With beauty products, I don’t typically do much, if any, research on a product since if I am buying it, it’s likely for a review and I try not to get influenced by anyone else’s reviews!
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MAC Longwear Paint Pot in Bare Study. I assumed it would be like the matte shade Painterly and work as an eyeshadow base, but it is very emollient, sheer, and creases quickly on me.
I always do research before purchasing a product; Tempalia.com has been an invaluable resource for this whether it’s determining if the quality of a product is worth purchasing it or having the capability to view comparisons from my collection so that I don’t repurchase the same color from a different brand. I am so happy to have come across this blog in 2007; I have been a follower ever since. Thank you for all your hard work and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you in 2021 (I’m definitely looking forward to your Sydney Grace collab <3 )!
The only thing I wish I had "researched" or thought more about is how long it takes to finish some products, eyeshadow and blush in particular.
I am a primer junkie and I bought three new ones (Joah Pore De-Activator, Marc Jacobs Under (Cover) Blurring Coconut Face Primer, and Danessa Myricks Smooth FX Refining Gel) this year without checking the ingredients. They were all heavy silicone formulas. I do use those but one would have been enough. I like Tatcha Liquid Silk Canvas better. I try to research things thoroughly and if I buy something without prior study, it’s usually an impulse purchase. I bought a few things from the Trish McEvoy line (High Volume Mascara and the Beauty Balm Instant Solutions BB Cream) that I did not like and hate panned but that brand does not have a lot of reviews so even if I had tried to research it, I don’t think I would have found anything to dissuade me.
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Because I’m such a perfectionist and can be downright anal, I investigate via your written reviews plus YT reviews any and every product I buy, I’ve had precious few fails. Thank you and thank God! There have been several instances where I impulsively purchased something prior to your review, but may have seen a positive YT video, and was a bit letdown by the product in question, though. I just cannot recall off the cuff what the last one was? Darn insomnia is turning my brain into Swiss cheese!! 🤦🏻♀️
I would have waited to buy the Hourglass LE six pan palette. I’d never bought one in the past, partially due to cost, so I had planned for a while to get this one and bought it quickly as most prior years sold out quickly . . .well, this year’s didn’t and I’m kicking myself since I saw it for about $25 less than retail before it finally sold out at Nordstrom.
I find a lot of the reviews on Colourpop’s pallets all say the same thing , how stunning, etc. etc, and I didn’t think so at all. I trust your reviews because you will give it a D or F if it deserves it. I do sone research on reviews. I don’t believe the you tube videos at all!
I research products all the time but don’t typically find that tons of research and successful purchases are directly correlated. Because I may read something negative about the product but think wellllll maybe that won’t be a problem for me (sometimes I’m right!). The best kind of research is going to swatch something in person, because nothing takes the romanticism out of a product like those grubby testers 🤣. Testers may be a thing of the past now and we’ll be like “remember when you could actually swatch something??”
The next best kind of research is just looking at your swatches, Christine. They always so clearly show the color and texture. A lot of the time it leads me to realize oh that’s nothing I haven’t seen before.
I’ve gotten pretty scrupulous about research as my tastes have gotten more expensive, so the one item that springs to mind when I think of “mistakes” has to do with doing research and not taking it seriously enough.
I’m a huge John Waters fan, so when Kat Von D did a collection based on him, I immediately bought the eyeshadow palette even though I had had a spotty experience with the brand, and even though I’d seen a couple of early reviews that should have been huge red flags. Maybe I got cocky because I’ve been able to get products to work for me that others have found difficult. (More recently, that’s been true of the Urban Decay Naked Ultra Violet palette, for instance.)
The John Waters experience did teach me one thing, though, which is that if early reviews are bad, I should take the time to swatch the item in-store before purchasing. I actually ended up keeping the palette because I love the packaging but also because it’s a visual reminder of a valuable lesson.
Rituel de Fille’s Alchemist highlighter and Becca’s Ignite Liquified Highlighter in Love (the limited edition shade).
They’re both very sticky, the RdF is like a thick, sticky lip balm; the Becca is oily sticky, and instead of being smooth both are just large shimmer particles thinly scattered in the greasy thick bases. Both fragranced. The Becca’s is so heavily fragranced I can smell it on my face all day whenever my head turns. Despite the claims of a tropical smell it’s like my aunt’s perfume from the 90s.
I’m a lover of cream/liquid highlight in really light shades in a transparent base so these should have been right up my alley. Yeah…not so much. There’s a difference between a glowy sheen and a chunky shimmer.
Fortunately, I never, ever buy eyeshadows without reading your reviews, so I haven’t had a dud product in years and years. The last time I purchased a ‘dud’ was Estee Lauder’s Emerald Oasis (about 7-8 years ago) and it was dry and dusty as anything.
Apart from a couple of lipsticks – Bite Beauty ones that changed colour on me and were not as easy to use as I thought (Nori for example) – they were a waste of money too.
Thanks to you Christine and my other research I haven’t made any purchases that I regret, I’m tempted by things that are borderline but I’ve managed to talk myself out of purchasing them mainly because I haven’t been wearing very much makeup this past year, so it could change next year (tomorrow!).
Of all time: The NARS x Andy Warhol x Debbie Harry palette – it was SO BAD! The one Urban Decay x Alice in Wonderland palette that was just existing shadows renamed.
This year: COOLA full spectrum spf 30 mineral sun silk moisturizer – the packaging is AWFUL and the sunscreen doesn’t absorb well, so it isn’t moisturizing and feels greasy.
you’ve always been a staple on my resarch purposes, that ensures few fails but when i buy things on a whim bc it happs id probably wouldnt have bought the fenty clear gloss though (i love my fenty glow though)