I hope this post finds you well!!! Today Sunday Special is something a bit different to my usual posts but one that I wish to start putting on my blog. As you know every month (almost!!) I put up a review of all my favourite products for that month. While I rather enjoy writing these posts as it gives me an opportunity to tell you what I am loving, products that do a great job as well as giving a small review. In an effort to keep my blog predominately positive. I never tell you about the products that don't work for me or products that don't really do what they should and while I don't want to bring a lot of negativity to this blog I also believe in things being balanced, at the same time I also have been desperately wanting to tell you about these products so you don't go and waste your dollars on them or if you are desperate to buy them regardless you are fully informed with pros and cons before you do. So this post today will be all the products that I regret buying during 2014.
Rimmel Match Perfection Light Perfecting Radiance Foundation SPF18
I had heard a lot of amazing reviews about this one with the only down side seeming to be that for an oily combo girl you wouldn't necessarily get a whole days wear out of it. Even though I prefer makeup that goes on at 7am and looks good till 7pm as an oily combo girl I usually find touch ups inevitable!! The first bottle I bought was in the shade 301 Warm Honey and from what I could gather this would be a reasonable match for me!! I wore it roughly for a week and by the end of it while I had figured out that even with my oily combo skin it wears well at the same time the colour wasn't the right match for me the shade a little too warm I looked a little over tanned. So when Chemist Warehouse had 40% off Rimmel I pounced!! And bought another two (yes you read that correctly another two!!!) This time I chose the shades 400 Natural Beige and 303 True Nude now these were better shades, both wore well, great light feel on the skin, gliding, buildable without cakeness but after another week I realised that it didn't matter what shade I wore or what powder I set with I would end the day looking slightly orange!!! Now I don't know if it is my combo oily skin or the heat here in Queensland but I just could not make this foundation work it was disappointing but rather than risk looking like a oompa loompa this foundation has sat at the back of the draw for a while.
Revlon Powder Blush (Matte range)
I did not even realise that Revlon had a matte blush range until I saw these in a favourites video on youtube and while that youtuber did say not all of the colours where great she still recommended a few shades that she felt where the pick of the bunch. I bought mine from ozsale.com.au when they came up as a part of a Revlon sale each blush was between $8-10 which for Revlon is not a bad deal!!! Now the blushes are soft to touch and swatched with a finger seem silky and resonably pigmented but the colour really doesn't come off on the skin they also don't pick up well on a brush its seems to take a lot of product just for a little colour on the cheeks!! For a more expensive brand I really expected a lot more!!!
LA Colors 3D Blush Contour and 12 Color Eyeshadow Palette.
This is a brand that I hadn't heard much about before and as everything was going cheap($2-4) on ozsale.com.au I while picked up quite a few things from the range these two where really the ones that I was disappointed about the most!! I bought them as I was looking for compact and travel friendly makeup but sadly the quality just isn't there. The 3D Blush Contour palette is ok in the respect that the blush does go on well, seems pigmented and blendable but it just does not last, a few hours after application its like it was never there. The contour side takes a lot to build up and the highlight while matte does require a small brush to get into the pan easily. As for the eye shadows its much the same story construction of the palette makes it hard to get a shadow brush into the colours and you have to use a lot of shadow to get pigmentation and even if you build the colour they don't last even with a primer!!!
During 2014 the hair bands I have used for ages not only got new packaging but also a new price but the quality just wasn't the same!! It was look for alternatives I stumbled upon these now this is a brand I have only really seen in Priceline and Target, reviews of other items from the brand seemed good and price a little bit more than I usually pay but I thought that would be reflected in the quality, I was wrong!!! While they are made of extreamly strong elastic it makes the bands quite hard to stretch, twist and loop around a pony tail or bun and when they do finally stretch I found more often than not it would cause either the two ends of the elastic to break or the and the outer casing would stretch giving way around the glue put in place to hold the band together essentially rendering them useless. I have no positives for these sadly so over all I just wouldn't bother!!!
