Do I ever get tired of buying and trying out new beauty products? God no, but occasionally, I come across a real dud that disappoints me to no end and makes me wish I could get my hard earned dollars back, and below are a few products I wish I never laid eyes on…
1. e.l.f. Cosmetics Illuminating Face Primer
Ok, technically I didn’t purchase this primer; e.l.f. included it in my order as a promotion for spending more than $20. While I loved most of the e.l.f. products I ordered (see my e.l.f. favourites here) this primer was less than overwhelming.
The primer comes in the form of a beautiful gold, sparkly cream and looked so promising! However, it didn’t prolong my makeup wear and actually caused my foundation to move around and cake up. It also didn’t diminish the look of my pores and the only glow it provided was in the form of tiny glitter particles that showed up through my foundation wherever I applied the primer.
That being said, it unexpectedly looked amazing on top of my foundation as a soft gold highlighter and gives my skin a beautiful sheen. Looks like I’ll have to re-purpose this primer into a highlighter to get some use out of it!
Related Reading: NYX Pore Filler Primer
2. Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
For me, a large part of whether or not I love a mascara depends on the design of the wand, and I hate the design of this one. The wand is smaller at one end (with barely any bristles there, see below) and gets fatter at the other, which makes evenly coating the lower lashes without getting mascara on yourself an exercise in futility. I also find that some lashes get more coverage than others because not all the bristles get to each lash unless you use the fatter end of the wand.
The Great Lash formula was pretty good; it didn’t clump up or flake (as long as you didn’t over apply), but the wand is a real pain in the ass to use. Goodbye forever Great Lash.
Related Reading: The Mascara Edit: Which Would I Repurchase?
3. Rimmel Moisture Renew Clear Lip Liner
I bought this translucent lip liner as a reverse liner (to line the outside of my lip line). It is supposed to help keep lipsticks from bleeding/smudging while defining the lip. Unfortunately, this made most of my darker lipsticks (which normally don’t bleed on my unlined lips) bleed and slide around on me.
Major bummer, since I usually love Rimmel’s lip products.
Related Reading: The Best Drugstore Lipsticks & Glosses For Spring
4. Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 50 (all skin types)
This moisturizer/sunscreen combo is supposed to absorb easily into skin, as per the Cetaphil website. This moisturizer has a very thick, creamy consistency that leaves an oily residue on the skin and makes foundation application a nightmare.
My face looks super oily by the end of the day, which leads to my foundation slipping and sliding all over the place. In addition, it has a strong SPF smell and it burns your eyes if you apply it to close to them.
Looking for a better moisturizing SPFs? Check out 3 Must-Have Base Products For Oily Skin and inDefense30 Dual Action Moisturizer SPF30 (a.k.a. The Best Makeup Base Ever!)
pin me for later!
What are your current drugstore beauty product disappointments?
I’ve tried both the Rimmel lipliner and the Great lash mascara and I agree, both are horrid! Thank you for the heads up on the other two products too, I’ll give both a miss.
Shireen | Reflection of Sanity
Lol – no problem!
That mascara was what I used for the longest time when I started getting into makeup! I didn’t even know anything about it but I guess it was the cheapest at the drugstore which is why I picked it up. I agree that the formula was really great, but I didn’t have any problems with the want. Too bad it didn’t work for you 🙁
Nicole | The Glam Surge
I liked the price of it too! Glad is worked for you. I’ve found mixed reviews on this one. Thanks Nicole.
This cetaphil moisturizer sounds awful, thanks for sharing this post, so I will skip these products.
Nina
Nina’s Style Blog Giveaway __ Enter to Win $100
Good to know! Great reviews and I totally agree about the elf primer 🙁
I had high hopes for that primer too!
What a great idea for a post – it’s so useful to see products that people didn’t enjoy. I’m glad I read this because I’ve been toying with buying the Rimmel lip liner; I love their coloured liners and thought the clear one would be great. And I’ve never got on with that Maybelline mascara – they have some really good ones, but Great Lash doesn’t do it for me.
I tried to love that lip liner, but I found all my lip products looked better without it. Finally gave up!
I’ve heard so many things about that mascara, but have never really wanted to try it myself. That wand does look like it would cause some problems, thanks for the heads up. It’s great to know what I shouldn’t waste my money on!
Ah I had that elf primer too and I hated how glittery it was so I threw it away, I wish I’d thought to use it as highlight!
Rosy | Sparkles of Light Blog
I actually discovered the highlight by accident. I was spreading some on my hand to photograph it and realized it’s highlighting potential!
Keeping these tips in mind for sure!
Hugs,
http://www.fashionlingual.com