It really might be Ciate’s The Jessica Eyeshadow Palette. I went through some of my F ratings from past years, and there weren’t very many reviews that were THAT low across the board.
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The NYX Mochi eyeshadow palette in the electric pastels. Even with a wet brush, a solid white eyeshadow base… nearly impossible to get pigment or even apply. I was so excited for some beautiful pastels!
I’ve been using makeup for decades, so I’ve used my share of terrible products over the years. The worst product in recent memory has to be the Too Faced White Chocolate Chip Palette. Looks cute and smells nice, but the eyeshadows were some of the worst I’ve ever come across. Between shades that just don’t show up at all, to shades with massive glittery fall-out, this thing was a total fail. I also remember buying a Maybelline foundation many years ago and being so disgusted by the powdery smell that emanated from my face all day that I returned it. I think it was their Fit line.
I’m here with you on the Too Faced palette 🙂
This is my overall experience with Too Faced’s eye shadows over the years. Everyone talks about how great their palettes are but I haven’t had a single good experience with them. Some shades don’t have any pigment to them what so ever while others just melt off within a few hours no matter what primer I use. I love the packaging and color combos but NOPE. I won’t fall for that again.
As for me – it must be Glossier Stretch Concealer. It looked absolutely horrible under my eyes, accentuated texture I did not even know I had and was a hell to work with. (Sorry, not sorry).
I don’t hate too many things. Maybe just meh about many. But I hate, loathe It Cosmetics CC Cream. First off , I returned it and usually I never do this. Usually I just suck it up and use a product up and just don’t repurchase. But this was plain awful. It did things on my skin that most products don’t do regardless of how I applied. I used different tools. I mixed with other products. I used it lightly or more fully. Nothing helped. It broke down on my face and sat weirdly. Have never seen a product behave in such a way! It smells awful. Shade range sucks. Disgusting product. Tbh it was so bad I’m a bit turned off on the brand entirely!
I have the EXACT same problem with the IT Cosmetics CC cream! I can only use a quarter of a pump on VERY WELL moisturized skin to make it even remotely work. And even then it settles into every single pore on and on either side of my nose. The weirdest thing.
As I scrolled up after submitting my comment, I read yours and instantly felt a sense of relief that, apparently, I’m not alone in my hatred of this product! It CC Cream and their Bye-bye Undereye concealer are both utterly HORRID. The CC Cream not only began to break up within roughly 4-5 hours, but caused me to look like a greasey oil well, plus it induced cystic acne on my chin and cheeks. It’s some nasty crap, for real! ?
Oh my goodness. I thought I was the only person in the world that thinks the IT CC cream literally stinks! I’m glad to realize that I’m not alone in disliking this stuff. Why does it seem that all of the beauty gurus on YouTube think this CC Cream is so fantastic? I don’t get it. ?
I have the same relief that I am not alone in thinking that CC cream was awful . I didn’t succumb to buying it but the Beauty Advisors at both Ulta and Sephora raved about it .
I got a sample and thought ,Is it me or is this stuff thick and pasty?
WOW, so none of us are alone in our dislike for this product? I have always hesitated to say anything because it is the darling foundation of a lot of “mature” beauty gurus. It is always on their channels as one of the big on TV selling channels runs an IT Cosmetics TSV. I have two tubes of it in a box somewhere. I purchased the original one and then more fool me, I purchased the one that was suppose to be illuminating. Once I find the box I am tossing them out.
I absolutely love IT CC Cream! I’ve been using it for a few years. I usually change to a different brand after using one tube/bottle but I love IT CC Cream. I like IT Bye Bye Foundation too. I usually pass over my stash of Chanel, Hourglass, Make Up Forever and Tarte foundations to use the IT CC or Bye Bye Foundation.
It’s so weird. The first tube I tried of the CC cream was a light-fair version and it worked great. I now have a more medium toned one my mother gave me because she bought it but doesn’t use it enough as she doesn’t wear makeup as often as me and it matched since I got some sun. I swear to god it’s like a different product!!! It’s way more oily, it sits funny on my skin just like you all have said. I don’t get it. It was great the first tube I used, I loved it. I don’t know if they changed the formula from the first launch or what but I don’t think I will re-up after this tube is done.
IT Cosmetics have caused hive welts on my skin. Several of the products contain snail mucin and one of them was the eye cream. I put it on my skin and felt burning. There should be an allergy warning as most people allergic to shellfish cannot tolerate snail either.
