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What was the last beauty product you regret purchasing?
Guerlain’s holiday pressed Meteorites.
— Christine
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I return pretty much anything I really don’t like, but I do regret buying a couple tarte items online which I can’t return – the slenderizer bamboo brush (too stiff/dense and I don’t really use cream products) and Tarte Blush in Natural Beauty – too cherry red and pigmented for my skin tone 🙁
I guess I also regret Becca’s Opal in the large size because the tiny size in the Sephora Favorites kit would have been more than enough for a life time, you only need such a smidgeon of it! Definitely not for lack of love for the product.
I was going to say Tarte too. I regret buying apl the lipsticks I got from them. I bought four Amazonian butter lipsticks from Tarte and I regret each and every one of them. No staying power. Very drying. I wish u had returned them sooner. I bought them in June from Sephora. I don’t know if u can still return them. I bought two glamazon lipsticks too. One of them is actually very good but the other one I don’t like because the shade isn’t wearable at all. Lastly, their Aquagel lipsticks. While the colors are great they too are drying and not long lasting. I got all of them full price and now they’re all on sale. *sigh* I’m not too fond of their eye shadows either. Tarte is best for blushes, gel eye liner and mascaras….everything else is a no for me!
Not sure about regretting, but I have a few things that I have a true love-hate relationship with!
1.) Sephora Contour Matte pencil in black. It wears like IRON, doesn’t transfer either. However, it is dry, non-creamy and has begun to cause some lash loss.
2.) My MAC Pro Longwear Foundation. Again, wears like IRON! And while no, it’s not as parched looking as Studio Fix, I still have to add Strobe Cream to it in order for it to not look flat and dull. Last visit to MAC, another SA turned me onto Studio Sculpt! She claimed that it will NOT give me that weird flat look? Might be my next foundation purchase.
You should try Estee Lauder Double Wear. I have oily skin and ALL foundations seems to just wear off by late afternoon. Double wear stays in place and keeps everything else looking fresh also. LOVE IT!
I can’t recall any true “regrets”… I did recently grab several very inexpensive lipsticks at a BSS, and while they weren’t exactly what I was hoping they’d be, and I probably should have just bought 1 instead of 5, I found a way to make them work. They have a balmy texture, and if I top with gloss, I find the combination to be quite long-wearing, and very comfortable.
Last high end product: Hourglass Primer and drugstore: Essence eyeshadow in Sunrise.
I returned my Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer. It didn’t do anything for my foundation longevity.
Cle de Peau shadow quad in Stardust, including the case. I got it for almost 50% off during BF/CM deals, but the shadows are too sheer and light, don’t show up on my skin or hold up well on my oily lids 🙁 I decided to keep the case and traded it in for another color, Satin Moon, hoping it will perform better
Some products from a new brand called D’Nature. A friend was selling them at a kiosk in a mall. The blush is ok, the primer & highlighter are adequate, but the foundation is crap. All at MAC prices with an ‘exchange or credit only’ return policy. Never again.
Chorlertte Tilbury “matte revolution lipsticks” not matte at all, super slippery, don’t last maybe 2 hours then you are left with super dry stained lips and stain is mostly in your lip checks. God forbid you eat, they transfer like crazy and smudge… Rant over lol sticking with TF, MAC will do even Maybelline 😉
The Maybelline Colour Sensational range is fantastic and it doesn’t cost a fortune. These are my favourite lipsticks and I haven’t had a dud.
Tarte lights of the party
That is mine too!!!! Terrible pigmentation / quality!!!!
All the cream and satin finish ColourPop lippie sticks I splurged on, when I got caught up in the frenzy. I love CP’s eye shadows and blushes. And the *sheer* lippies are everything I hoped they would be (I wish they’d put out more shades of those!). But the creams and satins do not work for me, at all. And since CP doesn’t take returns, it was money wasted.
