What was the last product you tried but were underwhelmed by?
Fenty’s liquid eyeliner trios were extremely disappointing!
— Christine
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I purchased a couple things from Wet ‘n’ Wild recently. After I was so pleased with the hydrating stick, I thought I would try the illuminating primer. The formulas are very obviously different but to my surprise, this stick primer was extremely drying!!! I regret just not repurchasing another hydrating stick. I will try to use it up but I don’t think it significantly extends the life of my makeup through out the day 🙁
Definitely those new Cover FX Monochromatic Blush Duos. I was excited to try them, but the ones that didn’t look outright cheap were just kind of bleh on me.
Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue. I’d heard great things about it FOR. EVER. Hated it. Too thick. The one before that was Too Faced Shadow Insurance with basically the same complaint, heard great things, too thick!
I wanted somehow to love Bare Mineral complexion products, but I ended up disliking anything I tried from them. But I love the Shadow Insurance; it’s very silicone-y, but I just need a tiny bit spread out well on my lids and eyeshadows last all day (and look more vibrant).
Hadanomy collagen mist. stung, reddened; had to wash it off. Maybe the alcohol, but that was not high on the list. Total give-away. One of Isabella/Muse’s big faves. YMMV.
Yesterday I tried a new shade of Estée Lauder Double Wear Makeup that I thought would be an (even) better match, but seeing it in sunlight, I thought it was a tiny bit too pink and felt like I had just wasted a lot of money on the wrong color. However, during the course of the day I received several compliments from total strangers on how beautiful my skin looked!! So now I’m confused. (FYI: Old shade = Desert Beige, new shade = Ecru)
Seraphine, were you in sunlight when you were complimented? Or, is it possible that you have a hangup about “looking pink” for some reason (like my best friend has a hangup about “limp hair” so even though her hair looks gorgeous air-dried, she has to fluff the crown or she’s not comfortable)?
You bring up a good point. We are our own worst critics, and should be kinder…we are to others!
The problem was that my face looked pinker than my neck in sunlight. I do blend my makeup down into my neck, but I don’t cover my whole neck, of course!
I’m simply amazed how a foundation can look good or bad, or different shades, depending on location. I mean… my foundation looks different in my bathroom, in the mirror of my bedroom, in the mirror in my office, in sunlight, in office light, in store light. Shade matching is awfully confusing. 😆
So true!
My shade in ELDW is also Ecru and I have the same complaint. It completely disappears on my skin when test swatching, but it does have that pink tone which I find is more noticeable in direct sunlight. Skintones are complex and any one undertone is never going to nail a complete spot on match because most of us have more than one tone to our skin.. that’s my 2 cents. I dunno.. but sometimes think if you have yellow undertones, your foundation life must be heaven. Maybe someone with yellow u/t struggle between the right balance of yellow as well. I’m neutral with a hint of olive. I’ll forever be mixing.
I think my u/ts are red, with a smidge of…gray. No wonder 90-95% of foundations look straight up yellow, and reds/greiges are my best l/ss. Also, no wonder I go sheer, rather than medium or full coverage. There comes a time when it just is not fun. I NEED the pink that most complain about. But, in the grand scheme of things, it feels like a first world problem, though very real.
Juvia’s Place in general. I expected to be a bit more wowed given how hard they are hyped up. Mediocre at best
UD Naked Basics, and, honestly, all the UD eyeshadows I tried. They just melted away on my eyelids, even with primer.
The one UD eyeshadow I have taught me what “fallout” is. Instantly.
I am not a fan of UD eyeshadows. They disappear on me even with primer where I don’t have a similar problem with other eyeshadow formulas. I don’t buy e/s from them!
ABH Matte lipstick in Soft Pink. The shade was PERFECT-exactly what I was looking for. But I didn’t like the formula. I found it way too drying for me.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder
So many good reviews, so many people raving about it… I didn’t expected miracles, but I was underwhelmed because it’s just a `meah` powder. It’s not bad necessarily, but it’s not close to the statements it makes.
