March 17, 2015

Has Overhype Ever Ruined a Makeup, Beauty, or Skincare Purchase for You?

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Has Overhype Ever Ruined a Makeup, Beauty, or Skincare Purchase for You? Have you ever read a ton of reviews about some new and upcoming makeup collection or skincare product that raved it on and on and you proceeded to buy it and be utterly crushed and disappointed that it didn’t work for you?

If I had a dime for every time I was led to believe some new product was amazing and ended up buying and hating it I’d be a very rich girl. I think in my earlier years one of the worst offenders of overhype was magazines. Obviously with age you gain a little more wisdom but when you’re 16 some odd years old and reading through some magazine that’s telling you some lipstick is going to change your bloody life you take for granted that said magazine would NEVER ever overhype the product in anyway, shape, or form.

One of the most disappointing aspects of overhyped beauty comes in the form of makeup forums and boards on the Internet. I read many different forums and I’ll see real women just like me raving about the latest eye cream or blush and having incredible results and success with said product. I’ll buy it and totally have a WTF kinda moment. How come it works for them and not me!?

Overhype can potentially be dangerous in the blog world and v-log world where you’ll watch 50 different videos and read 50 different blogs telling you all about thee most incredible beauty tool, fragrance, or skincare evers and trying it yourself and finding out it’s utterly not what you expected.

The thing that bothers me about overhype is the fact that it kinda ruins a beauty purchase for me. I’ll buy it expecting so much, loving visually what I see of it in promotional images, and proceed to try it and be completely crushed about the outcome. I’ve definitely had moments where I buy something and it turned out good but the overhype ruined it for me because I expected mind blowingly excellent!

I always say different strokes for different folks when it comes to trying a product and having different views, opinions, and thoughts on it. However, I have had my share times of being a victim of overhype.

Have you?

What products have you tried that have been CRAZILY blown out of the water as the cure all to life, the universe, and everything and turned out to be utter rubbish?

Do share ’em!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Anastasia

    Oh, dear, I can totally relate to you. The overhype can even completely destroy a brand for me. Brands like Benefit, for example just died for me due the excessive overhype over meh products because I always feel betrayed or something.

    • DonnaJ

      Great comment. I didn’t even think of Benefit, because I wrote them off long ago. I’m native american with medium light to medium skin tone (winter/summer). Lucky for me I check lots of reviews before buying since all the women of color said that the box of powders that are so hyped don’t even show up on them. This is definitely a brand meant for porcelain pale skin! I have tried a few of their other products (samples) and nothing has wowed me yet. I do need to try my sample of They’re Real mascara though.

      • Anastacia

        Oh, they definitely have problems with their color range. I have a very fair peachy complexion and I still refuse myself to buy more Benefit. They have too much hype over them, it makes me crazy! I always feel like I will pay lots and lots of money for rubbish. I already had some Benefit’s products that I liked but I don’t think that any of them have had ever worth the price. But it is not only with them, I mean, there are plenty of brands out there with absurd prices, lots of hype and no quality at all. This is such a shame =(

      • Annie

        Benefit is all about “retro” and even so, I think that they’re a crappy brand with gimmicky products that simple don’t work.

    • Wendy

      Same goes for me w/ Benefit. Some of their products work for me, but the overhyped They’re Real mascara doesn’t work for everyone. Some get amazing results, while the same mascara weighs down my lashes and makes a mess.

  • Ruth

    Benefit’s They’re Real eyeliner-hated it! my bestie said that as a liquid liner lover that this product was even better than lorac’s front of the line. Bought it and thought that it was too fiddley. Even with one click the product just balled up and had to be smeared into place with the applicator. for me, it was just awful. I’d rather use a gel pot and angled liner brush and get better results.

    I’m loving right now the sephora luster matte long-wear lip color in mulberry and am freaking loving it! it’s a long wear liquid lipstick that doesn’t show the dry spots, isn’t cracking (I still love you hourglass!) and just looks amazing. I’m def going to pick up a few more colors during the spring sale.

  • Kimmwc03

    Yes, skincare can sometimes seem overhyped (esp. eye creams) and then they do nothing for me. I also think several (newer) Benefit products are overhyped.