Agree wholeheartedly. I thought ColourPop lipsticks and pencils were a waste of money. The lipsticks are thick, don’t glide on well, feel thick on the lips and don’t wear well. I love the matte shadows and some of the pearlized ones, just not the lip products.
Colour Pop eyeshadows. I bought a few of these and I find them hard to build up and the fallout is insane!
Bobbi Brown gel and liquid eye liners.
MAC lipstick in STONE.
It was the case of loving how it had looked on someone of my similar complexion and loving it, but when I tried it on myself, it looked as though my lips had died. ?
Although I answered this question hours ago, I’m just now realizing that I’m the one who’d submitted it to Christine. LOL
When I read ‘Thanks to Mona for today’s question!’ I’d thought to myself, “Wait. Is there someone else on Temptalia named Mona, besides myself?” But then I soon realized that it was me. Silly goose.
I drank way too much eggnog. LOL
Hahaha!
I bought Anastasia dipbrow a few months ago and I had to return it because I just couldn’t make it work on me!! I tried but my brows felt so unnatural and heavy… I’ve been looking a lot of YouTube tutorials after that and now I’m thinking about trying that product again though :/
I had this similar issue with a MAC brow gel I’d bought earlier this year. I still have the gel, but I haven’t tried giving it another go. I’m so used to using pencils and powders to fill in my brows, quickly. I’ll have to practice how to use the gel correctly.
I had that problem too. I tried a lighter shade and problem solved! Now I use taupe throughout my brow and ash brown at the tail. Looks really natural and stays All day!!!!! (I have blonde hair/fair skin fyi). Hope this helps
I bought an Anastasia Dip Brow online in Ebony and when I saw it in person I thought it would be too dark, so I exchanged it for Dark Brown, and when I got it, and tried it, it was too light so I don’t use it. The Ebony probably would have been perfect. Sigh.
ColourPop Creme Gel liners 🙁
Yes! I just got mine the other day, and it was a crumbly dry mess!
me too. they’re irritating to my eyes and too difficult to remove. i like the colors, but i won’t wear them again. bought 3.
The CC Cream from Clinique
Okay, I have to ask…This is on my wishlist and I almost bought it earlier today but was going to check out the shades one more time before I committed to light/medium. Why did you regret it?
Thanks!
MUG matte shadows.. loved the colours, find the formula positively hateful. Pack pack pack… grrrrr
I kind of regret repurchasing my Eucerin toner. I wanted to try something new but since I was in a rush I didn’t have time to browse and just went with the same old same old.
Too Faced Born This Way foundation. Expensive and overhyped.
Tie between Urban Decay Spectrum palette (too many shadows with glitter with a lot of fallout) and Guerlain holiday lipstick (really pretty packaging but the packaging prevents it from fitting in my lipstick caddy, the weight makes it heavy to carry, and the shade is nothing special for the price). I’ve already given away the UD palette to one of my daughter’s friends.
Bourgeois Velvet Rouge thing , everyone said it’s an holy grail for lipstick but omg first it’s stinks and it’s not the bomb …
Cargo’s The Essentials eyeshadow palette (pricey) and also Freeman’s Black Sugar and Charcoal Scrub/Mask (cheap), which I looked for everywhere because Freeman products are harder to find in Canada. The reviews I’d read for the mask were really good so I was beyond surprised and disappointed to find it so dreadful.
MAC Ellie Goulding Halcyon Nights palette
I was considering this – what made it a regret for you?
I regret purchasing so many Makeup Revolution eyeshadow palettes. They’re nice, but I never use them because I prefer my higher end ones. I also regret buying this MAC loose glitter that I have. It’s chunky and I have no idea what to do with it, maybe use it on my nails?
I almost forgot, the Nars Marie Galante duo. Do not buy that thing! I have to scrape the surface with a knife to get some pigmentation, I’m not kidding ?
I have to scrape mine with a knife too! The Nars Marie Galante duo would have been HG for me if not for that.
ColourPop lippie stix, I bought them a year ago and have barely used them at all.
