. They have some good products but they have been tone deaf for far too long when it comes to releasing products that a wide range of skin tones can use. The recent foundation release was the latest in a long line of ignoring anyone past medium.
Covergirl.
Hands down, BlackUp. I was really excited to try their products and that it would be available at Sephora. BUT the blushes are crazy stiff, overly pigmented (in a bad way). I’ve tried some of their matte lipsticks which have no staying power and the colors were dupable. All in all, I was rooting for them, but there’s not much that I find interesting or innovative and the quality is suspect.
I’d like to hear what brands you all like because most of the brands I know are getting ripped apart here haha so, what do you all like?
Hahah, it does feel like a makeup burn book!
Hahaha yes ??
Fenty to me is okay, maybe it was all the buzz around it. But when I finally bought it, it was not that great. I wanted to like it but… oh well.