Which type of beauty product would you love to see become greatly improved?
I’d love to see foundation shade ranges improved – more options that reflects the global diversity of the beauty market.
— Christine
- Saks — Earn a Gift Card up to $700* (including beauty) with code APRIL2019, ends 4/26.
- Sephora — 20% off for Rouges with code HEYROUGE, starts 4/26 and ends 5/06.
- Space NK — FREE Beauty Bag Gift worth over $250, use code SPRING19, ends 4/28.
- Ulta — BOGO 50% off Maybelline makeup, Revlon lip, Makeup Revolution, Real Techniques, & more, ends 5/12.
84 Comments
Discussion and debate are highly encouraged, and we expect community members to participate respectfully. When asking a question, please check the post above for information regarding pricing, availability, dupes, and availability, and keep discussion on-topic.
Please do not ask if/when a review will be posted as we cannot review everything and often change priorities from day-to-day. If you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us. Thank you!
Comments that include advertisements, self-promotion, insults, etc. may be in violation of our comment policy and subject to deletion. Please see our comment policy for more information.
Comments on this post are closed.
If you don't see your comment yet, it's still in our moderation queue. We try our best to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind. Thank you for your patience!
Matte lipsticks – great pigmentation already and would love to see them also be hydrating or at least non-drying
Nail polish – would love for regular nail polish to be much more durable and not chip so easily or show wear after only a few days
I’d like to see more color correcting undereye concealers at the drugstore level. The Pixi one is really nice and the NYX one is a good natural one for every day, but that’s the end of the options. They both crease if you aren’t careful about placement. There’s not much room for experimenting with formulations or textures. There’s only two!
I’d also like to see more tubing mascaras on the market. They’re a good solution to a very common problem (smudging) so I’m very surprised that there aren’t a lot out there.
Exact ditto. Spot on about correctors. Tubing: Blinc has gone downhill. L’ oreal is waste of time. Catrice isn’t half bad, looks like TFTR on me, kind of volumeless, but it doesn’t run in the concealer. Then the wiper ring got stuck in the wand end, and the usual huge blob comes out. Arrrrgh. Not expensive to replace, though. Haven’t gone HE on tubing. And I’m old school, like colors. So Blinc still gets my dollars.
Studies show that most western consumers don’t like tubing mascaras as it feels like their lashes come off so I would recommend you check out Asian beauty brands (sorry don’t have specific names) as in Asia tubing mascaras are much more common. Hope this helps!
Yeah, foundation and base products in general. We’ve come a long way but have so much further to go!
You must’ve read my mind, Christine, because that is one of my major pet peeves!
It’s really quite ridiculous that human beings come in hundreds of hues, but most cosmetics companies carry an average of between 12-20 shades. No, I don’t expect literally hundreds, but better than these existing numbers! Some brands, such as MAC do offer more shades, BUT only in ONE of their main formulas??? If I have a fairly difficult time finding a perfect shade that’s also in the formula that my skin needs, and I’m in the darker medium, not quite tan zone with olive-neutral undertones. I cannot even begin to wrap my head around how those who are way deeper or paler than myself find anything at all! To all beauty brands, one word: DIVERSITY.
I think both ends of the spectrum are covered (although not in every brand/formula) in terms of light to dark, but the neutral/olive range is definitely looked over! At least there are some great products to lighten/deepen foundation shades easily accessible, and in-between shades can be mixed, as long as one falls into the warm or cool range. It seems most brands consider “neautral” as “peach”, unless you’re fairer, and then they assume you must be “pink”…
Borghese had a nice neutral/olive range, and I really miss seeing the brand in stores…
!!agree!!
Actually, Borghese must have been bought out (again,) bec. It is in store @ local mall. I don’t recall whether it was Macy’s or Nordie’s. Go online. ‘Course, no guarantee that they have the same shade ranges. The SA said the brand was owned by the store. Big doubt it. Considering the brand’s Italian heritage, they OUGHT to have solid olive shades. Loved Borghese in the 90s. Just depotted their palettes into some Zs. I think they were owned by Revlon in the 90s, right about the time KA was nuding up the world for Ultimate II, Revlon’s other/then HE dept store brand. Borghese was the color, and U II was the Nakeds of the time.
