To wonder whether everyone accepts that beauty products don’t work?

[SinkGirl]

I don’t know about anyone else but I’m so used to beauty (and especially) hair products not doing what they say they do that I’m often really shocked when they do what they say they will. I spent a brief spell in marketing for an insurance company and everything we said was so tightly regulated. Beauty companies can say whatever they like it seems, digitally manipulate images, do a “trial” on 11 women and then proudly state that almost 90% of women said it worked... 🙄

I hadn’t spent a penny on make up or skin care for years until a few months ago when I bought a few bits which were okay but nothing staggering. Got an event coming up tonight and I went a bit mad - I bought heaps of stuff: hair care, make up, skin care etc.

Most of it is absolute crap and doesn’t live up to its claims. I generally just accept this in a way I wouldn’t with other things but whenever they work it’s always a nice surprise (will list the few things I’m happy with below in case anyone is looking!)

I find it strange that we are so (rightly) hot on false advertising but this is an entire industry that seems to get away with it. I realise everyone’s skin and hair is different, but if you buy something that’s meant to volumise fine flyaway hair, which you have, but does absolutely nothing, surely that’s a bit ridiculous? And these things are always no returns so even if what you’ve got is basically scented baby oil, you’re scuppered.

These are the things I’ve tried that work as advertised this week - three out of over 30 products (yes, I splurged!)

• The Ordinary AHA BHA peel - have used loads of acid peels before so I was a bit blase about this one. Ended up burning the skin off my cheekbones after only a few minutes 😳 It’s very effective though!

• Estée Lauder powerfoil night recovery mask - got one of these in a lot of mini EL products. Used it last night and my skin this morning is absolutely amazing. Not greasy at all but softer, smoother, lines reduced, calmed the burnt cheeks... it’s amazing. Shame it’s so expensive (cheapest I’ve found is about £55 for 4 and you’re meant to use 1 a week but I’m considering using one every month / couple of weeks maybe)

• The Ordinary coverage foundation - I bought a few foundations as my skin changes quite a bit during my cycle and this one is awesome. Lasted all day even while running around, sweating etc. And it’s onlh £6 so you can buy a few shades and mix if you find it hard to get a colour match.

I used every type of early 20s skin care anti-wrinkle or wrinkle prevention stuff as I could get my hands on. I always looked a bit tired and deflated and couldn't be seen without foundation. I switched to Nivea basic face and body moisturizer (white tub) and my skin has never looked better (on my face... Body is a different story). But it's largely down to genetics too I think. My mum always looks younger than she is, hoping I go the same way!
I found Label M stuff is fantastic for hair. Mine is so thin and fine and flyaway but this stuff seems to tame it and makes it too big and sleek somehow. I don't use it every day though, I like surprising people when I make an effort

Great thread!

My best recent find is the new no.7 mascara in gold tube. I’ve tried so many and this thickens, lengthens and curls.

I agree OP.

I actually returned a shampoo and conditioner twice! One wasn’t a super expensive one but was way more than I’d usually spend (£8 per bottle), it was a Toni & Guy one for brunettes. It was unbelievably bad. Like rubbing sticky sauce into my hair. It matted it just trying to wash it! And the conditioner couldn’t be washed out, it left me with lank greasy hair that looked like I’d dumped oil over it. The other was a really expensive one, Redken, two huge bottles from the salon at £20 each, because the sales lady said I could return it if it didn’t work on my hair type. It was horrific. Same issue as the Toni & Guy, only this time I’d sunk £40 into it. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was unusable. I used it before work once and had to tie it in a bun and just run because my hair was still full of the stuff despite rinsing and rewatching with good cheap shampoo for ages. The salon tried to back out and say I couldn’t but i stood my ground saying they could try it on me there and then to prove it’s unusable, and that I’d never have spent £40 if the sales girl hadn’t assured me it could be returned. They went with it in the end and gave me my money back.

I returned both as I consider them to be faulty. They didn’t do the job. They could have done it as well as a £1 bottle from Co Op and that’d have been fine with me (what can you really expect from hair stuff) but they were unusable and expensive and I wasn’t being stuck with faulty goods.

Actually, I also tried Organix once, the blue bottle, about £8-9 a go, and that was also horrific but I didn’t get round to returning it.

It’s not on when you buy a product that doesn’t do even the basics of what it should. Consumers shouldn’t expect to just suck it up as the risk they take. It’s put me right off expensive shampoo and conditioner. I’m happy with Co Op own brand mint haircare, leaves me hair the nicest it’s ever been and £2 for two bottles.

Totally ageee, I just use Nivea and Micella water, I am in my 60s & often get complimented on my skin , I am also over weight and I think plump skin means fewer lines, my skinny friend (same age) has incredibly lined skin on her face.
Also like Palmers Cocoa Butter lotion on my body.

I find Aldi anti-wrinkle serum is better than the Boots No. 7 serum, tried using each one consistently for a few weeks, Aldi won.

