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Are there any types of makeup products you don't like to wear?


Are there any types of makeup products you don’t like to wear? Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you or for you?

I don’t usually reach for bronzers or self-tanners, though I see their appeal and why they’re essential to some! As someone who has a medium complexion already, I’ve just never felt the need to appear tanner/warmer.

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Christina Avatar

In the summer, I’ll mix a little bit of a bronzer into my foundation just as a tone warmer, but I am so pale that any kind of self tanner just looks ridiculous on me, so I forgo.

Rachel Avatar

Same answer as you, Christine, but for a different reason– bronzers make me look like a Oompa Loompa!
Also loose glitter, although they’re amazing colours, I get them everywhere and I feel like a disco ball because I’m so paranoid I have sparkles all over my face.

Kristen Avatar

False eyelashes and eyeliner. The eyeliner always comes off the waterline and I always mess up my upper lash line, so… And I just can’t get the hang of false eyelashes and I hate the way they feel on :-s.

blueraccoon Avatar

I don’t own or wear bronzers; I like being pale *g* I keep meaning to get one, just so I have it, but so many of them would make me look like an oompa loompa. Same with self-tanners. I’m afraid of looking orange or muddy. Hower, if anyone has a rec for a good bronzer for the ghostly pale, I’m all ears. I was thinking one of Guerlain’s, maybe.

Rebecca Avatar

Try NYX blusher in Taupe – not so much for a bronzer but as a contour colour for cheeks. It’s really natural looking and wont make you look orange 🙂
For a bronzer I love NARS Laguna – it looks dark in the pan but it’s really buildable so you can slowly add just the right amount of colour.

blueraccoon Avatar

I have Laguna, it came in a palette I got last year. but it doesn’t look good on me; it’s too warm and makes me look muddy. 🙁 I’ll try the NYX blush, though!

JH Avatar

Anything that promises to give a “dewy” finish. I have very oily skin naturally, so anything that is supposed to have a radiant or glowy finish just makes me look even oilier.

Chelsea Avatar

I’d have to say my least reached for product is pencil liner…. I just would always choose liquid or gel or even dark shadow over it. And no shimmery bronzer, I always use matte for some reason.

Haley Avatar

I do not like lip gloss or most lip pencils. The sticky feeling and dealing with random hairs flying onto my lips isn’t fun with gloss. I’m also not a fan of shine, which is often in gloss. Most lip pencils feel like they are drying out my lips, but I have sampled some of the NARS and would use them.

Thea C. Avatar

Huh, I can’t think of any type of makeup that I am not willing to try.

I’m Asian though, so I never understood the appeal of self tanners when I tan so easily. I wouldn’t say that “I don’t like to wear it” however, I would just say “I don’t need it”.

Paige Avatar

Same with you and Christine. I tan easily in the summer so there’s no need to use such product. Most bronzers/self-tanners look too unnatural too: they are either too orange or too brown.

Audrey Avatar

Just for reference I’m a NW 15 skintone and am 18, going on 19.

I *never* use:
-Bronzer (I personally love having pale skin. I find the “Snow White” look to be to-die-for!)
-Highlighter
-Lipliner
-Eyebrow Gel
-Frosted Lipsticks
-Blue Eyeshadow
-False Eyelashes (My eyes are too small to look good with falsies)

I *rarely* use:
-Eyeliner
-Lipgloss
-Face Primer
-Waterproof Mascara (Good grief, that stuff is hard to get off!)
-Liquid Foundation (Powder looks much better, in my opinion. Or a light tinted moisturizer is much better, as well.)
-Any eyeshadow outside of the very neutral peachy, champagne, light brown, or light purple family.
-Concealer (I just can’t get the trick of covering blemishes. I try, but in attempt to blend out the concealer it disappears.)

Jade Avatar

I’m exactly the same – bronzers, self tanners, anything in that family. Even though I think they can look nice on other people, I can never get them to look right on me! I will occasionally use a bronzing body product, the kind that washes off, but even then, very rarely.

