Archived Post
What makes or breaks a product for you?
What makes or breaks a product for you? Share!
Texture, followed by longevity/wear.
Thanks to Jean for today’s questions! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
Explore Temptalia
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:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
41 Comments
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!
Comments on this post are closed.
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!
Ease of application, followed by appearance on the face. If it’s hard to make it look good I don’t want to bother!
…yet I still love OCC Lip Tars, haha. Finicky but so worth it.
I bought empty 10ml lipgloss tubes off ebay for $2 each and squeezed my lip tars into those. The application is 100x easier, and you can stir them which solved the problem I had with them separating.
Texture and finish. Nothing ever lasts on my face (well okay some things do but still).
Ease of use, pigmentation and longevity.
The scent/smell!!!!
Face/base products that contain petroleum byproducts, particularly if they’re pricey. I also steer away from HE face/base products that list talc as the first ingredient; there’s really no reason why this should happen, as sooo many budget brands are making beautiful products that are talc-free. Of course this isn’t a set rule, but I’m always willing to pay more for better quality, and when HE/”luxury” brands aren’t willing to provide that, I just go with something less expensive. Why pay more for the same thing?
Color payoff for sure. Nothing is more heartbreaking than a shadow that looks amazing in the pan but then when you put it on, it’s just….blah.
Obviously if I have a reaction to something it’s going to get returned/resold/traded. Also texture, bad scent/taste (though I’m giving in on the Louboutin lippies, I’ll probably use them less often than I wear the tube as a necklace), ease of use, and overall quality – I won’t buy anything you give less than a B- unless it’s super unique, and even then never lower than a solid C.
For me, the initial attraction will probably be due to color, but what makes me decide to buy it or not at the end of the line is texture, then longevity.
Oh, and anything with a strong floral or powdery scent is a no-no. I can deal with fruity or sugary scents in my makeup, like for example in Bite Beauty lipsticks or MAC lipsticks, but for example a lot of Guerlain products are too scented for me, and I can’t use L’Oreal lipsticks because of the scent, even though the formula is lovely.
If a product causes me to break out. I have quite sensitive, reactive skin so it’s hard to find cosmetics or facial products that I don’t react to. One example is Urban Decay’s Naked concealer, it’s lovely to use but it irritates my spots, so I have to make do with Collection 2000’s Lasting Concealer, at least it’s a good dupe and I don’t react to it. Next is if a product is too warm for me, it doesn’t look good on me. With primer, I can make eyeshadows last on my eyes so longevity isn’t much of an issue for me, though they mustn’t sheer out or muddify x
Pigmentation for color cosmetics, texture/blendability, fragrance (certain scents and too strong scents are deal breakers), results (skincare and haircare), longevity.
Well, color is always important….but if I like the color and the texture is crap its a no go
It depends on what it is. I look for color match and longevity in a foundation/concealer, texture and pigmentation in an eye shadow, staying power with brow products, softness of a brush, and so on and so forth.
1.) Ease of application, blendability, pigmentation.
2.) Wear time, especially when it comes to face products and eye makeup!
3.) Cost vs quality and quantity.
4.) Texture, especially as regards LIP PRODUCTS! If the texture feels flaky, goopy or too dry, I have a really BAD habit of biting the product off the offending area! This is also an issue with eyeshadow, in particular, micro-glitter fallout into my very sensitive, dry eyes, OUCH!
I now think I probably should have put #4 as #1 in hindsight, LoL!
For face, fragrance and bad alcohols are deal-breakers. For eyes, a product must last on my oily lids
If the product is too greasy or if it’s too drying.
Pigmentation
Longevity and texture. Animal testing is always on my mind too.
Scent/taste in lipsticks. I do tolerate Guerlain, which has its signature violet scent, but everything else is Clinique, which has no scent or flavour.
