Hello there, one and all. Now, if you read us regularly then you’ll know that one thing we really hate is writing negative reviews.
Oops, my bad, I just fell off my chair laughing.
Who am I kidding, we actually never fail to dish the dirt on products that we’re not fans of. Some people don’t like to do this as they think it’s too negative, but we think our reviews come from a place of love. We love our money – what little of it we have, that is – and so we don’t really like parting with it for sub-standard products. And we don’t want you to either, which is why we like to give our honest thoughts.
Of course, with makeup it’s often a case of ‘one man’s treasure is another man’s big pile of poo’ and so what we hate, you may love. With that disclaimer out of the way, here is a little run down of four products we’ve bought in recent months that have left us disappointed. As you can see, some of these have been used a LOT, so we really have persevered with the little bundles of rubbish.
1. Maybelline Eye Studio Master Shape Brow Pencil: Review
After lightening my eyebrows a couple of months ago, I needed to invest a new eyebrow pencil in a lighter shade. I don’t use many Maybelline products but definitely trust them as a reliable, established brand, so figured I was playing it safe when I picked up the Master Shape Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde. It’s a wax formula pencil with a wand on the opposite end to brush through your brows with, and the pencil promises to create fine ‘hair-like’ lines for added definition.
However, for me this just did not work. Pigmentation is horrendously poor. I know that it’s not meant to be like other pencils that can be used to literally draw your eyebrows on, but getting any sort of colour payoff on the sparse parts of my eyebrows that needed a bit of filling was almost impossible. The wax formula also means that it’s incredibly greasy and slips easily, so attempting to tidy up the ends of your eyebrows is also really difficult, as it smudges so easily. On top of these problems, you then have the added nightmare of how quickly the pencil itself wears down. Even using the lightest of strokes, it’s still reduced to a stump after just a few applications. If you look at how much of the pencil I’ve sharpened and only after using it a handful of times, you can see that it really wouldn’t last you very long.
The only way that I can see this pencil being of use is if you’ve already got near-perfect eyebrows and just want a product to essentially set them. This, it does – though it leaves a noticeably slick look that I’m not a fan of.
2. Natural Collection Lipstick: Review
I have to confess, Natural Collection is a brand that I’ve never been too inspired by. The packaging is a little meh, the products all look a little meh, even the name is a little meh (definitely lost us at ‘Natural’ I’m afraid, eww). However after reading a sparkling review of their lipsticks on another blog, I started to think maybe there was something not-meh about them after all. I love nudes and pale pinks, and Natural Collection is full of them, so for only £2, I was willing to give one a go.
I can’t even tell you what shade this is, possibly ‘pale meh’ or ‘meh blossom’ or ‘candy meh’. Whatever the heck it is, it’s thoroughly useless for me. Pigmentation is weak, staying power is weak, oh and the lipstick actually broke in half – making it physically weak too. Perhaps there are other shades in the range that are better, but personally nothing about this lipstick has made me intrigued to try any more of them. I’d consider it giving it to my 6 year old niece as something to play with, but I think even she’d ask me where my head was buying this.
3. Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Holidays Mascara: Review
This cosmetic complaint comes courtesy of Lauren. The Borjois Paris Volume Glamour Max Holiday mascara (jeez, want to get any more pointless words in there?) promises 10 times more volume and 24 hours of waterproof joy, perfect for holidaying and hobnobbing about. Unfortunately Lauren found it to be a bit of a dud. The wand is clumpy and fails to separate or define lashes, while the formula is actually very thin and so doesn’t deliver on the volumising promise either. While it doesn’t leave a horrible effect on the lashes or create any problems with flaking or smudging, it’s generally just not very good either.
Considering this came free in a gift set after spending over £15 on Bourjois products, Lauren doesn’t see it is a product she particularly hates – but those who pay the full £5.99 may be a little more disappointed.
4. MUA Pro-Brow Ultimate Eyebrow Kit
Lauren is somewhat of an expert when it comes to eyebrow kits, and this one has just failed to live up to her high standards (women, eh). Initially she actually did like it – you can read her review here – but after a longer while of using it, the cons of the product started to show up more starkly.
