Disappointing Products I Tried In 2020

This past year has been disappointing in almost all aspects of life and yet to be completely honest, I feel like makeup releases were on the bottom of the list. We had an influx of new brands, influencer collaborations and incredible new formulas. Most products were outstanding, but in true 2020 spirit I picked out a few that really frustrated me, their performance and hype just didn’t add up! Let’s get into it…

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Tower 28 Bronzino in ‘West Coast’-
This brand had its moment in the spotlight in 2020, and I think it deserved it for the most part. But when making an order, the Bronzino was what I had been most excited to try, and it turned out to be my least favourite thing I received. The cream blushes and lip products were super stunning and high quality, but I couldn’t make this work. It has a super sheer consistency that barely shows up, but when I built it up the colour was super uneven and patchy. I’m not shy of a shimmer finish when it comes to my bronzers, but the gold specks of glitter this leaves behind is not it!

Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer-
I had such a hard time trying to make this concealer work for me, but the texture is just so funky. I found it sat on top of my complexion in a thick layer and no matter how I set it, it moved and creased throughout the day. It never sat smoothly on my skin and caked up around my fine lines and pores. As you can see, I didn’t give up and kept trying to find ways to make it look good on my skin, but the only way I found it to work was by building it up in thin layers with my finger or a sponge, as that way it picked up the excess product that caused the cakiness.

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Natasha Denona Mini Glam Palette-
Natasha Denona eyeshadow’s never really caught my attention until the glam palette came along. I could never justify such a high pricepoint when the reviews on the formula were hit and miss. So I decided to dip my toes in the shallow end and pick up one of the mini’s for a small price of $42 (LOL), and boy did I regret it. The shadow quality isn’t horrible, but it’s nothing to write home about, the mattes blend well, the shimmers are just fine, and the one eyeshadow that actually looks stunning on the eye was so soft that it broke when I dipped my brush in. This sits at number one out of all the products that disappointed me this past year.

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Morphe Hint Hint Skin Tint-
When Morphe 2 first launched, I was one of the many people in on the hype and waited for every re-stock to buy my shade as it sold out so quickly. But then I tried it and was wondering what all the influencers were on about. Yes, it’s made to be sheer, but it’s also somehow patchy. Not to mention super drying on the skin, and when you set it down with powder it transforms into a scaley mess. I have oily/combo skin, yet when I’m wearing this my skin looks like it’s at that peeling stage of healing sunburn. I tried a sponge, brush and even my fingers to apply but the only way it looked good is if I sheered it out even further with a moisturiser, which practically left me with nothing on my skin, so I’m better off just not wearing it. Looking back on the reviews a lot of people who enjoyed this we’re young and flawless (Maddie Ziegler and Charlie Damelio), so maybe it works for people without a trace of imperfection, but that’s just unrealistic.

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Revlon So Fierce Mascara-
The iconic celebrity makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes went through a phase where she used this daily on her IG stories, and to be fair she never really said if she loved it or hated it but I automatically assumed it was good. This is the dryest mascara I have ever used, so dry that it starts flaking on the first layer and continues to do so throughout the day, this resulted in messy and irritating wear. If anyone had a different experience let me know as I’m hoping I just bought a dud.

Freck-
I finally caved and bought this teeeenie tiny little bottle of freckle magic, or so I hoped it was magic. This stuff is so lack-lustre, it comes in one shade and although it’s the perfect warm hue it just applies so sheerly that you have to let it sit before tapping it out to achieve a soft freckled look. Not to mention you get 1.35ml for $29, and the brush packaging is horrible to use. I wish I had stuck to my Limecrime freckle pen as it gives a better finish and lasts phenomenally.

Let’s hope that’s all the disappointing product I’m going to try for a while so I can head into 2021 with a more positive outlook!

Thanks for reading,
Lily R.