Weekly Poll: Regrettable Beauty Purchases | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

12 February, 2014

Weekly Poll: Regrettable Beauty Purchases

Hey hey hey, it's Wednesday! (Again. Strangely enough, I feel like this happens all the time...)


This week's topic is for all the beauty lovers (or at least the beauty users) out there:


What is your most regrettable beauty purchase in recent memory?


Could be something that looked awful, smelled awful, tasted awful (I won't judge), came with terrible customer service and so on. I feel like I've had pretty good luck recently, but the new-ish e.l.f. BB cream is something that springs to mind... it's not an awful product, but the color is oh-so-wrong for me and I had a feeling that would be the case going in. Some higher-end brands allow "I just don't like this" returns, but not ELF. It's OK though, I'm only out a couple of bucks.

How about you? Any disastrous results? Return attempt nightmare stories? Things that looked surprisingly orange once you put them on your face?

34 comments:

  1. I initially wanted to answer this with the Rimmel Mascara I talk about in my blog, BUT I'm still using it so I guess I didn't hate it enough to stop using it. LoL I purchased some e.l.f eye shadows recently that I just threw in the trash without a second thought, that was probably easy to do since they're makeup is so affordable, but sometimes you get what you pay for right? It was the Essentials line $1 custom compact ones. I'm learning that my best bet with e.l.f is the studio line of products. Also, I hope you don't mind, I added you to my list of "blogs I love" on my blog. I'm new to this game, so if you have a sec to stop by and critique my blog I'd appreciate it :)

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  2. oh, duh.. my site is www.allthingspretty13.wix.com/allthingspretty13

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  3. Oh gracious. I've held off posting my Mirenesse review because I'm still tangling with their customer service. So many things were wrong about the entire shipment... but to choose one, the kohl eyeliner pencil. The pencil tube is hard plastic, so you can't sharpen it. The moment I swatched the color the soft tip broke off. Then, I discovered there's no mechanism to bring more product to the tip because it's not a twist up. There's kohl in this hard eyeliner tube and no way to get it out.

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  4. Aww, thanks for the mention! I'll definitely take a look at your blog. ELF eyeshadows are sort of a crapshoot... I've tried a few that were acceptable, but some of them are so chalky and terrible that they're unusable. I actually just picked up a couple of those custom compact pans in the sale so I'll probably review them at some point. I figure even if they're awful, the compact can be used for something else. :)

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  5. Oh dear. Have you tried it with different sharpeners? Maybe you need a really, really sharp one. Not that that makes it OK, because eyeliner shouldn't be that much of a challenge.

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  6. I just took a look... is there a way to comment on individual posts? I was going to comment on your sugar scrub post but couldn't figure it out. Also, if you set up a Bloglovin' page for your blog I'd love to follow you there! It seems that a lot of beauty and fashion bloggers are using that now as sort of a feed reader/social media hybrid.

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  7. There is a way to comment BUT it comes at a cost. And since I don't really have any readers yet, I didn't want to fork out the cash for it if it won't be used. LoL I'll look into blog lovin and see what it's like, I'm unfamiliar. Thanks for taking a look & for the feedback!

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  8. I can only assume it's completely defective somehow because it just doesn't work. If all the eyeliners were exactly like this how could the company sell them? And it's not like they're cheap either...

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  9. I have a few eyeliners in plastic tubes that are sharpenable in a normal sharpener, but if the plastic is *too* hard I can see how that would be a problem. Hopefully they refund you or replace it...

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  10. Okay, on your advice I'll try a sharpener, but I remain skeptical.

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  11. My most regrettable beauty purchase was a stockpile of Everyday Minerals foundation - I didn't know the formula had been changed, and not for the better.

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  12. Laura Mercier foundation primer and tinted moisturiser, Clinique CC cream, UD setting sprays, Bobbi brown skin foundation ....my list goes on! Before I discovered blogs I used to just buy products I never knew there was a whole Internet world with useful reviews and swatches to think of all the money I could have saved :( x

    http://subjectbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/

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  13. Oh, I didn't know had changed! I would be disappointed too if I bought a ton of something without realizing they had changed the formula.

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  14. Haha, I know what you mean! I try to look up swatches first whenever possible. Sadly, other bloggers still can't tell me whether or not something is going to break me out...

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  15. I bought some very orange Lancome lipstick. I've never worn it ever. I'm not sure what I was thinking - but I did get a pretty great gift-with-purchase, so it wasn't all bad?

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  16. That probably makes it worth it. If still have the orange lipstick you could put it on just to wear around the house for laughs... get your money's worth!

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  17. For me it's the say yes to cucumbers moisturizer + sunscreen. It's impossible to apply and makes my skin feel disgusting. :C

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  18. I regret buying the MAC products after my stupid makeover. They didn't tell me I had to spend 50$ in products until the makeover was finished! I don't hate the blush I got but I'm not a huge fan of the shadows I got and I really wish I had just walked out of there instead of paying. I was really pissed and looking at the eyeshadows makes me angry every time now.

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  19. The Yes to Tomatoes Skin Clearing Facial Mask and Yes to Tomatoes Facial Hydrating Lotion. At first, the mask seemed to clear up my skin but it started to burn my skin! The lotion does the same. When I would put it on, my skin would be red for an hour. It also smells disgusting. So disappointing.

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  20. Well that's unfortunate. Does it just not absorb properly? I tried the regular Yes To Cucumbers moisturizer and it was alright... it didn't make me feel gross, but I don't think I would buy it again.

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  21. I remember that story! I would have been really annoyed too. It can be so hard to say no when someone is pressuring you into buying something, but then you feel bad about it later... I want my makeup purchases to make me happy, not riddled with anger or guilt, haha. Did you ever end up writing to MAC HQ or something?

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  22. Yikes, that's no good. I wonder what was in it that caused the reaction? I haven't tried that line myself...

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  23. Might be the red pepper extract O_O

    Ingredients here if you are interested: http://www.yestocarrots.com/product/yes-to-tomatoes-daily-balancing-moisturizer?product_id=2321001

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  24. The Tarte Maraju.... oil liquid foundation in the bottle totally turned orange on me, but in all fairness I am cool toned. Luckily was able to get Sephora store credit for it though.

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  25. I bought a Milani blush (Fantasico Mauve) in the fall that is gorgeous in the pan, but it did NOT work on me. I didn't return it in hopes of making it work as an eyeshadow.

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  26. Oh no! At least you were able to return it. I'm sure you found a good way to use that store credit. :)

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  27. That's a shame! The photos I've seen of it do look really pretty.

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  28. I regret buying so much stuff at lush just because it's too expensive for me to use regularly. In particular, I wish I hadn't bought the hair powder they made me try >..> I never use those scalp powders, I don't know what I did it >.....<

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  29. The sales associates at LUSH are pretty aggressive, so if you bought it in-store I can understand walking away with too much. I used to use one of their facial moisturizers regularly, and when I was out I would literally run into the store, snatch it up and head straight to the checkout before anyone could attack me, haha.

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  30. Yeah, it never absorbed. According to the internet the normal stuff is fine, but that the SPF stuff is just not great.

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