What are five beauty products you regret buying? Do they top your list of worst purchases?
.
Hmm, to be honest, I don’t think I regret anything I’ve bought. I might have bought too much at once, but I can’t think of any products in particular I regret buying. I usually return anything I dislike that much!
.
.
Thanks to Arika for this question!
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I don’t have five, but I do have one, this Helen E makeup line (it’s new) it is a conceler and it broke me out and the paste was too thick and it didn’t cover, it just packed on and looked cakey and fake.
I regret buying Frenzy lipstick, I’ve used it just twice and in Italy you can’t return products.
Oh wow, this is the only lipstick I have ever finished and replaced.. it’s one of my faves!
not sure if i have 5 but i do have some. i regret buying the beauty powder spectacle from the dame edna mac collection.. dosnt do much for me as far as color and also some of the lipglosses from that collection. i also purchased some eyeshadows from the body shop and am not a big fan simply because they have that chalky feel to them
Loads. Thankfully I’ve learned my lesson of what suits me and what doesn’t formula and colourwise – took a while though and cost me heaps 🙁 Last ones I regret were Soft and Gentle and Blonde MSFs – too shimmery and clogged my pores. I swapped them on makeupalley.com!
On the top of my list would have to be the new Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin. The formula is somehow different now with the added shimmer, it doesnt have the same staying power as the original. By midday my e/s is in my crease. Next would have to be NARS Makeup Primer, it did nothing for me. It actually looked a little greasy on me so thats not cute especially since I have oily skin.
I second that, the Primer Potion in Sin does nothing for me!
not sure if i have 5 but i do have some. i regret buying the beauty powder spectacle from the dame edna mac collection.. dosnt do much for me as far as color and also some of the lipglosses from that collection. i also purchased some eyeshadows from the body shop and am not a big fan simply because they have that chalky feel to them
I don’t regret much, but def. You Rebel! Lite by Benefit it broke me out 🙁
totally! luckily i didn’t buy that but i tried a sample of it..
one of them is the Smashbox Photo Finish Light Primer, absolutely does nothing as it claimed, second is NARS Orgasm blush, i swapped it away already, it’s not showing up. Third, is a Shu Uemura blush in P Peach 47, not pigmented enough and had to layer a bit to give off color.
I recently bought Peacock eyeshadow from clinique, which I really liked in the store but am having a hard time getting it to work at home. The pigmentation isn’t great so I need to try a color base underneath.
My 187 brush didn’t work as greatly as I initially expected, so if I didn’t get loads of discount on the brush (as I have purchased it from a duty free shop with multiple coupons) I would have definitely regretted buying it… but I guess I have to give it a few more tries. I normally don’t regret purchasing beauty products (even if I do I try to justify myself somehow… 187 brush would be case in point!), but I do sort of regret buying this wine color Aqua Eyes eyeliner from MUFE. With my much Asian eyes with fluffy eyelids wine color doesn’t look so great on me. 🙁
Ojon dry shampoo. I got it online because it was rated pretty high, but smells awful! Also regret most drugstore foundations I was ever dumb enough to buy. I never get the shade right because I can’t test it.
oh gosh does that dry shampoo smell bad! i felt like everyone knew i was using it. When i smell it on other people i just think about them being dirty butts.
You should try Oscar Blandi dry shampoo. I read the reviews for both OB and Ojon before purchasing, and I’m glad I chose OB over Ojon! It smells like lemons (though the smell doesn’t linger, which is good for me!) I think it does the job. I only need to wash my hair every second day… try it out!
I have to agreed that the Ojon products stink!. I got a sample from Sephora of their hair treatment because it was highly recomended. I am glad I didn’t actually buy it. The product smell awfull which I figure it wouldn’t matter once I washed my hair. However, the smell ling over after my hair was already dry. I do have to admit it did leave my hair feeling smooth and looking great. But I wouldn’t buy the products just because of the smell. I ended up getting the Oscar blanding jasmin oil to mask the smell.
On that same line, because I liked Oscar’s jasmin oil, I purchased their spray and treatment for curling hair. However after I tried them, I developed an allergy to too much jasmin on my hair. I was snizzing for a whole week until I finally was able to wash my hair.