Too Faced Melted Ruby. Transfer and feathering on a red lipstick??? NO THANK YOU (KVD does it better with their Outlaw and Nosferatu liquid lipsticks.)
it’s give me pain to say this but I really regret I bought UD Naked Smoky and Vice 4 palettes!
Yeah, it’s sad to say I can’t justify the UD Vice 4 palette. There is only two shades I liked in it, and the rest where totally so-so. Even at a discount and with an 20% off now…
Kat Von D tattoo liner trio (3 minis) — the applicator is not the same as the full size so they didn’t glide on as smoothly and effortlessly — the biggest selling point (aside from the waterproof formula) for the full size counterparts.
Burberry Cream Eye Color. The packaging is chic and luxe, and the color looks so lovely in the pretty glass jars. The swatches were gorgeous but that’s all I would ever get, was just one swatch. I couldn’t get it to transfer from my finger or brush to my eyelid. I would have to press down and swirl and swirl to get any pigment on my finger or brush, and I would have to really work on my eyelid to get any pigment transfer. Even then, it only made my eyelid look dry, crepey and tinted, not like there was any pigment on it and certainly nothing resembling a done eye look, at least for me. I know that Burberry is all about effortless elegance and is very tonal, but they need to rethink and reformulate this one.
I had no shame in returning mine to Sephora. These were not impulse buys and I really tried to work with them.
Bobbi Brown Greystone eyeshadow palette. Shadows are inconsistent in texture and there’s too much fallout.
Nyx Studio Perfect Primer in Green. It was a big fail for me. It didn’t work at all on my redness, and it wasn’t even good as a primer. I ended up returning it.
Oh, I do have one more recent. ColourPop Ultra Mattes in Trap and Sundae. They are so drying and tight. My lips look like raisins when I wear them.
Bobbi Brown Bronzer in Medium. My skin is light/neutral and this dark bronzer scares the poo out of me. The lighter shade was too orange for my skin tone, so I went with medium. So many swear by it, but I’m afraid of looking muddy or dirty.
Try using a fan brush or a duo-fiber/skunk brush. They will give a much lighter application, and then you can buff it out with a powder or kabuki brush if you need too.
Probably Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascaras in blue . I don’t know what I was thinking. Colored mascara did not work for me in the 90’s, why did I think that it would today. I couldn’t even pawn it off to either of my daughters.
Too Faced Le Grand Palais.
I decided to take a chance on a face palette from Ross called the Beauty Evolved Contour Collection. I’ve been looking for new blush colors and this palette had a whole row of them plus a bunch of highlighters. Soooo disappointing. I can see why it ended up cheap in the makeup section at Ross. Pigmentation was actually great but each one was so chalky I couldn’t blend at all. I ended up with uneven splotches of color on my cheeks. The only pans I’ve gotten any luck with are the banana shade, a stark white (for my browbone), and the two highlighters.
The Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette. It’s so blah!! In pictures and person…..AND for $58 retail plus tax it was my biggest regret this year!!
Tarte Tarteist Lip Paint in So Fetch, yeah I should have waited for reviews on that one but It’s Tarte and I expected more.
The Too Faced Love eye palette. I ask myself every day why I bought the damn thing WHY?
Bobbi Brown serum foundation. Tried many colors, thought I found the right color. But it still turned a weird color and had a weird finish. Not crazy about the moisture rich I bought too.
Tom Ford Eye and Cheek in peach. It had a stupid little useless brush and in order to get any pigment I had to scrape the pan. Even then it was barely pigmented. Back it went. Just goes to show you, even Tom Ford can screw up!
I read your review and still (like a dummy) went and purchased MAC Sketch blush. It is AWFUL!!!! I threw away the packet or I would have returned it. It is horrible.
Sephora’s 2013 Color Anthology and Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book. Most of the shadows are sheer unless I pack it on or use my fingers to apply. In the end, I discovered that I’m not a fan of sheer shadows.