Amen to you and Christine. I think with all the bio chemists and tech we have you think we would have the colors of foundation down pact. But nooooooo. Its beige,yellow undertones or pink . And whats up with the 28 different beige colors,warm,cool,honey,dark etc? I give up.
Purple and blue shadows, always the trouble makers!
Those, too! Although this past year we DID get a few great ones, like the ones in UD Spectrum, Deep Purple in ABH Self-Made palette, and the deep bluish-purple holiday pressed pigment by MAC. But yeah, most suck!
purple eye shadow is my favorite. they are always too blue. or not bright enough.
I agree with wanting to see a wider variety of shades (and undertones) in foundations. Also concealers, etc.
I’d really love to see improvement made in purple eyeshadows. They seem to give all but a few companies problems. The darker or brighter the shade, the patchier the product seems. Enough companies pull them off that I know it can be done. The same goes for dark and vampy purple lipsticks.
Concealers: I have yet to find a true full coverage concealer that doesn’t look dry or cakey and doesn’t crease.
Spot treatments for acne scars: diminishing the redness or discoloration is one thing but there isn’t much you can do at home that really helps with shallow scars.
Have you tried boi-ing by Benefit? It has worked really nicely for me, no creasing or weird cakeyness, and it’s full coverage.
exactly. i’ve wasted so much money on concealers that end up looking like a dried creek bed. not one is emollient enough to conceal but not practically crack, and most seem too yellow for my fair/neutral to cool skin tone. i’m probably better off not even using anything under my eyes, but still i keep trying.
Sunscreen!!! If the Japanese can do it (seriously, I’d stay here just for beauty products alone) why can’t we??
Came here to say this. Thank you.
In the spirit of MLBB, a foundation range that is “My skin but better” i.e. shade range, texture, no cake-iness. I know glowing foundation is in right now (which I love) but for those who who want a matte look this could be part of the range too. And it would address and cross all skin types.
I agree with your statement about foundation, and would also like to add that I wish we could figure out the whole oxidation thing and find/change the ingredients to prevent that from happening – I find it to be a recurring problem 🙁
Waterproof mascara. I’d love them to have a better performance and be easier to remove.
Anti-aging serums! I thing the ones produced everywhere from drugstore to high end make ridiculous claims. I would like to see a serum that actually helps with fine lines,dark spots, loss of firmness, etc. that is under $150. I didn’t say one that would be a cure all. Just do something.
Another..I wish they would make false lashes that somehow had the glue already on them or a little pot you could just dip into the glue. The whole waiting on the glue is annoying me for some reason.
Wow you read my mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you tried the following ones:
My Holly grail Serum is Biotherm Serum-in-Oil Night
For the day I use lancome genefique concentrate and lancome vissionaire concentrate after the genefique
I do not know in you have Biotherm in the USA but if you have try this one, got very fast results
Concerning the question I agree with the foundations, I am very very pale with pink undertone, nearly every foundation is too yellow for me Even in the lightest shade, I always have to mix it
i also would love the beauty industry to produce a product that does not only say to mattify but really mattifies, tried a lot but nothing mattifies my skin
I swear that you took the words out of my mouth. I would love for companies to learn that women with deeper complexions don’t all have a red undertone.
It’s crazy, but true that deeper foundation shades tend to run reddish, and then at the opposite end, the pale foundation shades tend to run pink! There ARE other undertones in the actual skin of both, like more yellowish or neutral, even olive!
Matte shadows! Most of them are powdery and terrible. We need some buttery smooth ones!
Have you tried Morphe? I recently tried them for the first time and I love them. Huge shade range too.
True. that is tough. The Viseart dark matte palette is great. But, it’s only those shades.
