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What beauty splurge do you regret?
What beauty splurge do you regret? Share!
Hmm, last big one that I can recall was Dior’s special holiday highlighter.
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LaMer cream -after all the celebrity hype and rave reviews, I had to try it. It moisturizes, but is nothing special, and is way over-priced.
Katherine I totally get that. I had a sample that I used for about a week and I still don’t understand the hype because to me it was just a thick moisturizer.
Dior rose diamond
so pretty on fairer girls! did nothing for my nc42
One thing I regret is buying a becca’ Rose Gold highlighter. I think it might be called Rose Ole’. Anyway i came across it a few days ago and wondered what the heck I must have been thinking.
Probably the Too Faced Amazing Face Foundation. It enlarges my pores. I like the MAC Studio Fix Powder much better. I have dry skin so I don’t need to be super matte but it’s perfect.
Also any light pink lipstick (such as Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight). It hardly shows up on my lips. I like medium–hot pink lipstick better. I am NC 40.
You like a powder foundation, but have dry skin? Does it look cakey on you? I tried it and it was super cakey on my normal dry (now normal) skin. How do you apply it?
The Make Up For Ever Studio case eyeshadow palette . I rarely use it.
This is one for me, too. I thought i would love it, but the shadows end up looking sort of muddy on me.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour six palette. They’re not different enough to warrant me using more than one of them.
MAC’s Perfect Topping, but only because it was nothing like the description.
2 MUFE Rouge Artist Natural lipsticks. At the end of the day, was not happy neither with the colors nor with the taste of these things.
All the Benefit blushes, because they break me out and the Estee Lauder Double Wear. They’re all gathering dust; I could’ve used that money so much better. 🙁
I regret nothing!
I don’t have any recent beauty splurge regrets, but I do regret my last fashion splurge. I bought clothes for a job that I was so sure I’d get. Then it turned out I didn’t.
🙁
I may be the only one on the planet to say the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage palette. I bought it because I couldn’t get the Nude Dip. It’s totally underwhelming for me and I have to force myself to use it.
Me too! I commented about this too. It just didn’t work for me.
I bought the Vice 3 palette from Sephora and actually returned it a week or so later during the holidays. Once I got it home and looked at the colors, I realized there was enough overlap with Vice 1 and 2 (and other UD palettes I own) and I didn’t like the colors that didn’t overlap. So back it went unused! I put that money towards Naked 2 instead, which I now use very often and love.
I love MAC shadows and on my last holiday I bought quite a few but they are in colors I’ll never use up in a lifetime. For future I’m only sticking to basic everyday colors.
Too Faced Natural Eyes palette. Really should have went with Chocolate Bar. 🙁
I feel your pain! SO didn’t like that palette 🙁
I love the Natural Eyes palette, but it is definitely different than the Chocolate Bar.
I’m still obsessing about whether or not to keep Vice Ltd. It has some fun shades, but others are hard to use, and I don’t find myself reaching for it that often. But then I look at it and it’s so pretty and spring-like and don’t want to return it, lol! I just wish that the blue, green, and purple shades in it performed better/went on more easily.
This wasn’t really a splurge for most people, but it was $45 so it was a lot to me.
The Sonia Kashuk 15th Anniversary brush set. They shed, they’re scratchy… I just bought into the hype :/ I should have saved my $$ for some IT Cosmetics brushes instead.
I love the IT Cosmetics brushes, also the IT for ULTA brushes in the mid-priced ‘LIve Beautifully’ line, they seem to be exactly the same as the regular IT brushes. Definitely worth it when you get a chance. The lower-priced IT for ULTA brushes are OK but not as great. The high-priced ones don’t work well for me, they pick up moisture from my CC Cream and transfer it back to my pan of powder, making a hard crust on the surface. I tried them, returned and exchanged them for the mid-priced brushes. Less expensive than MUFE or Hourglass, two other lines with excellent synthetic-bristle brushes.
Probably the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. I paid like $30 for it on HSN, but I just NEVER use it anymore… I’m thinking of selling it on my blog, since it’s practically new…
Marc Jacobs Lolita Palette. It’s beautiful and the formula is lovely, but the shades all show up quite similar on my skin, so I don’t find myself reaching for it all that often.
The Dior “Kingdom of Colors” House of Pinks eye palette and the Vibrant Color Powder Blush. I should have waited for your review and saved myself a trip to Nordstrom to return them.
The Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Glow Duo #4. It wasn’t a splurge that it was really expensive, but even at $28, it wasn’t on my “current list”. I *love* the formula, and the colors are amazing, but the pans are sooo teeny, they’re a PITA to use… I would have rather paid more for larger pans, though… I’m also used to my face products being in larger compacts, but this is the size of a NARS single, and I’m afraid if I leave it with the rest of my face products, it’s going to get lost among them.
Definetely buying into the over-hyped Anastasia liquid lipsticks and stalking the website as soon as they were released and purchasing 18! I wound up sending back 12 last Friday hoping they will take the return since it is in the 30 day period because most are intolerable to wear for me for more than 1-2 hours if 10 minutes! Like saran wrap on my lips!.
Marc Jacobs High-lighter set. I loved the packaging and wanted the LE Midnight in Paris pencil (only available in the set), but now I never use it and feel guilty when I look at it sitting on my vanity.
Can’t tell you how many times I almost bought that set, and for the same reason – the Midnight In Paris color!
I went back and forth a ton on that one too. I ended up getting it, and I do use them somewhat. I reach for my large collection of UD pencils more, since I also picked up The Ten UD holiday set on sale from Sephora. I did splurge for the Marc Jacobs Intro(vert) eyeliner and that gets used a ton! The color was undupable, I tried for months until I caved.
UD naked 3.. it is beautiful, but I wish I would have gotten one of the other 2. I could use them way more often.
Mac all about beige look in a box
Both products I bought from Dior’s holiday collection: the gray palette and a lipcolor duo. They both perform poorly, especially the palette. I thought about returning them, then I didn’t. I don’t know that it was the right decision….
Does the naked pallet count? because i regretted it haha. I never used it, it overwhelmed me with all the colour choices. and i ended up only using baked and the plummy shade. I ended up swapping it!
NARS Audacious lipstick in the shade “Audrey” – the formula is lovely, but the shade was just not right for me. I tried to make it work, however it just didn´t turn out the way I hoped it would
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light…
It’s great as a highlighter, don’t get me wrong, but I was expecting this amazing finishing powder for my entire face (I have an oily t-zone, so putting it all over my face isn’t the best look on me). & for $45, I could have gotten a highlighter and a finishing powder… to me it’s a lot to spend on a luminizing finishing powder, & then there’s always tax—unless you live in Oregon, cuz Oregon rules like that!
😉
Me too! It is gorgeous but a little to shimmery for me. I also wanted to use it all over but would’ve looked too crazy haha
I’m glad I’m not the only one! ;-D
Luminous Light only works as a highlighter for me, too. I love Dim Light and Diffused Light as finishing powders, because the blur all my lines and give my face a subtle glow, but, when I was younger, my skin didn’t need such expensive help, haha!
Nars Andy Warhol/Debby Harry palette. I only paid $15 on ebay and even that was way to much for that piece of junk.
As far as actual big dollar splurges…Maybe when I bought the Nars Aigle Noir shadow pencil and Baroque velvet gloss pencil, they were both awful and got returned. I’ve had bad luck with Nars I need to stop giving them second (and third, fourth, fifth) chances.
I don’t splurge too expensively too often, so when I do, I almost never regret it. The Kat von D Star Studded Eye Shadow Book, which I ended up returning. I didn’t wait for reviews or research it like I usually would. That’ll teach me.
The Hourglass Ambient Light Palette. I am very fair and the colors don’t work for me! Wish I had gotten the blush palette instead.
I’m about NW20, and I use Radiant Light as a bronzer/contour, Luminous Light as a subtle highlight, and DIm Light as a finishing powder… not sure if that could help you get some use out of it.
Bare Minerals Biolucent Mineral Brightening Treatment. It was $55 and it rolled right off my skin when I put my foundation on over it.
MAC’s look in a box-Plum. The eyeshadows are meh and the lip colors look absolutely horrible on me. I am NW15-NW20 with red hair and blue eyes. Also the MAC Kabuki brush which was returned and Laura Mericer’s tinted moisturizer (I think it breaks me out)
The YSL touche eclat foundation, the colors online d not match even a little to the color in the bottle! I ordered the br10 which looked exactly the same color as my chanel beige 30 online howver it’s like 5 shades lighter and the Lorca pro palette. I have all 3 naked palettes and the Lorca was just such a disappointment to me, Imo the pigmentation and texture just isn’t there and the fallout is ridiculous and last.y the Laura mercier secret camaflouge. I find it extremely hard to blend and while it does cover nicely it’s just not worth all the effort.
