Tuesday 16 March 2010

Who decided you were so great?!

We all read (have read) beauty mags where the experts claim that these certain products are the best they've ever used..I know you're all thinking that I've done a post like this before and you'd be right..I have, but this post is more general than that one.

How did these certain products become the bees knees? Were they just chosen at random or were they actually tested out properly?

I don't know which of these it is, but these products have never provided me with knockout results.

The thing that annoys me is that people read beauty mags, think the products are as great as they're being made out to be, go out, spend money and realise the product is crappy.  It's happened to me in the past and I'm sure it's happened to you.

Certain products from certain brands are picked, these products are usually pretty shit.  I don't know about you, but if I buy a mascara from one brand and it's crap, I'm not likely to buy another mascara from that brand..

I asked my fellow Twitterers to tell me about products which had been given this treatment but were actually crap and they came up with the following:
  • Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream: I've used this myself as well and found it did nothing.  Quite a lot of people at work have also used it and found that it didn't really deliver any results.  I don't quite know how a cream can make you look like you've had 8 hours of sleep..
  • Clarins Flash Beauty Balm: This is another cream which is touted as a wonder cream for your skin. Firstly, it smells like grandmothers.  Secondly, it does nothing but dry your skin out.  I had really dry skin recently and decided that this might help, it didn't.  I've never heard of a moisturiser making your skin even drier but this managed that.  You're meant to apply it under foundation but I wouldn't, your foundation would flake off.
  • MAC MSF: This is not hyped by magazines but it gets endless love from most MAC addicts.  I take many issues with this, firstly, why can't you call a powder, a powder? I thought it was an eyeshadow when I first saw it.  I was pretty surprised that you could use them as powders for your face.
  • YSL Touche Eclat: See here.  Mine has started to stink so I'm very close to chucking it away.
  • L'oreal Elnett hairspray: This is horrible, it was sticky and I couldn't brush my hair after using it at all.  Pantene do a much better hairspray.  I wasn't the only person who felt this way!
  • No7 Protect and Perfect serum: My mum made me buy this for her and it did nothing for her skin, I tried it and it did nothing for me either, apart from make me feel like I was wearing a mask.
  • Clinique 3 step: I have a massive problem with this.  When I first got this, I loved it.  The face wash left my skin dry enough for a toner and the toner left my skin dry enough for a moisturiser.  I bought a full sized moisturiser and got a travel sized version of the liquid soap and toner (liquid soap aka face wash).  I came towards the end of using the moisturiser (the toner and soap had finished) and realised that it contained no SPF.  Now for a company who say that skincare is their speciality, you'd think they would have SPF in everything.  Anyway, I finished the moisturiser and realised that it didn't sink into my skin and that it just formed a coating on my face.  I went back to the Clinique counter wanting to just buy the soap and the lady was adamant that you NEEDED to buy all three together to make it work, despite me telling her that I wanted a moisturiser with SPF.  Her answer shocked me, she came out with "well yeah, you need to use the three step then another moisturiser on top which has SPF in it".  I' ve got combo skin, I'm not going to be using two moisturisers!  I've used and smelt the toner since then and I can't believe I used something so strong on my skin.  I would never recommend it to anyone!
  • Maybelline's Great Lash mascara: Touted as being the best budget mascara out there when frankly, it isn't.  I'm not the only one unimpressed by the results from this one.  The annoying thing is, Maybelline have other mascaras which work far better than the Great Lash but someone will read a "review" on it in a mag and go out and buy it.  The Colossal is one of my HG budget mascaras but it seldom gets a mention in mags as the Great Lash is seen as being the be all and end all.
This isn't to say that I'm rubbishing the brands mentioned above, I'm asking why certain products have been chosen as being the standout ones when the brands have far better items to offer.

To those of you who weren't on Twitter to hear my call, which "cult" products do you find to be totally rubbish? To those of you who were, why do you think these have been hyped up so much?

    14 comments:

    1. I agree with you about Great Lash - Colossal is SO much better I love it! x

      ReplyDelete
    2. I totally agree with you about the Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, I think it smells vile and does absolutely nothing! I'm not keen on MAC Blot powder either, I find it very chalky and drying (as opposed to silky and mattifying) even though other bloggers seem to love it. Dior do an amazing undereye concealer called Skinflash that beats the pants off of Yves St Laurent, I really don't know why more people don't know about it.

      Great post - can't wait to see everyone else's comments!

      ReplyDelete
    3. Maybelline Great Lash is the mascara spawn of Satan >=| and I refuse to buy the YSL touche eclat - I would get better results from a power highlighter, and it looks like it would be a crappy concealer.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Benefit Bad Gal. It's totally pants. I got a free sample in Glamour magazine and I was like, people pay big money for THIS?! It's crap, my flatmate used to rave about it and I've since converted her to Max Factor. It's rubbish for what you get and I can't believe people still buy it and refuse to try anything else.