Just one – Hylexin eye cream, which is supposed to get rid of “serious” dark circles. I spent $100 and it did nothing. 🙁
The worst was classified spray on foundation. Covers like a dream but oily, red, smelly and horrifyingly expensive.It was all the classic mistakes unsure foundation buyers make all rolled into one.
I regret buying Smashbox Photofinish primer. It works perfectly fine, but when I went to buy it, they only had it in jumbo, so that’s what i bought…even though I only wanted it for special occasions. Then when I got to the register, they were giving out a mini as a sample at sephora :(.
1. Lollipop Loving lipstick—looks terrible on me! The green iridescence made me look ghastly. I seriously don’t under stand the hype so I returned it.
2. Studio Scultp foundation—broke me out so I returned it.
3. Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick—tried to save money with cheap lipsticks, but didn’t like the colors, textures, staying power, or tastes of the lipsticks.
4. Maybelline Mineral Power concealer—once again tried to be a frugalista and didn’t like the texture and the color didn’t match my skintone at all.
I agree with you on the Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer,
It dries out my skin and doesn’t match too well either!
I bought the MAC pigments but i diden
– Chanel Pr
1. Laguna bronzer: just wasnt dark enough for my skin tone
2/3. Cool heat and Talent Pool ES: I’m warm skin toned and for some reason these two colors make me look like I’m sick or got punched in the face =( I’m glad it allowed me to learn what colors look best on me though! =)
4. Nars Scorching Sun ES Duo: It looked so pretty online but it was not the vibrant orange I was going for (I was hoping for something similar to my MAC firespot)
5. Skin Ceuticals line for oily/combo skin: High priced and slowly led to breakouts.
Urban decay wallpaper palette, it’s ridiculously glittery! The glitter was all over my face it was horrible.
I also regret buying plum dressing e/s it looks horrible on me.
Agreed! The only shadow I like from it is smog but other than that it is not meant for anyone over the age of 16. too much damn glitter.
i regret buying urban decay lipstick- i cant wear it , the tastes just erks me and i want to take it off. my old revlon eyeshadows ( i bought a whole bunch of them in the quads, like every quad , years ago and i dont use any of the m now that i have gotten into mac makeup . purminerals eyemakeup remover ( prefer the liquid kind and not the crream kind i found out. i wish i didnt buy loreal volumous and maybelline collosall mascara- i dont like the smell of them, and it works ok on the eyelaashes. i also dont like the telescopic mascara- the wand always hurts my upper eyelids when im putting it on despite everyones great reviews on it. i wish i slo didnt buy mac tricolored lipsgloss in tasty and consume me from the sugarsweet collection, they were very sheer, and i dont like the tubing or the applicator, i couldnt get any product of it once its out of the tube- i wish it was a brush applicator like i tried in the store. i only kept the tasty lipgloss only b/c i thought the consistency was better than other lipglases and not so sticky.
Oh, those UD lipsticks taste awful, which was so saddening since I loved the colors and scent. They taste so bitter that you can’t wait to wipe it off. I was thinking of pairing a sweet-flavored lip balm with one to see if it improves the taste, but I don’t think it would work.
That is funny. I can’t smell or taste anything on the UD lipsticks and I have a couple of them that I love (wicked and gash). However, I do have a problem with the taste and smell of Bobbi Brown lipstick. I had purchase brown, and although the color is nice, I hate the smell to it.
My MAC Hello Kitty lipstick, gloss and beauty powder. All are unused or swiped once, but it’s too late to return them. I might sell them on Specktra.
I also regret that By Terry brush foundation (super expensive and highlights every pore), and this MAC cream color base I bought.
Oh, and NARS Ondine and a bunch of others I’m going to sell too…
I don’t always make the best choices. :\
I actually have a “regret”bag that sits on the floor next to my vanity.
1.Hello gorgeous by benefit-makes me feel greasy and break out
2.Rimmell Kiss me! lipgloss–its sticky and feels like glue
3.Ulta Brand Eyeshadow in sapphire- a really pretty navy in the pot but turns out black on me
4.Her glossiness in wheres my stylist? and my people,your people.—really goopy and sticky feeling
5.Rimmell Speacialeyes eyeliner in Big blue- impossible to use without hurting your eyes or heating the pencil, neither of which i will do for a boring blue
Way back when I didn’t have much make-up, I bought the Sephora Blockbuster palette. Looks pretty but the colors are so chalky with rotten pay-off and poor blending. Most of those really big palettes are pretty bad and just make it so hard to learn how to apply make-up properly.
