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Have you thrown away a beauty product because it was so awful?
Have you thrown away a beauty product because it was so awful? If so, what was it?
You know, I actually still have a lot of the products I’ve given Fs to. I know I’ve chucked some random, really mediocre (and old!) drugstore products over the years, along with expired/spoiled high-end products whenever I go through my stash. But nothing that’s been really awful that’s been tossed right away that I can remember!
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I’m sort of a packrat, so I don’t think I’ve ever thrown away anything that I didn’t like. I just set it aside and don’t use it.
I’ve only really had eyeshadows that performed poorly enough to not want to deal with them (typically DS, so I couldn’t swatch them), but they’ve usually come in palettes, so at least a few shades were good enough to keep the palette. I now depot most, so I don’t think that will be an issue anymore. I’ve really only thrown out items that have gone bad, such as mascara, liquid liner, foundation, or lipstick. Skincare I typically finish, so none of that has ever been tossed. If a color is wrong, or a formula just doesn’t suit me, in an otherwise well-performing product, I usually just give it to a friend to try.
Crappy YSL eye palette and a few others that have made me angry enough I couldn’t imagine inflicting them on anyone I care about. Sometimes it feels good to throw things…
Oh yeah. The white kohl eyeliner I got from the drugstore. It’s so hard that I was always jabbing myself in the eye trying to get some onto my lower waterline, and the effect was NOT flattering!
Absolutely. Most things I keep around, try to use for other purposes, or give them away…or if it’s a pricier item and I can return it, I’ll just take it back. But there have been a few times that I’ve just flat out thrown something in the trash. I remember a few months ago trying the Hard Candy Sheer Envy primer and it was so greasy that my makeup literally slid off and so heavy and irritating that I had broken out within a few hours.I had a similar problem with the Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse foundation. That one took a little longer for me to throw away, but it eventually made its way into the trash bin. I’ve also thrown out a few eyeliner pencils because they were painful to use. Sometimes there is just no saving a product.
The kleancolor bronzer in miami bronze or something, it was orange in me!
If I get rid of it, it’s usually because of something like the smell being to strong or off-putting to me. So typically I’ll offer it up to friends. If there are no takers, I’ll leave it in the bathroom at work. There is ALWAYS someone who will take free stuff, and it makes me feel less wasteful. I’m sure I have tossed some things, (a few cheap shampoo/conditioners come to mind), but most of the stuff that just goes directly to the waste basket is a sample that is so poorly packaged it just makes a mess and is too much trouble.
one of my mac lipsticks had this sickly vanilla bean smell that I just could not take anymore…so i tossed it.
MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation! Between the fact that NC anything is way too yellow for my skin (and they keep insisting on putting me in it – what do make up counters have against natural lighting sometimes), I cannot take the smell of that stuff.
Clean and Clear foaming cleanser, Neutrogena Pore Refining cleanser, Bonne Belle ten o six cleanser, Neutrogena clear pore cleanser mask. All treated my skin appallingly: It was like using paint stripper on my face. I don’t recommend these to ANYONE no matter how oily you are!
No, I’ve thrown away expired or spoiled products. I threw away a lipgloss once because the bottle cracked and it leaked though.
I don’t think I’ve ever thrown away a full-sized product, just because I’m so particular that I’d never purchase a product without testing it first. However, I have thrown away unfinished samples before because they were awful. Though, I can’t recall which particular ones I tossed.
However, I have had products that were so awful, that I could only use them for a different purpose. For example, when I started with skin care about 1.5 years ago, I started with the Clinique 3 step. The Clarifying Lotion #3 had too much alcohol and irritated my severely acne-covered skin like crazy. So instead of tossing it, I used it as a brush cleanser (kind of like the MAC one). It worked fine. At the end of the day, I’m essentially doing the same thing: If I had tossed it, I wouldn’t be using it for my skin. Same thing applies when I use it as a brush cleanser: I’m not using it on my skin. Why be wasteful? Just find another acceptable and suitable use for an “awful” product if you can. 🙂
I have when I can see myself or anyone make up of them, they are gone.