Kathleen C Avatar

I love self tanners just not when they start to wear off 🙁 I’m not big on liquid eyeliner, it burns and flakes and I prefer gel. Also never like lip liner on myself. Tried everything, never like it on me. Lastly, I’m not huge on contouring. I have chipmunk cheeks and putting color on your “hollow” of my cheek just makes it stand out even more. Looks a million times better if I apply blush on the top, high up, of my cheek bone. Brings everything up and looks better on me and even gives me cheek bones.

KK Avatar

Liquid foundation. They all feel too heavy to me! I try to take very good care of my skin with diet, hydration, and good moisturizer so I don’t even feel like I need to cover much up.

Aida Avatar

Self tanner, bronzer, highlighter, shimmery highlighter on my brow bone (big pet peeve), metallic eyeshadows, glitter on my eyes, anything but black colored mascara, odd colored lipstick/gloss (black, grey, green, etc), glitter/magnetic/crackle nail polishes (I’m so over that, I donated all of mine to a women’s shelter, and I had A LOT of those), false lashes (even though I love the look of false lashes, sadly I haven’t managed to master applying them), liquid liner (I find gel/pencil so much easier), lip liner (unless you use it all over the lips as a base, to me it looks very old fashioned).

Ryou Avatar

I avoid tanning at all costs, as I find it just makes me look dirty/muddy. (same with coppery brown hair color) So just like you, I avoid bronzers and self-tanners. I do have one matte light bronzer that I use for subtle contouring, although I should probabl switch to something that has more gray and less orange tone in it.

Taylar Avatar

I’m a bit like you Christine in that I don’t often reach for bronzer and I never use self tanners. I have super fair skin and I love it, so I opt to use blush to add color to my skin instead. That being said, I’m quite a blush collector (hoarder)! 😉

Wwendalynne Avatar

I don’t reach for bronzer very often either. I occasionally use it around the the sides of my face to give a bit more definition, but only on days where I’m looking particularly wan. Guerlain has great shades for lighter complexions, but still.. my neck and chest are much paler than my face and the use of bronzer only brings further attention to the issue. I don’t like wearing bronzer powder all over my neck and decolletage either to try and match it up and transfer annoys me.

But, top of the list would be false eyelashes. I’m hopeless.

Mariella Avatar

I’m another one who eschews bronzers. I’ve tried a few (almost caved last week and got the Guerlain 4 seasons one) but they don’t look natural on me (I quite like being pale, to be honest) and as a contour, they just make me look dirty…it’s not a natural look on me either. False lashes are something else I don’t own and have no interest in wearing. Heck, I rarely even wear mascara…it always smudges under my one eye so I only wear it on the specialest of special occasions and only for short periods of time.

blueraccoon Avatar

I have to say, I stopped by the Guerlain counter today and the MUA put the 4 season bronzer on me (shade 03, naturel – brunettes) and I was *amazed* at how it looked. It looked really natural, just a bit of warmth and a glow, not dirty or muddy at all. I picked it up, as my first bronzer, and I’m pretty happy with it. If you don’t want a bronzer no one says you have to have one, but that might be natural enough, especially if you go for one of the lighter shades.

Sunny Avatar

False eyelashes and bronzing products. The bronzing product thing is changing though. My face is lighter than my neck/chest/shoulders, so it actually makes some sense to warm it up just a tiny bit for uniformity. Don’t think I’ll become the biggest bronzer fan around though!

Deb Avatar

False lashes. I wear glasses and they just seem impractical! I can see their appeal, though, and I wouldn’t rule them out for a special occasion (or if I ever remember to buy contacts again).

t_zwiggy Avatar

Lipsticks and liplosses. I hate the feeling, and only neutral light-medium pinks look good on me anyway. Also liquid foundation, it feels so nasty on, and every single one I’ve tried has broken me out. It also sticks to facial hair I didn’t even know I had (furry forehead, wtf??), which makes it look obvious and unnatural. I don’t like to wear overly glittery products either.