Also, Studio Fix foundation, does not match my skin at all and makes me break out. I don’t really like any of the MAC foundations.
I bought the Blockbuster palette last year after how many great reviews it had and immediately returned it. So disappointing 🙁
L’Oreal EverPure shampoo and conditioner. I usually check MUA reviews before beauty purchases, but this time I didn’t. Big mistake! Just as several reviews stated, EverPure left my hair full of static. Yuck.
omg me too! just bought some on a whim and my hair seems so staticy and frizzy. Now i feel bad so im trying to use them up by comining with other products
Stila lip glaze in brown sugar. i purchased one because of the praises I heard across forums and I didn’t have any problems with it until I let it sit inside my makeup chest for a week because I wanted to use other glosses. The next chance I opened the cap, though, it was like, “hello penis”. the smell was so offensive I just couldn’t bear to let it touch my lips.
I meant to toss it but I paid plenty for it I just don’t have the heart to let it go.
Maybe there’s something up with your makeup chest.. or do you have pets? I had a cat who would pee on a lot of things and make them smell horrible.
LOL! I’m sorry that your lipgloss sucks, but your story made me giggle. =)
it might have been a bad lot and gone rancid… i had that with a MAC Pro lip mix.. it smelled horrible and disgusting
sorry you hated it, but your description made me smile and laugh for the first time today!
1. Rimmel Eye Kohl – Very smooth and rich in blackness, but it disappeared without an hour.
2. Physician’s Formula Loose Mineral Wear – I like the mineral powder itself, but for a few months there, I used the too-firm, stubby brush – and BOY, was my skin CAKEY! It looked horrible. Nowadays I just use a light dusting of the mineral powder with the L’Oreal Bare Minerale Loose Translucent Finish compact’s brush.
3. MAC Mascara X – 12 dollars and it sticks my lashes together, provides a very unnatural, weird-looking curl, and does hardly anything for thickness, length and volume. I prefer Maybelline Full ‘n’ Soft.
4. MAC Eyeshadow in Greensmoke – The MUA said it was a sparkly, olive shadow with a touch of gray shimmer. Man, was she OFF! I can hardly tell it’s a green shadow at all when I have it on – I would describe it as a green-casted muted gray with glitter. I want to buy Sumptuous Olive and Humid to replace it.
5. MAC Lipstick in Ladybug – MAC eyeshadows and lipsticks are good quality, so the only beef I have with them is when I’m recommended the wrong color – and I listen to the MUA. I picked this when I said I wanted a sheer, creamy red lip, and instead I tried this on and it showed up as an opaque, orangey, BRIGHT clown-red shade. I returned it for Dare You lipstick, which is actually a bit too dark when applied full-on. I still love it though, because I can blot it to my perfect matte red shade. 😀
Laura Gellar Balance ‘n’ Brighten Foundation & her Blush ‘n’ Brighten Raspberry Blush. Took layer upon layer to get any coverage out of the foundation, it settled into my creases & by the end of the day it had worn off & my skin looked horrid & patchy. The blush just made my cheeks look dirty and it was supposed to be this “universal” color that looks great on everyone. Yeah right!! It was a definite RETURN!
I sure have many…o, well, live and learn. Here they go:
1. Coastal Scents Eyeshadow Palettes: the pigments are chalky, and do not compliment me at all…now they are just sitting in my drawer collecting dust
2. Everything I got from Pure Luxe Cosmetics. It was SUCH a waste of money. I got them because of the hype on Youtube about the eyeshadows. After I expressed my disappointment to the store owner and wish to return, she ignores my numerous email. It is a bogus company with bad customer service and equally bad products
3. MAC Lipstick in Lollipop Lovin: the color just does not show up on me since my lips are somewhat pigmented. If I do put a concealer/foundation on my lips, it gets really dry
4. Urban Decay Book of Shadows: I bought this during Christmas because I loved the packaging. However i have SO many MAC eyeshadows already that I don’t find this palette useful at all. I never reach for it.
