The Worst Beauty Products I've Ever Tested + Reviewed
From time to time–usually after I’ve reviewed a more buzzed-about product, like the recent Urban Decay Wired palette, and found it disappointing, some readers will ask if it’s the worst product I’ve tried, but there’s often been worse.
Consider this post a master list of some of the most memorable (for all the wrong reasons) products that I can recall that I’ve reviewed on the blog. I’ve focused on formulas and palettes that were unbelievably bad as a whole, rather than just one really bad shade in a formula that was otherwise solid.
Reflecting back to past product releases that were epic failures shows that just about any brand can and has some flop in their history, which is why critical reviews that share pros and cons from a variety of people who have tried the product are invaluable when someone is researching a product for possible purchase.
I spoke at length on the importance of truth in reviews a couple of years ago here, so I’ll keep it briefer here, but I’m a big believer in sharing reviews for products that rate highly as well as the ones that rate poorly and all the middling releases in-between. For someone like me, who effectively reviews at a professional level, it offers greater insight into my reviewing criteria and methodology but also that I can be critical across a variety of products and brands.
Estee Lauder London
Estee Lauder London Victoria Beckham Eye Palette ($75.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a deflating release from a collaboration that was known for its higher quality–that while incredibly expensive, the majority of products delivered on their promises, but this was a total and utter disappointment. Read full review.
MAC Studio Eye Gloss
MAC Studio Eye Gloss ($22.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is one of those products that really mystifies me, because I don’t know why it’s launched and included in consumer-geared collections. I wish they were touted as lipglosses, because at least they might be wearable (though the texture is like glue). Read full review.
Makeup Geek Sparklers
Makeup Geek Sparklers ($12.00 for 0.14 oz.) is supposed to be an ultra-fine loose “glitter” (“uses reflects to create a glitter effect”) that’s safe for usage on the eyes, edited 1/31/2020: per the brand. It’s been awhile since I’ve been so deeply disappointed in a brand, but I can’t believe these were launched in the existing packaging, at full price, and are being marketed as they are. Read full review.
Lancome Audacity in London
Lancome Audacity in London Eyeshadow Palette ($69.00 for 0.576 oz.) includes 16 eyeshadows and most of them are terrible. Even when they swatched decently–which is probably being generous–they applied worse on the lid, as the thin, dusty textures did no favors on my lids. The eyeshadows applied unevenly, patchily, and often looked like faded versions of the way they did in the pan, which meant that they tended to muddy and lose contrast as they are more muted colors to begin. Read full review.
Urban Decay Wired
Urban Decay Wired Pressed Pigment Palette ($39.00 for 0.40 oz.) is a new, limited edition palette that includes six eyeshadows and four pressed pigments (which are “not for use around the eye”). The pigments are easily identified and split up within the palette, which was a welcome update and something I wish more brands would do. That was the best part of the palette –it only went downhill from there.
The performance of the palette is drastic departure from the original Electric palette, which wasn’t perfect but was significantly more workable. If this palette was the full spectrum of colorful eyeshadows available, I’d give up wearing colorful eyeshadows entirely, but thankfully, that’s not the case. What year is it?? Read full review.
Ciate The Jessica
Ciate The Jessica 9 Shade Eyeshadow Palette ($39.00 for 0.48 oz.) is a new, limited edition palette that features nine shades with three mattes and six shimmers. There was not one shade that was good; decent would be a stretch for maybe one or two shades–it might even be kind to say it’s mediocre rather than what it really is: a prettily packaged piece of garbage that Ciate should be ashamed to have put on the market, let alone marketed to add “va-va-voom” to one’s look. Read full review.
Chanel Trait de Caractere
Chanel Trait de Caractere Eyeshadow Palette ($70.00 for 0.31 oz.) is a smoky, earthy set of shades housed in a black compact. I wanted to like it, as it was a more unusual set of shades for the holiday season, but the formula is just so powdery, prone to sheering out, and short-wearing that it left me incredibly disappointed. More often than not, Chanel’s 5-pan palettes are unimpressive, and it always makes me wonder why they didn’t just make a quad instead, where the formula is stronger. Read full review.
