March 7, 2017

The Beauty Brand That Pisses Me Off the Most Is……….

Fill in the beauty blank, the beauty brand that pisses me off the most is_________________________________________.

Pick a brand, any brand, who gets your blood boiling, who really makes you mad? Maybe it’s because they suddenly changed your favorite foundation formula or maybe you just hate the names of their products or the way they present items.

Tell me which beauty brand pisses you off.

I don’t have a brand in particular that pisses me off or angers me but brands on a whole lately do. I’ve never thought I’d say this but the constant new releases can be overwhelming sometimes. It seems like many, many brands release products every day versus the seasonal releases that we’re used to. I’ve been blogging 10 years and I remember a time that collections were launched every season. Nowadays, there’s so much more everything. As a beauty and makeup addict I both love and hate this. Love the newness but hate the fact that I don’t have a chance to enjoy that brand new sparkly palette before another brand new sparkly palette is taking its place. Gimme a sec to breath….!

I have to admit I’m also kind of disappointed at Holiday releases lately too. The quality just isn’t what it used to be!

Actually, thinking about it now, there is one brand that pisses me off. Bath & Body Works! I love their stuff and it’s easy to get sucked into their vortex but I hate, hate, hate that many of their new collections are so repetitive. Everything just smells the same after a while. I miss the Temptations days!

Which of your favorite brands is starting to anger you?

Do share!

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

  • Leslie

    Not really any brand particularly, but it pisses me off when a makeup company releases limited edition and they act like it’s the be-all, end-all of makeup products lol. I don’t do limited edition. I don’t care if it’s a pretty package. Don’t get me wrong….I love beautiful packaging but the product inside is what matters. A lipstick or eyeshadow palette that houses inferior product isn’t the price of the packaging. Know what I mean lol?

    • Isabella Muse

      limited edition is a term too loosely thrown around. they really don’t mean LE because at some point it becomes available again or to add salt to the wound it goes on sale!

      • Amanda

        Yeah, I’ve reached a point with Urban Decay LE collections that I just wait until they go on sale.

        • Isabella Muse

          UD is the worst offender with LE products that go on sale!

          • Amanda

            I’ve literally picked which of the lipsticks in the After Dark collection I want and am now just waiting.

  • Susan

    Has angered me for a while and which I boycott: Kat von D. Her equating those of us who eat meat to animal abusers (when she has a home full of taxidermied animals) royally pissed me off. I had never bought any of her products but that guaranteed that I never, ever will.

    Has started to anger me: Too Faced. The quality has seriously diminished in the past year but it’s all so cutesy and hyped. I know, I know — don’t have to buy into the hype.

    • Laura

      Ugh yes. Too faced. It’s a love-hate because they have some really great products but I feel like they have been releasing a lot of crap lately with too much hype surrounding it.

      • genevieve

        Too Faced seem to care more about their packaging than they do about their products. And not everyone appreciates the smell – peanut butter, chocolate etc.

    • kimkats

      I second both of those – KVD has become a royal hypocrite and PITA – I don’t buy from her line anymore. And too faced? It’s turning into kiddie makeup with seriously grown up prices… If it were to go insanely on sale *and* if it were worth a hoot quality-wise, I might do it, but not at full price. Newp…. ain’t a-gonna do it… Wouldn’t be prudent….

      • Do

        I just want to acknowledge and tell you I was amused by your retro reference to Dana Carvey playing (the first) President Bush, kimkats.

    • Thea

      I came in here to say the same thing about Kat Von D. Besides the hypocrisy, eating/not eating meat is a choice everyone is allowed to make for themselves. We are, after all, bologically programmed to be omnivores. And her stance completely ignores socioeconomic reasons and medical reasons people eat meat. It just pisses me off to no end. As much as I want some of the stuff her brand has been putting out recently, I refuse to buy it any more.

      • Bonnie

        To all the Kat Von D haters: who cares. I ADORE Kat von D; she’s an icon in my world. She is a fierce animal advocate and she’s a woman on the go with many businesses – what a great role model. As for eating meat – you all say it’s a choice but it isn’t a choice for the ANIMALS is it? They didn’t want to be slaughtered.

        Kat has SPOKEN about her taxidermy, revealing that the animals were dead, they were road kill, and besides the point, she obtained her collection before she went VEGAN.

        Kat’s products are cruelty-free and fabulous. I love her, and her brand, and all that she stands for.

    • Dakota

      Just to be fair, there are plenty of socioeconomic and health reasons NOT to eat meat as well. Meat is one of the most expensive things you can buy and plenty of people eat it despite it contributing to health problems. I just don’t really think it is fair of you to turn this into a *bash the vegetarians* party. I do not mind that she speaks her mind on an issue when so many massive companies still conduct unnecessary animal testing. Everyone draws a line for themselves and I respect that she is passionate about an important issue.

      • Susan

        I was not bashing vegetarians for being vegetarians. I was pointing out hypocrisy and rudeness. “Being passionate about an issue” is not, in and of itself, an admirable quality; one can say the same thing about all of history’s most despicable dictators.

        • Bonnie

          I am unashamedly passionate about animal rights. DO NOT compare me to a dictator! I am also passionate about human rights, the rights of the poor, the rights of those living under brutal regimes. Yes I am PASSIONATE about life, I express my passion with joy and I respond to the bashings online with love.

          We are all children of God. Or not (if you’re atheist, of course)

          Blessings.

    • Grtpumk

      Agreed re: KvD. Sad, she used to be someone I admired before all the makeup but not not.

  • Kyra

    Too Faced. I’m frustrated at how they are so gimmicky and cutesy they are. And my eyes got puffy from the Peach Palette so I wasted $45. I want to love the brand but I don’t think I’ll purchase too much more.

  • Anais Bon

    Too Faced. Their eyeshadow palettes are just inconsistent most of the time.

    • Tammy Craft

      I agree. Between the goofy peach presentation and makeup and the disappointing hit or miss palettes, along with overpricing everything, I’ve had enough. No more Too Faced for me.

  • Sarah

    Tarte. Their products for me, have gone down the toilet, along with my money. Too faced is a close second. I just want their old formulas back. Please! But, alas, I will continue to buy.

    I too agree with B&BW. I get sucked in quite a lot. Just got a great email deal from them today.

    • Isabella Muse

      Yeah, also Urban Decay lately 🙁 I miss the old days a lot! I used to have a lot of willpower with BBW but the past few months I got sucked back in and I keep banging my head against the wall asking myself WHY? Because really, it’s all the same! Release after release after release is just the same damn thing.

      • Tammy Craft

        I agree BBW hasn’t come up with anything really exciting in a while however I managed to get sucked in too.

    • Aneiren

      I was a total Tarte junkie for a few years, but since they started releasing all these new lines and every couple years replacing with something else… I can’t hang with that. I need to know that this here product I love will be here in five years.

    • stephanie

      I agree, I used to love Tarte SO much like 15 years ago. They have changed so much and not for the better. Miss their perfume and and I want my Jake and Samantha lip gloss!

  • Chris

    Many brands drive me nuts — a certain product is introduced but it’s on their website or is it at Ulta? Or Sephora? Or Neiman Marcus? Or Nordstrom? You have to carry a smart phone to remember where you’re looking for that ‘exclusive’!

    Or certain products are only available around the Holidays not year round.

    I think there are too many products out there — primers, serums, moisturizers with sunscreen, with Vitamin C, color correcting moisturizers or primers, foundations with peptides, without peptides, highlighters in powder, liquids and on and on.

    It’s just too much stuff!