Elf Baked Eyeshadow palette (California). This got me into non drugstore makeup for the first time because it would not show up on my face, no matter how much I packed on. I’m glad I got it for £4 not the £10 rrp, although honestly 40p would be too much to pay.
Oh god ☝️
Too Faced Chocolate Chip Matte Eyeshadow Palette (purchased when it was launched). First, I couldn’t keep the eyeshadows on my eyes (the ones I could layer), as my eyes became watery in second and remained so, until I removed the eyeshadows. The palette had a strong fragrance and even though I left it opened for a week, the effect was the same.
Secondly, the eyeshadows were so dry, with the exception of two if I remember correctly, that they were impossible to work with. It was my first and only makeup product that went to the garbage. I ordered it from Canada, directly from Too Faced, so returning it was not an option.
I can’t say if they improved the formula for this palette afterwards, but the one I had was a complete disaster.
I feel your pain. Mine was the Too Faced White Chocolate Chip Palette. Ugh. What a disaster!
I know it’s quite popular, but (assuming it counts as a beauty product): Murad Invisiblur is unspeakably horrid to me. I like a lot of their products but this one is just…. HOW?!! levels of bad.
Invisiblur pills up grotesquely no matter how I prep my skin. I’ve tried:
clean, totally bare skin
moisturized skin using water based moisturizer
moisturized skin using oil based moisturizer
skin with serum but no moisturizer
I’ve tried warming it up in my palms, putting a dab on my face and then slowly distributing it, applying it with a sponge (I was getting desperate)… nothing works.
It pills up so badly that I then inevitably have to wash my face very thoroughly with a washcloth to try to get all the gross pilling skin and silicone off my face, adding AT LEAST 20 min to my morning. Super crazy! I don’t have this issue with any other face product, whether or not they are silicone-heavy.
As a devoted fan of SPF that works well under makeup, this product falls immensely short in every way.
SPFs that irritate my eyes or pile under make-up are definitely on the `worst cosmetic` list. But I can at least use them on my body when they don’t work… except SPF primers. 😆 Imagine going for a run with blurring SPF on my arms and legs.
I don’t think I have any I can think of, most of the products I’ve had problems with are due to allergies so are just something only I have a problem with. I think probably looking back Revlon & Maybelline eyeshadows circa 2014, they were just disappointing in pigment & wear time compared to my ones from 2009-2010. I’m not sure what they are like now as I honestly gave up on them after being so disappointed in 2014.
It has to be one of Lumene’s eyeliner pencils (the old formula, I’m told the new retractable ones are actually good). Very poor colour payoff (sometimes to the point of being completely different on skin than in pencil), hard, waxy consistency that tugged and hurt to put on. I’ve had similar experiences with Rimmel’s lip pencils some years ago, although it was nothing that bad.
The first one that comes to mindare the By Terry Eye Designer Palettes in Smoky Nude and Color Design. I think those stand out in my memory because at $96 each, they should not perform worse than some of the drugstore palettes I’ve used over the year.
So sad because visually it’s a cute palette. My worst ever product palette is Clarins The Essentials Eye Make-up Palette in blue (the Christmas edition) it’s a mineral and plant extrait formula so they say and I’ve only been able to use it with finger and primer (and that with some work). Overall worst product, believe it or not UD Potion Primer for me. Either I had a bad batch or it just doesn’t age well because I remember having a tube (the classic purple one) and it being a pasty mess (even others), so I don’t just it at all.
Oh and by “visually a cute palette” I meant the Ciate one that rated an “F”. Sorry for not being clear.
I had a stila eyeshadow palette more than a decade ago that still stands out in my mind as absolute trash! The brand was a real sweetheart of Torontonians around the millenium, but moving forward their quality became a huge issue when for many years I would not even look at the brand.
I’ve been wearing makeup for decades and no one product sticks out as THE fail, but I remember the fails by category. All the. . .
Mascaras that flaked onto my cheeks.
Lipsticks that filled my lip lines.
Foundations that oxidized or broke up into tiny pools of ugliness.
Liquid eyeliners that filled the inner corners of my eyes.
Brow pencils that were too soft or too hard.
Blushes that had no pigmentation or disappeared after minimal wear time.
Translucent powders that looked like I had applied them for a full ten minutes.
Concealers that highlighted the very flaws I wanted to conceal.
Cream or crayon eye shadows that never set and creased immediately.
