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What was the last popular beauty product that didn't work for you?

I remember there were quite a few raves for the Sephora PRO eyeshadow palettes, and I wasn’t too excited over them (but I don’t know that I’d go as far as to say they didn’t work for me).

— Christine

73 Comments

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Chelsea Avatar

The product itself is older, but Maybelline Age Rewind concealer actually made my undereyes worse! I know it works for a lot of people, just not for me.

Kim Avatar

Personally love this for spot concealing instead of using it under my eyes! I use it primarily for acne scars and lil imperfections while I’m on the go and I find it super easy to use.

Just bought my second one yesterday as I’m nearly out (and I never finish makeup!) haha

Chelsea Avatar

I actually just tried the dark circle eraser with that line. I think it’s the sponge that may not work for me because I have drier skin & I live for the fit me concealer!

Mari Cole Avatar

Morphe shadow. Everyone seems obsessed with them, I found they lacked pigment and were patchy. Bought 2 palettes, played with them once or twice, and gave them away.

Leslie Milstead Avatar

Same! Cannot get on board with the Morphe eyeshadow. Tried several a few years ago and they were powdery and patchy. This year, a good friend and MUA raved about the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill palette – swearing it was a different formula than in the past. It turned out the same for me and I returned it a few days later. Never again.

Joan Avatar

Almost all of the naked palettes do not work for me…so much so I thought there was something wrong with me, but heat is the only one that does so maybe that isn’t recent enough. Other than those and maybe the TF Chocolate bar, which I still will work with, most things I find I can make work and I enjoy them.

AB Avatar

Laneige lip sleeping mask. It tore up my lips even though I gave the customary few days to get started. Back to my HG Jack Black and all is well again.

Lindsay_MK Avatar

Pat McGrath LuxeTrance lipsticks were a complete failure for me. None of the plush, satin goodness that Christine’s swatches/reviews showed – they were dry, stiff, completely matte and the colors were way different from the swatches. Very disappointing!

Eileen Avatar

Me, too! My lips peeled. The two Luxe Trance colors I selected were beautiful, but they were drying and unforgiving; not in the least bit satiny.

Sarah Avatar

Modern Renaissance. It was just so bad in my opinion that I had to give it away.

I used to say this sheepishly but you know, it just didn’t work for me. I don’t like super soft, powdery eye shadows. But at least the person I gave it to loves it and that’s what matters.

Christy Avatar

Modern Renaissance is my favorite eyeshadow palette. I have them all but I love this palette so much I went and bought other colors from Anastasia. I hope she brings out a gray palette of some sort.

Jess Avatar

Any eye palette that’s warm toned. Red, orange, brown. Basically everything that’s come out in the past year. They all make me look sick and unhealthy. I’m pale and cool toned. I wish companies would realize that we do exist and start making palettes for us. We want love too. 🙁

Rachel Avatar

The issue for me is – how many red and orange based palettes can a person possibly need or want? I am so bored of companies producing all the same thing. Then when something a bit more innovative comes out and is successful, the companies jump on that bandwagon… for years!

Bonnie Avatar

Hehe…you can keep your reds but I want all the oranges, yellows, golds, and browns I can get! Those are my colors, but the reds…except for the dramatic effect, they don’t do anything for me.

LMH454 Avatar

I have the same problem! I feel like there are SO many warm-toned releases that tempt me but i just know they will not work on me (ie Modern Renaissance). It makes me extra excited when I see new cool-toned products released 😀

Sarah Avatar

I fully understand. I’m fair and warm toned but I have a lot of pink in my face due to acne and easy overheating. I understand that, with hazel eyes, orange and red tones are a really good idea–it just doesn’t apply practically with my skin.

Megan Avatar

Yes, so much this!! I haven’t bought eyeshadow in a long time besides the odd single for this reason. Some of us just don’t look good in those shades. I hope the trend turns soon but in the meantime… money saved I guess? Sigh.