  • Kelsey

    L’Oreal. Their Gloss Stains were INCREDIBLE- pigmented, with staying power, no migration, and flattering, vibrant colors. And then they discontinued them. Still heartbroken, to be honest.

  • Dana

    Great question. I cannot think of a brand per se.. but do hate it when people post reviews of make-up like lipstick, blush etc. and rave about loving the color but not specifying which color they purchased. There are like 20 colors and I have no idea which one they are talking about.

    • Isabella Muse

      hah I am so guilty of this when I started blogging! I dunno what the hell I was thinking?!

    • kjh

      A comment on Temptalia clarified this, possibly. It’s the saccharine in the shadows, which is actually a sulfa derivative. Who knew? Course, there’s always carmine, as well. It behooves you to figure out what your offending ingredients are, so you don’t make the same mistake twice. Cosdna can be very helpful, with their safety rating of ingredients. That’s how I deduced a few culprits, like Benzyl salicylate. Thanks, Terry de G, mufe waterblend, etc.

  • Liz

    That’s a good one…but tough!! I think i’m having issues with Too Faced . All the new products so close together and then half the time they call them limited edition so you can’t really get them and then when do you get them the quality is sub-par.

    Also can we talk about drugstore makeup prices? I’m not sure who’s to blame for that but I don’t know why the prices have gotten so crazy. Almost $10 for a lipstick, $14 for a blush, $10-11 for a Covergirl mascara, some of the new foundations are $15-17? Geez.

    • kimkats

      Oh, AMEN to that!! Drugstore makeup used to be a nice cheap thrill – now it’s not much less expensive than department store MU! I’ve gotten a lot more selective about what I buy in the last few years, and I know part of that is because so much has become more readily available to me with Ulta and a JCP sephora opening up here. The thrill of the chase is gone now, and I can just go get it if I want it, and oddly, that seems to have really winnowed down my spending..

      but you are exactly right – drugstore items have gone up in price so much in the last several years it makes me not want to buy it and just spend a few more $$ on higher end things…. and the drugstore sales pretty much suck now too – used to be you could find BOGOF nearly every other week, and now it’s BOGO 50% off, which means you *have* to buy 2 to have any savings at all. and that pisses me off too..

      Come to think of it, a lot of things piss me off about drugstore makeup! 😀

      • Jodi J.

        What pisses me off about drugstore is when they don’t list prices in the ad. Especially when it’s ‘buy 1 get one 50%’. If I want to buy an item I want to know how much it’s going to cost before I make a trip to the store.

    • EliCaroline

      Agree!

      Also the absence of testers for drugstore products. UGH! This bothers me so much. There have been several times that I have purchased foundation from drugstore/Ulta and it’s turned out to be horrible foundation for me. It’s not as if I had the option to test it or look at it before spending my $ on it.
      I just can’t believe there are no testers, especially when the price of the products has increased so much.

    • Carrie

      I’m not a victim of it by far, but that’s one of my biggest make up pet peeves and Physician’s Formula is the biggest offender. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to cater to all skin tones. Many brands have done it so far, why is it apparently too much effort to make products that cater to deeper/darker skin tones?

    • Jasmine

      YES. I was scrolling through the comments section hoping someone else would mention how outdated and out of touch Physician’s Formula is with their color selections. It’s 2017 for crying out loud. Maybe it was ok and accepted to have 2 shades of alabaster back in the day, but how they refuse to expand their shade range bugs me, almost offends me, every time I pass by their makeup. Maybe their stuff is good (in all honestly, things i’ve tried from them have been mostly misses), but the fact that they can’t seem to cater to the modern consumer makes me draw a conclusion that they do not compare to other brands and aren’t capable. As a result, i don’t even bother to spend my money on them. If they can’t cater to the majority of those outside their shades, why should i return the favor and be a loyal customer?

  • mushlice

    Maybelline
    Somehow I always pick products that are not very good then simply throw it away and waste my money.
    While the eyeliner I found really good (master precise skinny) seems discontinued that I cannot find it anywhere anymore.

    I know Maybelline has very good reputation in Japan, because they release quite a lot Japan exclusive items for Asian. They are simply not available in US, or either the formula is different (mascara). This sucks.

    Don’t know what they are thinking.

    • Michelle

      I used to use Maybelline Master Drama pencil eyeliner and cant find it anywhere. Turns out it is discontinued. I have yet to find a good, smooth, jet black eyeliner still. Most I have are not a true black. Any reccomendations?

      • Lorien

        Try Essence’s Gel Pencil or Milani Liquif’Eye. I think Milani recently renamed it, but I’ve seen the new version around.

  • Michelle

    MAC, because all my favorite lipsticks are limited editions! Once in a great while they may rerun something, but once it’s gone, that’s it.

  • Hayley

    Haha, I love this post! I agree with what a lot of people are saying about too faced. I don’t have a certain brand, but just that I agree with you about how there’s just too many new releases, and I am so freaking annoyed by the out of control highlight trend. Purple highlighter, blue hightlights, etc, do people really want that on their face? And some brands, cough Becca cough charge sooooo much for their highlight palettes and what not. It’s getting ridiculous

    • Isabella Muse

      oh god Don’t get me started on highlighters, I’m literally exhausted from it.

      • Susan

        What IS the deal with highlighters lately? How many can one person own? Why are there green ones? ABIRWWNBN (Another blogger I read who will not be named) is reviewing literally dozens of highlighters every week lately, in addition to the usual lip colors etc., and all the products have blended together into one giant ball of shimmer in my mind. I just can’t any more.

        • Isabella Muse

          me neither. I’m just really over it. There’s literally like a highlighter released every week!

          • Sarah S.

            OMG I’m glad I don’t blog anymore… I don’t even use highlighter because I have a “natural glow” XD or if I really want the visible-from-space look eyeshadow has ALWAYS worked in that function!

    • Mariam

      Some of us like weird makeup…. Besides purple highlighter doesn’t look weird on my yellow skin and my gf has really fair skin and blue highlight actually looks fairly natural on her. Besides, before alternative makeup become more mainstream plenty of us would use eye shadows and eyeliners on our face and lips, so it’s really not a new thing

  • Laurel

    First- Kat Von D. Will never forgive her for the “celebutard” name. Or her feud with Jeffree Star (he’s no saint for sure but I don’t like the way she went about ending their friendship so publicly unnecessarily, especially considering her own past).

    Also Cle de Peau. LOVE their concealer. LOVE their brushes. HATE that most of their powder products are mediocre AF.

    • Mariam

      I’m someone for whom the word retard applies (I’m autistic and if I lived a century ago I would probably have been classified as retarded (or crazy)) so yeah, no, I hated that name

    • Amanda

      Revlon? I literally just went and smelled one of the super lustrous lipsticks and it smelled like nothing. L’Oreal lipsticks and Maybelline lipsticks, on the other hand, are very strongly scented.

      • Liz

        Ugh i’m the weird one that LOVES that L’Oreal lipstick smell…

        • Claudia

          I love the scent of them too. But I hate the scent of MAC lipstick. Makes me gag.

      • Victoria

        Hm… The last Revlon lip product I tried was the ultra hd gel and it smelled very strongly like artificial fruit punch. I haven’t tried the lustrous lipstick.

        I’ll be a happy camper if lip products don’t have scents or at least have them stated consistently.

        l’oréal and maybelline lip products do smell as well, maybe Revlon stood out to me cuz I really wanted the hd gel lipstick.

        • Tammy Craft

          I must be the odd one out, but I have never had a problem with lipstick smells or even paid attention. I can however see how something might really bother. I can’t stand all these perfumes or colognes that smell like fruit punch or candy. Too much for me.

