What was the last product you regret purchasing?
Sephora Colorful Eyeshadows. What an absolute waste of my review budget and a lesson learned NOT to purchase that many shades until I’ve worked within a dozen or so first.
— Christine
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Usually, my regrets don’t last too long because I will promptly return it,
BUT in this case I didn’t do that so the regret lingers… I ordered the Viseart Cool Mattes 2 when it went on sale at Muse. I don’t love it like I love the original Cool Mattes palette. Ouch.
So sorry that happened but also glad to hear this. I wear cool colors and really had to wrestle with myself over this one and did not get it cause apart from the purples, I felt the original was better.
Your instincts were right- it definitely doesn’t make “sense” like the first one does.
Much as it pains me to write this, it would be the Lise Watier 24 Hours Glam mascara. I’d read such rave reviews for it on Makeupalley (so not company generated reviews) so I expected it to be excellent. Well, maybe because it’s my first “tubing mascara”, I had different expectations but it just made my lashes look spidery/spike, rather than dark and more lush. I dislike removing it as well.
The only LW mascara I’ve liked is the new V Element one. It’s awesome and I’m so picky about mascara.
It Cosmetics CC Cream. The shade range is awful. It’s smells awful. Looked terrible on my skin. I don’t usually return things bc of the hassle but I returned this. Just hated it!
Erica, I see I’m not alone in hating the It CC Cream! Bought mine last year in spring hoping it would be a great replacement for my old standby Lumene BB Cream. It failed me in ways I never saw coming; breakout city! Cystic ones, at that, which I had not had any of in almost a decade!
I have to say I don’t return much and usually I like most of what I purchased. I really tried with the It Cosmetics CC Cream. I used my hands, a brush and a blender. I used a little, built it up, mixed w other foundations and it did things to my skin that was just awful. I prefer my Bobbi Brown BB Cream and it has a decent SPF. The shade range is just so odd w the It Cosmetics too. I had to buy the lightest and I’m not sure that was quite right. I thought it would work much better bc others w oily skin loved it. But no not me. It broke up whatever else was only face and didn’t play nice with my powder. It did things no other product has done. Just a no for me
I didn’t like it either!
Same here. Hated it! It’s awful although it seems many people are satisfied with it. Even worse (in my opinion) is their CC+ Veil foundation spf 50. That cushion with such a small amount of disappointing product is silly, streaky, instantly dry and irritating (unless I received a dud). It didn’t play nice with other IT Cosmetics coverage or finishing products. That was a bummer of a purchase. I’m still cool with Bye Bye Under Eye though.
Oh, I do not like this It Cosmetics CC Cream either. The colors were awful on me, & this made my skin itch. I returned it too.
Wow! I love It CC Cream! I’m on about my 4th tube. The medium works well for me. I also like the radiant CC cream. I am very sensitive to odors/fragrances but have not had any problem with It Cosmetics.
Kat von D 10th Anniversary Everlasting Glimmer Veil in Gold Skool. What an awful product; nothing like the permanent line.
Too Faced Just Peachy Velvet Matte palette. I ordered it from Sephora last week, half price. Although I’m a major matte fan (and they’re not always easy to find), it’s totally *not* my colours — way too warm for me. I only ordered it because it was half price. I looked at it, shook my head, and immediately repackaged it for mailing back.
Hi Christine, Could you tell me why you regret buying the Sephora colorful eyeshadows? I bought quite a few based on your reviews so I really appreciated your reviews of those shadows.
The Maybelline lip liners…they are so dry, literally unusable. There was a sale and I scooped up a bunch without swatching them first, big mistake.
I agree. I bought one, can’t remember the name but it was a nude, and it was unusable, no color came off.
A couple of UD Vice cream lipsticks that were uneven and not smooth.
Recent regrets: MAC Blankety Lipstick (got it as a B2M, but I think it’s too light for me) and Smashbox Petal Metal Eyeshadow Palette (too orange-y on me)
Long term regrets: Just about every Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick I’ve ever bought! I have at least eight and I never wear them.
No longer regret: I regretted the Marc Jacobs Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick in One Mauve Time soon after I bought it, but I’ve been using it on (virtually, not literally) no-makeup days and I’m starting to like it better. It is exactly my lip color, so it just kind of looks like my lips but shinier. I keep it in my bag for days when I wear a bold color and change my mind halfway through the day and want something more subtle. (Does anyone else do that?)
Yes! I do the same thing! I have my lips I leave the house with and then a gloss (I typically don’t care for glosses but I get some good ones from time to time in my beauty box subscriptions and they are always neutrals that go with anything, and they hydration is an added bonus) for maintenance throughout the day. I reapply lipstick at the end of the day if I have more meetings or am meeting friends after work.
Couldn’t agree more about KVD Studded Kiss, Seraphine! I finally threw all of mine out this year. It didn’t matter the color, the formula made my lips so dry in the corners with the worse puckered lips for a non liquid matte lipstick. I didn’t dare give the new formulation a chance either.
