My least favorite thing that Maybelline does is heavily scent (to the point where they sometimes result in off-tastes) their lip products. I love their lipsticks, which have always been one of their strongest areas.
— Christine
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Rave: I love some of their mascaras (currently can’t live without their waterproof Colossal Pumped Up mascara – it’s my everyday go to, layered with Revlon’s Voluminous mascara).
Rant: Not sure if this is just me, but I’ve never, ever been able to get decent color payout from any of their powder eyeshadows. I’ve tried using them with and without primer, and they seem very sheer or non-existent. Maybe it’s my skin chemistry? I’ve been trying their shadows on and off since the 80s, and I’ve never been happy with how they apply. I’ve never truly given up on them, and I still keep buying the occasional palette, but I always get the same disappointing results. 🙁
I don’t really have a rant or a rave about Maybelline. I know I cannot use any of their mascaras — itch, itch, itch. It’s too bad because I think they’re pretty good. Otherwise, I haven’t really used anything else that I can think of.
One thing I do love is their tag line — “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.” It’s light in tone, memorable, and playful. I think it reflects well on the brand.
They often have alright products, but the tastes and scents are really strong on this brand. Plus they animal test so I tend to avoid.
I don’t use a lot of Maybelline but what I’ve used, I’ve mostly liked. They used to have the most wonderful little eye “palette” – calling it a palette seems odd since it was maybe 2 or 3 inches square – called Caffeine Rush. It had 5 eyeshadows in it and it was wonderful so, of course, they discontinued it. I guess my biggest complaint is that while I love the Colour Tattoo shadows, I don’t like how they dry out on the surface and become a bit challenging to use. I’ve never used their foundations, blushes, etc. but I like the highlighter stick I got recently and the Age Rewind Concealer, in spite of the dirty looking mess the “dabber” becomes almost instantly.
Rave: I love their lipsticks. Usually the scent is not too much for me once I have it on, but it’s sure not my favorite. I’m also a big fan of the Baby Lips balms. The Color Tattoos make great bases, even though they have a learning curve as far as application.
Rant: I’m allergic to their mascaras. Their foundations oxidize on me. Their eyeshadows suck, especially “The _____ Nudes” palettes. Everything else I’ve tried from them is average to mediocre. The Facestudio Master Hi-Lighting Blush was beautiful, but the basketweave pattern is super-fragile and shatters easily.
Yes! Their Color Tattoos are really lovely! They’ve lasted a long time for me, and the packaging is solid, too.
Rave: I love that they do fantastic waterproof mascaras at a very affordable price! Which is great considering that mascara has the shortest shelf life. Their lipsticks are really good, too. Just as good in quality as most of my mid end lipsticks in staying power and pigmentation!
Rant: Their foundation shade range is not very inclusive. Plus, every foundation I ever tried from them broke me out horribly! Haven’t tried them out again in probably a good 6 or 7 years because of that. Oh, and as much as I love many of their mascaras, they really *need* to put a total ban on Great Lash mascara in all its iterations, because it thoroughly sucks!
Haha! High five! I agree about Great Lash. Every few years I try to give it another fresh chance but I’m always let down. I’m done with it. Crappy product!
I love their color sensationnal lipsticks, the formula is amazing !
What i don’t love is their brow products. i think that there are much better options in the market
Eh, I think they’re fairly mediocre overall – the lipsticks have improved over time but are still too waxy and over scented for my preference. And the eyeshadows are dismal. Everyone raved about the colour tattoo pots but I never really understood the appeal.
And their foundation range is centered firmly around medium skin tones, nothing very light or dark, just standard peachy beiges and tans.
I haven’t bought anything of theirs in years.
Rave: the Lash Sensational mascara has replaced some high end ones. Their color tattoo’s actually last on my oily + hooded lids.
Rant: I do love the Matte&Poreless foundation but in my country (NL) they released five shades. Five!!! Going from 105 to 127 so like, 5 shades or pale beige. Also, everyone loves their lipsticks but they just don’t sit on my lips nicely… It’s strange. It just doesn’t work.
Here in Australia we don’t get the full shade range of hardly any foundations – even the high end ones. The brands just give us the middle sections. Very fair and dark complexions just miss out.
Maybelline is probably my most purchased brand, actually. I use their Matte & Poreless foundation, plus I think I have like fifteen of their lipsticks, at least three color tattoos, and a bunch more I’m sure. I vaguely dislike the scent of the lipsticks but the price and quality keep me coming baaa~aack.
I really likethe age rewind as well as the Fit me concealer. There is little to appeal as quality is sketchy and sometimes you get what you paid for (in abad way)
Rave: Really nothing. I gave up on Maybelline a long time ago.
Rant: I cannot use their mascara’s. Even the waterproof formulas smudge and give me raccoon eyes. There foundations do not go light enough for me and have a weird hue. I have pinky/peach undertones but the foundations are either too pink or too yellow. I did like a couple of their lipstick formulas but haven’t tried them in a long time and with so many other really great lipsticks out there it hasn’t been worth it to me to seek them out.