Well, cost for one major thing. I probably won’t be using any $90 lipsticks any time soon, and as much as it looks worth the money, I don’t think that Hourglass highlighter pallette is on my must-have list, either. Also important is reading reviews of the product and seeing swatches, altho I’m not likely to actually purchase a new item unless I can at least see it in person. Being able to swatch it is also a big plus for me, as is getting a sample to take home and use to see if my enthusiasm for it holds up with a few days’ use.
Longevity – definitely.
They must be cruelty free.
Lasting power! No crumbling, smudging, smearing or creasing!
The first and last order of business for me is comfort. It doesn’t matter how pretty something is, if it doesn’t feel right on whatever part of my face it’s touching, I won’t use it. After that’s sorted, then it has to be flattering to my aging skin texture and coloring.
Texture is probably the biggest for me. If I can’t stand the feeling (my example is always silicone face primers), I can’t deal with it enough to use it. I’d also say price if it’s something that’s ridiculously expensive for my preferences. Like, I like a few high end mascaras, but because they’re supposed to be thrown away after only a few months or so, I won’t buy a full sized high end mascara.
I think pigmentation is important, too. If a product that’s supposed to be colorful is too sheer and takes too much piling on to see it, I just won’t bother with it.
Texture and finish. How a product looks and feels on my skin is all that really counts. Longevity isn’t a big deal to me as I don’t mind touching up a product that looks and feels fabulous.
The colour
Rating by you Christine
Pigmentation and texture
Satin finish (not matte or glittery)
Oh – definitely the price too! No $90 lipsticks for me.
Pigmentation,longevity, ease of use and fragrance.
I’d say the number one thing is how a product affects my skin. There are things I absolutely love but avoid using 95% of the time because they dry out my skin or clog my pores. It’s no fun removing flaky skin with tweezers while you’re trying to apply a foundation or an eye primer. =(
Other than that, the amount of shimmer/glitter, performance, texture, and blendability.
Top of the list for deal-breakers is fragrance. I don’t mind what some call “cosmetic” fragrance, but just about anything other than vanilla bothers me because of my rosacea, which is the second big deal breaker: anything that makes me flush, and a lot of cosmetics and skin care have that effect, so I have to be careful. Also, uncomfortable textures.
Deal-makers? Anything relatively inexpensive but still decent quality and somewhat unusual (color, finish, etc.), since I like to play with makeup. I don’t need status makeup, I need to be different every day.
Longevity! I don’t like to touch up my makeup at all throughout the day (with the exceptional of my lip color), so if it doesn’t lasts at least 8 hrs, it’s not for me!
Breaks: Fragrance that I don’t care for. SPF (I have a sensitivity to it). Some mineral makeup (again, sensitivity – I can’t wear anything like Bare Minerals or Buxom). Drying lipsticks. Most warm-toned eyeshadows, esp. nudes, taupes, yellows, and orange/peaches. Glitter except occasionally in lipglosses.
Makes: Shadows that don’t fall out too badly. Longevity of wear. Ease of application and blendability. Will try current trends if at a good price point or the brand has a good track history with me. Eyeshadow palettes with a wide range of finishes.
For lip products it’s comfort while wearing it, I can’t stand lipsticks that hurt my lips because they are so drying.
For all the other products it longevity, I can’t be bothered to re-apply something like liquid eyeliner.
And the last deal breaker are skin products that cause break outs. 🙂
Ingredients (goes for everything except mascara I think), how natural it looks on my face (foundation) and longetivity (eyeliner, lipstick).
Performance and price somewhat.
Fragrance and irritating ingredients in general. I don’t want that on my face, I don’t need wrinkles and pimples!
Texture is number one to be honest. A product could be perfect but if I don’t like the texture, I’ll be too disgusted to even use it. It might not even necessarily be a bad texture that everyone hates, it just might not be… pleasant to me, I guess? I’m really sensitive about textures, there are some everyday fabrics that I can’t even touch because I have such a violent reaction to touching them. So it’s the same thing with makeup and skincare to me. If the texture isn’t good for me, I can’t even think about using it.
Like others have said below, longevity, texture, pigmentation, price (rarely)
Texture, pigmentation and finish, followed by longevity.