my top 10 worst drugstore makeup

…or the products that I purchased and ended up throwing out.

Thank you for all the comments and emails about my favorite drugstore products! They seriously make my day. It was great to hear that some of you loved these products as much as I do! I also had some requests for products I’ve tried and hated, so here is my list of the worst.

*disclaimer: obviously makeup is a personal thing, and just because I love or hate a product doesn’t mean you will, but I am just sharing my personal experience and reasoning behind it in the hopes that it can help someone not waste their money.*

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Foundation. Let me start by saying I don’t like heavy, full coverage foundation. This just felt like a mask. And I felt like every time I smiled my fine lines were underlined by the mask like consistency. Not cute. My skin couldn’t breath, which when worn for a full day resulted in breakouts.

Maybelline Dream bouncey blushes. I’m kind of surprising myself with how many Maybelline products I’m listing because I think of it as one of my favorite drugstore brands. But I guess that is also why because so I’ve tried so many of their products and so not all of them have been hits! So far the pattern is, anything with the word “dream” in it. These are just awful, the pigmentation is bad, so I had to put a ton of it on before I could see it. And rubbed my foundation off along the way. After applying a ton of it my face just felt sticky and greasy. Just no.

Maybelline expert quad eyeshadow. The picture above are the exact two palettes that I had before I threw them out. There was only one color per palette that i would actually use and get some pigment out of. The others were worthless. My problem was that it took layers upon layers to even see it. Very low pigmentation. I didn’t like the formula, it wasn’t buttery smooth, just overly powdery and cakey. Now I know that the packaging looks different now, so maybe the formula has changed? I don’t know, but I would get a wet ‘n wild eyeshadow palette before I bought another one of these.

Cover Girl TruBlend Minerals Blush. I love my BareMinerals makeup, but this CG variety and for a blush just didn’t work for me. The pigment was bad, it took a lot for it to appear, and then it didn’t last very long and was completely gone in a few hours. I also didn’t like how it was overly shimmery, it was just too much for me. And finally the packaging was horrible. The brush was annoying and you couldn’t throw it away because it’s part of the packaging and it made it so bulky. And in order to get to the blush you had to shake it out, and I just always made a mess. Not worth it. (update: I just realized that they changed the packaging, so I must have not been the only one that hated it, but I had the one pictured).

Cover Girl Lash blast mascara. I just don’t understand the hype around this mascara. I felt like it did nothing for my lashes. I gave it a good chance and used it for a couple months, because I know that it takes a few weeks to really break it in and get the best results. I also bent the mascara wand which is usually my last resort to improving a mascara application, but nope. It coated my lashes, and separated them, but it didn’t hold curl and my lashes just stuck straight out. I also like a lot of volume and this just enhanced my natural lashes without any drama. If you don’t like dramatic lashes then maybe this mascara is for you. I also found the applicator awkward to hold. The chubby handle and then the fat brush caused me to smear on my face. Just the whole all around experience was a fail.

N.Y.C. Bronzer. I’ve read many reviews raving about this one, but I just don’t get it. Orange, clown cheeks. And rubs off really fast. No thanks.

Revlon lip butter in peach parfait. Now I know Revlon lip butters are really popular, and I have the red velvet and creme brulee ones that I won’t be throwing out because they are smooth and moisturizing. But peach parfait was a nightmare for me. I hated the consistency, it’s very gritty due to all of the glitter in it, and when it would dry it would clump. The picture above shows it freshly applied, so it still looks ok. But can you see how the frosty glittery-ness separates from the smooth peachy balm portion already? I usually don’t mind a little glitter but there was way too much of it. I looked ridiculous. I was really disappointed because I had gotten a sample of this exact shade that I LOVED! So I don’t know if I just got a bad batch or what, but it was baddd. The other two colors I use, but I’m not head over heels obsessed with them, they are just okay in my book. I think the Maybelline Whispers formula is better…

Revlon ColorStay Overtime liquid lipcolor. This is my only experience with not loving Revlon lip products. This stains and stays on, but I hated how it felt on my lips. It dried my lips out, which caused the stain to eventually look patchy. It was just too high maintenance for me. Maybe if I kept reapplying and adding the gloss it would have helped but if it’s supposed to be long lasting I shouldn’t have to right? I found that even lip balms on top didn’t help much. The kissable balm stains are so much better! Also, be aware this product may now have a newer formula, I’m not even sure they look like this anymore, I got this about 6 years ago, and just finally threw it out recently!

Garnier Anti Dark Circle Eye roller. Usually I love Garnier products, but this is the first really disappointing one. It glides on but it’s a very watery consistency. And when it dries, it dries out my skin, really badly. And it accentuates my fine lines, which isn’t pretty. I much prefer Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind formula.

Wet n Wild MegaLast Lip Color, Just Peachy 903C. This may not be a shocker to most, since this is a Wet ‘n Wild lipstick. But I’ve watched YouTube recommendations and even a coworker mentioned it to me, but I just hate this product. It’s the consistency that doesn’t work for me. It glides on and turns chunky one minute later. No amount of exfoliating before applying helps. If you’re going to buy Wet ‘n Wild get the eye shadows or nail polishes. Stay away from the lip products.

So that is it with my spring cleaning! These products just did not work for me. Some I threw away, and some I returned. A little known fact is that almost all stores allow returns for makeup that doesn’t work out, even if it’s half used! Especially stores without testers like Target, Walmart, CVS, Ulta etc. And Sephora does too, even though they do have testers. So don’t let your money go to waste!

Now what were your recent product fails?

Filed under: beauty