Ellen Avatar

I used to not wear bronzers, but since discovering the new Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons in Nude (with the pinky colors), I’m IN LOVE. It’s a pinky bronze as opposed to an orange bronze, and it is fabulous. It could even double as blush. Oh my god. I’ll stop gushing now, but let me say, I’m a total bronzer convert.

LBH Avatar

any long wear lip products (too drying for me personnally and dislike the feeling)
any scented or flavored lip products (I prefer unscented completely)
powder or powder foundations (have dry skin)
glitter or frosted products like eyeshadows, lip gloss and nail products
eye liners (accentuates my older eyes)
foundations (prefer tinted moisturizer, BB creams, etc. mixed on top with my thick L’Bri intense moisturizer – my new found love) – again dry and older skin
I do love Smashbox lip enhancing lip glosses with some shimmer since they make my lips younger looking and fuller. Been using these for years. Also love Nars velvet gloss lip pencils since they are unscented to me.

Monica Avatar

False lashes! It’s way too easy to get a miss piggy effect. Another product is pencil eyeliner, I think gel works so much better on me and I don’t have to worry about it smearing. As a side note, I’m a brown skin girl, but I do like to use bronzer, I like to use it as a blush <3

Laura Avatar

I don’t like to wear lipstick. I wear quite a bit of eye makeup and like to keep my lips pretty nude. I do wear gloss at times but I’m horrible at reapplying anything on my lips except balm, so majority of the time I have nothing on my lips.

xamyx Avatar

For me, it’s not so much actual “products”, but colors. I absolutely abhor orange lipstick; it’s only flattering on *maybe* 1% of the world population, and I am definitely not one of them. I seriously don’t understand why those who would never wear an “unconventional” shade, such a blue, green, or black, don’t think twice about wearing orange. I mean, who has orange lips, besides a kid who’s been sucking on a lollipop all day?

Jane Avatar

I don’t like self-tanners. Always forget to use primer, both eye and face. Don’t use lip liner hardly at all. And shame on me but I don’t use sun block as much as I should.

Nekona Avatar

I never use bronzer because I don’t really like it. I like the pale look far more.I also never use liquid eyeliners for their intended purpose because my hand tremor makes it almost possible for me to use right. (I do use it for costume pieces.)

I haven’t really learned how to properly use blush yet either so for now I skip it.

Karoline_Felicia Avatar

I know soooo many of us love it… but I personally hate wearing Lip-Gloss! To me it feels like sticky honey on the lips and I have a feeling that everything sticks to it, such as my hair when the winds sweeps it a bit in my face.

I prefer Lipstick or lip-pencil if I want something long-lasting.

JillianPS Avatar

There’s nothing that I’m not willing to try (except those eyelash extension things… I know it’s supposed to be safe, but I’m scared to use something strange near something as important as my eyes!), but there are things that I have tried and won’t go back to:

– Self tanners – I get very pale in the winter but can tan very nicely in the summer, but I love the fact that colours can look differently on me in different seasons – makes playing around that much more fun! That, and I have yet to try one that doesn’t fade in weird ways or looks unnatural.

– I tend to avoid lip pencils for the drying possibility, but have used some with success. I guess I’m stuck in the mindset that lip pencils are only useful for wearing non-neutral lip colours (bright reds, purples, pinks, etc), and since I rarely wear those colours (due to lack of courage!), I rarely wear lip pencils. That, and I think I just don’t care for the extra “step”, as it were.