Make Up For Ever Let's Gold
Make Up For Ever Let’s Gold 18-Pan Eyeshadow Palette ($45.00 for 0.54 oz.) is a subtle, neutral palette with a mix of shimmers and mattes across browns, greens, and coppers. If you’re familiar with the Artist Color formula, forget about it because this palette is nothing like those and isn’t advertised similarly at all — if you go in expecting the pigmentation and quality associated with Make Up For Ever eyeshadows over the last decade, you’ll be disappointed. Read full review.
MAC Lo-Fi
MAC Lo-Fi Jeremy Scott Eyeshadow x29 Palette ($75.00 for 0.51 oz.) is an example where there’s a lot of attention paid to the packaging but not enough toward the actual product inside. Read full review.
Stila Shade Mystere Liquid Eyeshadow
Per the brand, it's supposed to be a "magically-transformative liquid eyeshadow" that has "color-flip pigments" that give it a "unique, color-changing, megawatt finish." It is supposed to be "long-wearing" with "minimal fallout." There's no specific callout about coverage level, but the brand's swatches shown fairly pigmented skin swatches and then opaque coverage on their model eye swatches. Read more...
MAC Kiss of Stars Lipstick
The formula is supposed to have "intense, ultra-creamy colour payoff" with an "ultra-smooth gliding texture" that has "even colour distribution and payoff." Just in case you weren't totally on-board with the idea that MAC meant for these to be pigmented, they also go on to describe these as having "an explosion of colour." Read more...
Chanel L'Intemporel de Chanel
Chanel L’Intemporel de Chanel Eyeshadow Palette ($80.00 for 0.24 oz.) includes five shades of muted, smokier shades. It was a complete and utter disaster; not worth $8, let alone $80. Described as a “rich palette” with “an absolute black” and “brilliant green and plum shades,” I don’t know what palette they’re speaking of, because these were sheer, dusty, and uneven applied to the skin. Read full review.
KVD Beauty Shade + Light Two Tone Blush Duo
Kat Von D Bonnie + Clyde Shade + Light Blush Duo ($25.00 for 0.317 oz.) features a cool-toned set of shades in a very light pink and a darker pink. The blush formula is supposed to “stay vibrant for a full 24 hours of wear” with “silky powders” that “blend effortlessly into skin for a flawless, buildable finish.” The texture of both shades left something to be desired as they were thin, chalky, and difficult to blend. Read full review.
Fenty Beauty Metallic Eye & Lip Crayon
The formula is supposed to have "insane glide" that is "creamy upon application" but sets. The brand says that they can be used as eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, or lip liner. I found the performance to be underwhelming both on the eyes and lips, though on lips it was particularly disappointing. Fenty has been fairly consistent, and where they've missed, it's usually not a total failure, but I had no luck with this formula at all. Read more...
Too Faced White Chocolate Bar
Too Faced White Chocolate Bar Chocolate Bar Eye Palette ($49.00 for 0.42 oz.) is a new, limited edition eyeshadow palette that is available for Rouge/VIB members from 11/21 to 11/22 and then releases for everyone on at 11/23. It’s one of Too Faced’s worst palettes, and it’s still a mediocre, not-worth-$5 palette used over their own primer. The formula used in this palette is so dry that shades are often dusty, chalky, or powdery (or some mix) with many shades applying with little pigmentation, sheering out as soon as they’re touched, and have little wear time (even over primer!). Read full review.
Makeup Geek Showstopper Crème Stain
The Showstopper Creme Stain formula is supposed to be “long-lasting” and “highly pigmented and offers effortless, buildable coverage.” Highly pigmented and buildable make it confusing what the coverage actually is, since something that is buildable means that it is less pigmented but can be layered for greater coverage. The majority of shades were medium to semi-opaque in coverage, hard to build as they often pulled up the first layer and shifted color around. The formula rarely applied well; it was streaky, dried so fast that there was no time for corrections (and attempts to correct just made it worse), and clingy. Read more...
NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
NARS Soft Touch Shadow Pencils ($24.00 for 0.09 oz.) come in four shades for the holidays: Empire (black), Heat (teal), Silver Factory (aluminum), and Trash (vivid purple). Silver Factory is limited edition but the other three are permanent.