  • Caroline

    Colourpop!! I fell into the hype when it was first getting big, and I regret literally every purchase I made. Their lippies are SO horrible and uncomfortable to wear, their eyeshadows are hard to work with (and I am certainly no newbie when it comes to eyeshadow!), and I actually liked their blushes but they dried out on me SO fast! I have other cream blushes in my collection that are far older and still going strong, but the Colourpop ones are all dried out and unusable. Such a disappointment all around.

    • Flaky

      Me too!!! I jumped right on board when they came out a few years ago, didn’t like them and wrote a review on their website stating why I didn’t like it. No hyperbole – just the facts. They rejected my review!! No more. I’m done.

  • lauren

    TOO FACED! Their mystery bag this past November was filled with ALL clearance items that can be found at Nordstrom Rack. I returned it and they still haven’t refunded me. I feel they hype everything so much and sometimes the quality isn’t there.

      • Tammy Craft

        I was lucky enough to get a Too Faced mystery bag several years ago and there were many nice things, a current palette along with several other current items in a nice Too Faced tin. The new mystery bag seems like it’s just a reflection of how much Too Faced has gone downhill. I’m sorry you had to get a bag like that.

  • diane

    tarte! i’m so disappointed at the direction their social media and marketing has went the past few days. sad because they used to be my absolute favorite.

    • Isabella Muse

      likewise, I don’t get what happened with Tarte. It almost feels like Maureen has no control over any of it anymore.

        • Isabella Muse

          mmm…I try to understand the changes. I’m not as young as I once was and the demographic for makeup seems to cater to a very youthful crowd. I get it, I really do. But I’m of the mentality makeup is for everyone no matter your age, your skin tone, your sex, etc…and, I dunno, the demographic seems to focus on one particular type of person lately. It’s kind of sad really. I’m also recently hating on brands that seem to cash in on men in makeup, it seems very insincere and just some sort of trend. Like Covergirl and James Charles, it doesn’t feel very sincere to me, it just seems like something Covergirl threw together to garner the attention of men who enjoy makeup or wear makeup, something to stir up sales. Maybe I’m being jaded and too cynical. I understand brands wanting to garner the attention of a wider audience, I can’t fault them for that, but I dislike the dishonesty with the people they do choose to work with sometimes.

          • momo

            You know tho I can be both cynical and love marketing stuff like that at the same time. Like if it’s a money grab to go full genderqueer then that is my kind of money grab and u go, marketing team. I can get behind manipulative branding that is showing a world I want to be a part of i.e. chock full of cute boys in makeup not to mention how Covergirl has had all these out or widely believed to be gay spokespeople. I’m gonna buy some impulse lipsticks from time to time and I’d rather buy them from a company that’s showing glam to be more than just photoshopped skinny white ladies.

          • Isabella Muse

            You’re right momo! At the very least they are showing diversity!

          • Deb

            I didn’t see this before I made my post. It is the insincerity of the James Charles commercials that really bother me (it must be the jaded and old thing). For years, I worked in a predominately gay industry (design and fashion related). I find the behavior displayed on the Lashy Lash commercial to be offensive and not exactly a fair portrayal of the gay community.
            I think it is a great idea to market cosmetics to guys, they are not immune to less than perfect skin. We all know the multitude of sins concealer and foundation can hide, I think marketing to young guys is great because they should have the same self-esteem builders as women have available. I think CG’s marketing department should have toned it down because this attempt might have alienated a large pool of potential new customers, with the over the top behavior displayed on the commercial.
            There is a big market of young men with less than perfect skin, CG should targeted this market rather than a select market. My stepson, is a young male, that could benefit from concealer and foundation, the commercial was a real turn off for him. Like it or not, there is an association, I think CG blew it with a large pool of potential new customers.

          • Isabella Muse

            hmm I didn’t get that from the commercial, it seems rather basic? Nothing over the top? But maybe I wasn’t paying close attention!

  • Linda

    I love Nars–great products. But can they stop it already with the explicit sexual product names? I’m no prude but “Deep Throat”, “Sex Machine”, “Triple X”, etc…. Using good makeup makes me feel beautiful and sexy. Innuendo or suggestiveness can be playful and fun. But somewhere they crossed the line into trashiness. This mama doesn’t need my girls seeing that on my vanity. Enough is enough. Too Faced does it too.

    • Elizabeth W

      I totally get this complaint– but products with sexually explicit names actually sell better! It’s so weird but there have been studies and the same product with a raunchy name will sell better than its more tame counterpart. I think once Orgasm was a hit they couldn’t help themselves.

    • kjh

      How ARE you going to explain Pussy Control? All that stuff makes me laugh, but in a vaguely uncomfortable way. Some of UD’s names are more sexually explicit than even Nars. Plus they have massive drug references, as well. Backdoor? Safe Word? Trap Queen? At least I had to look the last one up!

      • Isa

        I was taken aback by that name too, like wth does Pussy Control even mean?! But apparently some of the products in that line are named after Prince songs.

      • Aneiren

        Yeah I cannot stand stuff like that. I’m waiting for “track marks”, “hepatitis”, and “overdose” to show up. Ugh.

    • Hayley

      Totally agree. I’m not a prude by any means, but it’s just so silly and gimmicky.

    • stephanie

      I totally peeled the sticker off my orgasm blush…i AM a prude lol

  • Cindy

    For me it’s Too Faced and Tarte eyeshadows. The quality of their eyeshadows have gone really, really, really downhill especially these past 3 years or so. None of their palettes have consistent excellent quality eyeshadows. Most of their eyeshadows are on the drier and patchy side. In the past I’ve purchased 3 Tarte eyeshadow palettes and I’ve returned them all because the quality is just not there for me. As far as Too Faced, the last palette I bought from them was the Peach palette and they quality is decent. For the price the quality should have been amazing. Even the shimmer eyeshadows in the Peach palette are more on the drier side. I will never again buy Too Faced or Tarte eyeshadow palettes again.

  • Mallory

    I agree with brands as a whole pissing me off lately. There’s so much hype around products, which makes them so hard to get! And the amount of money they spend on “influencers” really pisses me off. It’s one thing to send PR, but another thing to send them to Bora Bora and give them iPads and their entire makeup collections two or three times over.

    • Isabella Muse

      At the risk of sounding like a jealous negative Nancy, I agree about sending makeup samples two or three different times!

  • Heidi

    Oh god, I could go on for days on this.

    In brief:

    Drugstore brands:
    They’re getting too pricey, sometimes on par with what you’d find at Sephora or on Ulta’s premium side. (Hello, Maybelline, Physicians Formula…)

    High-end brands:
    Too many LE releases. Also, higher-end brands who put their LEs on sale after a few months. I love the sale price but hated that I paid full price for it six months ago.

    Overall:
    Why do so many companies put so much fragrance in products? I don’t want a lipgloss that smells like peach schnapps or dryer sheets. (I’m looking at you Too Faced and Maybelline!)
    Do companies ever test their products before releasing them, in particular to make sure an entire line performs at least fairly consistently. (Why does Kat Von D’s Studded Kiss in Motorhead apply patchy and settle in lip lines but BauHau5 performs like a dream?) And why do companies even release lip crayons, etc., that break and fly out of the tube after three uses? Does this even get tested?

