The feels.... especially if you're one to watch a lot of YouTube or read many blogs. These beautiful makeup junkies get so excited about a certain product and you can't help but want to buy it for yourself. If only to look half as good as they do using it.
A little over two years ago, I was well-invested in the YouTube beauty community. Watching hundreds of tutorials, monthly product favorites and reviews and in turn, watching my makeup collection grow from a modest desk top organizer to literally consuming my bathroom closet. And for those who don't know anything about the aforementioned: on YouTube, many people create beauty channels to share beauty tips and makeup instruction... or that's how it was back when it began. Now, it's become a career for many people. Millions of subscribers and hoards of "gurus" making bank off of marketing for makeup and skincare companies. While many are forthright with admitting they have products sent to them for review, they usually don't share the fact that some companies will only pay the YouTuber if the video is a positive review. And thus... the naïve are sucked into opening their PayPal wallets. And that's not the only way we get suckered. But I'm not here to bash anyone for paying their bills.... dude, I have YouTube videos and they make me money as well.
Nor am I here to dis any makeup company, as for each product I have here to complain about, something else from that company is frequently used in my makeup kit. But the products listed below are personal fails because they didn't work for me, but might just be your favorite new find. So, "grain of salt".
Personal Fail: Champagne Pop highlighter
Here's the video in which Jaclyn introduces her new highlighter with Becca cosmetics.
Now, what gets me is her insistency that it will work for alllllll skin tones. Well, long story short, nope. Not for me nor any of my fair-skinned friends. If your highlighter is darker than your skin.... it's not a highlighter. And that's what I found to be true for us. Now, I will say, that when I use it on my medium to dark skinned clients, it's a total win. I've used it a lot on my competitors as well and loved it. The other issue I've had with this product is how powdery it comes off with a brush. I just can't use my fan brush with it if I want more than a sheer finish.
Alternatives:
NARS Albatross for intense glow
best for neutral to yellow undertoned fair to light-medium skin
MAC Soft & Gentile for medium to buildable glow
best for neutral to pink undertoned fair to light-medium skin
Girlactik Face Glow in Natural for subtle glow
best for neutral to pink undertoned fair to light-medium skins, especially those not wanting to enhance texture or fine lines
My Girlactik makeup haul video (no shame!)
Fail: Jaclyn Hill colab with Gerard Cosmetics
I'm not even going to call this one a personal fail because aside from the colors neither reading true in the above picture (these are lighter and with a softer pink hue than in person) or on my skin which pulls any warmth in a lip color to an orange hue, the formula itself is hard to wear. I find the lipstick to be very dry and often patchy, and the glosses to be incredibly thick and goopy. Also the pink shade of gloss, the packaging leaks to the point I've covered the gold seams with super glue, which only hinders the leaking. I fell like a rock for Jaclyn's hypnotizing excitement and beauty. I've kept Buttercup lipstick in my purse since purchasing but cannot wear it alone. I've given the Buttercream lip gloss an honest effort since gluing the packaging. I keep it with my daily makeup and often apply it in the morning to abandon it there. But when the other lip products didn't work for me, into my kit they went and have stayed unused but for once.
Alternatives:
Girlactik lip products. Human* and animal cruelty free plus they are one of the most-used in my kit as they are creamy, comfortable to wear and beautiful.
* I'll be covering fair trade, human rights, and slavery in the beauty industry in a future post.
Fail: Smashbox BE LEGENDARY LONG-WEAR LIP LACQUER
Patchy. Sticky. Stinky.
Thumbs down.
Alternatives:
NARS lip gloss
this color in particular Orgasm is used on 75% of my stage makeup clients.
Fail: Make Up For Ever Ultra HD
I've sampled this product a few times, really hoping that I just had it wrong upon first impression of the new formula. But sadly, no. And I've mentioned my disappointment for this new foundation in a previous post. It's thicker, dry and patchy compared to what I considered a flawless foundation with what MUFE gave us previously.
Alternative: Marc Jacobs Re(marc)able Full Cover Foundation Concentrate
Although this product will not dupe the old MUFE HD, this foundation is beautiful one-step high end product. I prefer this way more than MJ's other foundation. I do recommend using a primer with this product, especially if your skin doesn't receive liquid foundations well. I can go without primer or adding my usual froo froo products if I use heavy moisturizer.
Fail: Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment
Simply doesn't seem to live up to the claims and it's ridiculously expensive. I never noticed an improvement in my skin clarity at all with this little over-hyped pot.
Alternative: I don't have a mask alternative. I have found skin care products in other areas that give me what I was looking for out of the above.
Personal Fail: NARS Ita brush
I bought this guy when it was near impossible to get your hands on it because of it's immense popularity. The hype was that THIS WAS THEEEE CONTOUR BRUSH YOU NEEEEEEDDD!
Uhhh, not really, in my opinion. I do still use it in my kit on client with more angular faces but it's a rarity still for a few reasons. I don't like sharp contouring on the face because it doesn't look natural. And though it's more easily achieved with this brush, it's not what I'm after. And mostly I dislike this brush because of the bristles. Constantly bleeding ink and have gotten very frayed in the short time I've owned it.
Alternative: ELF Blush Brush
This brush is nicely pointed like the Ita, although it's a completely different shape. The price point is also much more agreeable. $3 compaired to $55. I actually keep 4 of these brushes in my kit. ELF actually does brushes quite well for being so inexpensive. I have no complaints about this one. I also find it easier to defuse my shadowing with this brush compared to the Ita.
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