If I had a makeup nemesis, I imagine it would look a lot like NARS’ Soft Touch Shadow Pencils, because it’s one of the worst products I have ever seen, and I get frustrated every time I use a new shade in the same disappointing formula. I wish I could tell you that the latest four showed improvement, but I can’t. They’re as awful as expected. I have reviewed these thoroughly. I have tried them in various ways; as a base, alone, over a base, over a primer, over eyeshadow, under eyeshadow, as eyeliner, as brow highlighters. Read full review.
Too Faced Peach My Cheeks Melting Powder Blush
The formula is supposed to be a "cream-to-powder blush" that has "buildable color" and a "creamy, velvety texture" paired with a "radiant-matte finish." The consistency felt creamy to the touch, but it also felt a little powdery. It had a candy-coated shell initially--very shiny--but after one or two uses, the texture looked more matte and felt a lot drier. It seemed almost as if it was drying out over time, so ultimately, it felt more like a powder going on most of the time. Read more...
Too Faced White
Too Faced White Chocolate Chip Palette ($26.00 for 0.25 oz.) includes 11 eyeshadows in a small, compact case. I had no trouble getting an average-sized eyeshadow brush into each pan, but the quality of the palette was actually surprisingly bad–there was a cheapness to the formula that made colors look lighter and more white-based to the point where half the shades looked alike once on the lid. Read full review.
NARS Endless Orgasm
NARS Endless Orgasm Multi-Use Face Palette ($49.00 for 0.48 oz.) is a new, limited edition palette that features six cream shades that can be used on eyes, cheeks, and lips (and I’ve rated them across these three areas and then taken an average score for the ratings seen below). The formula is supposed to be buildable and can be blended “with a fingertip or a brush” to be applied as a standalone product or layered with other products.
The problem with these multi-tasking formulas is that they often don’t work well across all the areas, and in this case, it didn’t perform well on any area. It was just varying degrees of amused horror (insta-crease formula on the eyes, horrifying in its quickness but not really a surprise), vague surprise (they weren’t the worst product on my lips), and distinct disappointment (wow, they don’t even apply well as a blush???). Read full review.
Tom Ford Beauty Lip Gelee
The formula is supposed to have "transparent color" and a "wave of glossy shine" that "imparts a cushion-like, conditioning tint." It has a "sheer color core" surrounded by a "hydrating balm." The product screams gimmicky, and the performance was so dismal that I can't help but think that's all it is. On my lips, I did actually see differences in tints--warmer, cooler, pinker, redder--but anyone with more natural pigmentation will likely find that harder and harder to determine. The transparent aspect was accurate, and the sheerness was really as expected based on the marketing. Read more...
Fenty Beauty Pastel Frost (8)
Fenty Beauty Pastel Frost (8) Snap Shadows Mix & Match Eyeshadow Palette ($25.00 for 0.21 oz.) is a new, permanent all-shimmer palette that proved disappointing. The newer Fenty palettes were inconsistent, but the matte eyeshadows tended to be more workable and easier to use all-around, while the shimmers were all over the place.
These were some of the worst as they were thicker and stiffer in texture, which yielded weaker coverage and poorer application in most cases. They don’t improve much over primer; they have to be really pressed and worked onto the lid with fingertips or dampened brushes just to be decent. Read full review.
Melt Cosmetics Ultraviolet
Melt Cosmetics Ultraviolet Blushlight (Trio) ($22.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a jumbo-sized blush compact that contains a pan that’s been split into three distinctive shades. The brand says that it can be used “on face and around eyes as desired” (I wonder if “around” is code for “not for the immediate eye area,” though). As a blush formula, the heavy, denser, and thicker consistency made it difficult to pick up product, left them often looking thick and textured on my cheeks, and ranged from “make it stop” to “don’t apply in a rush” levels of difficulty. Read full review.
NARS Velvet Shadow Stick
It is supposed to be a “long-wearing, crease-proof” formula with a “velvety matte finish” that “glides smoothly” with “high impact.” The formula is certainly an improvement from the Soft Touch Shadow Pencils, which were some of the fastest-creasing products I have ever tested. This formula doesn’t crease as quickly, though wear is only five to six hours, which isn’t stellar. Read more...
Laura Mercier Watercolour Mist
Laura Mercier Watercolour Mist Eye & Cheek Palette ($58.00 for 0.332 oz.) contains six eyeshadows and two cheek... Read full review.