  • AJ

    All brands that WERE cruelty free or that sell vegan products but then are bought by companies that sell in China–where animal testing is still required by law. I used to love NYX so much. They have fun products, they sponsored (still do?) RuPaul’s Drag Race, and their prices were so low. I felt good whenever I bought something NYX. Then L’Oreal bought NYX. L’Oreal sells its products in China and I doubt very much that it would purchase a brand for a lot of money and then not include it in its offerings in China. L’Oreal also purchased Urban Decay, way back in 2013, so I don’t kid myself that it’s still cruelty free. And Too Faced! I loved Too Faced but they were purchased by Estee Lauder, a conglomerate of beauty products that tests on animals “only where required by law,” such as in CHINA! Despicable and disgusting, not to mention devious. People like the IT Cosmetics founder claim that they will still not test on animals. Well, she has merely a nominal position within L’Oreal now (and she’s also very rich now), so I don’t believe any statement like that.

    I’m starting to think that I should order beauty products only from UK retailers. In Britain and the EU, animal testing is against the law, so I believe that if you buy there, those products haven’t been tested. Anywhere else I just don’t trust.

    • Elizabeth W

      This! I hate that I have to do a weekly search on who is still cruelty-free.

    • Carrie

      Actually, when UD was bought out by L’Oreal, one of the deals they made was that they could remain a cruelty free brand. I can’t speak for IT or Too Faced though.

      • Isa

        Apparently the ex-owner of Too Faced also stated that one of the clauses in the contract he signed with Estee Lauder is that Too Faced would remain a cruelty free brand.

        • Leigh

          Thank you all who did some research! Parent companies have to accept certain conditions when they “acquire” a company. In the case of multiple companies like NYX, UD, Too Faced, and It Cosmetics the company being “acquired” sets multiple conditions that the prospective parent company must be able to meet. For the aforementioned companies this includes a sort of “neener” clause that allows the company to opt out of any actions that would loose them their cruelty-free status, including selling in China. Considering that the parent company actually makes quite a bit just making these products available in the EU where there is a lot of demand, the “acquisition” is still often considered worthwhile. That clear a few things up?

          • AJ

            Thanks! Yes all the information shared here is helpful. I like the “neener” clause, but I don’t trust it. Because money talks. Why would L’Oreal purchase IT Cosmetics for over a Billion-with-a-B dollars and then stay away from the rapidly burgeoning China market? Maybe L’Oreal will be fine keeping their cruelty free acquisitions out of China. But when there is a lot of money to be made and there are stockholders to please or new mansions to design (cough Jarrod Blandino cough) and enough time passes then CRUELTY FOR BEAUTY is barely a whisper. I type this while holding my sweet giant rescue kitty and feeling thankful he is safe from needless torture. I also want to reach for my coffee cup but can’t without disturbing his morning Zen. 🙂

    • Susan K.

      Thanks for this. Sad and unnecessary. I’ll miss NYX lipsticks, especially.

  • Fey

    Mine would be Jeffree Star and Lime Crime. They truly have incredible products with impressive color selections. However, the two brands are notorious for poor customer service to the point of lashing out at customers with rude comments. I haven’t been able to get past that part of their image to enjoy the beautiful products. Business ethics and PR are important to me.

  • cecilia

    Kat von D for reasons stated above, ableism is not cute and will get you exactly 0 of my cash.
    Also Kylie cosmetics, how such a unprofessional company manages to stay in business is beyond me.

  • emeris

    One brand the comes to mind is MAC. So many limited edition and new collections all .. the .. time. The quality just doesn’t work for me. Also, after one too many snotty and flat out bad customer and counter service experiences, I decided it was better to spend my money elsewhere and on products that work better for me.

    • Anne

      I also had multiple bad counter experiences at MAC, and I wondered if it’s because I’m too old/not cute enough (I didn’t start having $$ for that sort of makeup until I was in my 30s, I’m now 40-something). And since the people at nearby Sephora were always so darn nice, MAC lost my business. And now every time I see a blog post on something new and gorgeous by MAC, I think “harrumph” even though I’m irrationally holding the actions of a handful of salespeople against an entire company.

      • Isabella Muse

        naa it isn’t age, just depends on the mac counter, sometimes you get really good MAs and other times they are snottyyyyyyyyyy!

    • Grtpumk

      I’m currently super-pissed at MAC. They offer a discount to “Select” members, but not everything is included under a “select professional products” section of the disclaimer ” weasel clause. Just list the exclusions specifically so we know! Sheesh!

  • Christine Joy Luikuo

    e.l.f.! It’s not the brand that I hate but the official distributor here in the Philippines. The product selections here are soooo few. Never have I seen an e.l.f. stall selling a newly-released product. The brand has lots of brushes but there are only three or four available from Studio line and some from Essentials line.

  • Aneiren

    UD annoys me with their names, NARS too. I just cringe at anything overtly sexual or grungy drug related. Too Faced is obnoxious with their incessant releases. Trying to cash in on “exclusivity.”

    • Michelle Flamingo

      I completely agree with you about cringing at color or product names being sexual, drug related, violent related, etc. I would never buy anything from NARS, Urban Decay and Too Faced because they have blown it in these areas.

  • Jay

    I hate the so called cruelty free companies that sell out but then try to make us believe they are still cruelty free when they are not. Makes me sick. I also can’t stand this whole
    influencer trend with promoting. There is no way I am going to believe the review of someone who get’s a free vacation to BoraBora for promoting the product. (I’m looking at you tarte). I like real reviews from honest people (I’m looking at you Muse) 🙂

    • Isabella Muse

      haha thanks Jay. I can’t say that every single person that went to Bora Bora is out there giving false reviews but I think it sways your opinion if you are getting free gifts/swag/etc….!

    • Hayley

      I freaking agree!! All these youtubers going to fashion shows with makeup companies, going on vacation, giving away computers, come on people. Do they expect us to believe their reviews are honest??

  • Alexis Towle

    Wow! what an entertaining read!

    The makeup brand that pisses me off the most is….Clinique (Okay I know its skincare too). Their products are too hit and miss. Clinique items are exactly at drugstore prices for a fail either.

    • April

      My issue witb clinique is that a product I have loved and purchased multiple times is suddenly discontinued. Their gel blush and Matte eye shadow (chocolate kiss) is no longer available. I have found that the Sephora gel blush is a great replacement, however have spent too much time and money trying to find a similar warm matte brown

  • lauren

    I also usually love IT Cosmetics but their QVC today specials are always the same products!! The CC cream and celebration foundation to be exact. I feel they don’t have any new exciting products.

    • Isabella Muse

      yes to all this Lauren. the constant reruns drive me up a wall. March 18 they have a new TSV and surprise, same stuff, different day 🙁

      • Amanda

        I’m embarrassed to admit how many bottles of Josie Maran Argan Oil I have in my bathroom, courtesy of all her TSVs! (I’ll use them eventually, but holy oil overload!)

  • Susan

    It seems like this post is really hitting a nerve with many people; it sure is with me. So that I don’t sound like all bee-yotch all the time, how about another post later in the week about brands that have stepped up their game, gotten better, surprised you in a good way. I could use some new enabling, ha ha.

  • Agona

    I’d rather see less releases an consistent quality over all. LE quality should not be lesser than the permanent line. And there should be a permanent line, not a constant rotating collection of LE items.

  • Lorien

    I just think Tarte is boring. Honestly how many palettes full of brown eyeshadow does one need? How many “safe” blushes and lipsticks? I mean come on , inject a little color into your shade range already! Annoying!
    I will say that I really do appreciate the companies that are doing more bizarre colors of highlights and duo chrome eyeshadows, ect. I think a nuetral look with a flash of green on the cheeks is very cool and unexpected. I love unique colors, brights, glitter, et al. Makeup should be fun! So, I’m let down by Tarte, sometimes Stila (though the new glitter metallic shadows are making up for some of their boring stuff) and honestly, I LOVE the fun, scented and cute palettes that Too Faced is putting out, but the colors are again, kinda drab. Let’s shake it up a bit!
    It is pretty cool to see some major brands finally putting out more unique shades though, like the Alchemist palette. I’ve seen getting colors like that from indie companies like Fyrinnae for ages. It’s nice to see a bigger company’s take on some of that. Urban Decay used to be so good for that, and they still are to a point, but even they have sorta gotten boring with all the Naked stuff. It’s nice to see things like Full Spectrum, but they need to get they’re quality back on track.