Maybelline I hardly buy anything from them now because they dont sell my foundation shade in fit me overhere anymore…
But I used to always buy their falsies mascara
rant: their foundations are terrible on my skin, and i’ve been buying their mascaras for years but they really do irritate my eyes, so i’m done with that.
rave: i LOVE their age rewind concealer, that’s actually amazing. and their brow shades match me pretty well! i also enjoy their color tattoos.
Rave: love most of their Colour Sensational line in lipsticks. The mascaras are pretty good too.
Rant: Not cruelty free, lots of their foundations are too yellow for me and their eye shadows are shocking.
I don’t buy a lot from the brand. I like the lipsticks and some of the mascaras. The Colour Tattoo eyeshadows are rather good.
I’m not fond of the powder eyeshadows, too sheer, I think and dusty.
I’ve not tried anything else from the brand, at least not that I can remember.
I don’t think we get all the products here, not sure about this, but I have searched for lipsticks quite often without finding any evidence of the shades ever beiing in the stand.
I love their lipsticks and their concealer…the one with the little foam ball on top. It’s absolutely the best. I’ve also recently been drawn to Great Lash mascara. With all the high end mascara you tend to forget this little gem. The only thing I’ve tried and not really been impressed with is their eyeshadows.
My least favorite thing about Maybelline is their unfortunate connection with Gigi Hadid.
I love most of their mascaras (except the beloved Great Lash) and their price points are super affordable. But I hate their foundations. They lean too pink for my yellow skin. Just recently the Fit Me line has been better but they still (like most budget brands) do not offer a wide range of foundation shades for deep skin. They have a new spokesmodel, Hereith, who is African-born and I don’t think their deepest color even matches her. I am a big fan of Maybelline’s Super Stay collection but their brown shades tend to lean on the cool side. One of my all time favorite blushes is Maybelline. It was LE and called Coral Burst. Super pigmented and lovely color!
LOVE LOVE LOVE their Age Rewind Eraser Concealer. Love the coverage. The the packaging. Love their Master Stylist Skinny Gel Pencil. Stays put. Love their Color Tattoos paint pots.Love their lipsticks. Creamy mattes are just awesome! Love the scent. They have a few good mascaras too.
Not a fan of their blush or eyeshadow. Wish they had their old nail polish formulas!
Rave: I think maybelline does wet products like mascara, foundation, and lipstick well. As for their foundations I think if you have a truly neutral undertone you may like their colors (I’m clearly warm toned so color-wise their foundations don’t work for me even if I think they’re formulated decently.)
Rant: I don’t think they do powder products well (eyeshadow and blush.) Though I think powder products are an area that almost all drugstore brands fail at.
I like their mascaras!
Wasn’t even on my radar until you reviewed the loaded bolds, but love the four I got. Fortunately for once, don’t have much sense of smell; avoid scent in skincare, but not lips. Meaning to try the age rewind concealer, but the colors look wrong in the tube, and no testers. Much does not pass my cosdna wishes and then there’s the animal testing. Mayb is heartily scavenged at the DS, but Ulta displays are usually intact. Grubbed up displays are a major turn off.
Since I am going cruelty free the fact that they do animal test is the one big rant that I have. As far as product they have some really good ones. The FIT me line works for me, as do the color tattoo shadows and the Age Rewind concealers. And love it or hate it I still go back to Great Lash every time.
I love their various versions of volumizing mascaras, and appreciate that they come in brown, when so many of the (even high end) brands are in black only. But I don’t really use anything else from them. I was unimpressed by the often highly rated Color Tattoo shadows and have no plan to try their lip products either.
Raves: Age Rewind concealer is an HG product for me–great coverage and consistency for covering my dark circles! VolumExpress mascaras in all their iterations really do a stellar job and were always neck in neck with my HG L’Oréal Voluminous.
Rants: Not cruelty free. This has become much more important to me as of late. So I’m now searching for a concealer that doesn’t require animal testing. Looking forward to trying Tarte’s Tape Shape, it seems promising. And I think their Great Lash mascara is one of the most over hyped products ever and a reflection of how magazines were paid to promote certain products. Ive tried it numerous times over the years and it never performed.
Maybelline lash sensational waterproof (the half moon shape wand) mascara is a favorite for holding a curl and not smudging on my Asian stick straight lashes. Their age rewind concealer is on par with a lot high end concealers and the superstay concealer is also impressive. The lipsticks have a decent texture and pigmentation if you can stand the scent. The color tattoos are also impressive.
I’ve been loving Maybelline lipsticks since I first started wearing make-up. The 7-Day nail polishes are also one of my favourites, probably the most beautiful, glossy and long-lasting formula I’ve seen in a drugstore product. The mascaras tend to be quite nice as well.
The eye shadows & palettes are very hit-and-miss when it comes to the color pay-off. I keep giving the nude palettes chances and they always disappoint. The Color Show Mono eyeshadows also vary in quality. The only one I’ve had luck with is the shade Silver Oyster, and my god it’s beautiful! I’m not sure if I’ll risk buying any more though, since all the other shades I’ve tried have been big misses.
Maybelline Full & Soft mascara is my all-time favorite mascara. I wear it every day.