It fives a soft focus at first, but it doesn’t blur imperfections that much.
The finish is flat and matte and somewhat drying, but somehow doesn’t keep my matte all day long (and I have combination skin, slightly dry right now).
It’s not breathable, I feel it a little heavy on my skin even with a light application/
And I never finished a pressed powder so fast… they usually last me months. This powder has tons of fallout and kick-back.
I have the CT Airbrush Flawless Foundation and use it only to set under my eyes. I don’t like it anywhere else on my face. I use to carry it in my bag for touch ups during the day and frankly, it worked pretty good for that. I am not sure why it doesn’t look good on my face at first but after my makeup is done and I have used one of my other powders and then go about my day and touch up with it, it works fine. Makeup is so complicated, LOL!
Complexion products are the most complicated. The whole chemistry and combination of our own skin and oils, the primer, the foundation, the powder… a big equation with multiple variables that can go either way. 😆
Easily PMG Blitztrance in Rebel Red. Beautiful on others, but looks like a dark frosty PINK from the 80’s on me, though. Sad because I adore it on others! ?
The Jaclyn Hill Bling Boss palette. I had low expectations to begin with because I heard it wasn’t the best, but holy cow! I’ve never had an eye shadow literally fall off my lid in chunks while blending.
Probably Caudalie Complexion Correcting Radiance Serum. I’m glad I got it as a points perk but sorry I wasted my Sephora points on it. I don’t think I’ve been disappointed in any colour cosmetics in quite a while – the only thing I can think of is a Marc Jacobs e/s palette, which I ended up returning (I think it was called Edgitorial).
Fenty bronzer. I tried a ton of shades and they all looked orange on me. Plus they went on patchy and didn’t blend well.
Pretty much the entire Fenty Christmas launch. Everything was pretty bad.
I don’t love any of my PMG makeup. The mascara smells like paint and the brush doesn’t taper so when I try to get into the corners, it gets all over my lids. The Mothership II palette in Sublime seems kind of ordinary to me. Maybe I am just out of her demographic.
Colourpop’s mascara and liquid liner. Liquid liner was better than the mascara – I really don’t like the mascara at all! It flaked so bad throughout the day 🙁 and I normally adore so much from Colourpop!
Right on! Totally bummed about the CP mascara, which was highly anticipated, as I adore a hit of colored mascara.
Maybelline’s Divine Wine lipstick- loved the shade, but the lipstick seemed to migrate over lips and the matte format just didn’t work on me. Also an EA lipstick, Red Door, tha turned totally pink on me.
It’s been a while since I was underwhelmed by something I bought. I think probably the Dominique Cosmetics Lemonade Palette. The shimmers are hard to get pigment out of, and the mattes are hard to blend. This is regardless of if and what kind of eye primer I wear. It took an hour of video-call conferencing with a friend who used to be an MUA and had the palette to figure out how to make it work on me at all. I just don’t think the formula works with my oily lids, because everyone else seems to adore this palette.
NARS Radiant Foundation? Think that’s the name a waste of money. And I don’t love any of Pat McGrath. I have 2 big palettes and 2 small and 2 lipsticks. Mattes ok but have the same warm brown in every palette and shimmers just ok. 2 lipsticks not that great.
Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind concealer- Given all the hype I thought this was going to be the affordable full coverage non-drying concealer of my dreams. Am I the only one who found this to feel tight and drying on my undereye area? The coverage is ok and it did not sink into my fine lines or crease when thinly applied though. Going back to my finicky to apply but emollient, long lasting & full coverage IT Bye Bye Undereye concealer!
Excellent content! It would be good, to be repeated from time to time!
Burts Bees lipstick. I actually returned it, which is rare for me. Waxy, sat on top of my lips, settled in lip creases. Yuck.
Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation im Fresco. The pinkish cool tone is great, but the shade is overall too dark. Since the consistency of the product is great, I’ve also purchased the lightest shade (Cool Bone) to blend with Fresco to find a better match to my natural skin.