    • Mallory

      I love all the funky color and duo chrome highlighters that are being released! I prefer them to the “normal” highlighters.

  • Janessa

    The fact that Benefit is no longer cruelty free pisses me off to no end. I really try to use cruelty free exclusively, and I hate when brands lose their PinkBunny seal…

  • AE

    Benefit! They make little to no effort to be inclusive of women of color. This recent Hoola lite release really demonstrated to me that they’re not concerned. In addition to their lackluster product offerings, their social media pages are almost devoid of diversity. Tarte is also one that I’m moving away from because of this.

  • varya

    Tom Ford.The quality has dived and the prices are still going up. Plus it is ridiculously overpriced in the first place. Louboutin. The packaging is crass and ugly. I also think the LEs are ridiculous. If a product is so fab,why take it out of production? Could it be that oftentimes the product is mediocre and so needs extra hype and marketing?

    • Vicky

      OMG Louboutin! I have no idea how their lip products got so hyped up in the first place, the design looks like a bu*t (cough) plug lol. And all the raving about it comes with a ribbon and could be worn as a necklace….Come on ladies, would you seriously wear a bu*t (cough) plug as a necklace?!!

      • Merry Rower

        Completely agree about the Louboutin comments! I almost feel like it was a contemptuous trick on their customers, “Let’s sell them 85. lip glosses in the shape of b-tt plugs. They’re such clueless lemmings, they’ll actually buy them!”

  • Robin

    Great topic. It’s been said and I will add to it: Too Faced. This used to be the one company I would enjoy their products. The last palette was the chocolate palette, which I like, but I now wait for the reviews before buying their stuff. The quality is horrible now. I know the owners want to open up stores, but why bother? If you are not going to generate a quality product, no one is going to buy it no matter if it’s sold online, Sephora.Ulta, or in a cute boutique.

    Brands who are inconsistent with shades. Laura Geller, I’m looking at you!! She has two new liquid foundations at Ulta. Porcelains are two different colors!!! They should be the same color!! baked Radiance porcelain is terra-cotta orange!!! The other foundation, Lock it, is a true porcelain shade. Shade names should be consistent within the same company!!!

    people of earth: enough with the highlighting!!! Some of These you tubers look like a disco ball version of Rudolph the Red Nise Reindeer. The tip of your nose should not be seen by NASA satellites!!!

  • momo

    So I agree with everyone about Tarte and Too Faced – their powder products have been constant garbage for me and don’t get me started on those tarte eyeliners that dry out in 2 months flat, though both have some lip products I like. But my real brand foe is just a deeply personal hate: Benefit. I can’t stand all the white girl cartoons on their packaging – vintage does not preclude diversity yo. I can’t stand the “this one magic product will save your life” branding. I can’t stand how boring their stuff is and how all their concealers crease the heck up on ya after an hour or two. And I especially can’t stand how they advertise by telling women how not to do their makeup – I am so over shame based marketing for women and boy do they ever revel in it.
    It’s tragic because I am trashy af and I love their origin story, but I can’t get behind their modern persona.

    • Felis

      Oh yeah, Benefit. With their diversity issues (love to try Erase Paste concealer, maybe it shouldn’t come in three shades of Caucasian) and their animal testing. I am so DONE with them after their horrible “Yuck/Wow” ads. Oh, so it’s “yuck” to wear glasses? I’m “yuck” for preferring not to wear winged graphic eyeliner and a pound of their flaky-ass mascara? Guess I’m too “yuck” for shame-based marketing, jerks. Have this bag of d*cks to replace my makeup dollars, you’ve earned it.

      • Wingadings

        Yup that marketing was truly unfortunate. Not everyone likes wings on their eyeliner. Mine seems to migrate everytime… 🙁

  • Sarah

    Mine is a general pet peeve that applies to just about all brands: Not having a pale and cool toned foundation that works for me. 90% of brands lightest shade is 2-3 shades too dark for me, and when I do find one that’s light enough, it’s so yellow I look jaundiced. On the occasions I do find a shade that works it ALWAYS gets discontinued.
    And If a brand doesn’t have a light shade that works for me you better bet the other end of the foundation spectrum is lacking as well. So frustrating!

    • AJ

      AGREE AGREE AGREE. I hate to support these two companies (animal testers!), but the NARS foundation shade range actually allows me to use the second-most lightest shade, Mont Blanc. Siberia is their lightest. I’m porcelain pink and can really understand your frustration. The Too Faced Born this Way concealer has also proven to work with my translucent pink skin tone. I keep shade Very Fair in my purse so I can rush-blend it into my nose, chin, and mouth corners when in a rush, and for me it blends well enough that if I don’t get to my cheeks or forehead, I know there are no lines or weird looking contrasts.

    • Jane

      Serious co-sign. I can hardly find a shade for myself, but it’s a far bigger issue on the other end.

  • kjh

    You know, I’ve been addicted to m/u since the70s, and I can find something annoying about virtually every brand! Many brands use known sensitizers, which is both unnecessary and unforgivable. MAC: wtf needs 5 l.e. releases per month, just to drive up the frenzy and fomo…and then have most (esp eye products) be subpar? The social media pandering and tie-ins annoy the shit out of me. Too Faced is so ultra puerile right now. Scented products may appeal to some, but they are bad skin ingredients or allergens to many. Making holiday products massively in the PRC is bad enough, without pretending that they are regular US mfg. Sephora, Tarte, and tf, I think are all guilty. Too many cos cos (cosmetics companies) are becoming one trick ponies. If I see one more warm neutral eye palette, I might retch. ABH scored with Mod Ren, but how many highlighting palettes does one need? ATS is becoming so repetitive, that I have spent ZERO at Sephora thus far (been rouge for years) and done only one tiny Ulta order. That included the Nyx Gloomy Filter palette. At least that is something different. And let’s not get into the one sided feud I am having with MUG, that doubled my order. No response ever, when I sent it back and complained. Cos in general do not do a good job predicting demand. Certain shades are ALWAYS out of stock. I feel like a curmudgeon, but they deserve it. Even my wish list isn’t very long. I could probably make up the entire state of Mass, including gents who desire to, but this shit has gotten too crazy. Enough, already!

    • Merry Rower

      I’m with you, kjh. I’ve loved make-up since the 70’s and even got an extra job as a Macy’s beauty SA when I was a teen (the rest of the time I was a lifeguard), just so I could play with the make-up and perfume and get a discount.

      But it’s not as much fun anymore. Too much product. Products very repetitive. Too much Kardashian influence = one standard of beauty which is so tired. And I don’t think it’s just my age. Rather, there’s a lot less joy in it and so much crazed hype.

      I’d also say that the high-end pricing is insane. I’m at a point in my life where I will pay top dollar if I think the product is worth it. But things like those stupid Louboutin polishes and glosses, Tom Ford’s old ladyish lipsticks, by Terry lip balm and Sisley lip pencils, to name just a few, are absurdly priced. There’s a contemptuous feeling about it, as if the companies think we are fools.

      The Kardashian influence, the ceaseless releases, the nonsensical pricing; it all adds up to a big joy suck. And a closed wallet.