Hard-pan powder eye shadows after 2 or 3 uses.
Powder eye shadow that won’t blend.
Is it any wonder we hold sacred our HGs?
I bought a Mabelline eyeshadow set and it was horrible – dry and no color pay off, a Clinique eyeshadow mini with green that had no color pay off (that was a long time ago), and ND five pan palette #13 (so muddy within two hours no matter what primer I used).
NARS Andy Warhol/Debbie Harry palette (which you also gave an F grade). Everything in that palette was sheer, patchy trash, and the chunky silver glitter overspray was AWFUL.
Rituel de Fille Shadow Self lipstick. It was so patchy and crumbly, and they refused my return even though I was within their stated return policy.
I resisted that palette so hard! Although I saw sooo many poor reviews on it, I was still tempted, until I saw it in-store… That entire collection, overall, was such a disappointment.
That whole collection was a huge disappointment. 🙁
At some point I started dwelling into finding a good drugstore liquid eye liner. I never remember being more disappointed by make-up than that period. Most of the Maybelline, L’Oreal and NYX eye liners were simply awful (I can’t even remember all their name). Poor to no pigmentation, smudging during the day, even if they had color it faded during the day, transferred to my lids, etc. I’m usually trying to make every make-up product work (I made even bad foundation/concealers work)… but I just couldn’t… I basically ditched them away after 2-3 tries. Milani had some mediocre / workable eye liners, but one of my holy grail is still from the drugstore (Physicians Formula Eye Booster).
That Physicians Formula Eye Booster is the exact liner I was just going to try out, but then I read recent reviews that the formula was changed (for the worse). So I didn’t buy it.
This is a product that’s perfect to a fault. Such a fault that it’s the worst I can think of. Sephora Outrageous Rouge Extreme Liquid lipstick. GOD. DAMN. I know liquid lipsticks are supposed to last a long time, but you should be able to see your bare lips again before going to the grave. This is a b*tch to remove. And you can’t layer it because the texture starts to get odd and clumpy on your lips – but the clumps stay there! I give them that! Them clumps hang on to your lips for dear life! So basically you have to get your lips perfectly painted in one swipe, our you’re screwed.
You put this so well!! “…you should be able to see your bare lips again before going to the grave” – agreed!!! This weird clumpy thing is also my absolute biggest lip product pet peeve, it’s so gross and drying ?
UD Naked 3 Palette. Sooo bad. And expensive.
Too Faced White Peach Palette. Zero pigment on all but a couple shades and even that had to be BUILT. And I am light/ medium, usually colors show well on me. Turned me off of the brand, tbh. I’ve considered some of their other palettes and lipsticks but never end up pulling the trigger.
They have a lot of great products, especially face products. But they can be hit or miss. Best bet is to read or watch reviews on Too Faced so you skip the losers but don’t miss out on the winners.
I think all their lip colors have been nice though.
That prize goes to It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereyes Concealer. Cakey, creasey, and flashes back in photos. Oh! And it doesn’t know if it wants to be oily or dry as the Sahara. Psssh!
After that, I would also have to throw their OG It CC Cream under the bus, too. That stuff gave me some cystic acne breakouts the likes of which I hadn’t suffered from since my late 40’s or 50-ish! Sad part was that I really loved how it looked applied. But, wrecking my skin wasn’t something I signed up for!
My personal experiences with the brand kinda makes me wonder if perhaps the inspiration for their brand name came from the Stephen King book of the same name… ?
LMAO at that last comment
??
Kat von D Star Studded Palette: It had so much fallout, it was like trying to apply a snowstorm. I returned it.
Kat von D Everlasting Glimmer Veil in Gold Skool: The applicator tip came off the first time I used it. The product was sheer and dry, and looked nothing like promo pictures. It also seemed like there was hardly product in the tube. I returned it.
ColourPop Ultra Matte in Trap: It made my lips pucker up like raisins. I’ve never had a liquid lipstick do that before or since.
OFRA Lipliners: The wood shredded when I tried to sharpen it, making it utterly unusable past the first use, even with a brand new UD Grindhouse sharpener.
I tried a couple other sharpeners with the same results. The liners themselves were too firm.
Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes… a total train wreck as it never dries… ever!!!
I don’t have too many bad products these days, but here are a few:
Nars Subra eyeshadow – forget the plum shade it’s supposed to be – it is just a muddy brown and relatively expensive as well.
L’Oreal’s lipsticks don’t generally last more than 5 minutes on me without wearing off.