  • Ms.Heathen

    Most mascaras. I mean it’s great when people find a formula that works for them, but there’s literally no mascara that has ever been life changing for me. Companies wax lyrical about their formulas and their brushes, their lengthening and curling and volumizing, exotic new oils and plant extracts gently harvested by angels, nothing has ever lived up to the hype. The best mascara I’ve ever used was still only sort of ‘meh’ in performance for me. The best I can say is the only difference between my favorite mascara and a tube of Great Lash is that it flaked less and had a nicer brush. Would I occasionally treat myself to a $25 mascara, sure! Would I stop buying the super cheap stuff because it didn’t perform as well, nope.

  • Liz

    Isn’t it that way because some bloggers and vloggers get paid to give positive reviews?? Companies pay these people to give positive reviews…or they are given the product in exchange for a positive review. I’ve even heard that some people get products for free and then give a positive review because they are afraid if they don’t they won’t get any more free stuff from that company. It’s like Colourpop shadows everyone’s talking about — I mean I know they were sent to a whole bunch of people and those people gave these incredible best eyeshadow of life reviews and then the few people i’ve know ow watched who bought them on their own were just kind like 50/50 on them, they’re not that great. It’s almost like now, if there are too many people talking about something I don’t buy it.

    • Isabella Muse

      We’d all be millionaires if we got paid for reviews 🙂 If we get lucky we get press samples but aside from that I’ve personally never been paid for a review nor have many bloggers I know. I don’t personally give positive reviews because I got a product sample. I just recently got the Jordana Matte Lipsticks from their PR department and hated them and said as such in my review. I gave Colourpop eyeshadows a great review but I purchased all the colors I reviewed. I think maybe they are giving them a great review because they are affordable and have an excellent formula but not because they got them for free. Although the blushes I’ve been having a lot of problems with 🙁

      • denni

        I think colourpop is incredible. Their products are awesome and I can’t imagine anybody giving it a completely negative review. The lipsticks- amazing. The shadows… GORGEOUS, but.. they really are best for lid colors. They just don’t work for creases and tiny places where you need precision. They aren’t friendly to work with at all in that aspect. The formula is just totally different being a strange creamy whatever. I personally buy the bright colors and skip anything that would be for a crease or something. Too much trouble. I am on a mission to own every lippie. They’re just amazing.

        I feel bad for anybody that gets a free product. There is always a comment being negative and claiming they were paid for a great review, they are trying to get more free stuff, etc etc. Who cares. I think it’s jealously from those negative commenters. Bloggers/youtubers work hard.. it’s a time consuming pain to write and review all the time. Especially to the extent major brands recognize you and WANT you to try their stuff. I’m greatful so many people get free stuff.. I can’t afford to buy everything and I do want to see how stuff works out or just the pigmentation before I spend my money on it.

        • Isabella Muse

          thanks for recognizing the hard work that goes into blogging Denni! that means a lot to many of us 🙂

          • Majick

            You bloggers are totes recognized in my book. I would love to get sample and free product to review but I don’t have the hours in a day that it takes to do all the work. Not to mention the expense of running a website (I’m no techy).
            AND – how do you get such GREAT pictures? KUDOS Girl! love ya

          • Isabella Muse

            thank you for realizing that. this site is COSTLY to run by the month. People would be shocked at how much it costs to maintain this website as they are under the impression that I’m on a free platform like blogspot and that’s simply not the case so thank you for realizing the amount of money it costs to run this website 🙂 <3! aw thank YOU! I'm not good at pics at ALL! so that's delightful to hear.

  • DonnaJ

    My big complaint would be primers, both eye and face. I haven’t seen a huge difference between expensive and cheap. I also never really had a problem with eye shadow fading or smearing through the day, at least not until pretty much the end of the night when I would be removing it anyway. But face primers don’t do much for me at all. I think my pores are just so massive that all product gets sucked in them or something. Bleh! Yeah, I get greasy patchy foundation even with so called fantastic primers. Revlon Colorstay is the only thing that works for me, it’s just so heavy though, like wearing a foundation mask.