I regret having bought Bareminerals foundation Bareskin. The brush I bought with it is awesome, but the foundation… What a disappointment! Unfortunately, we don’t have a return policy in Brazil… Every time I read people saying that they didn’t like something and simply return it…. I wish I lived in the US…
We do have a good return policy here, but I have rarely ever returned anything. Foolish, I know.
One time I did decide to return a lipstick that had a really good GWP (gift with purchase), and I put them both (I didn’t touch the GWP) in the package and took them to the P.O. (post office) inside, and the company said they never received them, so I was out the lipstick and the GWP!
In order for me to truly regret a purchase, it has to be one that was on the higher-end that I didn’t or couldn’t return. So, I think I’ve responded with this answer before. My regret is two items from Dolce & Gabbana that I purchased at or around the same time.
The Dolce & Gabbana Eden Eyeshadow Quad is absolutely the WORST performing group of high-end eyeshadows that I’ve ever experienced. It’s worse than most DS shadows! And the D&G khol eyeliner in Peacock is a gorgeous color — until it fades away. I’m sure the eyeliner would perform better if it were set with an eyeshadow, but should that be a requirement??
I keep these items where I see them often to remind me to never buy any makeup from D&G, no matter how beautiful it may look. Maybe I just happened to purchase the absolute worst the brand has to offer, but I haven’t heard anyone raving about D&G makeup at anytime in the recent past. Or… ever, really.
I absolutely love everything UD, but I do regret spending money on the Naked Smokey palette. I find that I never reach for it. Also, just about every Tarte palette I get suckered into buying. For whatever reason, Tarte shadows look muddy and patchy on me. Thankfully I have a friend who adores Tarte shadows so she was beneficiary of about five barely used Tarte palettes.
Nars Misfit duo – it looked shimmery in the photos, but it was matte. And I don’t really like matte eye shadows. It was awhile ago now. Since then I only get products that have been reviewed here so I know what they are really like.
Some lippies from Revlon. A waste of money. They were terrible!
UD Gwen Stefani palette:(. The packaging is wonderful but the colors are very disappointing.
Hi Christine, which holiday pressed meteorites do you mean? I only see the Perles Echantes and the white mattifying powder on your blog, both reviewed with a grade A, so I’m interested to find out which one you regret because your input is very valuable to me (and my wallet!). Thanks in advance!
Colour Pop eyeshadows. So many rave reviews and beautiful colors that I had to order a dozen. They swatch beautiful but do not apply that way 🙁 Tons of fallout and impossible to blend. I gave them all away but kept Mittens bc it makes a great brow powder and matches my dye job, lol.
I think the application is kinda tricky. I don’t apply them with my fingers as suggested because it’s just awkward, and I personally don’t see the point. I use literally any kind of synthetic brush and treat them like regular eyeshadows. That works best for me, although I think it’s more wasteful since a lot of the product gets stuck in the brush bristles.
Can’t believe I’m admitting to it because everybody loves it so much but Kat Von D’s Lolita lipstick….I bought th liquid and the studded lipstick and they both were terrible! Color was blah and the texture of both were awful! On the up side Maybelline makes a killer Matte lipstick line that costs 1/4th the price.
Makeup Geek Eye shadows…the worst!!
Oh, and I forgot to add, Nars Audacious Lipstick and Colourpop Lippie Stix…both are so drying and just kill my lips
Benefit’s they’re real push up liner. URGH. What a waste. Such a rubbish product. The concept is great and the liner is certainly pigmented and long-wearing – but it is horrible to apply. It balls up and dries out. It also wastes so much product because the applicator doesn’t work as it should. Never again!!!!
The Too Faced Le Grand Chateau eye palette. Terribly disappointed with the quality of the product formula. Loved the look of the colors and took the advice of the salesperson. I probably won’t buy any Too Faced eyeshadow again.