5. Murad Clarifying Cleanser: doesn’t do anything for me. Really, it has NO effect whatsoever on my acne.
I’m not sure what pallette you got, i just recieved my shimmer pallette and it is awesome.. one of the golds on there is just as pretty if not prettier than honeylust from MAC, the colors are gorgeous and come out great and i don’t have much luck with makeup at all! i was very pleased. I wonder why yours turned out that way…
1. UDPP (dries my eye lids out, did not prevent creasing on me).
2. Ojon hair care products (caused hair breakage on me).
3.Sephora’s holiday blockbuster eye shadow/lip gloss kit (no pigmentation on most of the colors.
4. MAC Carbon ES. It’s not dark enough on me. I need a really dark black.
5. MAC sweet think l/s. Not pigmented enough for me. It looked great on a friend, but aweful on me.
Ah… I know what you’re talking about. I’ve tested tons of black eyeshadows! It’s very hard to find a pure true black. Chanel is too grey, Sisley is really soft but not dark enough… I agree that Carbon is not pure black. But I like it anyway.
I don’t know if it’s actually available in your country but the darkest black eyeshadow I’ve ever bought is ck Clavin Klein’s e/s “Tempting Glance” in “111 – night dust”. It is really ultra intense, profound and mute, no trace of white in it. Just plain matte true black. For this reason, I don’t wear it everyday, only when I need a stronger look. Everyday I wear Carbon.
I regretting buying Lollipop Lovin’ for the longest time, until Sugarsweet came out and I felt forced to do some looks with it. I use it underneath Wonderstruck Lustreglass and it is absolutely amazing-I get compliments on it all the time.
When it comes to my regrets though, I don’t have a ton. Anything from 2006 or before, I chalk up to having no money for makeup so I was forced to deal with some horrid drugstore stuff. After that though:
1. Lancome Colour Design palette (from Nordie’s sale last year): I mainly bought this because I had a friend who worked at Lancome and thus I wanted to support her-but truth is, I never use it. It’s great for neutrals, which I do maybe 5 times a year, sometimes less. I’m still hanging onto it though because it’s good for when I absolutely NEED to do the neutrals, and the shades are nice.
2. Lancome Best Dressed eyeshadow: Horrid, horrid, horrid. It does not pick up on my brush, and I can’t get any on my eye.
3. MAC Sunset B. eyeshadow: Again, another one I can’t get on my brush and can’t get on my eye.
4. My backup of Hollywood Nights: I never reach for the one I have, I much prefer Girl About Town.
5. Fekkai Protein line: I chalk this up to working at BBW, where I was able to try it all-and at first, this was awesome for my hair. My hair had never looked healthier. But then, after using the shampoo, conditioner, AND mask…my hair became so brittle that I am still trying to recover. I use the shampoo once a month, the conditioner once a month, and the mask…I only use it if I curl my hair. I’m not saying this is inherently bad but you have to use this in extreme moderation.
Oh, and beauty blockbuster palettes? Epic FAIL. Same goes for those beauty giftsets that are sold around Christmas at all the supermarkets and drugstores. Admittedly one did have decent payoff in eyeshadow but the stuff is so overly fragrances and the packaging blah.
a.Shy Shine l/s from MAC. I think it was an Asia exclusive color, but being the weirdly colored Asian that I am the color didn’t suit me. It ended up being mixed with other lipsticks in an attempt to create a new color.
b. MUFE l/s in 431. Or 403.
c. The Body Shop l/s in Pink Bronze or something like that. I obviously don’t make very good lipstick choices.
d. Maybelline Clear Smooth Gel Foundation. White face + dark neck! 🙁
I’m surprised they let you return things you don’t like, cosmetic-wise! Most places where I’m from don’t let you return opened cosmetics… I assume for board of health reasons. I work for a large department store type company and we don’t take back anything that has been opened.
When companies accept returned, opened cosmetics they throw them out, they don’t resell them…. 🙁 it’s really a waste!