If it is completely unusable, then yes. If it is just not great, then I usually keep it for a year or so and if I still never use it, then it gets trashed. I don’t keep products I’m never going to use again, especially if they are awful.
If a product is THAT awful, I would just return or exhange it instead of throwing it away!
@cpoll3 Me too! Most stores will give you a refund or at least let you exchange for another product.
YES! That purple FLASIES mascara from the drugstore. It was so hard to work with and looks terrible. Actually I’ve done that with a lot of mascaras LOL Nothing beats Lloreal Volumous or Diorshow
same, not right away. I have thrown out stuff after a year of not using it. I don’t like throwing out expensive stuff that sucks (*cough* MAC liquilast eyeliner *cough*) so it just sits around in my makeup bag looking miserable
😛
I usually read a lot of reviews before buying products and I have yet to be disappointed by a lot of the things I’ve bought. I suppose the only things I’ve thrown out are a few crappy drugstore pencil liners and my clinique 3-step system because it was terrible!
inglot’s gel eyeliners. i was drawn in by the color range (i bought red, yellow, and pink) and ended up loathing the texture. too tacky and difficult to work with. it was hell trying to use them as a cream shadow. the red one dried out (huge crack down the middle of the pot) in a couple of weeks. it was not worth reviving, imo. threw them all out.
I hang on to everything no matter how terrible for a long time, eventually chucking it when I need to weed stuff out because my nail polishes or eye shadows are taking over my apartment. I’ve never thrown anything out immediately, and if it’s a higher-end product I’ll give it away instead of throwing it out entirely.
Absolutely! The first thing that comes to mind is the Hard Candy brand Ginormous Lash mascara and loose powder. The mascara was not the color indicated, was runny, and took forever to dry. The loose powder was poorly packaged and spilled black powder everywhere, plus it had terrible fallout. i’ll never buy that brand again.
Gosh, I really should throw some stuff away that I can’t stand. But I usually hang onto it forever thinking I might use it somehow and then toss it in like five years when it’s gross and dusty. I should purge more often.
Wet n Wild liquid liner! That burned my eyes so bad! Straight to the garbage.
Coastal scents gel liners. I got excited about them, purchased 4 and then they dried out soooo fast. I thought it was something I did. So I purchased one more and it was dry before I got half way through it. Luckily they were cheap.
– Drugstore eyeshadow palettes with no pigmentation (mainly Revlon and Maybelline)
– Drugstore foundations with poor color match. Too pink, usually.
– High end foundations for not lasting (Bobbi Brown)
– Recently I tossed a Neutrogena cleanser that made me break out. It’s the cream cleanser that’s supposed to fade dark spots. Usually, my skin loves Neutrogena, but I don’t think this product was oil free.
Yep, mascara! I couldn’t give it to anyone because it’s mascara, and it was crappy so..
Various mascaras for general suckage, lipsticks/glosses that have gone rank.
Old foundations
Mascara
Heh, yesterday I threw away Milani Liquif’eye in brown because that shade is way too soft and unforgiving in application, and when it dries, it’s impossible to blend. Got frustrated and tossed it!
Mary Kay eye shadow. I only bought it because i went to a friends mk party. That stuff was awful! Like lightly tinted baby powder. Sooo bad.
@Julie Welch You could have been tried to apply it with a pencil brush, much more precise and easy! 😉
Yes. The Tarte eyeliners that came with the Jewelry Box pallette were horrible.
Philosophy Hope in a Jar
Yep… Mascaras and anything old that was in jars…also dried out liner
Aveda foundation
Well, I regulary go through my makeup and throw away old things. As for throwing things away immediately, most places I buy from have great return policies. So, if I didn’t like it, I would just return it. I did throw away a sample sized Benefit Bad Gal mascara because it was so crappy. I also threw away Maybelline the Colossal after a few tries because I wasn’t impressed. I lost the recept for Neutrogena Foaming Cleanser. Instead of throwing it out because it was terrible for my face, I left it on the sink to be used as a hand cleanser.
Some years ago I did throw away an Estee Lauder lipstick that was so awful…..the color changed after a couple of hours (it turned horribly brighter) and I could not stand the smell and taste. I did not get rid of it immediately because I had splurged on it and I was hoping I could like it after a few tries but no, it was impossible!