Erica Avatar

What comes to mind is Estee Lauder Double Wear. I have oily skin too and I just didn’t think this looked good on my skin or held up in the heat

I love many MAC shadows but Satin Taupe, Woodwinked & Expensive Pink don’t work on me. I lovvvve amber lights, antiqued, patina & coppering but the above ones are unflattering or don’t pop like I want

Loreal Paradise mascara. Just not impressed

Most Urban Decay products I’ve tried. Their eyeshadows fade faster than anything and their primer potion is horribly generic

Wet n Wild Precious Petals highlighter. It just does nothing for me.

Erica Avatar

Sorry didn’t mean to post my answer to the question here. Silly autosave lol I was going to say the reason why companies release so many warm tone red and orange palettes is bc they sell and they flatter a larger number of people. Unfortunately cool tones only work on a small selection of the population. Look at cool town palettes like Naked 2, the Smokey palette, Lorac Pro 2 and I believe one of the chocolate bars were more cool tone mostly…not many talk about them and they were underperforming sales wise by comparison. I know it’s frustrating but I don’t see a huge release of mostly cool tones anytime soon though I agree I’m over the red and orange palettes

Tamah Avatar

I completely agree, Jess!! I need cool toned colors in all aspects. I really wish they would come up with cool-toned eyeshadow pallettes, blushes, etc.

Linda Avatar

Color Pop’s Golden State of Mind palette – I ordered it the minute it dropped at Sephora, loved the price, colors and even the look of the foiled chunky shadows but man, getting that glitter off your eyes? Impossible. Returned it *sniff*

xamyx Avatar

Fenty Beauty Foundation; for one thing, even with the broad shade range, I still couldn’t find a match, and would have to mix 2 shades. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, as I find this to be something that happens pretty much in every brand/formula, but with a product whose philosophy is covering all skintones, I would expect more undertone variation on the paler end of the spectrum. The other issue I have with it is that I can only wear it in warmer weather, but I tend to wear more lightweight base products on those days.

As far as “color products” go, I would have to go with the original UD Naked palette. It’s a great product, but I the colors don’t work for me without pulling in other shadows. Again, that isn’t something that would normally be an issue, but the fact it was marketed as “the only neutral palette you’ll ever need” was very misleading.

MAC lipstick just doesn’t work for me. Granted, I’ve only tried a couple of shades/formulas, but I just didn’t care for the way they sat on my lips. I’m sure given how popular they are, there’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but I just prefer a heavier formula that “hugs” the lip, whereas MAC just tends to feel like a lightweight “film”.

I’ve never actually tried them on my eyes, but the Bare Minerals pressed eyeshadows just never seemed to swatch well for me…

Kate Tolkach Avatar

the last one I definitely just could not do anything with was the hourglass ambient lighting powder. It essentially did nothing, and the color was darker than my skin so I couldn’t even wear it as a highlighter. Such a waste of money 🙁

Almost, any MAC eyeshadow I own as well. They’re either chalky, unpigmented, impossible to blend or get hard pan (a few mattes I have are completely sealed).

Moxie Avatar

Paula’s Choice 2% BHA. I just didn’t see any results and, for the price, it was a major disappointment. Plus the packaging leaks if you so much as glance at it.

Nancy T Avatar

The first one that popped up as a more memorable flop, was It Your Skin But Better CC Cream. Seems like everyone else loves it, but that stuff broke my skin out badly! Now that it’s winter, I’m trying to just use it up since I’m not as breakout prone during cooler weather. Problem is that now the shade doesn’t work, because I get lighter during winter and this tube is in Med.-Tan. So I mix it with Smashbox BB cream in Light. It’s *okay*, I suppose.

Linda Avatar

That CC cream always breaks me out and I sooo want it to work because of the high spf. Everyone always raves about it. I thought I must be crazy. You made me feel better knowing someone else also had the same problem

Emily Avatar

The Stila Eye for Elegance liquid shadow set, with the 3 shimmers and the 3 glitters. I think they are so pretty, but I find them too difficult to work with. I get more or less the same effect from my ColourPop Supershocks with less effort and less fallout. I’m not giving up on them completely, I know they can be applied in many different ways, but it feels wasteful to have to do so much trial and error, wiping off and starting fresh, which I have had to do with these. Also pretty much everything I’ve tried from Drunk Elephant. I’m so in love with their philosophy, their aesthetic, their packaging, but my results with the Framboos, the Babyfacial, the C-Firma, and the B-Hydra have ranged from meh to unusable. I’m still using their Shaba eye serum, but I’m not seeing the results I was looking for. Every time I see them share on Instagram from another happy user “WOW, my skin was transformed literally OVERNIGHT!” I feel sad that I can’t share in that magic.