The biggest splurge I regret is buying Tatcha luminous hydrating
Serum.. I usually always look at the ingredients on all products,
But for some reason I didn’t. When I looked
at the ingredients alcohol was listed in there!
95$ for a drying product bad for your skin.
Anyway, most of there products have alcohol in them. That is one
Of the cheapest preservatives there is.
I Won’t buy anymore of there products.
I ordered the Charlotte Tilburt Magic Creme after loving the Gold Bar highlighter & Wonderglow luminizer. I am pretty sure it is what broke me out. And, besides the lovely smell & SPF 15, I am not impressed for $95 USD. I am wondering about her lipgloss, blushes and everything else really. It all looks so gorgeous.
urban decay vice palette…and Kevyn Aucoin essential eye shadow palette in #4…
Hmmm, I can’t say it’s a mistake as I love the product, but I don’t feel like I needed two tubes of NARS eye primer!
If it’s the NARS Pro Smudgeproof eyeshadow base, I had 2 at one time. That stuff is my HG, nothing else works on my oily eyelids!
Tilbury
I regret buying the NYX contour palette. I’m a beginner at contouring so I wasn’t sure what to expect but the powders don’t blend well at all. Just a big dark blob on my cheeks lol. I should’ve saved a bit more and got the KVD palette or ABH.
I don’t regret too many makeup purchases because I read and research what I fancy, but the only one I don’t really use is the NARS misfit duo- I thought it would be a satiny finish and it was matte – which I don’t like. Also the Emerald Pretty palette – I thought there was an emerald or greeny shade and there wasn’t.
Lipsticks in general – I have way too many and I feel terrible because I know I will only use a few of them.
A bunch of MAC lipsticks and eyeshadows that I never wear. I bought them before I realized the quality just isn’t there.
Kevyn Aucoin lipsticks. Taste like you swallowed a vial of perfume. Taste stays for as long as the lipstick lasts. Colors not very exciting. Total waste of $ 35 /a tube. Sent them back to Beauty.com. Never buying lipstick from this brand again.
Dolce & Gabbana lipstick. I bought 3 last year and to me they feel and smell like waxy lipsticks I could get in a drugstore (they remind me of Maybelline, which I can’t stomach). If you want to include skincare, I regret buying some of Dior’s skincare line. I find it subpar to Korean skincare (and much more expensive).
Interesting – my D&G lipsticks are the best formula I ever used (for me). Wish they sold them near me so I could get more
I regret buying the urban decay gel eyeliner, it flakes and falls everywhere all day long. The flakes sting my eyes when it falls into them. I regret throwing away my receipt, and not returning it, $26 gone.
Hm… not much, really, as I tend to obsess rather over researching stuff (given the crazy prices/difficulty of access here). If anything, it might be the Bassam Fattouh lipstick I got in Dubai – it was kind of high-midrange in price, and although the packaging is really neat and the lipstick is ‘fine’, the colour and finish are IDENTICAL to another lipstick I have, and it’s not really my favourite. In fact, the BM might be a touch slipperier/streakier than my existing lipstick (a Bare Minerals one).
TL; DR: A Bassam Fattouh lipstick!
Marc Jacobs Shameless blush in Irrssistable. I loved the color in the store but it hardly shows up on my face and it has gotten all hard and crusty after a couple of weeks. I take VERY good care of my makeup and this was a giant disappointment. Also UD vice 3– not for any reason except that I am freaking forty years old and really don’t have much use for dragon green eyeshadow, etc. I am keeping it, though. Also, I am sure I will buy the next one because I never learn my lesson. I see an eye shadow palette and say “oooh pretty” and forget that I am a stay at home mother of two young kids and imagine all these looks I can create for when I go out so take it home. Then I stare at it and remember that I never go anywhere and then use my usual Naked 2. Pfffffft.
Sometimes it’s just fun to wear funky eyeshadow around the house, LOL! I don’t go anywhere that often, either, and I’m a 41 year old mom, and I sometimes get some strange looks from random passersby when I take out the trash in a t-shirt/leggings/flip-flops combo, but my makeup is full on!
La Mer lip balm. Bought it when I was suffering with chapped, peeling lips. I hadn’t experienced actual peeling before and was desperate for a fix at any price. While the La Mer balm isn’t BAD, I don’t think it’s special enough to justify the cost. In fact, after trying a number of brands (Aquaphor, Bite, Fresh, Josie Maren, L’Occitane, La Mer) I’ve settled on First Aid Beauty’s Lip Therapy. Half the price of La Mer, similar soft mint scent, a little more slip, longer lasting, and best of all, it comes in an applicator tube instead of a pot.