NYX eyebrow gel – did not last longer than an hour.
Subra goes brown on me, as well. I was so disappointed.
When I was 15 I used a drugstore Rimmel mousse foundation in a glass pot and honestly it was literally the worst makeup I have ever used on my skin it applied very patchy and cakey it was pure awful, they re-released it again only a couple of years back and stated it was an “improved formula” but there was no way i was going to try it out again lol!!
MUFE Smokey Eye palette (ca 2011?); I jumped through so many hoops to land that one, going to several different Sephora stores several times a week, seeing if it came in, only to find about 2-3 months later, it wasn’t coming to the US… Finally, about a year or so later, I found it on eBay, and it was awful… Fortunately, I paid less than $20 for it, but I was quite disappointed on multiple levels…
It’s been awhile so maybe this product has been reformulated , or it’s just my skin but I broke out twice after using Tatcha Rice polish .
I haven’t verified this myself but I read others testing the PH of it and it registers a 9.5 !
Way too alkaline. For the ph of the skin.
Per the company, the powders were reformulated and are now ph neutral to provide a gentler exfoliation.
Although I commented below regarding the IT Cosmetics CC cream, my truly worst product has to be the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noire mascara. It clumped, flaked and gave me raccoon eyes. How does a mascara actually flake and transfer? Doesn’t transfer sort of imply oily or not well set and yet flaking implies dryness. Anyway, I couldn’t stand it.
The Sunday Riley foundation stands out in my mind. It was awful….greasy, and super short wearing. Tried it 3x three different ways and nothing…couldn’t make it work.
For lips, it would have to be a tie between beauty bakerie, ABH and colourpop matte liquid lips. So dry and emphasized every line.
Nothing, actually. Reading your reviews, , I have learned a lot and so, I avoid the bad ones! Thank you again for your honest reviews!
I totally forgot the Victoria Beckham Estée Lauder Eye Foil – Blonde Gold in the glass jar. It dried up within a two months and I take care for storing and use of the products I have in my collections.
So I have two dreadful products that are the worst. First of all, L’oreal x Isabel Marant Shine Highlighter (cream). It is not shiny at all. Or glittery. Or anything. It looks like a lip balm. And what’s more, it doesn’t work with any foundation or primer – it sits funny on top of it. And it can’t be used as a lip balm, ‘coz it isn’t moisturizing. But generally speaking I have more products from L’oreal that I don’t like that I do like. Second product is a H&M concealer pen – it is extremely yellow and just take product that is underneath it. I looked like a hot mess with it. Tried only once, then threw it into rubbish (it cost about $1 when I bought it, so it wasn’t a big waste of money). I like mamy products from H&M cosmetics, like their lipsticks are awesome or blushes are astonishing, which is funny, because I think not many people even know that H&M has a beauty like 😉
Maybelline Great Lash. I know, it’s a cult classic, but everytime I have ever tried it I get swollen eyes. Pretty sure they use something that almost no other mascara does because these days I don’t think any other eye makeup does that to me.
Since I’m not sure I can blame that epic fail on bad product and not just my allergy, I also have Tarte Toasted to offer up. This palette just did not work for me. Application, blending, and longevity are all F’s from me.
Totally! I always wonder if all of the hype is paid promotion, because it does absolutely nothing for my lashes. When I put on mascara, I want to see a difference.
I’ve used some products that stunk over the years but the Morphe Jaclyn Hill Bling Boss palette tops the cake. It is so bad. Some pans lack pigment while others just refuse to blend. There’s one pan that turns into a weird patchy streak the longer I try to blend it. That palette is a straight up disaster!
Maybelline Master Kajal eyeliner stick! I was looking for a fat buildable thick pencil to help me make beautiful winged or cat eyeliner. Never in my life have I ever had such a greasy, smudgy awful product on my eyes. It always ended up getting blotchy because it would bunch up in my water line and cause my eyes to water and then I would try to fix it and spots would come off and I would end up having to try to take it all off-which would also take forever. Horrible product!
The Ciate palette is worse than the Mac x Beth Ditto fails? 0_o That’s…actually kind of impressive. 😛
I thought of these too – the MAC x Beth Ditto reviews were memorably bad!
Benefit They’re Real eyeliner. The liner doesn’t even transfer onto your skin. It just balls up onto itself and falls all over your sink, counter, floor, and clothes. I’m surprised it is still on the market, to be honest.