Mariella Avatar

The Marc Jacobs Edgitorial eyeshadow palette. The colours were dreadful for me (2 were okay but were so “not unique” that I couldn’t justify keeping it). I thought it would be a great palette but it was really unattractive so I returned it (something I rarely do).

Rachel R. Avatar

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. I ended up getting sensitized to it after a few days, and it made my eyes water. But I loved how it made my lashes look.

ColourPop Ultra Mattes. I found the formula too variable. Some of them were fantastics, some peeled, and others made my lips look like shriveled prunes. I gave up on them.

Eileen Avatar

MUFE”s new eyeshadow launch was a dismal disappointment. After seeing the colors on Temptalia, there seemed to be several shades that were promising. When I went to swatch them at Sephora, they were mundane at best–not particularly noteworthy in terms of quality or color. I gave the collection a miss.

CeeBee Avatar

Colourpop Yes, Please palette – I didn’t get it right away, I think I managed to chance upon it being back in stock about 2 – 3 months after the initial sold out immediately frenzy (I think they restocked it like 4 times) and it’s a decent palette but it’s not the BEST.

I like warm colours, golds and russets and reds and bronzes and it looks lovely in the pans, but somehow every time I use it, I’m all “meh.” I don’t know if it’s that I can’t just rock a sunset eye or my blending technique isn’t up to par but it just seems to look a bit mediocre on me, despite the fact the texture and pigmentation of the shadows is pretty great.

I dunno, everyone raved about it and I can kinda see why but it just doesn’t knock my socks off. I have other CP palettes I like MUCH better.

Genevieve Avatar

All the red, orange and pink themed palettes that have come out ever since Mod Ren….none of those shades work for me at all. I prefer more cool toned offerings.
Revlon lipsticks don’t work for me either – they last about 2 minutes and then they are gone.
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation – it was supposed to be neutral undertones, but it is still way too yellow based for me.

Tracey E. Avatar

Bought Chanel Neapolis lip balm/powder in Rose Tempura. The product emphasize lines, parched areas, settled around the outline of my lower lip, and applied patchy at best. Could not get product to work despite varied application and tools. Returned it for a LE lipstick in the collection. Love the lipstick!!

Cassandra Avatar

Nars creamy eye concealer. I checked out tons of videos before buying it and then found it heavy and it really emphasised my fine lines. Its ok as a blemish concealer but I will never repurchase.

ShariP Avatar

Born this way foundation. It oxidized so badly and it just seemed to separate on my skin. I have normal to dry skin and haven’t had any other foundations separate like that. Quite a few oxidize unfortunately.

Smashbox eyeshadows…I seem to be allergic to them. I’ve never experienced the same reaction to any other brand whether DS or HE.

On a different note, for those interested in a cool toned eyeshadow palette, I recently purchased the Clinique palette that Sephora had as part of their WOW sales. Its shades of purples, creams, pinks and purplish browns. So far I’m pleasantly surprised. Not overly pigmented, but they blend beautifully and are very creamy.

Mags Avatar

The new Anastasia Matte Lipsticks. They flaked and bled past my lip line terribly. It was also the worst lipstick to try to reapply/layer. The color was horrible and patchy! I really wanted to love them, but nope.

Karen J. Avatar

Just about any liquid lipstick ever made. Not only did they not work for me because they made my lips look thin, lined and generally unattractive but they all felt incredibly drying, some worse than others but all of them were uncomfortable.
I’ve never been happier to see a trend die out! 😉

Erica Avatar

What comes to mind is Estee Lauder Double Wear. I have oily skin too and I just didn’t think this looked good on my skin or held up in the heat

I love many MAC shadows but Satin Taupe, Woodwinked & Expensive Pink don’t work on me. I lovvvve amber lights, antiqued, patina & coppering but the above ones are unflattering or don’t pop like I want

Loreal Paradise mascara. Just not impressed

Most Urban Decay products I’ve tried. Their eyeshadows fade faster than anything and their primer potion is horribly generic

Wet n Wild Precious Petals highlighter. It just does nothing for me.

