Urban Decay is the one that comes to mind–I feel like they used to have a strong identity, but it’s been clouded over the last five or more years. I also think they went from being consistent to becoming wildly inconsistent.
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Guerlain!!!!
Definitely, but their ‘fumes, esp the oldies, are still top drawer.
Just one??? Either MAC (because, in spite of how they have let me down, I still retain my love for them – do you EVER get over a “first love”?) because they still have some fabulous products and are capable of making amazing products. Or Bare Minerals/Bare Escentuals. So many of their d’c’d products (the Ready eyeshadows, their very affordable and wonderful loose shadows and blushes) were just standout products and now – GONE!
Bite. I think they made a terrible calculation venturing into foundation and dumping their core product line… what on earth were they thinking?? There were a lot of LE shades they could have easily brought back and made permanent to refresh the line and keep it interesting. I think the new power move formula is a good one, but nothing beats a lipstick bullet imo.
I would kill to have Palomino back! That was the best shade in what was the best formula, IMO.
I tend to think that behind the Bite changes was something not told. Something went off with those lipstick; nobody switches completely from lip to base products. Either a formula or ingredients was proprietary and they lost the license, either they discovered something bad, either a decision maker went away… idk
I bet this is what happened. Also the decision to go vegan and remove lanolin from their lip products was the nail in the coffin for me. Give me that sheared-sheep oil!
I haven’t followed Bite Beauty as they don’t ship to Europe, out of frustration (not that dramatic really) I’ve also not read any reviews so I had no idea what they’d done. I just checked their web site and what a step down from what they used to be. Not a bit frustrating to look at what thy offer now, quite ordinary colours, nothing to write home about.
And what does clean beauty actually mean? Rhetoric question.
Just checked what they mean by clean, and OK, maybe that’s good.
Oh, and NOW they ship to Europe! Now when I can’t get Kale!
Feeling annoyed. 🙂
Burberry. They had really great makeup products (expensive though!) that hit the mark, were quietly exciting (not boring, but admittedly not earth shattering either) and were a joy to use. I miss them.
As an oldbie, I can afford to write brands/products off. But, as an opinion, I wish the UD pencils weren’t wholly unreliable. Agree that Bite base products are pretty asinine. If you have a core competency, for God’s sake, don’t abandon it for an iffy venture. (Like the Benefit assault on abh brows, to the detriment of everything else. They have become safe/down the middle, and zero draws me in.) CP can afford to add base products, Bite cannot. CP could stop having a release per day and recycling of the same shades, rearranged. Not sure if they pulled a Bite, by heavily reducing SSS in favor of jelly much. Maybe, and that was CP’s unique formula, admired and copied. MAC could do better QC. So could most major brands. I think the unreliability of major brands has led to a defection for the indies. I wonder how much of the product downturn is a direct result of corporate control? Nothing is so disheartening/annoying as thinking ‘I know they can do this. They have 100 times before. They don’t want to.’
‘I know they can do this. They have 100 times before. They don’t want to.’
So true. That’s the most disheartening part; brands like UD, MAC, ABH, Benefit, even Too Faaced can do amazing products… the fact that they release low quality collections just to launch products speaks loud about how consumerism oriented the make-up industry has become.
Ditto to all of the above. For me it isn’t so much about a brand turning around but that they all start to look at the brand and develop decent long term range goals and up the quality inspection. The Beauty industry is huge, they can get their portion, just make a decent product.
Urban Decay was one of the first brands to pop up in my thoughts also. They’ve gone down the toilet lately when it comes to their new releases, especially the limited edition ones. It just makes me feel very sad for them. The last really great new product they came out with was Naked Honey, and nothing noteworthy since.
But I’d also love to see Hourglass revamp their shade selection for deeper, richer skintones. Their quality is there, but their sense of diversity is sorely lacking.
Elizabeth Arden. The line has some good products but you see the counter tucked away in the department stores.
Clinique can certainly upgrade its packaging. It just seems to be a brand stuck in the past and can use a bit of a refresh.
Urban Decay has released some ho-hum products the past few years. It coasts by based on its perceived edginess but it has become dull.
Bite Beauty. I had just discovered their line 1 and a half years ago. They discontinued everything I like about the line. I began with the liquid lipsticks and fell in love with the formula.Why foundations? Don’t know. Not impressed with the liptins for $14 either. That’s all I got right now,,,
The lip tins are now on sale for $7, at least at Sephora inside JCPENNEY!
I think NARS. I feel like they used to bridge the gap between editorial, makeup artist looks and consumer friendly makeup. Their releases were interesting and well-curated, and never seemed like it was a bunch of stuff they just threw together. They had a theme, a point. Nowadays, it’s all Orgasm and Laguna all the time. Boring! And I say that as someone who likes both Orgasm and Laguna, but seriously. I’d love to see them go back to the more interesting collections, with the quality they are (mostly) known for.
Sincerely, I could sit here and name all mainstream brands and rant about what they can specifically improve. But the big issue are with the entire industry.