– I have a tough time getting pigments to work for me – I have the proper tools (I was told MAC’s 239 brush was good for putting on pigments – if this is not the case, please someone help me!). I can’t seem to get them to work without fallout all over my face

xamyx Avatar

I’m not sure about the 239 brush, but have you tried a mixing medium? I hear MAC Fix+ is good, or I just use a DIY one, which is 3 parts distilled water to 1 part liquid glycerin. I wet my brush, then dip it into the powder, using the back of my hand or palette to “mix” it. HTH

Miss J Avatar

I find a brush like the MAC 242 to work best with pigments. Also, using them wet really does help with the fallout issue, and it also intensifies the pigmentation.

Anna Avatar

Bronzers: I’m latina, my skin is “naturally” bronzed.
Foundation (of any kind): when I was younger, I had this idea that makeup was uncomfortable because you apply lots of powder and paste on your skin. Even if I’m a makeup addict now, I still have the same feelings over foundation. Plus, I don’t have acne problems or such, I like my skin, so I prefer it like it is.
Glitters: nice for the first 3 hours, than 3 days to live with glitters all over you.
Lipliners: I reapply lipstick many times in a day, so I consider a pain to have to use lipliners over and over.
Frost/Shimmer lipsticks: I prefer the full coverage, if I’m putting something on my lips
Highlighters: I like matte looks.

Ella Avatar

There’s very little I don’t use from time to time! At the moment, however, I don’t use face primer as I have oily, acne-prone skin, but I’ve heard good things about Smashbox’s as it’s non-comedogenic. I’m not wild about liquid eyeliner (I prefer gel or kohl) but I do use it occasionally if I’m pressed for time.

Bettie Avatar

Eek, don’t try Smashbox’s primer. That stuff is skin poison. I also have oily, acne-prone skin. Before my wedding I asked my makeup artist to only use non-comedogenic products on my face. She used this and it broke me out terribly!

Ella Avatar

Oh no! I’ve heard such goo things about it. Well thank you for the warning 🙂 Anything you can recommend? I tried Inika’s and loved the primer but it didn’t love my skin, despite all the natural ingregients 🙁

Jade Avatar

I wouldn’t avoid a product just because someone else doesn’t like it – you may love it! The only way to find out if something will work for you is to try it out.

Bettie Avatar

I don’t have a primer I like–I was a little too scarred by my Smashbox experience to branch out. It felt really slimy and icky on my skin, and I could feel it breaking me out immediately.

But, as the others say, give it a try and see what you think. Just have some makeup wipes handy!

blueraccoon Avatar

Not everything works the same on everyone, though. I have Smashbox’s primer, I also have oily skin that tends to break out, and I quite like it. I’ve moved on to other primers–these days I like Hourglass’ Veil Mineral Primer, and Tarte’s BB Tinted primer, but I still have the Smashbox, and it never made me break out.

Starfish Avatar

False lashes, for me. They’re just a pain in the butt to apply and look after. Plus the idea of gluing something to my eye freaks me out.

Faith Avatar

Lipgloss drives me up the wall, I don’t really like to be able to feel my make-up on and so something sticky/greasy on my lips is a big no-no! Also I am super pale (NC5-10) so bronzer is definitely off the cards for me. I mean, often highlighters turn out to have more colour in them than my skin does so bronzer is just ridiculous. I have a really really light brown contouring powder but it just makes me look grubby 🙁

Veronica Avatar

I’m very pale (NC10) and cool-toned, and I actually quite like MAC’s Quarry eyeshadow as a contour! It’s doesn’t pull as warm as brown contours do, and it’s not as bold as Chanel’s Notorious. I apply it very, very lightly with the MAC 168. My roommate really loved the effect it had on my face!

VickyM Avatar

Even though I have a light skin color, I really don´t see the point of bronzers, self tanners or any tanning in general, I like my skin color the way it is. I also never use foundation, and don´t see the need for it. Other products I wouldn´t use are highliters or products that you can´t really see.