Smith and Cult Flash Flush Cream Blush
The formula is supposed to be a "lightweight, cream-to-powder blush" that is "pore-smoothing" with a "barely-there feel." The texture has a thicker, more clay-like feel to it, where there's creaminess to it, but there was also a drier, more velvety/powdery feel present as well. It was a tricky formula to work with, as it was dry and prone to crumbling/flaking off my skin when I tried to use it with my fingertips (which is what the brand says to use with the product). I had the best luck working with a stippling brush, but the drier texture made it more difficult to pick up product with a brush. I did not like how they applied on my skin; they were uneven and sometimes caught on any dryness or flakiness. Read more...
I don’t know why it’s so much fun to read F ratings! I actually blind-bought one of these losers a year or two ago. I came across the TF White Chocolate Chip Palette at Nordstrom Rack. It was only $8 and the packaging was cute, so I decided to get it. I don’t know why I didn’t first consult with Temptalia on my phone like I usually do before buying a product I don’t know anything about. When I got home and tried to use it, I couldn’t believe how awful the quality was. Some of the shades refused to leave their pans. Other shades had sparkles that refused to stick to my eyelids (even with primer) and wandered all over my face. Just dreadful. I still have it (because I’m a packrat), but I have never used it.
LOL!! Since you actually paid $8, did you still feel like you wasted your money at that price point?
It is always a relief to hear someone who has a similar experience to yours, but it’s unfortunate you had to waste money, too!
Well, the $8 I wasted could have gotten me something nice from ColourPop, so there’s that.
I’m so annoyed that I ordered the UD Wired before reading this. I wasn’t paying close enough attention and didn’t realize that a whole 40% of the palette was labeled for face and body only. ? I have Electric, and quite like it, so I was really hoping that this would be an update of that with the Born to Run formula. I’ll be returning Wired tomorrow. Lesson learned, I guess!
Electric has a few shades that are technically for face, too – both palettes contain shades that aren’t technically approved for eye usage as a FYI!
I am breathing a sigh of relief that I didn’t waste my money on any of these products. I normally do wait for reviews, but every once in a while I leap before I look (looking at you CT Lightgasm face palette)! Thanks for all that you do!
My pleasure, Chris!
was holding my breath the whole way through that nothing listed was something I owned or loved and I made it haha. WHEW
LOL!
Omg, I was doing the SAME thing!?
Same here! I did buy Electric some time ago but gave it to my granddaughter who is in her early to mid 20’s. She and her friends had fun!
the White Chocolate stuff came and went before I started paying attention to makeup releases, and I’m glad it did because I would have fallen hard for those color palettes. What a waste! Same with the Laura Mercier Watercolour palette — can we nudge Charlotte Tilbury in that color direction please..
Anyway, it’s fun to see your Hall of Shame! Your Makeup Breakups… Who Swatches the Swatchmen… To All the Brands I’ve Loved Before… I’ll think of a better one. Maybe.
I like the ones you came up with!!
Pastels have always been hard to deal with 🙁 Sometimes I think the only way to get good ones is to give deeper pastels (bordering on non-pastel) and include a lighter shade (like white) to add the pastel back in.
Indie brands manage lovely pastels just fine – mainstream brands need to step it uppp
Like the KVD Goth palette!
I keep it, although I rarely use it, because I’ve found that white really helps to soften some of the other lovely matte pastels.
What a round-up! I’m relieved to say I only purchased one of these — the MUG Sparklers! That was pretty much the beginning of the end of my relationship with MUG, too. I can’t remember if I ever bought anything else from her. And I’m not sure I ever used either of the two Sparklers I bought, because I just didn’t want to deal with the mess.
I’m 99% sure there is still remnants from the Sparklers in my photo room!! I had to put them all in a plastic bag after using because all the glitter around the edge kept leaking.
I have no doubt about that! Glitter is forever. And the more finely milled it is, the harder it is to get rid of.
Aww, the Mac X Beth Ditto and NARS X Andy Warhol products didn’t make it in? Those are classics!
(I love reading your F reviews…thank you for compiling!)
Some of the realllyyyy old reviews, I just don’t remember much as well (or at all!), but the NARS Soft Touch Pencils from the Andy Warhol launch is the excerpted review for them in this post 🙂
lol the NARS Andy Warhol x Debbie Harry palette was the WORST. I bought it and the “Trash” & “Aigle Noir” pencils and returned them the next week. That was about when I started reading Temptalia regularly actually, because after that travesty of a purchase I decided I should look up swatches & reviews before I bought anything!
