Once you dislike a brand, is it possible to change your mind?
It depends on the reason why, but for less egregious reasons, yes, it usually is possible. There are brands that I lose confidence in because they’ve released too many flops, but if enough time passes and they seem to be improving, I’d definitely give them a chance again. When I dislike a brand for reasons that have less to do with product quality and rather the brand’s behavior, owner behavior, etc., it’s much harder.
— Christine
Interesting that you’ve chosen a photo of Hourglass palettes because they are a big “how dare you treat customers like this” brand for me and have been for quite a few years now. Thanks to the first rate information you provide, Christine, I became exceedingly cheese off at this brand for their “Holiday palettes” which cost MORE than, rather than the same as or less than their regular products, ounce for ounce. Hourglass is already a pretty pricey brand though I was happy to pay their prices for some really lovely products. No more, though. When other companies were offering their customers extra value at the holiday season, Hourglass was blithely offering LESS value. I’d rather have coal in my stocking, thanks! I also no longer buy Kat von D (or KVD), even though I think she’s sold the company. So as you’ve said, brand behaviour or owner behaviour will really affect me and it’s hard to reverse that.
You essentially summed up my thoughts. If a brand has bad products, my opinion can change if they change their products. If a brand has bad behavior, my opinion could possibly change if they change their behavior. But the degree of change needs to correlate to the degree of the bad behavior.
Once I’ve been put off a brand it’s incredibly hard for me to want to go back, especially given that there are so many makeup brands out there. That said, I’m fine with liking just one product in that brand and repurchasing it as necessary. Hourglass is a great example of that for me. I love their Dim Light finishing powder. Nothing else on the market quite like it IMHO. But I am NOT willing to buy their ridiculous holiday palettes and aside from the one product I love nothing else really tempts me anyway. Kat Von D is the only brand I actively stopped purchasing because of the behavior of the owner/face of the brand. Her anti-vaxx nonsense is really beyond the pale, and everything in her lineup can be easily replaced by other products.
You said it perfectly! I wrote off a few brands a couple years ago including JSC, Too Faced, KVD and now too with Hourglass which used to be my favourite brand. I’ve really not bought anything new from them. There is too many brands and products out there now that can easily replace old favourites.
I’d rather choose a brand with good ethics!
You stated my feelings on this topic perfectly, Christine. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
For instance; Now that Kat Von D is no longer a part of KVD Beauty, I regularly buy the Tattoo eye liner because on my hooded oily lids, it never breaks up, transfers or moves around on me.
However, I will NEVER buy anything from certain very problematic, drama-mama brands like J* and others along those lines!
Then there’s Hourglass…I do NOT like their somewhat limited range of shades in their face palettes. They do have the one perfect for my “Medium Deep/Light Tan” complexion finishing powder in Dim Light. It absolutely perfects and even sets my foundation during the warmer half of the year and beyond. So what am I to do?
Same boat. I love Tatoo liner but Stila’s liner comes close for me. Otherwise it’s a no for KVD beauty. Dim light is also a favorite of mine so I keep my Hourglass purchases to a minimal. I still use and love their blushes as they perform well for my skintone but I do wish they’d come out with more inclusive colors because they do have good powder formulas that should reach a larger market. Otherwise, I’ll be on a low buy and just continue to use what I have.
For people not wanting to support J*, I recommend looking more into his other businesses.
Besides makeup, he owns multiple fulfilment centers and a huge chunk of merch business. People might not buy his makeup, but support him financially in many ways. An influencer I follow spoke recently that trying to find a merch brand that wasn’t related to J* Star, Shane Dawson and other controversial people was almost impossible. And that’s because she did the research; most influencers selling merch don’t know where shipments are fulfilled from or who manufactures the merch (since some end up ordering through third parties or merch websites).
The makeup business is his fun project, he makes way more money from his other businesses.
Ana Maria, that is some shocking info! Although I would NEVER wittingly or willfully buy any of those people’s merch, I definitely wouldn’t want them to profit from any of my basic purchases, ie; clothing, sneakers, etc. However, Doc Martens and Converse are off the table because I have flat as pancake feet, and both of those brands are super comfortable on my messed up, sore feet.
It’s not that overspread… J* fulfilment centers mostly ship for Killer Merch (which includes merch for a huge number of influencers and companies, my biggest surprise was Netflix) and his brands, but both the Los Angeles and Wyoming centers have also contracts with local businesses.
My point is that people really don’t get a gasp that J* is in multiple businesses in the backend (including with people who one would think don’t approve him) and it’s just an example. The problematic brands and influencers are more than a couple of make-up products that we all see online, and unfortunately there’s not enough transparency to always make the right decision.
I was getting a little frustrated with Colour Pop’s issue with failing to cater to darker skin, but they seem to have been on an upward trajectory with that. I really hope it doesn’t stop with two palettes explicitly made for dark skin. And hey, I’m on the pale end and I crave some more depth in Colour Pop palettes too. The number of releases with repetitive shades is annoying, but I accept that Colour Pop seems to be catering to people who don’t have as extensive makeup collections as I and I just don’t buy every release.
You know what wouldn’t change my mind about a company I was iffy on? Releasing the most ridiculously overpriced eyeshadow we’ve ever seen. Stuff like that will turn me away from buying anything from your brand. How could that brand recover? Maybe make some powder products for darker skin then release some good quality eyeshadow for a decent price. Quit treating consumers like they are stupid. It’s insulting.
Hourglass doesn’t care. 😅 I think they just decided that they’ll keep to a specific demographic / market segment and they just keep doing their thing.
In the end, every business or brand has the right to select their customers, if it’s a bad business decision it’s on them.