    • Renata

      Haha, finally someone dared to say it about UD!:) I could not agree more. Average quality product, ugly packaging, but hyped about like something extraordinary.
      Another example are the overpriced Tom Ford products, like their cream eyeshadows, which have bad bad colors (spice just looks like you know what I mean), but everybody chases and praises them.
      Another extremely overhyped product are mac eyeshadows and lipsticks. I am really waiting for the moment when someone will say it loudly – they may have nice colors in pans, but their quality is really bad. Even some Maybelline would do a better job.
      The list can go on and on, like Chanel Coco Rouge lipsticks and sticky glossimers. Or disastrous Chanel skin care. Or all those $$$ “magic organic” lotions and serums “curing problematic skin with balancing oils” that cause breakouts even on skin that used to be perfectly fine. Ah, almost forgot the “no-poo” shampoos scam.

      • Renata

        Sorry, need to continue – is clinical active serum is indeed a killer, a killer of your skin.

      • Lissy

        A lot of Coastal Scents eyeshadow hot pots are dupes for MAC shadows and are actually better quality. And they are $2 with frequent sale at 99 cents. I’ll never understand the MAC hype.

    • Nikki

      The eye primer honestly isn’t the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve had better luck with drier drugstore versions, or NYX’s milk, but that’s my face. However, during Ulta’s UD single shadow half price sale, I bought my first two UD shadows, just because of the overhype. I bought Psychedelic Sister and Woodstock. I’m hoping to not be disappointed.

  • Brooke Elise

    oh yeah. most mascaras i won’t even buy because i really don’t believe that i’ll get good results. i wear false eyelashes most of the time. brands like benefit were so hyped because they sent out so much free product. lime crime was a brand that was so hugely overhyped, and look where they are now.
    i’ve gotten some products sent for review but i always write as honest of a review as i can.

  • Sarah

    I kinda try to ignore it. Not because I bought a hyped product and was disappointed, but because I tried a product hated it, then proceeded to see people hype it for the next ten years or so. As a teen, I tired Clinique’s lipstick in Bamboo Pink and hated it. I think it’s an awful color, especially on my porcelain skin and thin upper lip, and yet to this day beauty experts still hype it as being the ultimate lipstick for pale people.

  • barbara

    I agree with skin care products, especially eye products. Soo expensive yet I see no difference with anything that I have used. I could use olive oil and it would do as good a job as a 60$ bottle of eye cream. Also mascaras, except for the shape of the wand, they all seem to do the same thing for me. I think all of us could live on ELF or wet and wild, but everyone has something they like to purchase or collect and for some of use, its beauty products.

  • TropicalChrome

    Some of the independent nail polish brands. I’m thinking of one specific company whose praises have been sung to the heavens to the point where you’d think they were the second coming (and who I won’t name). I tried a few of their polishes and found them pretty much unwearable from almost instant chipping to colors so unpigmented I had to use five coats to get the opacity in the promo pictures.

    Any felt tip eyeliner. Couldn’t get a straight line, they all flake off into my eyes after a couple of hours (and I’m totally looking at you Milani).

    And I am in complete agreement on the skin care. Thank goodness for samples because I’d be furious to have spent $60+ on a product that doesn’t work as well as my drugstore brand.

  • Renu

    Oooh yes, I have fallen prey to overhype and been bitten several times. First, there was Lancome break-me-out-into-a-fireworks-factory-explosion Visionnaire (bought TWO 75ml bottles of the thing). Took me a few months with loads of prescription pills to get the painful breakouts to go away. Then there was Benefit clump-fest They’re Real Gel Liner. Then there was Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait, which the label promised would last forever on my lips, but it spontaneously vanishes within a few minutes on me. I’ve noticed one thing, though. If you love something, Muse, it usually works for me as well. Especially skincare, concealers, brushes, eyeshadows and lipsticks.

  • Ashley

    I quit reading the beauty sections in most magazines…I just loathe them! Lol even since vie gotten deep into the beauty community I’ve gotten very cynical, especially when I see them pushing products that sucks and are just kind of unrealistic….like I saw in 17 magazine they suggest a lot of high end stuff, and it’s not even like a great eyeshadow palette, which I feel is a good makeup investment, they suggested like Lancôme lip sticks, expensive odd colored eyeliners you’d wear twice lol I just feel they’re quite unrealistic since there magazine is geared towards 13-21 year olds.