      ReplyDelete
    5. Um ... great article, but ...

      The 8hrs in 8hr Cream refers to how long the moisturisation will last - it's not actually a moisturiser though, it's a balm. Using it all over your face will just leave you a big, sticky, greasy mess!

      It's good as a cuticle cream or all purpose first-aid grease, like vaseline - which is essentially what it is. It's a marvel at some things (on zits, random patches of dry skin, etc), but a moisturiser isn't one of them.

      Likewise, Clarins Flash Balm is a primer - NOT a moisturiser - too, that's why it will have left your skin dry, it's an extra step, rather than a replacement step ...

      Agree with you about most of the others, sorry to disagree!

      ReplyDelete
    6. Hmm yeah I agree with Benefit Bad Gal I'm not a fan. I also mentioned OPI Nail Envy on Twitter too.

      Erm, how the hell did you mistake a MSF Natural for an eyeshadow?!! Have you seen the size of it?? LOL
      I'm using No 7 P&P at the moment and I like that silky feeling it gives to my face before I put my MU on.

      ReplyDelete
    7. @Geet Lippie - Clarins Flash Balm is advertised as a moisturiser (it's under the moisturiser section on the Clarins site). I've never read seen it advertised as a primer and doesn't have your typical primer consistency. I couldn't put anything on top of it when I used it, as it went all bitsy and left white patches all over my face. Yuck.

      ReplyDelete
    8. Beauty Addict: I don't know why they're so hung up on Great Lash, Colossal IS so much better, despite being a bit more expensive.

      Fashiondevil: Welcome to my blog :) I've only heard good things about the blot powder but I'm ok with my Rimmel one and I have a whole post dedicated to Touche Eclat, cult item but used for the totally wrong thing. I've seen the Dior skinflash but never tried it, I'm using a Body Shop concealer at the mo which is really good.

      SilhouetteScreams: It truly is, another problem with the Touche Eclat is that it starts to smell really funny, mine is stinking at the moment.

      Mhairi: I totally forgot that one! I too didn't get on with it, it just didn't DO anything.

      Lucy: How dare you disagree with me! Now that yo mention that, I've reread what it says on the packaging and you're right! I didn't know what to do with the flash balm so I asked on the counter and was told that you can just use it instead of a moisturiser..I've been to three different EA counters and the ladies who work there have told me that it's called 8 hour cream because it makes you look like you've had 8 hours of sleep..the lies!

      Yinka: I totally forgot about OPI Nail Envy, sorry! And I thought the MSF was one of those mineral baked eyeshadows where all the colours are swirled into one. Yes, laugh it up at my MAC noobery why don't you :'( I think No7 P and P is a bit hit and miss, it did nothing at all for me or my mum but some people swear by it.

      Thanks for your comments ladies x

      ReplyDelete
    9. Aw you mean the MSF highlighter etc. the one Jo and I don't like is the natural one which looks like a pressed powder but its hideous and chalky on my skin
      I had a friend who worked for Clarins and she said Beauty Flash Balm was so hyped everyone bought it when in reality it will suit very few skintypes - it is indeed a step as well as moisturiser you need moisturiser too
      Oh and EA 8 Hour Cream is marketed as 8 hour moisturising product the smell is vile but it is great for slathering on dry feet over night -it was originally made for horses don't you know :) oh and definitely bin the YSL if it smells weird its gone off

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    10. I really love collosal too... especially if i mix it with some lenghtening mascara it gives me amaing false lashes effect :) But i actually did like great lash mascara... it was good... one of the firsts i ever bought, but from what i remember i thought it was good.
      Loved your post. It's like little rewievs with cutting to the chase :)

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    11. Yeah, Clarins don't seem to know *what* to call it. But, one thing is for sure, it's NOT a moisturiser! And it's a rubbish primer as well ... ;)

      PS, who's Lucy? ;)

      ReplyDelete
    12. I really don't get the fuss about YSL touche eclat, its a highlighter not concealer so gives very poor coverage and there are much better concealers for dark circles on the market.

      I used Clinique 3 step when I was younger and I loved how smooth the clarifying lotion made my skin feel but its incredibly drying and you're right as a company that specialises in skin you'd think that they'd know how bad alcohol is for skin and how essential spf is!

      Great post! x

      ReplyDelete
    13. Louise: HORSES?! That is going right in the bin! I know the YSL is off but it's started to work better since it started to smell? I find it much easier to use a highlighter now that it is a bit more liquidy than before.

      VaidaG: Thanks :)

      GET LIPPIE: <<NOTICE THIS! I used it as a primer today and totally crap city it were. Not a clue who Lucy is ;)

      Inner Belle: You know it makes sense ;)

      Peonies and Lillies: Exactly, if you read my other post about the TE, that's basically what I was saying. When I questioned Clinique, they didn't offer much in the way of a defence.

      Thanks ladies x

      ReplyDelete

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