I just don’t understand who taught those eyeshadow prices are a good idea. People who pay that much usually will just buy a Channel or Tom Ford, because it also has the name attached. Hourglass is neither a designer name, neither a brand who has a makeup artistry recognition (like Pat McGrath or Natashela Denona).
I’m pretty much the same as you. I’m willing to give second chances IF I think there has been real change.
In short, no.
I’m fairly stubborn, so when I’ve made up my mind, it’s like the brand is dead to me. It does take a lot to ruin my opinion, however.
As an example, I tried a brand’s iconic product and found it overpriced and disappointingly mediocre. I have better $3 elf shadows. So I left a review on their site, which had mostly 5-star notes on the product. They took it down after 2 months and 100+ helpful votes.
I’ve criticized MAC products and others, and they let the reviews stand. Just yesterday, I saw a pile of negative reviews on a product on KVD’s site that they clearly were not trying to manipulate. I respect/ vote with my dollars for brands that can take criticism. I do not respect brands that offer excuses or disrespect their customers or employees. Some brands toe this line, eg dubious promo practice, controversy etc. Unless I have concrete evidence of wrongdoing, if I like the brand or its products I’ll keep giving it a chance. I do, however, prefer unproblematic brands with a pristine reputation who go out of their way to express gratitude and helpfulness to their customers.
I have never bought another product from CT again and never will. Few other brands have earned this regard. Like I said, I’m stubborn.
It’s not unlikely to give a second chance.
There are many brands from which I don’t like the majority of the products, but have that one item that is holy grail.
Brands are also… brands… they can change entirely the ownership structure, rehire all employees, move to totally different factories, change their entire creativity team… A brand is in the end a name, an inanimate thing… Whatever I think about it now might not matter next year.
Yes, there might be cases were I would be reluctant to try again, but I would potentially reconsider if I see opportunity for change.
Everything Christine said!
Agree with you , if I don’t like the owner/company policy/actions I probably wouldn’t buy again unless they left the company. As far as just continually disappointing/poorly performing products if they came out with new products that had good reviews I might retry them.
Lol at the hourglass pix. I don’t get the recent hate towards them as they’re are a lot of brands especially luxury that don’t have inclusive shades. Kinda like Tarte that time. There are certainly others too it was like a mob action or something.they were popular to slam now it’s hourglass but I don’t keep up with all that.
As far as brands I don’t pay much mind too.. kid is a good example I might try their new foundation but I heard it was very short acting but I might try a product here or there with good trusted reviews.
Some like Motphe/JH I would never try as they just do t have quality products.
Regarding Hourglass, I don’t buy much from them, but after having tried the Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder, I will keep buying it. It lasts a long time for me, so I don’t need to buy often,
Now to the question. I think my answer is very much like yours Christine, I was annoyed with MAC as they released so much a couple of years ago, they seems to have calmed down a bit, and I’, good with them again. These days it’s Colour Pop for their many releases, I can’t even remember more than maybe 10% of what they have released this year. However I don’t really dislike them.
If a brands products changes for the worse I can forgive them if they start making better products.
I do find it a lot harder to go back to brands owned or formerly owned by obnoxious, drama queen people. You all know the ones.
Depends on the reason I don’t like a brand. If I dislike a brand bc I’m not into a brand’s releases then I can easily change my mind as my tastes change from time to time. If I’m turned off by a brand’s ethics or bad behavior, I’m not saying it’s impossible for me to forgive and give them another chance but it’s unlikely. There just is too much makeup available that I don’t have to give my money to anyone I don’t approve esp when I’m made aware of their ethics. But I’m also not throwing out makeup or avoiding it if I once purchased it. I don’t support KVD, Hourglass, Colourpop, Ofra etc for various reasons. I have bought things from them. I’m just not supporting them anymore!
Yes it is possible to change my mind if the brand redirects itself to change whatever it is that I originally disliked about it – it could be their choices of names for their products (NARS), lower prices (PMG), better quality products (CP and Dior), or bad behaviour from their brand owners.
It’s ironic that your daily email uses a pic of an Hourglass ambient powder quad with this question because Hourglass is a brand that I used to hate, but now have a “love-hate” relationship with. For me, it was the fact that a lot of women with darker complexions (myself included) kept saying that their flagship product (their ambient powder) just wasn’t that impressive on them, but instead of taking that feedback to heart, the brand kept trying to tell us that it works for everybody. And when they came out with their blush line, it was just as unflattering. It wasn’t until they came out with a lip products (I put on gloss or lipstick just to take the garbage out, and I’m always looking for something new) that I decided to give them a second look. Well, I absolutely love the formulation for their Confession lipsticks, and the color range is pretty inclusive, so it’s become one of my go to lipstick brands.
I still hate their powder products, and think their price point is unjustified, but I will pull the trigger and buy a limited edition lipstick release when they have one.
There are to many other brands that have great products to have to go back to a company where you do not feel valued. We are at a point that we don’t have to beg. So yes.. after this last eye shadow drama from HG- I am done with them. I did enjoy their powders however there are other company’s that I find I am using more anyway. Many of these company’s are producing sub par products and to many releases/ celebrity/ influencer endorsements and it feels like a shameless money grab. I have really just become more judicious in terms of where I spend my coin.
Depends. If it’s because I got bored of them or had a poor quality product – yeah, they can come back from that with something special. But if It’s a horrifying scandal then no.
I appreciate your posts that address ethics in the beauty community. Personally there are some brands that were longtime favorites of mine (like Hourglass) who’s commitment to not being inclusive has put me off the brand. For years I’d buy their 6 pans and could only use 1 or 2 shades. Even if they do decide to be inclusive at this late date I may try their offering but the luster is off the brand and they’ll never be a favorite again.