To be honest though - as I’m starting to run out of stuff I’m trying to buy new products based solely on whether or not they come in plastic packaging. Recent purchase was a hair conditioner in a bar like soap. Is surprisingly ok although it’s hard to get much of it on the hair.

I buy expensive shampoo because it's a bit of a luxury for me eg Aveda or Liz Earle.

But for skin care I really like Superdrug's vitamin E range.

I also like Liz Earle's skin repair for when I have a bit more cash.

I don't use many products anyway - cleanser and SPF moisturiser in the morning and if I remember night cream at night. At the moment I have a few small testers of various Elemis moisturisers as I had their Advent calendar.

In terms of make-up: eyeliner, mascara, Benefit Dandelion powder and lipstick (Clinique so I do splash the cash a bit for that but I like their chunky pencils rather than actual lipstick). And that's it. I am utterly uncreative, so spending money on lots of expensive make-up would be a complete waste.

I used to have black rings under my eyes, tried every concealer known to womankind.

Made no difference

The thing that did.....changing my diet and ditching sugar and carbs

Same for skin in general. You are what you eat when it comes to ‘glow’

I'm a product tester, and I always give honest reviews BUT I know others who give rave reviews every time to continue to receive free stuff.

They mistakenly believe if they slate a product they'll not be sent anymore.

That's why 9/10 woman found this improved their wrinkles/fat/rosacea/age spots etc.

How does one become a product tester?

Teabag37 if you email them with a description of your skin/any issues, they will send you a suggested regime.

Anyone know of anything for melasma?
I have azalic acid on prescription it’s shit

@EmeraldRubyShark have you tried the John Frieda Brilliant Brunette range, I really like them. The Rich Radiance one particularly. About £6.99 a bottle.

OP there’s a dermatologist on YouTube called Dr Dray she cuts through all the bullshit and recommends good products

I am in my 50's. The woman I know with the best skin has never smoked, does not drink alcohol and hates being in the sun. The friends who have the most wrinkles are all women who smoke and sunbathed for years.

I think it depends what you want them to do. There are plenty of products that help smooth your hair, get rid of spots, moisturise etc and plenty of them do work. What people seem to expect is for a product to reverse their genetics and prevent the passage of time, which is obviously impossible.

Also getting a decent nights sleep makes a massive difference.

If you are over 30 your skin will take at least a month to completely renew and show the benefit of any products you are using. Trying something once doesn't tell you anything about it except perhaps if you are allergic and ready to it. You need to use a product consistently for at least 4-6 weeks to see if it makes a difference to the next layer of skin coming up to the surface. You can't expect miracles in one evening, that's not how it works.

I fully agree with you SinkGirl which is why I never use any of those so called beauty products.

I’m actually more surprised that you've kept on trying those products. I have given up a long long time ago.

FWIW I’ve actually found they can make things worse. So the hydrating cream for your face that you can’t stop using once you’ve started is a good example.
It goes, you have a nice skin and no major problem but start using that face cream because it’s supposed to be great/what you are supposed to do etc..
Do it for a week or two
Try to stop using said cream and the skin feels tight and dry and uncomfortable until you put some cream on.
That’s because the skin has learnt that it doesn’t need to produce all the stuff needed to keep it souple. So it doesn’t.
Each time it takes me a few weeks (,much longer than the length of time I’ve used the cream for) to things to settle again and for my skiing to feel nice and confortable again.....

Nivea was miraculous pretty much over night for me.

To be fair OP if you tried 30 products in such a short space of time it would be very difficult to know if any of them had any effect. But I do agree in general.

The things I have that work are:

liquid gold - best product ever for me.
the ordinary retinoid 5% (fairly recent purchase which is having an effect quickly)
nip and fab dragons blood extreme serum. Not as good as the rodial one but nearly and much cheaper.
nuxe body oil. Really softens my skin and makes my legs look so much better.

Yep beauty product marketing is mostly BS, all about exploiting women's insecurities and striving to achieve what women think meets the approval of the male gaze. I know this, and yet the marketing is so well done that I still sometimes fall for it. And then I go back to my old faithful and cheap Olay Beauty Fluid Sensitive moisturiser that I've been using for 20+ years.

Mythic oil for frizzy or fly away hair. Cheapest place I've found it is lookfantastic and it's free delivery

Gosh yes absolutely. I spend an absolute fortune on clarins products because they smell lovely and feel lovely but I know the claims are absolute bollocks. I always use cheap shampoo though.

SPF from your ‘20’s on is the best thing to do. Then Vit C in 40’s/50’s. I use Simple spf 30 moisturiser over a serum in the day. The Ordinary 23% vit C cream once a week and a retinol serum and cheapish moisturiser at night. I have Botox in my frown lines instead of spending on creams. Eat well and drink water.

You’ve only got to look at all the beauty bloggers like Caroline Hirons, Nadine Baggot etc, who have access to the most expensive products, to see that they do not work!!