    As to hyped brands I have to admit I hate mac now and have no idea why their lipsticks are considered “must haves”. The ones I’ve tried were on the dry side and kinda hard…nothing creamy about them. Pigmented well though…just the texture sucked.
    Another hyped product for me are the too faced tin palettes with 9 pans….for some odd reason they crease on me in like 2 hours! I’m talking crease to the point of it’s almost all gone in two hours, which sucks bc I want to love them, I really do and. I really want this new one they came out with but it won’t work for me 🙁 but it’s so strange, the chocolate bar palettes last 9+ hours on me! no creasing…hardly any fading by the time I take off???the return of sexy palette also creases like a mofo lol I don’t get it :p
    But I love your blog because of,your honesty muse! I know I can trust you!

  • Anna

    For me, it’s Benefit’s They’re Real mascara. It was so hyped up as a great groundbreaking mascara but honestly I didn’t much like it. I really prefer Maybelline’s Full ‘N Soft or CK One mascara.

  • Eli Caroline

    Benefit’s They’re Real Push Up Liner. -I was so excited about the release of this product. I was led to believe it was everything I ever wanted and needed. In reality, it turned out to be a flaky mess and I think a little bit gimmicky.

    • Kimberly

      Eli–I completely agree. This liner was a mess! I agree with everyone else who said that practically every skincare line known to man has been overhyped. Dr. Brandt’s “No More Needles”–comes to mind–how about no more Dr. Brandt!

      • Majick

        There are a few Dr. Brandt products that I repeat buy (the v-zone neck cream for one)but I agree “no more needles” was uneventful.
        He used to have another similar product called Crease relief and that was BS too.
        Sometimes I think you have to be the crypt keeper to see results from products like these. I mean, you look SO bad that anything would be an improvement. LOL I hope I explained that right.

  • Lauren

    My biggest one so far has been Burberry’s lip gloss. Another blogger always gave them lots of raves, but when I tried one, I wasn’t impressed. Not much pigmentation, less shine than I was expecting, terrible perfumey flavor, etc. I also noticed that in order to get it to look as opaque and pigmented as it appeared in the blogger’s pictures, I had to apply something like 5 layers of gloss (and it felt like it was literally about to drip off of my lips). I was definitely feeling a little mislead at that point, lol.

  • denni

    ABH contour palette. Never bought it. No regrets, I suck at contouring. It’s not for the average person. It just isn’t.

  • Erin

    The Benefit They’re Real! liner was probably my biggest disappointment, like a lot of the previous commenters. It’s an absolute train wreck on me and I’m a cat eye every day kinda girl so I have some experience with gel eyeliner. I’m praying the new Smashbox version is better… I just ordered it from Sephora so we’ll know in a few days!

    I still can’t get over the Bare Minerals hype from a decade ago. My mom firmly believes that no other foundation will ever work well for her like their system does but it’s horrible on me. HORRIBLE. To this day I associate their brand with my mom’s age group, too. I am a dutiful daughter though and forward her Ulta’s sale emails so she knows when to go shop because unlike me she’s not willing to shell out for makeup, even if she does love it.

    UD does overhype EVERYTHING but I find that I do really like their products so while the hype might be a big annoying I’m willing to overlook it since a few of their products are HG for me.

    The jury’s still out for me with ColourPop. I got one of their holiday sets and I do like the pigmentation and colors if I use my fingers but… who the hell uses their fingers for eyeshadow? The other day I used my finger for all over lid color with it and then used brushes with other brands for deepening/crease/outer corner/inner corner and pretty much all the details. Also one of mine is drying up super fast even though I keep them closed tightly and have only used it 3 times.

    I may be committing a cardinal sin here but I’m going to throw Beauty Blender’s name in the ring. I honestly can’t tell much difference performance wise between the $20 Beauty Blender and the $5 knock off I got at Ulta, certainly not enough to justify paying 4x more. Both are much better than the old school wedge makeup sponges, sure, yet everyone raves about the “official” Beauty Blenders and they’re alllll over social media.