Lipstick. Either they wear off very quickly or they are more pigmented and stay on longer, but then they tend to dry out my lips. Wouldn’t it be great to have a truly moisterizing lipstick that is also super long wearing? 🙂
As an AA woman, I have tried soooooooooo many foundations. I do think the color range has improved but lines have overlooked Asian, Latin and Native American skin tones. IMAN was one of the first lines to address this gap. Having said that…I would like to see the range in powder foundations and pressed powders expanded. We are so much more than light, medium, tan and dark.
I was thinking about this and well ok we all complain about that but what do you think it’s like for people who are “albino”! I would love to hear from someone who is what it’s like! Ranging from foundation to I don’t know self tanners[if they chose to use them]! From “albinos” who [I don’t know how to say this properly…..] look physically like a white[I don’t know how to spell cauasian……so bear with me on this]person all the way to physically like a black person. I am also wondering about what it’s like to color their hair [if they chose to do so] . Hope the above made sense and doesn’t get taken the wrong way!
That has to be so tough, being albino and AA. I knew a school age child in the 80s who was. The kids weren’t cruel, and he was well accepted. But it must be a skin version of being transgendered. Very difficult, and probably he, as an adult, does not opt for makeup. Good luck. Just embrace yourself as you are. Whoever you are.
If you don’t mind me asking what does “AA” stand for? I agree with you about embracing oneself etc!
Not at all. Have you tried CoverX or Derma Blend?
I totally agree with you. Powder selections are lacking.
Chris, I can certainly vouch for the industry overlooking those of us who are neither Black or White! I’m Italian and Irish on my mother’s side, and on my father’s side, Hispanic of mainly Native American race. So yeah, I have a not so easy to match skintone going on! MAC has a few shades that work for me, so does Tarte, but still not 100%.
Thank you! As a native american I cannot find any great options, especially from a cruelty free brand. If they are the right undertone they are way to dark. Other wise they are yellow on me. Please, makeup companies, I exist!
Stop by the IMAN Counter at Target, Walmart
Brushes in general. I would like to see better quality brushes that are soft and don’t shed, with more variety of shapes and sizes in natural and synthetic hairs, in both the affordable and high-end range.
I totally agree. I always wonder why foundation ranges just aren’t very expansive. I know it can’t be hard to make lighter colors, darker colors, etc. I guess they think they won’t sell.
foundation please!!!!!!!! more shade options, and more that provide full coverage that also don’t have a ton of ingredients that are bad for your skin.
You’ve nailed my biggest wish.
I’d like to see concealer and foundations improve their staying power. I feel like I’m constantly cleaning the collars of my coats, am terrified to wear the beautiful white scarf I got for Christmas, seem to always have makeup under my nails (eww) and will sometimes not bother trying clothes on at the store because I don’t want to get makeup on them (although I have a similar feeling about getting deodorant marks on clothes while shopping too). I always set with a light layer of powder and practically drown myself in Fix+ but that only seems to help a little
Bronzers. Not everyone likes glitter/shimmer but so many matte bronzers look flat. Also, matte purple shadows. 90% of them give a corpse-look.
Foundation
In my make believe ‘Beauty for Real People’ cosmetic company, I would have a
Foundation Blending Machine
You would start with a base and then tap in the code to your skin color. The machine would mix it and fill a tube with your name on it. Voila! Perfect foundation for you, and all in every skin shade imaginable.
We all come in too many colors to accept that 6 shades in any range would match everyone. I’ve always found difficulty in matching a foundation, so most of the time, I use just a powder.
There was a brand that did this, and even offered several different formulas/coverage levels, but apparently, not enough people felt it was necessary back then. It’s a bit ironic, considering how far foundations have come, and this wasn’t so long ago that demographics have changed too much. Incidentally, the pricepoint on this product was on par with all the other mid-range brands in department stores, so it wasn’t about price…
Thanks for the info, and sorry I didn’t get on board with it.