Nikki Avatar

There’s quite a few I avoid:

– Loose eyeshadows/pigments/powders: They are too messy for my taste.
– Liquid/cream/gel eyeliners: I haven’t mastered a steady hand for application yet. :-/
– Mascara: I HATE MASCARA! I feel like I can’t remove it without losing too many lashes…PASS!
– Concealer: I just don’t need it.
– Bronzer: I’m naturally bronze-toned!
– Highlighter – I tried it once and didn’t care for how it looked on me…PASS!
– Cream Blushes – I’ve tried them, but powder just lasts longer on me.
-Lipstick – They dry out my lips something terrible, so I prefer pigmented/opaque glosses instead.

Daisy Avatar

I don’t wear bronzer though I do own at least one and am thinking about finally incorporating it into my routine. I have the Betty Lou-Manizer but since you’ve reviewed Too Faced Bronzed and Poreless Pore Perfecting bronzer I’ve been thinking that might be more suitable!

Other products that have never had a role or cameo in my makeup routine are falsies, lip pencils, cream blush, glitter anything, and frost lipsticks. I also don’t use bold colored eyeliners but I wouldn’t say it’s because I’m averse to the idea, I just don’t own any.

Alison Avatar

I don’t like false eyelashes or fake nails as I find them uncomfortable to wear. I never wear waterproof mascara as it still smudges on my oily skin but is a pain to remove at the end of the day. And although I have quite a few I hardly ever reach for loose pigments – I just always end up in a right mess and getting them everywhere!

Veronica Avatar

-False lashes. I’m fortunate to have long lashes, so I find them unnecessary, however much they’re touted for people with hooded eyes.

-Self-tanner and/or tanning. Most tanners comes in shades too warm for my skin, and I don’t tan, I just burn. I get *maybe* a quarter to a half shade darker in the summer, even if I get a bad sunburn. Since cancer runs in the family, I’ll stick to my SPF 50. 😛

-Bronzer. While I do own one, I rarely use it. Most are just too warm or orange for my skin.

-Pencil liners. The only place I’ll wear them is on the lower lash line, and even then, I put them on knowing it’s going to be high-maintenance keeping the under eye area clean as they slowly, inevitably smudge off my lash line. As for the upper lash line, they’re pointless. Even tightlining won’t catch the areas between my lashes, and I’ve never mastered drawing a thin line with a pencil. My lids are also somewhat oily, so I find the pencil smudges easier than gel or liquid.

monique Avatar

false eyelashes and foundation!
i have tiny little lashes, so i feel like if i wear falsies once, i’ll have to wear them all the time. Even if does enhance the look, it’s one of those things that makes you look too made up in my opinion.
with foundation, i feel like i wouldn’t blend it out or match my skin correctly so i just stay away from it. I don’t have good skin, but I’m fine to let a few imperfections show

Sierra Avatar

Bronzer, highlighter, powder foundation or blush, lipliner and lipstick, self-tanner, and false eyelashes. I used to wear fake eyelashes all the time, but it’s impossible to find eyelash glue that’s gonna last from 4 AM to 10 PM. :/

Xuan Nguyen Avatar

Even though I own quite a few, I just can’t seem to love highlighter. I feel as though it makes me more shiny/oily looking when I’m actually trying NOT to look that way!

Nell Avatar

I prefer not to wear any sort of face makeup such as (powder, foundation, highlighter, blush, etc.) except for a little bit of brightening concealer for my dark circles. I also don’t do eyeshadow, eyebrow products, or lip liner (not even with my bold lipsticks). I’m lazy! I’m just glad I’m still young and fresh-faced enough to get away with what I DON’T wear. (College is also a stereotype I am happy to play into.)

marisol hernandez Avatar

not really I love to try everything out and not look the same all the time, I can’t believe how many ppl don’t like bronzers! I love it it’s a must in cali every month!!And I am pale and still looks good. I love to spray tan with the new Kardashian Sun kissed spray very lightly, and for bronzer/contouring mac give me sun and Naked Flushed are not orange!!! try them 😛

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