Five Beauty Products I WON’T Be Repurchasing

Buying a skincare or beauty product is quite often a risk – you get something and you hope it will work. I quite often buy things on recommendation from friends, from the beauty press or from other beauty bloggers. In fact I talked about this a little bit recently in my post about whether you can really trust a beauty blogger. But like I said, spending your money on new beauty is a gamble. Today I’m sharing five gambles that didn’t pay off.

Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel (£31)

It’s a cult product, I know, I know, but I couldn’t find a place for it in my daily skincare routine. First up, you have to use it on dry skin and I mostly wash my face in the shower. I tried using it on wet skin, but it just melted away to nothing. I tend to wear a lot of eye makeup, so when I double cleanse in the evening, I need something that I can gently rub over my eyes to get the last of that stubborn mascara off. When I rubbed this on my eyes, it actually really stung and felt uncomfortable, so I didn’t use it then either. On the days where I don’t wear makeup, I tend to treat my skin to an oil or a face mask.

Long and short of it, I can’t justify spending over £30 on a product I can only use max once a week.

On the plus side:

• The smell is delicious – like sweeties!
• I like the colour too – also like sweeties.
• The gel-like consistency is smooth and easy to rub in and the pump dispenser gave me the perfect amount of product for one use.

Boots Botanics Micellar Water (£5.49)

I was using the Garnier micellar water for a while and loved it – it got my makeup off without rubbing – but in my bid to try more cruelty free products this year, when my Garnier bottle ran out, I headed to Boots to see what else I could find. I came across the Botanics version and thought it sounded lovely because it contained hibiscus for brightening.

Slight disclaimer on this one – I bought it a while ago and the Botanics packaging has changed. I don’t know whether the formulation of the product has also changed because I won’t be repurchasing it!

It just didn’t get my eye makeup off, and isn’t that the whole point of a micellar water? I had to use loads of product and repeatedly rub my eyes, meaning I ended up with loads of products in my eyes, which felt uncomfortable. Not the fault of this product, but I am trying to be less wasteful and realised how much cotton wool I was getting through taking my makeup off most days.

I’d like to offer a few pros about this product, but it’s just not the one for me. Maybe worth a try if it has been reformulated though!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick (£20)

Oh gosh, another cult product on my list. I’ll never live this down! I spent an AGE in Sephora trying to find the perfect shade of this lipstick for me. I swear I must have tried about 10 on my hand and then 5 on my lips. That’s a lot of cleaning off and reapplying for one person!

I picked the shade Dolce, which is a pretty peachy coral – a nice change from my usual rose pink. The colour is great, but the wear really lets this lipstick down. I thought the whole point of these liquid jobbies was so you didn’t have to reapply very often (if at all). But this lipstick wears off quite easily, whilst clinging to my lip line, leaving me with a really unattractive two toned lip.

I don’t know whether I was doing something wrong (eating, maybe?!) but I can’t get it to stay put. If you ask me, the Barry M Matte Me Up liquid lipsticks are infinitely better and cost only £4.99. Don’t waste your money with ABH!

On the plus side:

• The packaging is pretty and feels luxurious.
• The shade range is huge, with some really gorgeous choices.
• It’s really easy to apply and get a neat line with the applicator.

L’Oreal Paris Nude Magique Cushion Compact Foundation (£14.99)

I *so* wanted to love this. It would have solved so many of my travel issues because it doesn’t class as a liquid and I could have packed it instead of my glass bottles that are at risk of smashing in my carry on. But sadly, I just didn’t find myself reaching for it.

This foundation is nowhere near full enough coverage for me. Apparently you can build up coverage using the pad, but that didn’t work for me at all, the pad just seemed to absorb more product than went on my face. I tried it with a brush and got better results, but I felt like I was using loads of product at once, so it would run out really quickly and at nearly 15 quid, I’d want it to last a while.

On the plus side:

• The shade Rose Vanilla is PERFECT for me. Such a good match for my skin tone.
• If you’re looking for a natural finish, this foundation is very lightweight and sheer.

It’s a beautiful compact, it’s a great idea, but I just couldn’t get it to work for me. It was so wrong, in fact, that I threw it out before I remembered to photograph it for this post!

Barry M Show Girl Mascara (£4.99)

After my success with the liquid lipstick, I tried another Barry M product – the Show Girl mascara. Unfortunately, it’s just a load of rubbish. I picked it because the wand looked like other wands I’ve had success with, but it just does nothing. It doesn’t curl or volumise and the brush is kind of scratchy on my eyelids. I was left with piddly lashes that looked like they didn’t really have anything on.

On the plus side:

• It’s cheap.
• (But honestly, I do not recommend it!)

So there you have it, five products I just can’t feel the love for! Have you tried any of them? What do you think, am I totally wrong, or totally right?!

♥ JH

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