It was Prescriptives. Owned by same parent co. As Clinique and MAC. I am sad they stopped that line. I got my very first set of brushes from them in the 80s.
Estee Lauder needs to bring Prescriptives baaaack!!! I missed th e boat on that one too. Might explain why MAC is a bit more shade inclusive. Now if they would make C4.5 in Studio SCULPT, instead of only Studio Fix, which sucked every bit of moisture out of my skin and made me look 10 years older! But I can wear Tarte Medium Honey, too. So, maybe that’s next?
This is a great idea! Realistic too. Le Labo fragrance does something similar in store. It’s really special to get a bottle with your name on it.
Let’s invent it and make our fortune!
Wow. They do that with house and wall paint. They must be capable of figuring it out for foundations. Sephora has a Pantone reader to determine your coloring.
I’d like to see all makeup companies ditch animal testing. As many companies have proven, it’s unnecessary.
1. Definitely an expansion to shades offered in foundations (and concealers) – I’ve only ever found one brand of high end and one brand of drugstore foundations that are light enough for my skin without looking too yellow or pink – the same goes for concealer.
2. A concealer that actually covers dark under eye circles is on my wish list. As others have said the good ones cake. Also they can’t seem to make a Casper-pale one opaque enough to cover my purple-black circles.
3. A waterproof mascara that looks as good as the non waterproof versions. I can only wear waterproof but feel like they don’t lengthen, or curl, or look amazing like the UD perversion.
4. Long wearing and hydrating lip colors!
Concealer! I want to see something with great coverage that isn’t drying and doesn’t settle into fine lines. The best I’ve found so far is MAC Pro Longwear. I love the thin consistency and the pigmentation, but it is still a little drying.
I just wish all brands, especially HE/”Luxury” brands, would omit ingredients like talc, petroleum-byproducts, & parabens from their products, particularly foundations & other base/face products. Some of the lower-end DS brands have been doing this, and maintaining their overall pricepoint, so why can’t more expensive brands do this…?
I’d like to see all brands put more focus onto their core products. Overall quality would improve, brand-loyalty would likely increase, and less returns would be made, as impulse buying (FOMO) would decrease, due to the ability to research a given product (or get samples). Also, can all brands please stop reformulating perfectly good products? More often than not, they end up worse. The reason most become brand-loyal is because we actually like a particular brand, not because we wish it were more like another…
Ikr?!? Why oh why did Bite have to go and “fix” what wasn’t broken in the first place??? I mean, sometimes it works, like in the case of Tarte Rainforest Of The Sea, but usually, nope!
I actually bought from qvc months ago the foundation and now the whole line has released. I really didn’t like the foundation. They changed the formula after the feedback from the early release?
Gabs, I’m sorry for any confusion! I didn’t mean the foundation, but that Tarte has a VERY different formula for the eyeshadows in the Rainforest Of The Sea eyeshadow palette than their usual eyeshadow formula.
I agree that foundation shares need to be expanded to be inclusive for everyone. I remember years ago there seemed to be a trend for a broad array of shades and I don’t know why that stopped. I have very fair neutral toned skin and so many times I can’t find a shade that isn’t too dark or pink.
Doesn’t or didn’t Becca offer a wide shade range?
Liquid lipsticks. I love that they stay on, but by the end of the day, my lips look like raisins. Balm helps, but we shouldn’t need to augment a product to make it work.
agreed! they are too drying!
I’m jumping on the foundation bandwagon. Especially drugstore foundations, it’s so frustrating trying to find my shade. I’ve had no luck at all. Not everyone that has fair skin has a pink undertone. Even neutrals have a strong pink cast to it.
