Products I Would Not Recommend

Since I became obsessed with make up, I've tried a LOT of products and obviously, with that, I've found a lot of products that just don't work for me. Most products work differently for different people, so just because I don't like a product, doesn't mean that you won't like it, but if we have similar preferences or a similar skin type, it might just save you some pennies! Also, although I don't like these specific products, I do actually love all of the brands who created these products and lots of their products are amazing - I've tried to include what I would recommend instead of these products.

L'Oreal True Match The One Concealer - £7.99

- This was the first L'Oreal concealer that I tried and I bought it a few months back when they first came out. Firstly, the shade is quite orange toned, despite the fact that L'Oreal tend to cater for all skin types and usually, their pale shades are amazing! However, my main problem with the concealer is that it BURNS your eyes. I don't have sensitive skin and I don't usually have any sort of problem with under-eye concealers stinging, however, this one is terrible. It made my eyes water and I had to take it off straight away. I did think at the time, maybe I'm allergic to one of the ingredients or maybe it's just a bad batch, but then I watched a few YouTubers trying it out for the first time and they all said the same thing! If you can get past the burning, it doesn't have the fullest coverage and it's quite a liquidy formula. So this I would definitely not recommend! 

  Recommend Instead: Maybelline Fit Me Concealer - £5.99

Maybelline Master Holographic Highlighter (Opal) - £7.99

- I got really excited when I first saw this highlighter and it looked like a great shade for pale skin, however, the formula really lets this product down. The product is quite dry and powdery and isn't overly pigmented (if you like a blinding highlight like myself!). It doesn't leave a sheen, but more of a glittery streak with flecks of blue and pink (the shade doesn't bother me so much). I find it hard to get any sort of product up on my highlighter brush and I have tried a few different brushes with this. For me, I think you can get some great highlighters for a lot less money from other brands so this product is just not worth it to me. 

  Recommend Instead: Make Up Revolution Ingot Highlighter (Platinum) - £4.00

Revlon PhotoReady Prime + Anti-Shine Balm - £9.99

- I've had this primer for a while and I've tried it with a lot of different foundations and I cannot get it to work for me. I have combination / oily skin - I get oily on my t-zone throughout the day, so I was hoping that this foundation would help keep my oils at bay... It doesn't. It actually makes most of my foundations separate on my skin, even as I'm applying them, and it takes away the coverage of the foundations. It does leave my skin feeling and looking quite smooth when just applied, but foundations just look terrible over the top of this. I think it actually made my skin look more oily by the end of the day and it makes most my foundations slip around and rub off throughout the day. This is just a primer I have not been able to make work, no matter how hard I try! 

  Recommend Instead: Your Good Skin Anti-Blemish Base Lotion - £9.99

Maybelline Superstay 24h Foundation (05 Light Beige) - £9.99

- I know this will be a controversial product to include in products I do not recommend, because it seems to be a cult favourite product already, but I do not understand why. For those of you who don't know, Maybelline repackaged this foundation and supposedly changed the formula slightly, bringing out more shades in the range at the same time. I picked up Light Beige, thinking it was the palest shade (I've know found out there is one lighter), but I find this foundation oxidises badly on my skin! Even when I mix this in with a ton of white mixer, the shade is still way too dark after an hour of applying. I don't find that this foundation lasts as well as the Revlon Colorstay on my skin and I'm not massively impressed by the finish it gives. I find it looks quite cakey and patchy. I've tried it with a lot of different primers because I want to make it work, but it just doesn't! If you love this foundation, great! 

   Recommend Instead: Revlon Colorstay Foundation - £12.99

W7 Eyeshadow Palette (Toasted & The Nudes) - £4.95 each

- I bought these eyeshadow palettes a long time ago and since then I've found so many better palettes for the same price or cheaper. The matte eyeshadows in The Nudes palette are hugely lacking in pigmentation and just look patchy - they blend away to nothing. The shimmer shades in the Toasted palette are very glittery and are also not pigmented, even when used wet with a spritz of Mac Fix+. I do like the shades in these palettes, but the formula is just terrible. Even for a beginner, I would not recommend these. I actually love the brand W7 as a whole and recently wrote a blog post on my favourite products from W7, but these palettes just don't compare in quality. Specially, W7's new palettes "On The Rocks" and "Blazin" are amazing quality and are a similar price if you purchase them from eBay or Amazon. 

   Recommend Instead: Make Up Revolution Basic Eyeshadow Palettes - £4.00

Maybelline Total Temptation Mascara - £8.99
- As a general rule, I love Maybelline mascaras - specifically the Lash Sensational mascara, so I was super excited when I saw this released and I purchased it straight away. To be honest, it's not a terrible mascara, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. The formula seems quite dry on this and the wand feels quite tuggy on my lashes, if that makes sense! It didn't give my lashes any sort of curl or volume although it did lengthen them. I did also find that this transferred down onto my under-eyes throughout the day, making me look like a panda. This product does contain coconut oil, which is meant to make your lashes healthier and I was hoping it would have a sort of coconutty scent, but it doesn't at all, it smells quite chemically and I can't say my lashes felt any different afterwards. As I said, it's not a terrible product, I just think there are much better alternatives out there and I wouldn't rush to repurchase this one.
  Recommend Instead: L'Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara - £11.99 

Primark P.S Precious Metals Liquid Eyeshadow - £2.50 

- I have recently got more into using cream / liquid eyeshadows because they can be so quick and easy to use and are often more pigmented than standard metallic eyeshadows. I saw this beautiful warm shade and had to purchase it. On first application, I really liked this - it was pigmented and metallic and easy to apply with a nice applicator.  However, once it had dried down, it felt very heavy on my lids and it started to crack / flake off. I tried to pack some powder metallic shadow on the top of it to try to save the eyeshadow look, but the product underneath still flaked off and my eyes looked a complete mess by the end of the day! There are definitely some much better liquid eyeshadows on the market for a similar price and they are 1000 times better quality. 

   Recommend Instead: L'Oreal Eye Paint - £5.99

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse with Primer (002 Fair) - £7.99

- Now like most people of my generation, when I was 12 years old, this was my ride or die foundation. I remember my mum (who knows NOTHING about make up and only wears mascara and eyeliner) telling me that I should buy foundation that's a few shades darker than my skin tone so I don't look so pale... Wow. Thanks Mum. I used to buy the shade Sand, which looked TERRIBLE because it was so orange. I used to cake this foundation on and be super happy (I had bad acne at the time so it covered that up). When I reached about 14 years old, I stopped using this and never touched it again! But recently, I've seen some YouTubers trying this again and they said it was amazing, so when I saw this super pale shade I had to try it again. The formula has obviously changed slightly, because it says it contains primer now and the pale shade was super light (a bit too pale). However, this foundation looked absolutely awful, to the point I just took it off again. It looked unbelievably patchy, no matter how I applied it (I tried a brush and sponge) and it made my usually oily skin look very dry. It also provided very sheer coverage but yet still looked cakey. 100% hated this foundation so I would not recommend trying it again! 

Let me know if you've tried any of these products in the comments below and what you thought of them. 

Sarah (aka. Pale Princess) x