I regret but thankfully returned kat von d poe lipstick I bought into the hype the formula was absolutely awful I would compare this to dollar tree makeup thank god I got my refund of 22$ this was the worst purchase
Insolence Eau de parfume from Guerlain
Not a huge regret because I have still used it quite a lot, but if I had known how many UD Naked palettes were going to happen, I’d have probably picked number 3 instead of the first one as the undertones would just suit me more. I still grab a shade from Naked maybe once a week or so though and use the shade Naked as a contour!
And maybe Nars Audrey a bit. It’s much darker on me than I had imagined (normally your swatches are very similar to how they will look on me but it might also be because I’m paler at the moment because of winter that it looks much darker and almost vampy on me)
Marc Jacobs lipstick. I just didn’t like it all.
The LORAC Mega Pro. I was so excited to own this one but I hardly reach for it. There are a few select colors that I enjoy but overall, it was a miss for me.
I bought the Chanel Camelia 2014 holiday highlighter, which was a big splurge for me. I ended up not really liking it that much. It seems too powdery for me, even if I blend it. I like my Nars Copacabana highlighter in the tube much better. I use that every day.
It’s been a a hot minute since I’ve actually regretted a purchase but oMG I will forever regret picking up both of the UD Oz palettes the second they came out. I’ve literally used them each once. Ya girl could cry tbh.
I bought the naked 2 palette and I immediately hated the fact that half the colors in it made my skin look ashy or pale. I really loved 4 of the shades but couldn’t keep an overpriced palette I would hardly wear so I returned it after a few days. I ended up trying the lorac pro 2 and it was divine for dark skin. Oh well.
Gucci lipstick. The overwhelming smell of perfume only surpassed by the soapy taste. My worst purchase ever.
Where do I begin? :). The hourglass ambient lighting palette, I fell for the hype, it does nothing for my skin tone (nc44), and I’m not a fan of layering multiple powders – blush, setting powder, ambient lighting. I think the product is overpriced. Next is the UD Naked 1 palette, I’m not much of an eyeshadow person, and I’ve come to realize I do better with singles. And finally, most of my MAC lipsticks.
Wow, several of your regrets are like mine and without reading your response I also started my list with the same sentence.
Prior to making a major purchase, I read several reviews for tools. With skincare breakup, I have often had a sample. I also purchase from stores with liberal return policies. In addition, I have an adult daughter and a 20 yr old granddaughter, both of whom will also try products and gifts of the same.
For these reasons, I can’t recall any regretted purchases.
Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage eyeshadow! Dry, dusty, and Unpigmented on me. Also Burberry Oxblood lipstick. Sheer, greasy, and not even oxblood color.
Urban Decay Rush Lipstick. I wish it was more pink and warm on me, but it turned out a bit dark, kinda gray-ish, and drab. 🙁 I rarely use it.
When LipFusion lipglosses first came out, they were ridiculously expensive. I think I paid about $75.00 CAD for mine. I have fairly thin lips, so I figured any increase in plumpness, no matter how small, would be noticeable…but no. It turned out to be nothing more than an overpriced lipgloss (that didn’t even hydrate my lips). Big disappointment. :S
Most foundations I buy are high-end & just usually end up not suiting my skin type (mildly to sometimes moderately oily). I’m also in more of a remote area so I buy most makeup online which seems to be a gamble anyway. I have a few Giorgio Armani (they’re alright, not stellar for me), NARS Sheer Matte (I don’t understand how people with oily skin like this foundation because it separates on my face after a short period of time and looks terrible, and I don’t think I’m all that oily), YSL. I try to do my best to work through them & powder, blot, etc. just to make everything more manageable!
I’m not sure if nail polish can be mentioned here. But for me the biggest regret was Chanel le vernis nail color in Paradisio from spring 2015 collection. It’s such a beautiful and unique color in the bottle! In reality an awful texture,difficult application,uneven result,looks really cheap…
Ooh, gosh there is definitely more than one. KVD interstellar palette, bought before your review and mostly because I was SO excited for a cool tone palette cause everything warm looks awful on me. Unfortunately it was not a buttery as I had hoped and also way too similar to other shadows I already owned (thank goodness for Sephora’s return policy). And more recently Mac VGIII, Mac Victoriana, and Mac Opera. VGIII is so brown on me, almost unwearably brown, and Victoriana and Opera literally look the same. Honestly, any lipstick purchase recently because seriously I have way too many already, haha.