Josie Maran color stick, smells horrible! Estee Lauder double wear foundation, okay coverage but the texture is too heavy it made me look older and washed out.
MAC’s BB Prep and Prime. This stuff applies smoothly but wears like cake batter; it’s sticky all day and CAKES with any type of setting powder. Setting spray has no effect on it. Glop in a compact, for real. I bought it at an outlet, though, so no returns accepted.
Laura Geller. The colors look pretty and pigmented in the pan, but awful on the skin. You’re supposed to be able to use the baked colors individually and blend them with seamlessly, but the colors end up looking very dark, almost muddy. I found that I ended up looking like I had cow eyes. The mascara is also terrible. I received her mascara in one of the kits I bought (admittedly I just wanted the brush which fell apart after 6 months) and only used it once. The mascara clumped on the first coating. In the trash it went. Even the lipsticks are just meh.
KVD mi vida loca. I had to return it. The dryness of powdery texture was awful and made my eyelids look dull and all the colors just blended into each other. I hated it and was super disappointed!
Becca blush in Songbird. It was so small for the hefty price tag and the pigmentation was beautiful but forgettable. I have much cheaper alternatives that wear all day with no fading so back to Sephora it went. Talk about a let down.
The majority of my eye shadow palettes. Too much money spent on similar colors and I’d end up with muddy murky blend of blah.
I hear ya! Once they are on my eyes, I don’t think I could tell you which color or even which palette I used. They all look the same on my eyes.
I don’t have any recent regrets, mainly as I’m on a budget, and picky by nature, so I tend to research or test out what I buy before I do so.
I returned this one so all is well now, but the Nyx Liquid Suede Lipstick in Vintage was honestly one of the most horrible things I’ve ever tried. I’ve bought many things that I’ve felt ambivalent towards, but I’ve never felt such intense hatred as I have for this lipstick. The color was gorgeous but the application was so bad and sticky (so sticky that it literally pulled itself off my lips) that I couldn’t deal with it. At all. It was so disappointing because I have another color from that line and it worked fantastically!
Viseheart Paris Nudes palette – I can’t understand the hype. It’s too dry with too little pigmentation. I was also suckered into buying a small tote with a couple of makeup palettes from a company called Makeup Me. They were selling them in the main square downtown, and I may have had a wee too much eggnog when they approached me with the tote. I suppose I should count myself fortunate that they were only charging $20 for the bagful.
Colourpop eyeshadows – The mattes and satins are fine and a few of the pearlized are, too. However, the metallic and most of the pearlized have a ton of glitter and there is major fallout every single time. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong (I’ve tried with primer, without primer, using my fingers, using a brush, patting vs. swiping and blending, etc.), especially when I read the reviews here that there was maybe two or three pieces of glitter after 8-10 hours because within an hour the entire area under my eyes are caked in glitter. I keep trying them and immediately love them and an hour later I look in the mirror and regret it.
Luckily I haven’t had an expensive regret as of late, though I am pretty disappointed with Bite Beauty’s Agave Lip Mask in Champagne. I love the other two and was really looking forward to buying this one, but there is something just a bit different in the consistency and staying power of the champagne. Not enough of a regret to return it, but I won’t repurchase when I use it up.
Hi Christine, Is your regret about the Météorites Voyage Enchanté? If so, could you please share why you regret purchasing it? Thanks!
It’s not a product I can wear at all. I wouldn’t have purchased it knowing it was actually going to be a white-based powder!
Clarins – Ombre Matte Eyeshadow – #02 Nude Pink (strange color on me)
Colourpop Lippie Stix (too heavy and sticky)
Lancome Le Stylo Waterproof Eye Liner (smudges)
TOO FACED La Creme Lip Balm
Laura Gellar baked gelato swirl blush
Only because I purchased the wrong colour, the NYX micro brow pencil. I like it, I just wish it matched! lol
Clinique’s eye pencil in navy… So expensive and on my eyes it actually doesn’t look much different then black… 🙁