Megan Avatar

I feel heretical saying this but Colourpop Supershock Shadows. All of the ones I got, even the satin ones, were just way too glittery for me. I wanted the glittery ones to be more like Dior Fusion Monos.

Anastasia Master Palette by Mario. I think it’s meant for a tanned skintone, not my fair one. The shades look very orange and muddy on me.

Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara- just did not get the hype at all.

Hourglass Girl Lip Stylos- all of the colors I tried looked weird on me, and I couldn’t deal with the crayon applicator. I always drew outside the lines.

Becca pressed highlighters— they never give the glossy look I want, but more a stripe of color on the face.

Miska Avatar

Bare Minerals pressed eyeshadows. They fade completely away on my lids within hours. No matter what I do…primers, setting sprays, praying lol they just will not stay on my lids. The loose shadows stick so well that I can skip the eye primer. I don’t know what it is about the pressed eyeshadows but I’ve tried and returned several palettes with zero luck. This really stinks because they have some really nice shades. I no longer buy the loose shadows because I make too much of a mess/spill them everyehere. That stinks too because the loose shadows last forever. Anybody else reading this have the same issue with the pressed eyeshadows?

Pearl Avatar

Not sure if these are popular still because all were a couple of years ago:

Urban Decay palettes – I much preferred the singles (they wore better). I still have my 3 singles and gave all the palettes away except Naked3.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder(s) – this was a couple of years ago, can’t remember the proper name/line but I gave some of their blushers and highlighters a whirl. Too powdery and faded early. Every year that overpriced cheek palette comes out around Christmas and I love the look of it but those cheek powders were such a fail that I can’t bring myself to try it again.

Hourglass Mineral Veil – my face was an oil slick a few hours after using this.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation – I used this with primer and without primer on 3 separate occasions and my face was a shiny, greasy mess about 2 hours into wear.

Beautyblender – I feel like it absorbs way too much product (even using it damp). I don’t like how it looks dirty after 1 use.

Adrianna Avatar

The *last * thing was the Too Faced Just Peachy matte palette. Made my eyes itch, water and the next day, my eyes felt like they were rubbed raw. Promptly took that back. The weird thing? I have the regular Peach palette and it doesn’t bother my eyes.

Linda Avatar

Lash paradise mascara. Maybe I should try again, but my first experience was a dry formula that flaked terribly. I usually enjoy L’Oreal mascaras but I haven’t been able to understand how popular this mascara has been. Thinking about trying the waterproof version even tho I hate removing waterproof mascaras.

Bonnie Avatar

Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer, UD Naked Heat, Make Up Forever HD Foundation.

None of these look good one me. Ok, so the Naked Heat has some shades I like – those browns – but none of my looks lasted long after I created them. I wish UD was still doing Vice palettes. I enjoyed those so much more than Nakeds.

The Butter Bronzer really doesn’t bronze me, and I got the darker one (I’m a medium yellow skin tone, according to Temptalia).

And the MUFE foundation made me look old and dusty.

Carolina Avatar

I feel so sad saying this but.. MAC lipsticks didn’t work for me. I have two – Spirit and Honeylove, and I just don’t like them. I bought first Honeylove (Matte finish) and the color is too light for me and this formula made my lips so dry and crusty, and they also hurt a bit! So uncomfortable. Next I bought Spirit (Satin) to see if my lips could handle a satin formula – they can but my lips still feel very dry and uncomfortable. I stopped using Honeylove but I will keep using Spirit as I love the color, at least once a week or so.

Silvia Avatar

Not face beauty related but bronzer leg beauty it was Jergens leg bronzer I tried first the light shade then the medium and it didn’t ever build up on this pair of coconuts legs (did I mention I run and always wear shorts trying to get a minimal obscuring miracle and was born in an Island. So much for being tropical???! Buahhhhhh! Lol!). One of the very few things I have returned in my life back to Target it went plus I noticed a itch/rash developing on upper leg that went away as soon as stopped using it. I’ve heard the Sally Hansen’s spray works well, maybe I’ll give a try this Summer but hmmm? I’ve given up on all of those!

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