I usually give products I don´t like a chance….that´s why I took out a Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick I had – and I remembered why I did not like it. The smell turned even worse than it originally was and I threw it away.
I usually make sure I want to buy something before I buy it, reviews and swatching and such, so I’ve never really come across something I hated so much I had to throw it away. I have a couple things I don’t *use* very often, but I’m a pack rat, so I wouldn’t think to throw them out.
I haven’t thrown many products to be honest… probably Bourjois blush in Tomette (doesn’t show up on me at all) and a couple of lipsticks that were very past their expiry date. That’s it…
It’s really, really rare that I buy something and then throw it away automatically…the only thing I throw away immediately after purchasing some makeup is usually any samples that I don’t want, but Sephora shoves in my bag anyway! lol. If I buy something that I immediately don’t like, I’ll return it. Thank God for good return policies!
I’m a planner. I do a crazy amount of research and strategizing (probably way more than I should) before following through with whatever. So it’s very rare for me to buy something and hate it. But normally if I pitch it, it’s not because it’s bad, but not good enough. Lip balms, mascaras, and hair products are normally what fall under this category for me 🙂
ELF products. Ive thrown away so many and have wasted so much money on ELF. I couldve been buying good high end products!
For me, awful products go back to where i purchased them and get a refund. But if its old makeup, it definitely goes in the garbage.
Lancome Doll Eye mascara – got all goopy and gross after 1 week!
all the time!!!!!!!!
My dear husband, bless his heart, gave me some makeup collection from Kohl’s a few years ago a b’day gift. OMG that was THE WORST makeup I have ever experienced. The eyeshadow was like talc, no staying power whatsoever even after applied with primer. It creased terribly. The blush hard and cakey and don’t even get me started on the foundation! When I pumped it out, I swear Christine, it was pure oil with a dash of color. I still have it somewhere in the back of my closet, did have the heart to tell my husband that it his gift sucked lol 😀
YES~ I threw away a YSL lipstick in a fit of pique .. it belonged in the garbage.
I rarely throw cosmetics away, that is unless they are VERY old. I am quite the pack rat so I even keep the stuff I don’t like. Don’t ask me why, heh.
Lordy lordy. My mother bought me a Stila pallet (some Tokyo themed travel pallet) from a drugstore here two or three Christmases ago because the salesperson convinced her it was worth the extra money. The eyeshadows were super hard to pack on colour and when I went to blend the bright blue with the baby pink, all the colour came off my eyes and onto my blending brush. I don’t think I’ve ever had the balls to tell her that it went in the garbage straight away.
Yes very recently a Bourgeois nail polish. Horrible formula and bad for my nails, I threw it away very quickly. I also threw away some Yves Rocher products, their lipsticks are very very bad, some eyeshadows too. I always keep my beauty products away from light so I can use them for a long time even lipsticks or cream blushes but when it’s too ” cheap ” ( French word for not classy or very bad budget ) I throw it away. I never throw away high end products, I can use a blush for years and I use moisturizers or skincare products on my feet if they are not good anymore.
Besides throwing a product out for being too old, I’ve thrown out Skin79 hot pink bb cream. It was too pink, too heavy, too grey, and too dark. It never broke me out or irritated my skin, but I couldn’t use it for anything! Plus, I couldn’t give it away to anyone I know because it was such a strange shade. So it got tossed. There are better bb creams from Skin79 and I’m sorry I wasted my money on it.
I’ve thrown out mainly cheap products, like a wet n wild eye pencil that was especially painful to put in my waterline, and also wet n wild matte lipsticks that were so dry they fell out. I love certain wet n wild products I figure that I get what I pay for. I did also throw away a Sonia Kashuk “foundation” cause it basically was shimmery tinted moisturizer that dried my skin out and had a sticky finish. Soooooo nasty.
YES!!! mostly mascaras and foundation that are triggering my sensitive bums
YES!!! mostly mascaras and foundation that are triggering my sensitive bums
I don’t typically throw away products I dislike. I either give them away, return them, or put them in my “DO NOT USE” makeup draw. lol