Nude Perfect Cleanse omega cleansing jelly. Sure, it is lovely and leaves the skin soft, but a lot of product is needed to cleanse the whole face which makes it much too expensive for my taste.
Oh, where do I begin?
◆the hourglass radiance palette
◆1/2 of the Dior items I own
◆95% of the bright pink, shimmer or frost lip products I own
◆Urban Decay Naked Palette 1
My new years resolution is to no longer buy products like this no matter how pretty the color is or how gorgeous the package.
oh, how could I forget! I regret buying the mac gravitas palette; it looks so beautiful but I don’t wear orange, cranberry, gold or frost eyeshadow (I am still considering returning it and/or selling it).
I love the Gravitas palette! I wear mine almost everyday. I use the gold on the lid, the light brown in the crease, and the dark brown or grey to smoke it out a little. Sorry, can’t remember the names of the colors and can’t wake The Man to get to the palette right now. 🙂
– Hourglass primer: does nothing for my large pores
– La mer cream: works for my mom but not for me as it is too heavy
– Shiseido UV Protective Compact Foundation: goes on cakey and emphasizes pores as it sets
– UD eyelash primer: it does make my thin lashes thicker but its very weighty so my lashes droop and I have to curl them again and again
I definitely regret the naked palettes. I use them all but not often enough to justify the $150 I spent on them. 2 of them maybe but all three was silly. 1+2 or 1+3 are good enough for me.
Eh! I bought 9 KVD studded kiss lippies the morning they wen’t live (followed by another purchase of 5 more the following morning) and didn’t bother to wait for the reviews to come out because I liked her first line of lipsticks. I think I only have worn 2 of them more than once and the others are sitting at the bottom of my train case.
bought Elizabeth arden foundation because supposedly it is sweat proof and I live in steamy florida.
it was $45!! hope it works!
Beenigma Mousturizer: $120, it is nice but does nothing special for me that you’d think such an exspensive cream would
Makeup Forever Duo-Mat liquid foundation and duo-mat powder both for $80 doesn’t keep me matte any longer than a drugstore product.
Glam Glow Supermud: ~$60, it does absorb oil nicely…..but so do other clay masks for way less $
Guerlain 30th anniversary terracotta bronzer/blush compact… I never use it, the bronzer looks too orange on my skin, and I don’t like the blushes either. It’s just sitting in my makeup drawer, and it was a total waste of money :(.
UD’s Electric palette. I got it in the hopes that having it would push me to be more adventurous with eye looks. That definitely did not happen and it’s gathering dust.
The Audacious lipsticks. Sorry, not a fan!
Urban decay vice 1 because I never really use it and those shades do not suit me.
The Becca limited edition one perfect brush….i don’t really get it…or why it is so special
Lots of stuff actually 🙁
1.) Benefit Perk-Up Artist – not super big splurge at $30 but it performs worse than $1 concealers and is worse than wearing nothing at all
2.) Givenchy Gelée D’Interdit Smoothing Gloss Balm Crystal Shine – AMAZING product but I got too obsessed after trying one and got 2 more during sephora 20 off…… having 3 of a splurge item like this is too repetitive and too many…… >__<
3.) Amour Beauty Lipgloss – HORRIBLY tacky lipgloss and feels thick and awful.
4.) Paul & Joe Beaute Glossy Lip Color – texture is super ordinary and tackier than what I expected, not worth the $29 splurge in retrospect 🙁
5.) urban decay primer potions – this is strange to add to the list as I've been using this since 2012 and have repurchased, etc but I recently realized that I actually prefer lighter/sheer eyeshadow look. also priming eyelids with regular primer or some foundation works just as well for me. not sure why I stuck with this for so long!
6.) anna sui brand lipstick, lip balm, hand lotion – beautiful packaging, perfect scent…… HORRIBLE QUALITY. drying and makes hands/lips crack and bleed actually……
On random note I think the best splurges are Koh Gen Do makeup removal water, Clinique 3 step skincare, Dior eyeshadow palette (The Siren), Shiseido cotton squares, Marc Jacobs Blaquer eyeliner 🙂
Tria Laser Hair Removal. TOTAL waste of time and money! Spent many hours using it for weeks and it did absolutely nothing. It wasn’t cheap either. 🙁