As Lauren already explained in her review, the highlighter , gel and brush were all difficult to work with. On top of this, she soon started to notice that the powder itself wasn’t as good as she initially thought, with it smudging easily or completely disappearing if anything else came into contact with it. Being left with no eyebrows because you accidentally touch your face isn’t really what you want to happen during your day. The pro of this kit remains the tweezers, which are apparently very good quality – however, the rest leaves a lot to be desired. It looks as if the product might actually have been discontinued now, and to that I think we all say GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD BROWS.
Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them?
|| Don’t forget that you can follow us on Instagram, Bloglovin’ and Twitter! ||
While I totally agree with you on how bad the MUA Brow kit I think I must be one of the few that really like that mascara 😀 Just shows how tastes can differ xx
I think tastes differ with mascara more than most other products to be honest, we all have different preferences with brushes, formula etc! I think I’m going to nab Lauren’s one and give it a try myself 🙂 xx
I haven’t tried any of the products so cant give my views! But I love reading products that didn’t work out for each other as we wont all love the same makeup x
Sweet Dreams
I completely agree 🙂 And hearing negatives of a product can still sometimes help you decide that product IS for you, as some people’s negatives are others’ positives! xx
that is too bad the eyebrow pencil was not good. I always have trouble with eyebrow pencils, mostly due to the color.
I agree, there really aren’t many shades of pencil out there considering how different people’s eyebrows can be! Think that’s why I prefer using eyeshadows now 🙂 xx
I’ve not tried any of these, but I’ll stay well away now, thanks! I do like negative reviews because like you say it saves me money not buying tat. x
Claire | AgentSmyth
Ahh good, glad you like them too – I find them really useful 🙂 though everyone is different so who knows, you might love some of these products! (except the lipstick… I doubt anyone could like that haha) xx
This made me laugh so much!
I haven’t tried any of the products but I have the Fashionista brow kit which I think is part of MUA, and if the tweezers are the same, I definitely agree about them being good!
Mia
x
Haha thank you! Ahh we think maybe they’ve discontinued this one and brought out a new one? Hopefully they’ve kept the good parts (the tweezers haha) and improved on the less brilliant points 🙂 xx
Thanks for the help!! I always love reading posts like this, stops me from wasting my money! xx
Yay glad you find them helpful 🙂 Hope you’re good at the mo lovely xx
Hi Claire! I like this kind of posts. We all have different tastes, and it’s normal to point out products we don’t like. As for me, I have this Maybelline brow pencil and I like it so far 🙂
Ah I’m happy people seem to like them too and don’t think we’re just whinging haha. I’ve seen a few good reviews of the pencil online so you’re definitely not alone – I wonder why I just can’t get on with it when others can? xx
I have the Natural Collection lippy too (might even be the same shade) and the little sod broke in half – must be common for that product! It’s a shame, cos I liked the colour I got… but a broken lippy? Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Rach x
Waaah that’s so strange that it happened to you too haha! Definitely a flimsy product it seems, which isn’t okay considering brands like MUA are bringing out cheaper lipsticks that are really good quality xx
I’ve used the MUA Brow Kit and my god, I totally agree. To be honest, every product I’ve bought from them has been dumped in the ‘Bag of Shame’ after a couple of uses. Is anything actually good?
– Ebony xo
http://ELNfashion.com
Oooft glad we’re not alone in thinking this one was wubbish! What else have you tried from MUA? We’ve had quite a few successes with them – the £1 lipsticks have been surprisingly impressive and I fully recommend their Undress Me Too eyeshadow palette 🙂 But with some of their other products it definitely is a case of ‘you get what you pay for’… xx
Great post!
I hated (yes, HATED!) the Maybelline eyebrow pencil! How can a make-up brand get something so simple so wrong!?!
Jenn | Photo-Jenn-ic
x
Oh thank GOODNESS you hated it too, was starting to think I was just being an idiot seeing as other people seem to quite like it – but really, what were Maybelline thinking? xx
I love the MUA brow kit! I found it really easy to work with and it was cheap
Emily
Thecosmeticsjournal.blogspot.com
The price is definitely impressive! Lauren has tried a lot of eyebrow kits in her time though so maybe she’s fussier than most 😉 xx
Love these hilariously honest reviews! Keep them coming!
Haha glad you like them! We’ll have to track down more rubbish things for you 😉 xx