Next week, I’ll be kickstarting my 2023 Best In Beauty Series! These are honestly my favourite posts to do because I love nothing more than sharing the products that I loved throughout the year. But before I talk about the faves, I must talk about the fails. That’s right, I’m chatting about my 5 biggest beauty disappointments of the year. And yes, I am ranking them this time. Many of these will be ones that I’ve spoken about on here before. But there is also a surprise or two on the list. Let’s get into it!
In fifth place, we have the RARE BEAUTY ALWAYS AN OPTIMIST SOFT RADIANCE SETTING POWDER – $44.00. Now, I will say that I do enjoy this powder. It’s not my favourite, but it does the job. For me, however, the user experience is just as important. And I genuinely hate the packaging of this powder. The sifter component takes up maybe a fifth of the packaging. And it blocks up really easily, making it difficult to get powder out. I love the idea of the slideable cover in theory, but I would rather a better sifter to get the product out and a separate cover to prevent losing product.
In fourth place, we have the ELF HALO GLOW LIQUID FILTER – $35.00. I’ve continued to use this behind the scenes since my initial review. And while a part of me is convinced that 90% of the problems I have would be solved with a lighter shade, I would hate to spend that money only to discover that it legitimately doesn’t wear well under any circumstance. Which is the case of right now. No matter what, I simply cannot get this to work for me. I would much rather stick with the Hollywood Flawless Filter. Yes, it’s more expensive. But I don’t have to work hard to have it work for me.
In third place, we have the ESSENCE WHAT THE FAKE EXTREME PLUMPING LIP FILLER – $6.00*. Full disclosure, I was sent this in 2022, but didn’t get around to using it until 2023. I like a plumping lip gloss as much as the next beauty lover. But did Essence marinate chili seeds in this gloss? Because this stuff is straight fire. And I mean that in the derogatory way. This was physically painful to use. I couldn’t keep it on my lips for longer than a few minutes. And worst of all, it didn’t make that much of a difference to my lips! Avoid!
My second biggest disappointment for 2023 will shock precisely no one. It’s the L’OREAL TELESCOPIC LIFT MASCARA – $31.99. Calling this a disappointment is a stretch though. Because I went into reviewing this mascara with the lowest of expectations. And they still managed to trip over the low bar that I set. Bad wand, worse formula. So much hype over such a bad product. And yes, this is an old picture. I forgot to keep the packaging for this end of year post. And like hell was I spending $32 on a mascara that I hated again.
Which brings us to my biggest disappointment of 2023. And this year’s *award* doesn’t go to any one product. But to an entire brand. Because everything that I tried from KVD VEGAN BEAUTY was just a disaster. The MOD-COM LONGWEAR LIQUID CONTOUR – $22.80 pretty much blended into nothing, the EVERLASTING LIQUID LIPSTICK – $19.20 was so dry and crumbly on my lips, the GOOD APPLE CONCEALER – $25.80 was super heavy feeling and creased under my eyes like you wouldn’t believe, and the GOOD APPLE FOUNDATION BALM – $73.00 is the reason why the Makeup By Mario foundation didn’t make this list. And the worst part is that I still want to give this brand a chance! I’ve heard good things about the liquid Good Apple Foundation. And the Dazzle Eyeshadow Sticks have great reviews online. But I definitely want to sample them first before I commit to buying them. Because I wish I didn’t spend my money on these.
And that is a wrap on my 2023 disappointments! Some quick dishonourable mentions. The aforementioned Makeup By Mario SurrealSkin Foundation, the MAC Cosmetics MacStack Mascara, and the Chanel Cream-Gel Bronzer. But enough with the negatives. Starting Tuesday, the Best Of’s! I cannot wait.
Cheers and love
Emily xo