  • Brooke

    I absolutely agree with the Too Faced products!!! Sorry, I don’t care for peanut butter jelly honey chocolate peach bullshit. Also, didn’t one of their pallets come with stickers? The totally cute pallet or something?? I loved Lisa Frank as much as the next person but I was also in grade school (not gonna lie tho if Lisa frank comes back and/or has a cosmetic line I may die).
    I also despise when company’s come out with “fall lines” before spring is even here. It’s like walking in to Hobby Lobby in August and being surrounded by Christmas trees.

  • Kay Cake

    There’s not a particular brand that I dislike or makes me so angry that my blood is boiling lol, but it definitely pissed me off so much these days when brands announced their “Limited Edition” products and end up bringing them back by popular demand, it pissed me off even more when these so called LE products goes on sale! Agrhhhhh I also don’t like when products are being reviewed by well-known bloggers, everyone is trying to impress the brand because they got the free stuff and I see no one is ever speaking the truth about the product. When a brand gets popular bloggers or vloggers to review their products, there’s not a single bad thing found on the internet about this product. ya’know?!

  • Jasmine

    Many brands come in mind lately for various reasons. I agree with almost everyone about Too Faced and Tarte. To put bluntly, they sold out MAJOR. And not in a good way. How they flaunt those PR vacation trips to Bora Bora and expect us viewers of influencers to not question the authenticity of their “reviews” is insulting our intelligence. It’s become so social media heavy and hyped up to the max, yet objectively, their products are less than stellar compared to the past. I haven’t bought anything from either brands in years and I am in their key demographic. They may be aiming to get bandwagoners and FOMO hyped teens to buy their products, but they are also alienating their previous loyal customer base.

    I am a mixed black/japanese girl with warm medium/tan skintone. I am considered light in terms of WoC. So how is it that I am having a hard time finding shades to match me, let alone all my sisters who are darker than me? It upsets me how hard it is for women with super pale skin and super dark skin can’t find matches. It’s just not fair to them. I’ve already mentioned how much Physician’s Formula pisses me off with their out of touch mentality of shade ranges in a response to another commenter (feel free to read year’s worth of frustrations in my rant LOL). Neutrogena and Almay are in the same boat. Please take a look at the population and stop assuming 2-3 shades is enough. You guys are huge corporations. So act like one and use your manpower to create some variety in shade ranges. We are customers too.

    How many of the same palettes can Bobbi Brown release? I mean, come onnn. Not that they’re the only brands that release similar palettes all the time, at least other brands venture into adding colors. There’s only so many neutral palettes you can create. Plus the prices are ridiculous for how poor the quality is.

    I do find myself liking Charlotte Tilbury products and was a huge fan since her earlier YouTube days. However, it kinds irks me how much gimmicky copy and marketing is used in her brand. It kinda discredits her years of makeup artistry and veteran status as an iconic artist. Not to mention sort of cheapening her brand’s image, if that makes sense? It kinda makes me cringe how much hype she builds for her items (even the names of her products are .. well you know lol). Like, her products should be great without resorting to “life-changing this” and “literally perfect that” to describe every item in your brand. Using such hyperbole kinda has the opposite effect in making everything sound so basic.

    Wow ranting feels good sometimes hahahah
    But really though. I’m sure there are more brands but those were at the top of my head. I don’t meant to sound negative, but hey these brands aren’t struggling in sales or anything, i think they’ll survive a rant or two.

    • Isabella Muse

      good rant sesh Jasmine particularly about Bobbi Brown. I’m always tempted but I keep reminding myself how many of her repetitive palettes do I really need!?

  • Isa

    I agree with so many of the points above and I can’t really pick out a single company that pisses me of most since so many of them do the same things!

    Something that I have noticed in the last year or so is that makeup companies have been trying to convince consumers that we need more steps in our routines, just so that they can sell more products. Like, Benefit released like 10 brow products at the same time or something like that? And some company that I forget the name of recently released a spray that is supposed go on before primer. Just today, my country’s Sephora page listed a new product by Origins called Maskimizer™ Skin-Optimizing Mask Primer. Like really? Does everything need a primer now? What’s next? A pre-cleansing primer? Ugh.

    • Lisa O’Neill

      That’s just crazy! I think sometimes to myself sometimes: Jeez just how many more products can we put on our face!?

      • Isa

        IKR! If cosmetic companies had their way, we would all need 5hrs to get ready for the day and 3hrs to prep for bed.

  • Wingadings

    Ugh, the scent in everything! Some of it dies down but I don’t like a lot of it to begin with. No your lipstick does not actually smell like roses. What’s the point of perfumes and brand scents if they mess with all the other the smells from your products?

    The shade ranges in foundation are another thing. They rarely reach far into dark territory and a lot of the lightest ones are hilariously yellow. And a pet peeve with the naming of those dark foundations: often food or hot beverage named. You gonna name something “Cocoa” or “Mocha” why not do the same shit with light shades? Wonder Bread, Mayonnaise, Bleached Rice. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be more simple to label foundations with numbers focusing on cool, warm or neutral?

    I’m fine with sexual names like Orgasm but I’m not okay with the names that highlight the sexual exploitation of minors ei: “Underage” or “Lolita”. I really feel like this is just problematic. We already deal with this over sexualiztion of the young- and dual dislike for the fact that we age. I just think it’s ultimately gross how makeup often plays on our insecurities and even after we buy the products we’re reminded that we still are not measuring up to the “standards”. Just my take though.

    The quality thing is one I see mentioned a lot. And totally agree with. I love a bold lip. But, I’m not a fan of the lies about smudge free, transfer proof lip colours. Especially, since these products are usually drying. Recently I got into Lipsense- not trying to peddle it here or anything- but finally a product that doesn’t budge, that is actually kiss proof and beverage proof. I kiss my infant son a lot. It’s not on him at all. The fact that its lead free is a bonus.

    • AJ

      ROTFL!! I would love to see light light shades called Wonder Bread and Mayonnaise! Thanks for the snort-laugh, Wingadings.

      • Wingadings

        Wouldn’t it be hilarious? My tint would probably be Bleached Rice white. But I’d buy it- simply because I’m tired of seeing these shitty not-micro-aggressions aimed at WoC.

        • Lorien

          We get ‘vanilla’, ‘buttercream’ and I even just saw ‘fondant’ on Sephora last week for one of they’re brand foundations or mayyybe bare minerals. I get annoyed with ‘porcelain’ too sometimes, I’m not dishes or a doll, I’m not that delicate!

          • Wingadings

            Never seen buttercream or vanilla before. But Fondant? Ha! That’s actually funny. I’d buy it. “Look guys I’m the sad shade of Fondant! You know, that weird moldable icing that cake artists are always airbrush painting! Whoo!”

    • Sarah S.

      ROFL! I would be Cake Doughnut. But actually that’s not a bad idea… I don’t really like being called any shade of Ivory tbh…

      • Wingadings

        That sounds delicious! Also, second the Ivory thing… like they do realize that ivory is either Hella drying soap or… coming off endangered animals right? At least porcelain is glass…?

  • Dp

    No particular brand except any that have ridiculous prices on items that could have more reasonable price points. Marketing, packaging, etc etc, aside, talc and mica and water (l’eau!!) and so on cannot possibly range so far in value. A baked e.l.f. blush vs. a $30 pan of the same thing with a prestigious name on it is painful to me. Said $30 pans are sometimes unique or better pigmented or “part of a collection” etc, but it takes a really special one to make me pay attention.
    The other thing I hate is “lower end” brands globbing on gallons of glitter. A nice item that could be perfectly suitable in formula is frequently ruined with sparkle like it’s prom time.
    And since I’m on a roll here, department store brands that I have used for years entice me with gifts with purchase. It’s easier to spend $50 on your “perfect” foundation or whatever when you know there’s a goodie bag that comes with it. So I wait for “gift time.” And I have 10 gift time lippies I will never use, moisturizer .5 oz jars I can’t use, etc. Usually gathered and donated. So my gripe is that I’m conditioned to want something free or a goodie bag with everything I buy. Which makes me look harder for better goodies and deals. Can’t change it but I have been noticing a lot lately that there’s a compulsion to need some kind of a bonus every time and lots of little things I receive just sitting around.