I’ve had the exact same problem with KVD’s Studded Kiss lipsticks. I had a handful of shades (including a few free samples, thankfully), and each and every one of them has been exceptionally drying within just a few hours of application. I think I’m just not destined to wear her brand–I tried out the Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Mother, and while the color is great, it’s also very drying by the end of my work day, to the point where I have to remove it and apply some lip moisturizer just to feel normal again.
KVD 10 year Anniversary Palette! I’m glad that I was able to return the product at Sephora since I kept my receipt.
Lunatick Vampira palette. It looks pretty but the shadows have hardly any pigmentation and they all turn into a muddy mess on the eye.
Melt Cosmetics eyeliner pencils in 818 & Bloodshot. As pigmented as their eyeshadows are, I expected a lot more from these pencils. They aren’t so horrible that I can’t use them, but my NYX red liner is much better. I just wish I bought the Radioactive Stack, or a highlighter instead of the pencils…
Funny! I decided against those 2 liners because I have NYX red liners, a relic deep blood red lipliner from Trucco, and a bunch of powder & cream eyeshadows in reds. I got Dusk, Porcelina, Corrupt, Filth, 1987 and a couple of lipliners. Some Melt eyeliners irritate my sensitive eyes more than others. Some traveled or wouldn’t blend well… I need a new primer & more practice especially with Dusk & Corrupt. I like their highlighter! Looks almost natural.
Regret: MAC Risk Taker because of that gorgeous but non-transferring foiled minky shade BUT to be fair, I’ve not picked it up since the week of fail with my look-of-the-week a few months back. I need to give it another chance and see about different combinations and placements before it goes to my neice.
Sort of regret: MAC’s holiday 2017 release of highlighters Show Gold and Whisper of Gilt and the 2 Face Powders Here Comes Joy and Happy Go Dazzingly. I like the permanent versions of the highlighters better – the LE versions feel more chunky, like they have bits of glitter? Maybe they did that for the extraness of the holiday – and I just don’t reach for the face powders. I should because there isn’t anything wrong with them, and I do like how subtle they are as well. These are all workable, I just pass them over. Maybe I’ll give my nieces the highlighters and bring the face powders back in rotation . . .hmmmm.
I recently bought off Sigma’s website 3 angled kabuki foundation brushes and can’t return them 🙁 They’re the very densely packed type that doesn’t really work for me, they were like 75% off I can’t complain too much.
Sadly, my 2 most perfect *looking* and *applying* lipglosses absolutely HATE my lips. Too beautiful to even consider returning, but yeah, GA Luce and UD Beso. I now know *why* Beso tears up my lips, but no clue why Luce does? And both look so dang gorgeous, so that makes the sting even worse!
Another one; UD x Kristen Leanne Kaleidescope palette. Beautiful, well-applying, pigmented shadows….but every time I open it, I’m left reeling from that horrible layout. Didn’t realize it would bother me as much as it does.
The layout of that palette is horrible! Doesn’t UD have designers? Sheesh.
Well, this is the second item on this thread that I wrestled with myself and ultimately did not buy. And the reason was the layout. I mean: why? Beauty addicts care about stuff like a weird pointless asymmetrical design.
I can’t deal with crazy layouts like that UD palette. I like my palettes as organized as possible…because I’m not!
Came very close to using that freaky palette today…and did what I usually do, open it, stare at, close it, stick that sucker back in the drawer. The quality is awesome, but I just cannot with that design.
I actually love the assymetrical layout with the different shaped pans. I think it’s super fun and different. My only complaint, same as Troublemaker palette, is two shadows in a single pan. there was definitely space there to make that two pans, even if they were semi-circle shaped.
Could you depot the eyeshadows? Put them in a Z palette. Seems there a lot of youtubers who do that!
That’s a great solution and I’ve definitely thought about it, Erica! I’ll look up a tutorial on how to do it with this particular palette.
There’s nothing I out and out regret. Temptalia has helped me avoid real disasters.
Near regrets/good enough products but mistakes for some other reason:
– UD Naked Heat palette because I don’t use the darker shades at all and there’s not much range otherwise.
– Kat Von D Light and Shade palette in Rust because really I had all the shades in my stash so it was a waste (and it’s so powdery).
– Guerlain Red Bowtie lipstick because it was a costly way to figure out that strong reds just don’t suit me.
I found Naked Heat underwhelming. It was my first full sized Naked palette, and I was unimpressed. It’s okay, but I have so many warm toned palettes that I like better.
Drunk elephant c tango eye cream…it’s not a bad product but I’m 49 and have wrinkles and eyebags and an overpriced eye cream is not going to fix it.
Tatcha Silk Canvas Face Primer. So expensive and really just not worth it. I had hoped that it would be a good pore filling primer based on the brands explanation and the feel of the product. I actually get better pore filling from Revlon Pore Filling Primer and at a tenth of the cost. Wish I had returned it but anyway, that is my most recent regret.
