Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Worst recent beauty buys (moneywasters)

147 replies

lololizzy · 01/02/2011 00:55

Mine...
Bourjois bio detox foundation. One of the worst i've ever tried. Patchy, blotchy, horrid texture, impossible to blend.
Also..MAC's Newly Minted matte eyeshadow. What a disappointment! The colour is gorgeous. I chose matte finish as have quite oily lids and thought it would therefore have better staying power. I used with their Painterly base and it still wouldn't stay put! It creased terribly within half an hour.
Has anyone else found this re Mac eyeshadows? Am i applying wrong? Used a sponge applicator.

OP posts:
BelligerentGhoul · 01/02/2011 20:30

I like Beauty Flash Balm. :)

WhatsWrongWithYou · 01/02/2011 20:50

I'm glad it's not just me who hates BadGal, P&P, 8 Hour Cream, Touche Eclat, Maybelline, Clinique.

I do like Benefit Erase Paste - the only thing that truly covers my super-dark circles, but I think it might be greasy on young skin.

Never found a decent Benefit eyeshadow, and the Dandelion powder makes my skin tingle and tighten within seconds - can't see any difference with it, either.

Eyeshadow is generally my bugbear - have deep-set eyes, so need pale colours to avoid looking like death warmed up bring the lids forward, but it's hard to find them pale enough yet not frosty.

WhatsWrongWithYou · 01/02/2011 20:50

Also Jo Malone - wears off after about half an hour, but on the plus side doesn't make me sneeze/give me a headache.

SixtyFootDoll · 01/02/2011 21:00

Chanel Foundation that you all rave about, left me with tide marks on my chhin and is so yellow

BogWoppitt · 01/02/2011 21:04

agree about BadGal. Totally shit. Threw it out after a couple of uses, back to Maxfactor Masterpiece at half the price.

GetOrfMoiLand · 01/02/2011 21:09

I agree about the Chanel Vitalumiere - made me look like a corpse, all yellow.

It must only suit sallow types...

virgo1979 · 01/02/2011 21:10

glad its not just me that thought my no7 mascara smelt of fish.....

Jammygal · 01/02/2011 21:45

Benefit Dr feelgood...pile of poop...
Never have got touch eclat either....

Love Beauty Flash balm and Midnight secret!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 01/02/2011 21:48

Agree that No.7 makeup is rubbish (and smells of fish), but I love Protect and Perfect. I use the whole lot - serum, day cream, night cream and eye cream and my skin is fab.

Hate Maybelline mascara but invariably am suckered in to try a new one from time to time.

Benefit is rubbish except for Benetint which really suits my skintone and I couldn't be without.

Touche Eclat also dreadful, I use Bobbi Brown instead.

TattyDevine · 01/02/2011 21:54

I think a lot of the foundation fails mentioned are just mismatches of skin type and colour.

So one person might hate Bareminerals but another swears they will never go back. People rave about Chanel Vitalimier but at if you are more rose/ivory or whatever its not going to suit. Etc. Rather than them being bad products in their own right...

Jajas · 01/02/2011 21:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

iPaddle · 01/02/2011 21:58

Another one here with a fishy No7 mascara. Vile.

Frizzbonce · 01/02/2011 21:59

Jajas really? Didn't the creme de la mere even feel nice on your skin?

FunnyLittleFrog · 01/02/2011 22:04

Intersting comments about the fishy no7 products. I haven't noticed it with the mascara but the pressed powder compact I have has a distinct fishy whiff.

What do they put in it?!

ullainga · 01/02/2011 22:06

I love Creme de la Mer, the gel version though. Original is very thick, definitely too rich for my skin and no, did not feel nice at all.

lololizzy · 01/02/2011 22:10

MUA Superdrug £1 lipsticks (ok , i was having a VERY skint day!) both snapped on first use. And were so watery they were barely detactable..however, i do like their glitter eyeliners and the shadows aren't bad either

OP posts:
wildfig · 01/02/2011 22:11

Maybelline Coral lipstick, as raved about in some beauty column. Very 1950s... up to and including the sepia-tinted teeth effect.

Jajas · 01/02/2011 22:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mippy · 01/02/2011 22:33

Maybelline eyeshadow. Sure, it was £4, but wasn;t pigmented in the slightest.

Ivette · 01/02/2011 23:08

i like n 17 brush foundation however it kinda gets a bit clumpy after few hours, anyone got that?

CointreauVersial · 01/02/2011 23:21

I bought a Max Factor Mineral powder once - the pack was so badly designed it was impossible to use without absolutely covering yourself with loose powder - it went everywhere. And it was such high coverage I looked like I had been baked.

The fishy No7 - yes! I'd forgotten that, but now you mention it.....

GetOrfMoiLand · 01/02/2011 23:24

I used the Loreal minerals one once.

It was awful, really patchy and caked on looking at the same time.

I had the mineral blush at the same time, the brush was so small that when you applied it ylou had two pink stripes on each cheek a la Krystal Carrington circa 1986.

samels001 · 01/02/2011 23:31

Elizabeth Arden 8 hr cream - horrid!

(Luckily I had bought it at duty free)

lololizzy · 01/02/2011 23:33

i do love the 8hr as a lip balm but not as anything else. It never did anything for dry bits..my theory..it doesn't absorb..but is a good barrier? but it just sits on the skin, mega greasy. So i guess it could trap in moisture , but if dry bits underneath, it doesn't penetrate through the dryness. My theory anyway!

OP posts:
treedelivery · 01/02/2011 23:44

8 hour cream. Apparently it is lanolin but worked and scented on to make it more user friendly. Lansinoh is much more pure and cheaper.

Maybelline anything, but mascara is especially crap.

Oh and No7 day moisturiser, specially designed to make your face feel tight and dry.

Clarins body lotion - cost me a fortune and was really useless.