  • krankenheim

    The brand I most dislike is Stila. They just don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the quality beauty brands I see at Sephora, Ulta, ect. They don’t seem to have a place in the luxury/quality beauty world and would better be served if they were maybe a Target exclusive. So, why they piss me off is because they’re still taking up too much shelf space at Ulta – space that could be better used for a brand like Nars.

  • Tatiana

    NYX. A lot of their products are good but their customer service trash and they are unreliable. I have never had a brand take forever to process my order then send out an incomplete order (albeit they did refund the item but they never tell customers ANYTHING) because one or more of the products sold out while they were taking their sweet time processing orders. This has happened TWICE to me.

    You can go to their facebook to see just how many people have the same problem (and worse) and how little NYX cares (a lot of people who got the automated “please pm us” response from NYX updated their complaints with how NYX didn’t respond to the pm).

    As such, I’m refusing to buy from them and telling my friends not to buy from them either until they get their act together.

  • Wendy

    Benefit. Their products are gimmicky, way overpriced and the people that they have working for them are snooty as f*k.

  • Karen

    DHC, Murad, Dennis Gross and any other brand that has so many products to address so many issues – just get overwhelmed and give up. Also, redundant catalogs that show the same product at least three times throughout the catalog in different photo’s – really DHC we got it the first time.

  • S

    Yes To… products. My skin is in no way sensitive, yet every one of the products from them that I have tried has given me a horrible reaction! I’ve never had an issue with any other brand, so it’s really weird. I have tried stuff from several of their lines (carrots, tomatoes, blueberries, etc) and all of them cause strange hives and reactions on my skin!

  • Eraser

    I’ll weigh in here on behalf of women “of a certain age”… Estee Lauder ticked me off big time when they got Kendall Jenner. It was always a brand that signified elegance and luxury, but it’s very obvious that they’re making a shameless grab for the younger market. Clinique is doing that too with all their cutesy new products but at least they don’t have a “face”. For a while, EL was really progressing with their models and showing a number of different ages, skintones, etc. Then they have to get one of the Kardashians… ugghh… sorry, but I’m totally sick of that whole family and furthermore, having a model barely in her 20s advertising an anti-aging product is insulting. Some of the reps at my local counter said that Estee’s granddaughter is ruining the company and I don’t wonder.

  • Tabitha

    1. Tarte – their eyeshadows especially are junk & its like they either dont care or havent gotten the memo. Its almost like they dont care about their customers.
    2. Kylie cosmetics- horrible horrible horribly rude uncaring customer service. Ruiners of many a Christmas present this year.
    3. Estee Lauder- BORING
    4. Bare Minerals- responsible for every millenial walking around with 40 tons of mineral powder on their face.
    5. Jeffree Star- good liquid lip/ terrible eyeshadows.

  • Tabitha

    Neutrogena above all my previous mentions for sporting plastic faced Nicole Kidman as their spokesperson. Im sorry I dont like talking about how someone looks I know thats a terrible thing to do but goddam Neutrogena we all know the reason she looks like that isn’t because of your products- you’re not fooling anyone!

  • Debbie

    Too Face has me really mad lately. They use to have such a good formula for their eye shadows, and ever since last year’s Holiday releases, they have really sucked and I have wasted so much of my money buying them.

  • Cheryl

    Damn, Ms. Muse… Great topic to raise today! I have not had an entertaining read like this in a long time! I would love to get together with everyone who commented over a couple of adult beverages and further this discussion. Some great callouts and a lot of shared frustrations. If only the brands would actually pay attention to what their customers have to say…

  • Lesley A.

    I got ensnared by Benefit years ago, buying into their hype about how great things were so much that when I tried something and was underwhelmed I thought maybe I’m using it wrong or I was mistakenly not noticing how wonderful it was. This was a long time ago when I was less confident about what I was doing and that hype totally exacerbated that. I used to get the catalog (so yeah this was a long time ago) and believe when they said I needed x,y, and z. I eventually realized that none, yes none, of the items worked and stopped buying. Also, wanted to mention about foundation shade ranges, the one I have seen with the most options was Alima Pure Satin Matte Foundation (it’s a loose powder one, which I realize is not everybody’s thing). But they even narrowed a bit — they used to have 61 shades and now they have 45. Looks like the palest ones (were Level 0) are not there anymore, starts at 1, but their Level 1 is still lighter than the lightest shade for most brands. FWIW: https://www.alimapure.com/products/satin-matte-foundation

  • kel h.

    laura mercier for discontinuing creme de pistache last year with no warning. one of my favorite bath products and fragrances of all time.

  • Deb

    Cover Girl’s, Cover Boy is not going over well with me, it must be age related.

    • Isabella Muse

      I like the idea of a Coverboy a lot. I just it came from a more sincere place, it seems like they just want to milk a cash cow.

    • Wingadings

      I was quite into having the Cover Boy… maybe it would have been nice to have more than one though… and he wasn’t completely horrible at first. But then he went and outed himself as a horrible racist on social media. He got called out for it and then doubled down too. So unfortunate.

  • dia

    Too Faced and Benefit dont really piss me off, but I can’t bring myself to spend $40 on cosmetics whose packaging look like I bought it at a Daiso for $1.50.

  • Danielle

    Omg, where to start? Estee Lauder for changing the Double Wear Maximum Cover Camouflage colors/formulas. Toofaced has the worst customer service ever. It took me 3 months to settle a return and I think it’s still wrong, but I give up. I don’t like MAC eyeshadows. They’re too dry. Guerlain for changing the meteorites container/puff to sponge/quantity, etc. Higher end brands for releasing collection after collection- going for quantity over quality. In general: over hyping stuff on IG, then when you swatch it the product sucks (lacks pigmentation, etc.) Releasing limited quantity of products, then re-releasing them, seeing it on evil bay for 5x the price, etc. What’s the point? Ugh…. the things we do for beauty!

  • judyo

    please, josie maran —don’t use the word “juicy” again on QVC.
    thank you

  • Linda

    It’s between Dior and Armani
    And Chanel
    They continue to discontinue items like lipsticks and foundations that I love only to replace with something that doesn’t work for me

    • Grtpumk

      THIS! Chanel has disco’d 2 foundations on me and not replaced them with better things. I’m in the process of replacing my last one after going through my stockpile…

  • Cory

    Too Faced & Urban Decay. Too Faced pisses me of because you never know when you might get a product w/shi**y qualify. Plus they seem to advertise toward an age demographic of 13-17years old. Why is this an issue? Most kids can’t start working until they’re 15, & even then they aren’t making enough money for Too Faced, but they’ll still spend every penny on their prods. They do have uber cute packaging.

    Urban Decay pisses me off but I still like some of their prods. My main issue with them now that they’ve been sold out for a while is why won’t they just make bloody refill pans?!!!!! Noooooo, they have to put their amazing single shadows in those ridiculously hard to remove plastic casings. They’d actually save money & not waste plastic. Instead they had to come out w/their own palette system. It’s slightly infuriating.
    I used to hate their marketing techniques back when I was still into every release they had (Naked 3 was the last palette I bought from them) but they don’t use the same techniques anymore. I think it was called bus marketing.
    But yeah! That’s it lol!