I would want for all brands to sit down and find an identity. Offer a range of basic core products, as wide in selection as their identity and resource allows. Continuously work on improving the quality (ingredients, formula, packaging). Not focus on just spitting out limited edition or seasonal collections; and when they do, make the packaging limited/special edition, but the products itself should be permanent. Have a brand identity, not use influencers or movies to sell products.
Urban Decay. Their creative team needs an overhaul. I remember when I was a kid and I was reading my older cousins magazines they would mention Urban Decay often and it was the “edgy” almost counter culture brand. Even when I was getting into makeup they seemed to still have some of that. Now they think edgy is using the word naked on products and have two cis het women gazing lustily at each other for straight men’s gaze in a Pride collection campaign. If they ever had edge it’s been long dull.
Urban Decay, Anastasia, MUFE, and Wet n Wild.
Urban Decay, Too Faced.
* Bite Beauty: Losing the lipsticks was… yeah. I haven’t even glanced at their section in Sephora for the longest time.
* Urban Decay: Enough with the Naked palettes! Also, more quality control on the line in general, I think.
* Charlotte Tilbury: I used to really like her stuff, especially with palettes like “The Rebel” and the “Cleopatra” Eyes to Hypnotize (what they used on Yennefer in “The Witcher”. Nowadays it’s all the same “safe” colours and just… bores me.
Definitely Urban Decay too. bareMinerals is another brand I haven’t purchased from for awhile either. I just loved their Ready formula and have many quads and palettes from the recent past from them that I still love and use – The Soft and Smokey being one of them.
Guerlain is another one that I have loved in the past – their Les Gris palette is just a perfect cool toned blue/teal one.
Max Factor Pan Stik Foundation Makeup!!
When I was a young girl, I asked every single woman who had beautiful skin what foundation she used – in every single case, it was Max Factor Pan Stik. All the women I knew used Max Factor, it made the skin appear dewy and fresh, there simply was nothing else like it. Liquid foundations were just nothing on the skin. I used the Nude Ivory color, but there was a wide selection of shades available. And their Creme Puff Powder was just out of this world, I used the Translucent shade.
Suddenly about 20 years ago, Max Factor sold out and moved from the USA to somewhere overseas, they discontinued the original Pan Stik line and put out a new stick foundation, so I tried it out of desperation. Horrible! Drab shades, nothing like the original, completely new colors which did not brighten the face at all, so disappointing. And no Ivory shade like the one I used. You have to wonder what they’re thinking.
Anyway, I moved on and found another cream foundation, and I love it – but I know I’m not the only one missing that great Max Factor Pan Stik – it was originally created for film stars to make them look flawless on camera!
I worked for Max Factor ‘back in the day’ (made appearances at department stores throughout the USA). Pan Stik was a beautiful foundation with a dewy, fresh appearance and was very long wearing.
Max Factor originated many innovative products like Pan Stik, Pan Cake make up sponges, brushes, waterproof make up, great mascara Rais and brow pencils along with the beautiful Geminesse line (gorgeous eye shadows). Regrettably the company was sold multiple times and eventually moved all distribution from the USA.
MAC. I will always love them I just don’t revere them like I used to back in the day. They are one among many in a sea of brands now, not the industry leader they used to be.
I like having one brand that I could get pretty much everything from – it made that special because it was my reliable staple and it made anything I bought outside of that brand (rare if at all, at the time) special because it was different. Having choice is a good thing but eventually it diffuses my interest because too many of the same option.
Bobbi Brown – nothing new in quite a while
By Terry- started out as a luxury brand catering to mature skin, now ????
Elizabeth Arden- quality products but zero marketing
Estee Lauder- just when is EL going to get a decent eyeshadow formula???
MAC used to do some amazing collections but then the LE madness started and now they’re just blah. I don’t know why they don’t bring back some of the much loved cult products.
Urban Decay has always had this pathetic habit of introducing a new product and then discontinuing it a year or so afterward. I got fed up with that nonsense.
Only one? Makeup Forever (MUFE). I went to a 3-day training and learning so much about makeup and doing someone else’s makeup. And I bought a lot of their products (since as a student I had a discount). I’m so glad I bought them before they changed their formulas. Ever since (around 2016 and after), it’s just not the same, especially in the last few years. They new a refresh of their own identity and a return to core focus, pros, and quality, quality products.
They are doing 30 minute free consultations (of which I’ll have one next week) and I hope they do it as a real lesson exchange, as they are top with training.
They must have been wonderful to work for, definitely an upscale line of beautiful products, made to help us all look our absolute best.
I don’t know who owns Max Factor now, but it’s definitely on a disastrous decline, I don’t know how they can even use the name Max Factor on their products, the dollar store sells classier products for $1! And I’ve looked for years to find something similar to Pan Stik’s gorgeous dewy appearance, and there simply is nothing like it. As I said in my last post, I found a replacement cream foundation which I really do love, chiefly because it brightens and smooths the skin.
Just don’t know why Max Factor would want to change their entire line, the last item I bought from them was made in China and ended up in the trash!!