You’d be surprised what kind of stuff makes it way back onto the selling floor… believe me 🙂
Shampoos, conditioners and hair products that I don’t like when I get them home. My hair is very dry on it’s own and the climate I live in, in Alaska doesn’t help. I have fine hair so I have to find a moisturizing sham/cond that doesn’t weigh down my hair. It’s a challenge sometimes. Right now I’m loving the Ojon stuff that comes in the jar! It’s waxy then melts when you rub your hands together.
1. Smashbox cream eyeliner, does not dry after you put it on, even with eye primer it dissapears in half an hour. Definately not full proof!
2. mac mascaras,and ive tried most of them. dissapointed many times. so messy and lashes tend to stick together. talked to so many ppl that despise their mascaras.
3. Loreal telescopic mascara, whats up with that wand? clumps like crazy!
4. revlon 3d extreme lash, horrible formula.
MAC Dazzlelash- I have gotten more oomph from clear brow gel than this junk
Anna Sui lipsticks-the rose scent is really strong and ruins the experience of trying to sip a latte. gross.
MAC liquidlast liner in inkspill, doesn’t dry fast enough
MAC e/s copperplate, doesn’t apply well and doesn’t last more than an hour even with primer
Lancome Oscillation, I got better results from the MAC Dazzlelash, meh, yet the Lancome Definicils gives me length and volume
1. Benefit
1. mac eyeshadow in dear cupcake- made me look like i had a rash on my lid no matter how i wore it
2. rimmel stay matte foundation in ivory- makes me look way too orange
3. Rimmel Lash Maxxx mascara- brush is horrible and did nothing but clump my lashes
4. Mac HK tippy blush- makes me look like i am trying out for the circus no matter how light i try to put it on
5. Max Factor eyeshadows- crap! enough said
I end up regretting almost all my drugstore makeup buys. I want to save $$$, I don’t want to be a snob, but no matter how I try, they never work on me, especially the mascaras.
This was such an interesting post! Fortunately, I don’t regret anything I’ve bought (maybe just how much I own haha but I’ve stopped ny makup purchasing for now hoping I’ll catch up with myself and use some of my old stuff first!
I really really regret going overboard with the metal urge collection this year. I hate material gold and guilded ash. They are soooo difficult to apply that the result is just not worth the effort. I also bought spiritualise pigment. i have no idea why i bought this. it looks pretty but thats about it. i cant get it to look pretty with other colours coz of the metal finish 🙁
I really do not regret many purchases. The only one would be my MAC select 15 foundation. I love the foundation…I just bought it when I was tanning everyday. Now that I do not tan (don’t want to ruin my skin), the color is waaayyyy to dark. Oh and maybe the Smashbox Photo Finish primer…way too oily for my skin; however, the light works perfectly!
1. Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
2. Cargo Lip Gloss Duos
3. YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick
4. Any Estee Lauder Mascara !
5. YSL Pure Shine Lipstick
1. Rimmel eyemakeup remover: It dried out my eyelids to the point where I am using cocoa butter to moisturize my eyelids. I much prefer oily lids than dry lids.
2. L’oreal telescopic mascara: Clumpy clumpy clumpy. Yuck!
3. MAC Lipglass in Spite: It’s grey and brown, kinda muddy. For some reason I liked this look when I was younger, but now I realize it made me look dead.
4. MAC lipstick in Media: Why I wanted super dark lips when I was younger, who knows. I guess it was my inner goth girl. I’ve since used this to darken lighter lipsticks or mixed it with gloss for a sheer burgundy look.
5. MAC Hello Kitty lipstick in Fashion Mews: I bought it because I wanted the entire collection, but this color is so cool, that it makes me look too tan. I have to apply it very lightly, than wear golden or bronzy lipgloss over top to make it work.
Le Metier De Beaute Foundation… greasy and oily yuck !
MAC Metal X eyeshadows!!!!!! OMG I can’t believe I got all the colors when it first came out. The brushes they promoted it with it BARELY picked up any colors. It was best to use my fingers. And after a while, the eyeshadows I guess “expires” and falls out of the pan! Ugh what a waste, the worse of the worse. They came out with it AGAIN and did not buy any of it cuz it sucks!!! The MAC makeup artist told me this years version is better because its more creamier and easy to apply but I passed because it looked exactly the same! No thanks!!!