  • Cil

    Kiko Milano. They supposedly arrived in Brazil. Well, they will open SEVEN STORIES in São Paulo, which is ONE of the 27 states of the country. So, did they arrive in Brazil? It doesn’t seem so to me. Unfortunately, brands seem to think that only people living in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro have money to buy makeup. The other Brazilians just have to be happy for the chance to buy online… Without trying anything.
    Honorable mentions: MUFE – I bought a kit with two aqua xl pencils, which do not stay in my eyes (either lashline or waterline) ever, and one of their mascara, which does nothing for my lashes. MAC TOO – Because I found my favorite lipstick ever in MAC Opera, which was a LE and no other lipstick has the same texture/smell/duration.

  • genevieve

    Wow – I sincerely hope the brands are reading all of the above comments and taking notice!
    I have a few pet dislike brands too:

    Revlon: mediocre quality – especially their eye shadows and blushes
    Guerlain/Lancome – have lost the plot regarding their eye shadows lately – poor quality for an expensive price
    Urban Decay – some of their latest palettes have been disappointing
    Too Faced – what can I say that hasn’t been said above?
    Physicians Formula – very, very limited shade range.

    As for Drugstore prices – here in Aus Revlon foundation retails for about $37 – all our DS brands are so high in price.

  • Britni

    Too Faced for the same reasons as above. All their new and LE releases have been nothing more than crap. It’s over hyped crap.

    Tarte – for being soooooooo heavily reliant on influencers. I feel like the influencers run the company now.

    Almay – literally, NOTHING is good. Nothing. All of their self-adjusting products are just pure shit. They never work and only work on the super fair tones. It’s ridiculous.

    The ONLY irk I have with Milani is that their lipsticks stank! I love their Matte range that has that yummy vanilla/cake batter smell, but their regular line of lipsticks smell like jolly ranchers, but it’s too strong and fragrant and it doesn’t dissipate. If they fixed that, I’d probably own every single Milani product.

  • Lisa O’Neill

    I agree with the above, Too Faced, UD (with the obscene names)
    Seems so many cosmetic companies have been bought out recently & the quality always goes down, never up!! My biggest pet peeve in this category is bareMinerals, whose founder always harped on how their foundation was so pure & didn’t contain talc & other “bad” ingredients then they are bought out by Shiseido & what do they release? A foundation containing talc!! BTW just looked up the spelling for that & I didn’t know they owned NARS, too.
    Talk about drugstore makeup prices going up! NYX has a new foundation that’s $15!! With no testers, it’s a crap shoot to get the right color match!
    BUT MY BIGGEST BEEF OF ALL?!
    L’Oreal
    Because they only released their Beauty & the Beast collection in Italy!!
    I contacted them about this & their response was that each country makes their own collections, but that doesn’t really explain why the US couldn’t have something similar. Are they really telling me that the US team isn’t allowed to copy the Italian team?! Didn’t they want to make money?! BecauseI know of a lot of woman would have bought those lipsticks. They would have sold like crazy!!

  • Rah

    I’m glad you invited everyone to vent on your page.. lots of comments! I’m over the YouTubers who collab with brands, the drugstore cosmetics ridiculously over-priced and Too Faced coming out with LE palettes.. chocolate, peaches, peanut butter.. what the heck scent is next?
    But yet, I’m going to Ulta on Saturday to see what’s new… go figure.

    • Isabella Muse

      oh gosh my pleasure 🙂 I’m loving reading the replies!

  • BabyBeans

    Wow if only make up companies would read all of this. I agree with a lot of these complaints.
    Way too much limited edition stuff. Some of it is re-released and some of it becomes a product that you LOVE but you can only ever enjoy the one container you bought when it was available.
    Too much bad quality product! The drugstore prices are high so the product should be really good. I wish brands (especially those owned by the same parent company) would focus on a certain type of product (like eye stuff or face makeup) and do that really well and offer many selections for that area of makeup. Instead every brand tries to give us one of everything and half of it is junk to most people. Then some brands could offer more than 2-8 shades of beige for foundations. People with very fair and deeper skin are begging companies to make foundations that they want to pay money for. At least offer more shades online, and offer little tester packets to people so they can buy them online.
    Higher end products like Too Faced are releasing stuff that’s even bad compared to drugstore products and for much more $. And show us perfect swatches on instagram to get everyone to buy it.
    Pushing way too many products. Benefit releasing 12 different brow products at once was sad. Use four pencils and five powders to do your brows? Damn.
    I will say I’m a fan of highlighters so I love the new illuminating products being released. It seems that now that highlighters are more popular companies are making some better formulas, so I like the craze right now.

  • Randi MacDonald

    I really like a lot of PF products. I love the eyebooster eyeliner. Its a TOTAL dupe for Kat Von D tattoo eyeliner. I only buy at CVS because of the extra bucks and the coupons attached to the products. I barely pay anything for the products.

    I’ve never bought anything from Violet Voss, but her new Ride or Die palette is 75.00 and is made IN CHINA!! She labeled it. Made in P.R.C as to throw people off. That price is RIDICULOUS. The formula could go on like silk and I’d still think it was a joke. At least Morphe keeps their prices affordable( I’m not a fan of their shadows).

    I couldnt get into the formula of colorpop. I can’t use my fingers because I have psoriatic arthritis.

  • Jill

    I feel vindicated after reading these comments! For the past two Christmases, my sister has bought me a high end shadow palette, one Too Faced, one Tarte . The Too Faced Shadows A) were not really pigmented and B) so forgettable that I don’t use them much. The Tarte palette suffers from major fallout and boring colors. I eventually told her that I was sorry she’d spent the money on it, but I really thought that I was in a vast minority until I read this. My sister hates that I like to find dupes of high end shadow palettes, but why not when the real deal is sup par for the cost?
    I’ve been really disappointed in UD’s shadow pigmentation. I got Scratch in a Think Pink Sephora set and Midnight Cowboy as the Platinum Perk from Ulta for my last birthday and they kinda suck… So much fallout. Benefit’s simply over hyped and frankly, Ath-leisure makeup just seems so contemptuous to me. Here’s makeup that will withstand sweat! Put it on so that you feel like you’re hotter, therefore better, than everyone else at the gym!

    Also, Ulta eyeshadows. I don’t know if I just keep getting the duds, but they’re always bad in every formula. I gave them another try after a years-long hiatus and the cream shadow was streaky, the glitter shadow patchy.

  • Lauren

    Oh my god Muse, I forgot to to comment about how annoying Josie Maran is! I can’t even watch when she is on QVC selling her oil and she yells “ARAGON OIL”.

    • Isabella Muse

      I’ve actually never noticed that haha now I need to look at old Josie videos of her presentations on QVC and see how she says it!

  • Caroline

    I hate all brands that discontinued great products for no reason. It always happens so quick, one minute you’re saving money for that lipstick but oh, wait, we discontinued it just because. I feel they should put huge announces (and ask all the beauty blog to post about it, because really that’s my primary source) months in advance. And because of that Avon is the brand I hate the most. They discontinued the only stretch mark cream I have ever found that actually worked. Sure, it smelled of sunscreen and it was a little watery, but it worked. But they decided they needed a new one, that actually smells good, has a prettier packaging and who cares about the results? I never recovered.

  • Jeanine Mcauliffe

    Limecrimethe and Jefree Star piss me off morally. Honestly, I could go on and on about both. Too faced is just annoying! I love Tarte and always will. Only brand with eye shadows that are so,so creamy!