Lipstick. I’m not really a fan of matte lipsticks, but I do wear them occasionally. The problem is, they make my lips like Death Valley. I, personally, also hate having to reapply lipstick every few hours, and the finishes I prefer don’t have lasting power (I have to reapply ever one to two hours). Give me a long lasting lipstick (I’m talking five to six hours or longer before I have to reapply or touch up) in a satin or shiny finish. And for the love of God, make it hydrating! The closest thing I have found that works like I want are the Lime Crime Velvetines, but they are matte (they are the only liquid lippies that don’t dry my lips out completely and they are long wearing). But because they are matte I usually put another color with some shine on top and thus ruin the long-lasting part. Ugh! #firstworldproblems
I totally agree with you, Christine. As someone with extremely fair skin, the only foundation I’m able to wear are MUFE ones, as they have a pretty good shade range. More brands with more shade options would be great to see!
Foundations (with different skin types in mind, not just normal…but the sensitive and the acne prone). All skin types deserve to feel beautiful in makeup.
Primers or pore fillers that actually help fill large pores and indented scars.
I would like to see an across the board improvement in Foundation. There is a need for a greater range of color, also there is a need for standards about degrees of coverage.
I had a hard time choosing just one. I narrowed it down to two. The first is Mascaras. They dry out way to quickly, no matter where I store them. There has to be a way to get the perfect seal or perfect container, where they just don’t dry out. Also, they either dry too fast on your eyelashes or take forever and a day to dry. No happy medium with them. The last is foundation. Not enough shades. I always have to buy two and mix them to get the perfect color. Also, foundation oxidizes and separates too quickly for my taste. Whether you pay $5 or $200, shouldn’t matter. It’s the point I guess. Imho. 🙂
Facial Sunscreen lotions and moisturizers. I have yet to find one that absorbs and doesn’t leave a sticky residue behind.
Excellent point, Christine.
I would like a better eye primer and a better under eye brightener/coverup. I have problems with primer and concealer not playing nice with foundation, both liquid and powder.
I would like to see foundations help people with skin that is not perfect. I.e. large pores. Oily skin ,dry patches.Uneven skin tone. Foundations say they do some beauty gurus say how wonderful this or that foundation is at these issues. But they are not. I have two foundations , and fifty plus eye shadow palattes ,and that is because I can make eye shadows work but if a foundation doesn’t work that’s it, surely some one some where can make a foundation that could make my skin look good. Or is there not so much money to be made?
I totally agree with Christine’s comments – a far greater range of foundation colours, especially at the DS level, to cater for the diversity of skin tones.
Secondly I would like to see brands, again DS brands, put out more coloured mascaras. As a fan of navy and green mascaras, it is pretty hard to get them at the DS level.
Thirdly, instead of producing large eye shadow palettes with so-so quality, deliver smaller palettes with excellent quality on their shadows.
Selfishly, CONCEALOR for aging eyes that won’t crease. Thinning crepey skin is thin so dark circles are there whether i am tired or not
Definitely sunscreens — that protect well. They have these in Europe and Asia, why not in North America . Most here are overloaded with alcohol, no thanks. Also BB creams that actually are BB creams and come in a great variety of shades, not just light, medium, and tan!
I’d love to see improvement on concealers. Foundations have greatly improved by not sinking into wrinkles but not concealers. I have yet to find one that doesn’t mark my wrinkles on my 50 year old skin.
Longevity of products could improve. I do not have oily lids so with some eyeshadow primer I manage to look decent 6 am to 10 pm. Also eyeshadow quality has really improved during the last few years and you can go drugstore without fear. I would like to see such improvement and staying power on other products – foundation, concealer, blush, mascara, etc. I do not mind to touch up my lips during the day. But how am I supposed to touch up foundation when I can see my skin through just after 8 hours of work? And mascara spots under my eyebrows at 8pm – really annoying.
bad smells:
Self tanner has come along way but still have that odd smell. And for the older ladies that still get perms I’m sure they would like the rotten egg smell to go away.
Concealers and neck treatments!
This is a little off topic but how does one find this area of the site without having to rely on a link that’s emailed to you?! I wanted to not long after but haven’t a clue how to find at a later date?!
Blog > Features > Weekly Features