I don’t think that overall (considering how much m/u I have now, and how much I have bought over the years)I have had that much bad luck with bad m/u but, yes, there are definitely some on my list:
– All the NARS Night Collection e/s (the ones with the freakin’ HUGE & CHUNKY glitters that won’t stay on) except those 2 that are good (Night Fever & Night Clubbing. All the other ones (Night Star, Night Snow, Night Rider, and Night Fairy) are CRAP!!
– MAC Lollipop Lovin’ because the color did not agree with me. I was surprised too at how much of a “cult following” this l/s has…
– YSL in #02 highlighter: Was too thick, too matte and showcased ALL the cracks/wrinkles/lines of my skin!!! Very disappointing for a YSL product.
– MAC Pro Longwear l/s (the LE red-orangey color that Christine swatched & wore on a look). It looked so great on her, and it was my 1st purchase (& last) of this Mac product. The color did not stay on my lips and creased all around like a liner!!! Awful look. Too bad!
-Benefit (the stinky/gooey e/s primer liquid that came in a dark glass jar with a brush). The worst product I have ever bought! I NEVER return products (I usually try to work with it or it just sits there at home) but this one had to go!! Fast! I returned it the very next day! Besides smelling like some kind of glue, it felt heavy and sticky on the eyelids! It felt like it didn’t dry at all and it drove me nuts at work that only time that I wore it!
1. MAC Lollipop Loving – looks pretty in the tube, but on me looks green and makes my lips look chapped.
2. L’Oreal beauty tubes mascara – clumps my eye lashes, flakes off, irritates my contacts.
3. Neutrogena Skin ID – spent like $40 and it didn’t do anything that any of their other d/s acne products wouldn’t do.
As for right now, I only have two products I really can’t stand.
1. Mac eyeshadow in Mythology: I can’t stand this color. It looks nice at first but it comes off really chalky on my skin, with or without primers, bases, or eye creams. I have tried my best to blend it with a million colors on my eyes – it doesn’t work. I don’t like this color. And honestly, it makes my eyes look somewhat bruised and glittery at the same time. Not good.
2. Lancome High Definicils Mascara: I personally like this mascara but for the price, it clumps my lashes more than it should. I’ve actually had people ask me what mascara I’m wearing and why it clumps so much.
Purpose lotion for my face. Good lord. It made my face red, itchy, and bumpy. Luckily, it works wonderfully for my boyfriend, so I suppose it worked out in the end. A lot of moisturizers do that to me though. I stick to Neutragena Fresh Moisture. Good stuff.
1. Any of the two step long wear lipsticks. They flake off on the inside of my lips.
2. MAC Coral Reef Lipstick – looked horribe on me – I melted it down, added lipmix and made a new colour!
3. Hope in a Jar – the smell is HORRIBLE
4. MAC Pen n Pink e/s – this blends right into my skin.. does nothing for me
5. Napolean Lip Plumper – doesn’t plump!
yeah hope in the jar does smell. its not that it smells bad but its just really strong , i got a sample at sephora and i when i put it on at night , all i can smell and think about is that stuff on my face when im trying to sleep, i like how it makes my face feel in the morning though- they really should remormutale the smeell.
I HATE HATE HATE Mac Mineralize Satinfinish Foundation (i believe that’s what it’s called) it is terrible!!!!! It’s so sheer and it has like this shimmery shine to it that’s god awful! My t-zone is shiny already, why the hell would i want shine allover my face?! I also bought a bronzer from LORAC that was terrible! I also made the mistake of buying this bronzer that was on clearance at the Rite Aid, i guess i thought it was a powder, but it was this nasty creamy sticky crap that didn’t even show up on my skin. I also bought MAC’s bronzing powder in Solar Riche from the Neo SciFi collection, i love the compact and the fact that it’s orange, but the product itself does absolutely NOTHING for me. I also hate any eyeshadow from Makeup Forever, those suck, seriously! Way too much fallout!
Lancome Body Lotion – way too much shimmer that gets everywhere.
MAC Fluidline in Frostlite. Cannot get it to look good with anything I try. Don’t know how to use it or why I needed it.
Any Este Lauder Mascara.