    • Krystle

      I agree with the Beauty Blender hype. I have one from Essential Tools for $5 and it works just as well as the BB.

      I love using my fingers for putting on shadows everywhere but the crease. It’s fun like finger painting, as childish as it sounds.

    • Majick

      I will disagree and say that I can definitely tell the difference between the original (pink or white) and the knock offs. When wet the texture totally changes with the BB. JMO 🙂 (I am a BB fan.)

  • Kate

    There have been several foundations that bloggers, youtubers and people in general just seem to adore that do terrible things on my skin. Estee Lauder double wear was the first high end liquid foundation I ever bought and I hate it so much. I’ve tried every application method (brush, sponge, work in sections, ultra thin layers etc) over top of multiple primers and it always looks terrible on me like I’m wearing a hard thick mask. I now save my receipts for every foundation or high end product I buy because I return it it it’s bad.

  • Dee

    I think every eye palette I get, with the exception of the first IT Matte palette, ends up disappointing me. And speaking of IT, I love their brushes. But I was really bummed after I got the Luxe LBD Foundation Brush. I love their dual ended foundation brush, and I don’t like dual end brushes. But that one is the BEST. So I thought the Luxe one would be even better…and it’s just ok. And it was expensive!

  • Nat

    No, but what does bite me in the butt is buying stuff BEFORE I read your review! 😀 Especially that beautiful Bobbi Brown “Surf” palette that had absolutely no colour pay-off. Sigh. From now on, I wait to see what the Muse says first! 😀

    • Isabella Muse

      haha nat awww hugs! I understand! hey sometimes we get excited and can’t wait for a review!

  • Stephanie

    i thought MAC was the only makeup brand ever when I first got into makeup. I know it is like that for a lot of people. I actually LOVE their lipglasses; they have some of my favorite glosses of the “expensive” brands. The eyeshadows, though? After using other brands like MUFE and Sugarpill, I realized how low quality they are, in my opinion. I find myself slowly getting rid of my MAC shadows as I find higher quality dupes.
    I see some people mentioned Benefit mascaras….clumped and flaked on me:( I never thought I would say this, but my Maybelline mascara works better for me than any prestige mascara. A lot of these “hyped” products cured me of my drugstore snobbiness I had years ago. It all depends on the product and what works for you…A lot of people rave about the CG TruMatch foundation.
    The whole mineral powder foundation thing didn’t do anything for me either. I never really tried Bare Minerals, but I tried the pressed Pur Minerals. It just looks like you took translucent powder and poofed it all over without anything else. I just don’t get it, but some people like it so I am not slamming BM or powder foundation. I might have been doing it wrong since I didn’t know much about makeup the .
    The last thing I can think of is white HD loose finishing powder. I know many truly love it. I have the e.l.f. and MUFE versions. I feel like it is an okay powder that does go on silky, but I think it was hyped up about it completely blurring everything, making you looked super flawless and photoshopped in pictures and on camera. I’ve learned to have a light hand with powder, but it still gives a white cast sometimes. I feel like it doesn’t blend as well and the cheaper stuff leaves white flakes. I think maybe I just like fuller coverage, too, and that’s why I use my translucent powder more.
    Wow, didn’t mean for that to be so long, but I never really thought about all the hyped things at once until I read all this. lol.

  • Carol G

    For me, it was the Hourglass Ambient Light powder. Saw so many positive reviews for that product, but when I finally bought it, I thought it was meh. I mean it really wasn’t any better than, say Physicians Formula powders. So yes, from now on I need to stop listening to all the hype. That Ambient powder was expensive so I really need to think before I buy something.

  • Arielle

    The Naked 1 palette was so hyped that I thought I needed it. Ive had it for years and can count on one hand how much I’ve used it. It made me wait soo long to get the znaked 3 – which is my go to palette now. Mac shadows aren’t as top knotch as youtube made them seem and I coukd probably get rid of my ambient lighting palette and be happier with the freed up space because the product doesn’t do much.