Trash so appropriately named, though.
Definite classics! ?.
Sitting in Starbucks having a flat white giggling to myself. I love these #epicfails particularly as I own none of the above. I feel like Wonder Woman deflecting bullets.
Happy Monday ?
LOL – I think the flat white is probably helping you deflect, Wendy (it’s my favourite coffee too!)
I’m drinking a flat white, too, while reading this! It’s the perfect thing to do while gleaning makeup wisdom.
? just finished my tall coconut milk flat white as I’m reading this (I’m at home)! I like reading the epic fails, too and am relieved I dodged so many bullets. I did buy Walk of Flame but as a gift and never heard back about it, so ?♀️
Just goes to show that a luxury name (Chanel, Tom Ford) and/or a high sticker price are no guarantees of quality! Christine, you and Temptalia have saved me from spending a lot of cash on products that weren’t worth my money or time but I did get a chuckle reading about these products and thinking of the bullets I’d dodged (I’ve seen the Too Faced White Chocolate – the larger and smaller ones – at well-known discounters and haven’t even been tempted by deeply discounted prices).
Agreed! You never know where the next miss will be from.
Nice job! 🙂 I, unfortunately, fell for a discounted White Chocolate palette and bought it without checking reviews. Shame on me!!!
Not really, Seraphine – it should be “shame on THEM (in this case, Too Faced but the other TF – Tom Ford – should also be ashamed of his clunkers!)
I’m guessing I should be grateful that Too Faced did me dirty in last year’s half price sale. They confirmed my order for two White Chocolate palettes placed in the first minutes of the sale, strung me along for weeks, then cancelled my order. Weeks after that, a pink TF box arrived- I was so excited! Dug through all the pink confetti to find nothing but the foil packet free samples that I added to my order. I’m still so mad, I haven’t purchased a single TF product from any venue since.
I’m thinking you should just feel relieved! I very much understand how annoying it must have been to receive a package with nothing but a few samples, but really, it’s a very good thing they never sent you that awful palette! I don’t buy Too Faced anymore, either. Too many disappointments.
Nothing beats reading your F grade reviews! I love to read the scathing evisceration of the truly horrible stuff released. I can still remember the AWFUL LM Watercolour Mist palette, KVD Shade & Light blush duos and MAC x Jeremy Scott Lo-fi palette reviews, along with almost all of the above. Fun reads!, LOL. Thank you for saving me mucho dinero!
The Lo-fi palette had so much potential! The LM one I feel like we saw coming… pastels afterall!
Thanks to you, I avoided buying all of these pathetic loser products. It boggles the mind that the companies’ QC let these be released to the public.
Phew!!
Yes, sometimes I’m not sure how they’re testing/using a release prior to testing – especially when we’re talking about really firm/stiff textures, I just wonder did anyone try it??
Sadly, this has happened in my beauty career in product development…even with good factories! One example was an eye shadow palette where the pressing machine was not calibrated correctly throughout the entire production run so the texture varied from shade to shade from perfect to too hard which makes the shadow difficult to pick up.
Pastel colors are notoriously difficult to execute well in pigmentation and texture so I could see why there are so many on paler palettes on this “fail” list.
I waited until they added shakers (or whatever they’re called) to the packaging…it’s definitely better than nothing! I use the Sparklers on special occasions and still think they’re fun. In no way did it ruin my love for MUG!
Luckily, I didn’t purchase any of these. I haven’t purchased a total failure in quite a long time thanks to you, Christine. I have purchased a couple of things that had elements or shades that were disappointing but I always try and balance that with getting enough that I like, would use and perform well.
The Fenty Christmas release year before last is the one that I was upset about because I bought it for my daughter for her Advent Calendar and so I gave it to her anyway. I don’t think she touched it after the first time. Each product in that release was a dud. Surprised it didn’t make your list!!
The Fenty crayons are from the holiday launch!
As soon as I saw the headline, my mind immediately went to that Laura Mercier watercolour palette. I had been wanting a misty, muted palette for spring for ages and was ready to order it online as soon as it came out. Your review stopped me from doing that and when I was able to swatch the product in-store… it lived up to your review in every way.