MAC Black Ore Solar Bits…. Just kidding, that was a joke LOL
I regret buying lucky tom palette from the hello kitty collection. I have paradisco so the reason I got it was mainly for the other 3 colors. Creme royal is a nice one but dupeable using Nylon which I have. Stylin’ does not show up at all on me. I hate the texture. Lucky Tom is good in terms of texture but the color is boring and also dupeable.
I regret that I recently bought a whole slew of new lip colors thinking that I might as well indulge myself at those BOGO and 75 percent off drugstore clearances because I’ve never had a problem with a lipstick going rancid. In fact, I’ve never even left a tube of lipstick in the car or anywhere else it has melted. I’ve never even shared a lipstick, for that matter! One of my favorite discontinued lipsticks is nearly 10 years old and it smells, looks and works perfectly fine to me! Just the same, my bubble was burst when I read that in the UK the recommendation is to toss lip gloss and lipstick in as little as 8 months, and most of the recommendations in the US are for 2 years. I will never even work through HALF of the lipsticks I presently own at this rate, and I can’t exactly return all of them even though returning unwanted cosmetics is acceptable at the locations where I bought them. The simple fact is, I have too many lipsticks now and returning 3/4 them might get me on one of those no-sale lists for buying/trying/returning too many. I’m thinking about putting a number of them in the refrigerator, unused of course. But I really do regret the idea of waste — that I might feel compelled to throw these out even if they don’t smell the least bit bad in 2-3 years. 🙁
As for regrets regarding makeup that had a bad effect, that would be Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in waterproof, which I replaced frequently but wore day-in and out for years. The base of my lashes began getting slightly infected and toward the end of the day the product tended to flake off into my eyes and make them temporarily red, watery and a tad itchy.
The second and by far most alarming regret I have had involves a common L’Oreal foundation with a gold cap. The coverage was excellent so I continued to replace my jar year after year until I noticed that it seemed to break me out about half way through the jar because there was simply too much in the bottle to go through even though I used it daily and applied it with clean fingers. It may have been something in the foundation itself, or it could have been a case of cross contamination from existing breakouts on my face back into the jar. However, that’s not even the worst of it. The squared-off gold cap L’Oreal uses appears to include some sort of brittle fiberglass, not just regular plastic. The last jar I bought developed a splinter in the cap that started from the lower edge and began to work its way up toward the top of the lid at an imperceptible rate. One day, while opening the product to apply my makeup, shards of this plastic/fiberglass became stuck in the index and middle finger of my right hand but because of the creamy feel of the foundation I did not perceive what was happening to me until it was too late. Just by luck, I met an esthetician later that day who was visiting my SO’s family. By the time I arrived I was late, flustered and unsure of what to do because these fragments were too small to make out but itched like crazy! Upon explaining why we were running late, this kindly women mentioned that she formerly worked as an esthetician. As it so happened, a third person there was a former doctor and a fourth a former nurse. With magnification many of the particles came out but seeing them was next to impossible so some remained behind. Fast forward roughly 6 years and to THIS DAY one or two of those fragments pop up every once in awhile as a tiny rough spot protruding from my skin as as the particles migrate down toward the wrist along the outer edge of my palm (it originally started out in and around the fingertips but the skin on the body does not remain static). At the time, I contacted L’Oreal by email to report the safety hazard and in reply the company wanted me to mail them the offending foundation at my own expense. Needless to say, they never got it because I wasn’t about to spend my own money when they should have been more accommodating given the circumstances. Had I known that I would still be finding sharp little edges popping up every now and then on that same hand/side, I would have been more aggressive about getting L’Oreal’s attention. After all, I see that nothing has changed. L’Oreal still sell their revitalizing, age-defying or whatever-it-was face makeup with those same horribly unsafe lids.
In closing, I see that most people regret choices because they either smell bad or seem to provoke breakouts. It turns out there are a lot of myths regarding cosmetics that break people out vs. causing a reaction from being too old/tainted vs. a sensitivity/allergy. Often we read from the perspective of a makeup artist, but it helps to know what the doctors who make their living treating skin conditions have to say about “acne cosmetica” and other reactions people suffer in response to cosmetics. It’s not always what you might think:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1066966-overview