Fuss Free Naturals Natural Facial Cleansing Wipes with Citrus and Pineapple
A you know I love a good makeup wipe and after discovering the Milk exfoliating wipes earlier in 2014 I was very happy to see alternate versions to try on the market. These wipes claim the will remove makeup, water proof mascara, are non greasy and non drying they also have a textured side which is said to remove dirt and makeup as well as exfoliate. The wipes themselves smell nice and have a reasonable amount of makeup remover so they are not too dry or wet but over all they don't remove a good days makeup, they struggle to remove eyeliner and mascara. As for the exfoliation side it doesn't feel rough nor does it seem to help to remove makeup. I also found that over time even if you close the packet properly they wipes dry out before the packet is done.
Australis Pretty Pastels 4-1 Palette
Usually I would be raving about this brand and as a general rule I would recommend snapping up any limited edition palette that they bring out but overall this is a disappointing product from Australis. The palette includes a pressed powder, blush, bronzer and three eye shadows. Overall with this palette the pigmentation of the shadows, blush and bronzer is quite good but there is a lot of fall out. The shadows while easy to apply, are extremely glittery and the colours themselves are really lost beacuse of it. The bronzer while it looks like their much loved sunkissed bronzer of their permanent line is not only quite glittery but deeper in colour, and hard to blend out. As for the powder I really expected this to be simillar to the fresh and flawless but it lacks the coverage and it easily ends up cakey. This really isn't the high quality I usually expect from Australis and hence my least favourite product in this line.
Lust Have It
*Rant Alert*
This box/bag/subscription service is probably the biggest fail of 2014 and given we have nearly finished the first month of 2015 and I have not received this months probably this year as well!!! If you have seen my Instagram you will know that I gave up writing about LHI in early 2014 as I was extremely unhappy with the service and the products, I did always intend that I would go back to blogging regularly about this product but sadly it never got any better. I now fail to see how they can still call themselves a monthly subscription service when usually its six weeks plus between boxes (and I wont go into how many excuses they have come up with for late boxes), in regards to their customer service while most companies customer email turn around time is 24-48 hours theirs is roughly 3-4days. Also last year I was contacted twice by representatives from LHI. At first they wanted to send me a free box to trail as well as inviting me to become an affiliate. I will be honest and say that while flattered to have had my blog recognised. I turned down the affiliate offer as I wanted my blog to remain impartial given at the time I was still blogging about both LHI and BB. However I did take up the offer of a free box to use in a giveaway as I thought one of my readers may want to try. They agreed with my thoughts said I would get the box within a couple of weeks. The box never showed and I found out later it was never sent!! It was then many months after that when like many others I was having problems receiving the box of the subscription I paid for that I was contacted again (by a different person) this time for feedback.
I gave my thoughts and experiences from both a blogger perspective and a paying customer. I was told everything was taken on board but clearly nothing has changed. I think the last straw was when I went to use my points to buy a few products I have enjoyed from LHI in the full size. It seems you can only use about 40% in points of your carts $$ total at any one time, limiting the amount of points able to be spent. Now if you read the fine print LHI state: a minimum cash purchase may apply to any transaction using reward points. Lust have it! shall determine the maximum number of points that can be used on each purchase and any minimum cash expenditure required, and indicate these to the customer prior to a purchase becoming final. If you compare this to the opposition all you have to have is a spend of $40 post the amount of points used.
Now maybe because I have been subscribed since the begging I have too high expectation of the service or the products I receive. But this service used to be better, it used to feel like a special treat every month and I used to be excited about the box that was arriving. Sadly I no longer would recommend them any more.
So that ends my regret purchases for 2014. I hope this post helps when you are choosing products in the future. Hopefully 2015 won't bring too many regrets purchases!! So until my next post Happy reading and Happy Shopping!!
Everlynne.
Ohh it is unfortunate that you regretted buying these! ^ ^
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