Amazing how some of the real duds hit home and stay with us! One day, we will have all the pastel and muted color palettes of our dreams!!
God knows you probably have a million other things to review, but the Creepy Cute palette from Shroud Cosmetics has incredible pastels! (They’re also sold as singles!) Definitely a product and brand worth checking out if you can find the time. And echoing everyone else’s sentiments, reading your F reviews always gives me a good laugh. Thanks for all that you do!
The thing is… than even your A and A+ products are someones Fs, while others are due to absolutely love your D-E-Fs. 🙂
I love how your reviews are well documented and argumented, in the end make-up is quite subjective and from a well written review you can take it or leave it. As a savvy consumer who know what she likes / suit her, it’s reviews like your that help me decide, even if it’s a good review (but I know that I dislike what you actually like in a product) or a bad review (I know that what might not work for you, works for me). Reviews that simply state `worst product ever`, `best product ever` don’t help me decide… I need details on what was bad or didn’t worked.
Glad they help, Ana Maria!
All the love for this post!
🙂
Great compilation, enjoyed it. So many Beauty Bloggers hated the same products, especially the Too Faced products.
Too Faced’s White Chocolate palettes were definitely some of the more universally disliked products (though I know there have a been a few brave souls who have shared that they like theirs!).
This is a fun roundup! Especially useful to those of us who like to pick up older releases at TJMaxx !
Happy you enjoyed it!
I got so weirdly excited about these. “I remember when that came out and it was awful!” It’s like reverse nostalgia.
Whew!
Am I the only one to skim quickly through these first to see what I might have in my stash?
Happy to see I’ve skipped all, thanks in part to you, Christine!
Wow this was fun !
Out of all the products that made the list , I’m really surprised with the performance of the two Channel 5 pan palettes.
I’m not familiar with them , or the history of Channels 5 pan pallets ,I just like the color story of both .
Glad I saw this review ! .
I love these kinds of lists because they remind us that even the best brands have epic fails. Some them, like the Chanel duds here are so, so expensive. This is why blogs like yours Christine are so important in that they provide us, the consumers, with a good idea of what’s a good buy and what’s not.
Thankfully I don’t have any of the above products.
Thanks for sharing this list. I’ve often wondered what your worst was. It’s also interesting to note how much I saved because of your reviews.
I love this post and am glad not to find any that I own (or own still). Crap has no place in a curated collection.
I was so tempted to buy the MAC x Jeremy Scott Lo-Fi, that could have been such a great workhorse palette if the quality was there but alas, I’m glad I didn’t. And the Sparklers! I remember the big to-do about those and I think that’s what ended my purchasing from the brand. It wasn’t so much the bad quality, it was the way the fallout (customer dissatisfaction, heh) was handled. Overall it’s a shame because some of these pieces look so pretty and dreamy and creamy, but thankfully there are so many, many more pieces that performed decently and have lived up to the hype from these brands.
Oh my god, the Jessica. I remember how people were just baffled by how bad it was.
I love that you pulled Fs from pretty much every price range. I agree with all the ones I’ve tried, or swatched in store, from this list with the exception of the Nars Endless Orgasm palette. It’s one of my favorite purchases and it’s just a joy for me to use. Granted, I have atypically dry skin and makeup preferences soo….yeah, most everyone would definitely be disappointed with this.
My only real issue with it is the latch. I have two Nars palettes (this one and an eyeshadow palette) and both have broken latches.
Surprised I didnt see the beth ditto shadow liner things on this list, just by far the worst eyeliners and cream eyeshadows I’ve ever used!!!! So dry that they were painful to apply, and still left practically no pigment and what did apply was extremely patchy and uneven
I once owned the Lancôme Audacity in London & like you, found it was very muted. I gave it away. Another underperforming product was Urban Decay’s Troublemaker mascara. A lot of attention was given to the holographic container & sadly not to the mascara. It had so many fibers in the tube & the mascara took forever to dry. Urban Decay finally removed it but I wouldn’t mind if they did a LE Perversion using those holographic tubes.
Ooo, I remember the Ciate The Jessica & MUFE’s Let’s Gold reviews, saved by the bell, thanks!!! I purchased on of the MAC’s Kiss of the Stars and I really like it (for the color, not the wear).