To think Annie Sloan chalk paint is shit?

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After hearing lots if great things about AS chalk paint mainly from pinterest I decided to give it a go myself.
I bought a dark blue and a creamy white test pot as I've heard a little goes a long way.
I used the blue as a test on an old cabinet, which I ws going to give away.
The paint is thick and gloopy and leaves brush strokes no matter what you do. I tried watering it down a tiny bit but then it drips. It's also dried blotchy with darker and light streaks all over it! To be fair, I now like the cabinet and will be keeping it, but it did look very tired before and lots of flaky paint ao anything would have been better.
So I did a bit more research and re-watched many AS vids on her website and set off again, this time with the cream.
I've just spent the last 2 hours in a stress trying to paint table legs! The colour of the wood just keeps showing through, there are brush marks and again it's streaky! I give up!
Aibu to think it is over priced shit, or am I doing something wrong?

Yanbu.

I used Rustoleum chalk paint and it came out fine - you could try that.

I like it for things that aren't going to get much use, but I water it down a lot and it does go a long way. However, too much watering and it's unusable.

But I made the mistake of painting my kitchen cupboards with it. There were grease spots and water marks all over and it wore off in no time (that's with about 10 coats of wax too.) I like shabby, but not that shabby.

My wardrobes, on the other hand, have held up well.

Oh, and regular matt emulsion works just as well, I've found

It's shit. And the endless waxing and buffing is comparable in terms of effort to a quick sand. so you could just do a quick sand then use eggshell and it'll last years, or do twelvty goats of shite chalk paint then three coats of wax, then watch it disappear every time you have to give it a wipe. Bollocks to that

"twelvty goats of shite" Genuine lol!

ive just painted a pine computer desk in Ivory Tusk furniture paint from Wilkinsons.....i am really pleased with it....all i did was sand the desk using my partners electric sander and then painted it....very easy and it looks fab x

Yanbu.
And rustoleum is a pile of poo too. Teeny bubbles popping up everywhere. I changed the brush, the time stirring it, the way I prepped, the thickness of the coat, bought a new pot and.... Teeny tiny bastard bubbles all over my table top.

Actually, I quite like it.
I went on a short 3hr Annie Sloan workshop here in Ireland and Gina teaches
you how to get the best out of the product including how to apply it, how using different brushes affect the outcomes, different types of finishes inc. a crackle glaze.
It was well worth the cost to try out the different products even though I consider myself a pretty competent DIYer.
However, I also like panting furniture using emulsion, eggshell paints, wood dyes etc.

We painted our kitchen cupboards in eggshell and they lasted 8years (we moved, so could be lasting longer).
I did wonder whether it was because I was using a b&q paintbrush, but then I'm not spending £30 on an AS one!
crushed I think a workshop is probably a must if you want to use the paint without swearing :)
binary you're right about the effort involved with the waxing. Much quicker to get the elec sander out!
I'm sticking to eggshell from now on!

It just takes some practice. It is easier to use the white as it doesn't streak.

I've got on really well with Annie Sloan paint. I bought a solid wood TV stand for £10 from a charity shop and painted it with their bright turquoise paint - whilst we weren't aiming for shabby chic I'd say it looks very cute.

You have to water it down though, I think we read somewhere that more, thin coats is much better than a couple of thick ones!

DM did up some wardrobes with the Rustoleum stuff and said it did the job but she needed about 3x as much as she thought - so it ended up about as expensive as Annie Sloan.

I didn't get bubbles.
It's never going to be hardwearing. I really like the finish though.

I thought the AS paint I used was unimpressive. I don't know for sure but suspect it is just primer that has been coloured

I like the Van Gogh fossil paint much better, they have a lot more finishes like the luminous eyeshadow which is a gold sparkly finish, or can be used as an embossing plaster, it's amazing!

As it happens I used the stuff today to paint the insides of some drawers. Or that was the plan. 'A little goes a long way' is definitely not the case: I've used up half a tin of paint for one drawer and it still doesn't entirely cover the wood underneath. Will have to go back to the shop tomorrow and buy a gazillion more tins.

Would it help to prime the drawers with a coat of white?

Agree Wilkinsons paint is fab. I bought it after several disastrous days trying to paint a cupboard with Farrow and Ball. AS comments duly noted.

primal How many more bits if furniture do I need to practice on before I get it right?
lylas that sounds fab! Will have a google :)
I reckon so magical as long as you don't want to distress it as apparently it's the primer that shows through and not the wood when sanded.

Dunno

Haha. Well I've done 2 so far and I think I'm done! The colours are lovely though, so I see myself trying again in a few months time when the stress dust settles!

I love it. Found an old unit in my parent in laws barn and an old chair, 1 coat of paint straight from the tin, heavy handed sanding, clear wax, dark wax, hey presto! shabby chic unit and chair to put in our new rental yurt!

It takes practice

I have discovered matt varnish in a spray can.
Much better than wax.

Rental yurt??

I think Annie Sloan is great. No prepping and no sanding is a massive blessing.
You do need to water it down so it's the consistency of single cream.
It is best suited to the shabby chic look, really.
I love the fact that it's best applied with haphazard brush strokes and then any accidental drips can be sanded away in two seconds. You do tend to need a few coats. Once the wax has been applied, it looks transformed.