I recently bought a Tacha kit containing a mini of the Silk Canvas primer. I tried it once and wasn’t overly impressed. I watched the instructional video which says to use a rice grain-sized amount of the product. (Don’t know what kind of rice they’re buying because the amount they scoop onto the tool is way bigger than any rice grain I’ve ever seen) I applied it sparingly, and as directed. I didn’t feel it enhanced makeup application, nor did it improve the appearance of my foundation.
Love their lipsticks though. 😉
That little pick applicator has that line on it that you are suppose to scoop up to that line, well that is a sh*t ton of product and at the price point you would go through it so quickly. I will probably use it up since I purchased it but definitely won’t be repurchasing. I have a couple of Tatcha products that I really love and are holy grail for me but this was a miss. I am a little addicted to the Rice Enzyme Powder and the Camellia Cleansing Oil but don’t love the mist either. I think the mist is a lot of people’s holy grail setting spray and it was okay but nothing better than a drugstore mist for me.
Bite Beauty Gemini– a sort of doesn’t really work pair of colors. So many shades suit me, I did not realize this would be such a dud.
The Natasha Denona Lila palette. Sure, it’s nice, but not nicer than most other higher end palettes. An incredible waste of money to me.
The Amika Accomplice hair dryer . It was $200 and I got it at Sephora last November for $160. That’s a lot of money . It died on me after 9 months of use . I wrote Sephora Customer Service but don’t have high hopes . I am really upset .
IGK 30,000 feet Hair Volumizer, I put it in my hair and then I couldn’t even get a brush to go through my hair, it made it so sticky. I had a house full of people coming over for dinner, usually I can make things work but I couldn’t do anything with my hair. I finally was able to get it combed back a bit and just went with that, it wasn’t pretty. I returned it promptly to Sephora and spent the money on something that made me happy.
Anastasia’s Amrezy highlighter. It was so pretty on the back of my hand but I am not as happy with it on my cheekbones. The color is just a bit too dark and gold, the formula looks thick when applied on me. In general I have others that I like much more and so I will be giving mine to a friend.
I bought that using my Ulta points. I’ve yet to try it lol
I can think of 3 items. First the Bare Minerals BarePro liquid foundation. Much too matte and dry for my skin. To use it, i have to mix a drop or two of argan oil and a drop of luminizer like ColorFX. The second was KVD MettalMatte palette and, third, a five color KVD palette (4 colors and a base). I don’t know why I didn’t like these. Perhaps it was the colors. My daughter was happy to get them though.
Oh, I do not like this It Cosmetics CC Cream either. The colors were awful on me, & this made my skin itch. I returned it too.
I don’t have a lot due to Temptalia! But the ABH Prism I didn’t care for I would of returned it but it was free with Ulta points. I used it twice and gave it to a friend last week.
The only other was UD Naked 3 think that’s the number I threw that one away. Ouch!
Oh never throw a palette away. Set up a Poshmark account if you can. $50, $60 is too much to throw away. Make some of that back?
I could never sell used makeup but it’s a piece of crap belongs on the can! Lol
Generally I don’t have many regrets, because I read this blog – but there are a few from the past:
Estee Lauder’s Emerald Oasis – eye palette, the colours are not quite right
A couple of EA’s lipsticks that I recently ordered where nothing like the swatches I had seen – Ginger Glaze was really a nudish sort of lipstick that I just don’t wear.
Not a recent one happy with all it but the Lireal glosses gold casing showing color through small window) I’m never been crazy on glosses but will wear ocassionally more in Summer for the lighter color look or in top of lipsticks. These I didn’t like at all felt gooey and bleed awfully. My WetnWild don’t! No big deal though I’m blotting them with napkin. Lol!
Ignored my better judgement and bought off youtuber recommendation: GA Micro-Fil loose powder. Just why?
Hourglass mascara applicator, base, and mascara. I just HAD to see the results. While my lashes looked nice, I would never go through the trouble on a daily basis. Way overpriced, and a major pain to clean the applicator after every use. Probably should have returned but didn’t feel right doing so as nothing was wrong with the products.
ABH dream glow palette. The colors are similar on cheeks and the formula is more glittery side. I prefer their moon child palette.
I don’t have many regrets, because I love almost everything I get and if I don’t, I know someone who will. But…Tarte Toasted really threw me. I have tried and tried with that one but it applies horribly and wears worse. It’s so pretty that I don’t want to give up on it, but I can’t seem to make it work. Even with primer, and setting spray.
Probably my Naked Heat palette. Not that it’s a bad palette, I just don’t ever pick it up and have literally only used it once shortly after I purchased it. I found that the colors really ran together and wasn’t happy with my final look. I think I need to give it another try!
Maybe Urban Decay Primer Potion. I’ts very hyped and years back it was great, when there were no similar products elswhere. Now I find that the hype is dated and Catrice eye primer worked the same way and even better for 1/10 of the price of UD. I have very oily eyelids, been using Catrice primer for years.