  • Bonnie S.

    I second the above comment on the Hourglass Ambient Light powder. Total meh and costs a fortune. That was totally a moment when I was overcome by hype delusion.

    I also second the comment about MAC eyeshadows – terrible quality, so scratchy in the pan, so hard to get smooth coverage, and a ton of fallout.

    Clinique smart serum – what was I thinking? Yes, for a nanosecond I actually believed a serum could be infused with intelligence – I guess I shut down my own intelligence temporarily at that moment when I purchased it, $65!

  • Lacy

    I’m going to branch out and touch on a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Example: Checking Sephora’s website for new products I may be interested in, see it has high ratings so I go through to read the comments to get a sense of quality performance, pros, cons etc to deduce if I want to purchase it or not only to scroll through and see people giving products 5 stars because their so freakin excited for it to launch or they can’t wait to get their hands on it blah blah blah… but nothing relative about the product itself!… it hasn’t even been tried yet. This really pisses me off! It skews the actual rating once the product does come out. Everyone’s so excited meanwhile it finally hits shelves, people do an actual review and the quality sucks, or the pigment payoff sucks, maybe it’s too drying and didn’t live up to the hype ><

  • reen

    overhype and overrated products…aghhh aweful because u go into purchase it with such high expectations!

    Nars orgasm blush, so many rave about it, and claim it works for all skin tones. I did not like it one bit! too shimmery and bold! I always prefer softer blush colors!

    also the naked palletes, although they r very good, I don’t see the reason for the obsession!

  • Kimberly

    One more–Bobbi Brown eyeshadows! Absolutely NO pigment and expensive! I do like her lipsticks, though.

  • Majick

    WHew, I probably forgot about more than I can remember LOL. (that’s what happens when you are “seasoned” LMAO)

    I have to agree Bobbi Brown eye shadows, hourglass ambient powder (it’s good but subtle and not really necessary), and the super high end Guerlain lipsticks in the fancy case. They’re pretty but the case doesn’t stay closed in my bag and it’s not refillable. I know it’s “luxury” but luxury doesn’t have to be so bad for the planet. If these cases are touted as “jewelry” you should be able to use them for longer than the life of a lippie.
    Sorry went off on a tangent. I have a headache today. great thread.

  • mirandagrosvenor

    I hyped up the old Cargo e/s palettes in my own mind, so that when I finally got them, they didn’t measure up…but that’s my own failing. I’ve had “lemmings” for lots of things that aren’t necessarily hugely popular but didn’t always measure up once I had them in my hand.

    I’ve stopped ready any blogs that are either MAC or mineral obsessed. They act like if you don’t throw out all your other makeup you must be an idiot.

    And I agree with Ashley about magazines and beauty bloggers/vloggers pushing makeup that is WAY too expensive. That’s what was nice about ‘Teen when it was still out, the most expensive thing they pushed was Revlon.

  • Cassia

    I did buy some Lush and Josie Maran’s products because of so many rave about them on youtube, blogs and I ended up hating, cause they did nothing for me. Some Lush products are too perfumey and do nothing for your skin and hair. Josie Maran’s products are nice if used alone, but together they’re a mess, turned me into a greasy ball.

  • Charlotte

    Totally agree about mascaras and primers! I still haven’t found one of either that matches up to it’s claims and actually does what I would want it to do!
    I am glad to see some mention of the Hourglass powders. I haven’t succumbed but people go on about them so much and it really puts me off. I did however get the Dim infusion blush after having a makeover with it and yes, while it is nice – it is JUST a blusher and don’t get me started about the eyeshadow palettes!

    One range that I think is totally overhyped and I really don’t know why is the Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks. I have Glastonberry and yes, it’s nice but the rest of the range of colours just don’t do it for me – they just seem a bit ‘off’ and all a bit orangey, yet so many people seem to love them. It is telling that a lot seem to sell/swap them on though after the initial purchase glow has worn off!

  • Lulubelle

    Tom Ford. I’ve tried two items now, a lipstick and cream eyeshadow, and both were a let down. It wouldn’t be a big deal if they didn’t cost so much, but that definitely heightened the disappointment.