December 28, 2018

How the Beauty and Makeup World Can Improve in 2019

In a few short days 2019 will be upon us and we’ll have a host of hopefully new beauty and makeup trends to look forward to! Or at least I hope! This has been a whirlwind year of controversy and drama for a lot of brands, influencers, and even trends (vaginal whitening anyone?).

Here’s how the Beauty and Makeup World can improve in 2019 in my opinion!

Shades for All but Not Because It’s Trendy!
I just want to say that everyone should wear any makeup they want. That means if you’re an alien and you want to makeup by all means do it. If you’re a woman and you want to wear makeup by all means do it and if you’re a man that wants to wear makeup by all means do it. However, I feel like boys in makeup was something brands cashed in on the last two years or so. I feels like brands were pandering and nurturing this as a trend versus actually caring about their male market. I’m mentioning this because the latest thing beauty brands are grabbing on to is catering to a wider variety of shade ranges. I’d like to see more inclusivity in shades not because it’s “on trend” but because makeup brands are genuinely interested in including all races, all sexes, and all ages in their marketing, product, and shade creations. I don’t want them to do it because they are seeing dollar signs. Do it because it’s a much ignored topic in the beauty world and it’s about damn time someone wakes up and realizes we aren’t all one shade (nor are we all one sex and we aren’t all the same age either!). Covergirl recently launched a new Full Spectrum Makeup Collection for women (and men) of color but it feels very phoned in as did Tarte’s Shape Tape Foundation’s major fail! I want beauty brands to think a little harder, educate themselves a little more, and get feedback from real people to understand the struggles they might face when trying to select a foundation shade. Caring is key here! So, shades for all yes, please let’s see more of that in 2019 but not because “it’s trendy” but because it’s needed.

Please Stop Lying!
I’d like to see more transparency from influencers, beauty bloggers, youTubers, brands, and even consumers. More honesty please! Everyone just stop lying! If it sucks, let’s just be brave and say, listen, this sucks. Let’s stop making excuses, let’s stop being dishonest. Maybe if we are, beauty brands will take note and start improving upon their formulas! There are plenty of different dishonest sources. Even consumers are lying lately as certain websites will send them products in exchange for reviews or even ask them to go to other sites and review products! And sellers on Amazon who offer gift cards in exchange for reviews. How can we trust anything anyone says lately? Sunday Riley’s admitting that they ask their employees to write reviews on Sephora really was an eye opener for a lot of consumers! For years now many people have been a bit dubious of reviews written on Sephora and this controversy just made everyone a little more wary of trusting those reviews. I hope in 2019, we can see more transparency and honesty in the beauty world.

Beauty Brands, Beauty CEOS, and Influencers Behaving Badly
I think social media can be a little out of control at times and somehow, someway beauty brands can somehow get out of line and end up causing controversy and drama. We might all need to take a little breather from social media in 2019 or at least be a little more careful with how we say things. From Kat Von D to Jerrod Blandino there has been plenty of drama that was stirred up in 2018. I hope everyone can learn to behave a little bit better in 2019.

Stop Phoning It In
In 2019, I have hopes brands will be a little more creative. There are a lot of tired trends and repetitive releases and shades that need to stop. Brands might want to dig a little deeper in 2019 and put out something unique to capture the eye and attention of makeup lovers because right now, you’re losing all of us fast. I feel like I’m on a sinking ship here because a lot of people are just tired of makeup and that’s rather sad to see. So, come on, get in there, get your marketing group together and present us with something that really makes up sit up and take notice!

About The Formula….
And while you’re in there creating something new, exciting, fresh, innovative, and unique how about you perfect the formula too? I hope in 2019 we see the return of good quality makeup from brands like Urban Decay, Too Faced, etc….! I miss the days you guys had velvety, buttery textured eyeshadows. I’d like to see more quality and less quantity in 2019!

Chill with the Sales
You know what? If you’re quality improves this year and you’re ideas are fresher and unique you’ll likely sell out of products you put out faster and that means we can all chill and relax with all the sales….! I don’t want to buy a palette for $60 only to see it available for $20 in three months.

Stop Making Me Feel 80 When I’m Not
The Beauty World has always been a young girl’s (guy’s) playground for as far back as I can remember! Youth is beauty or so we are told! But lately, I feel like I’m over 100 years old! Some of the social posts that brands do I simply can’t relate to. Tarte is huge on reaching an audience of 18-24 (Hell, 24 seems already too old for them! Let’s make that 22!) and it makes me feel like a dinosaur. I’d love to see brands cater to a variety of different age groups rather than trying to be relatable to just one particular age demographic.

Please, Can We Start Seeing Drugstore Makeup at The Drugstore Again?
I miss drugstore makeup at the drugstore! Like a physical store that I can drive to and buy things! Those are a thing you know! Haha! Many brands have been moving their business away from drugstores which is smart choice for them but an inconvenient one for consumers. It’s great as they cut the middleman out and the profits stay in their own pockets but it means it is pretty difficult to locate LE or seasonal collections. Physicians Formula is doing this a lot lately, Wet n Wild, and Maybelline has even taken to launching items on their website first. In 2019, I’d like to be able to buy drugstore makeup at a store again! Or at least, maybe some free shipping?

Please Launch It Everywhere Or Don’t Launch It At All
Another problem with drugstore makeup lately is the exclusive launches. Walmart gets exclusive Wet n Wild launches, Amazon gets Maybelline’s launches first, it’s all so complicated. It’s not reserved to just drugstore makeup, it also happens with mid-range brands that have exclusive product launches at Sephora or Ulta or early launches at one store versus another. Just launch the damn thing at all the same stores at all the same times and dates. Please stop making all these collections and launches so damn complicated. I’m exhausted from running around trying to find makeup. Makeup should be fun not a chore.

How do you hope the Beauty and Makeup World Can Improve in 2019?

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

  • Rio

    This should be read by every beauty creator, influencer and user of products!
    Very much agree with you esp about the lying, feeling like I’m 80 and the drugstore products.
    Consumers are much more knowledgeable than ever before, let’s use that knowledge to create better products for everyone.

    • Isabella Muse

      aw thanks that’s flattering 🙂 ITA! I feel ancient at times and jeez, I’m not THAT old! If more brands listens to consumers I think we’d have a near damn perfect beauty world!

  • Chris

    Companies need to be upfront about whether they test on animals or not. I realize that in order to sell in China, China requires animal testing. If a parent company is selling in China, does this mean all the sister brands are also selling in China? Do all these companies test on animals? Example– L’Oreal owns Lancome & Urban Decay. Should I assume that all 3 companies test on animals? Maybe those companies that do not test on animals should put it on their home page rather than in their FAQ section. Just a mini rant today!

    • Amber G.

      I agree re: animal testing. A lot of it is so confusing. I am in the process of going cruelty free and would appreciate transparency in my cosmetics companies. I will give a HUGE shout out to crueltyfreekitty.com for being a great, up-to-date resource on cruelty free cosmetics.

  • Deb

    What a great list Muse. I’m on board with everything you talked about….and then some. Speaking of formulas, while the brands definitely need to revamp a lot of products, a big complaint of mine is when they start tweaking the formula of an established product. You know, something that’s been around a while, does it’s job very well, and continues to sell. Why can’t they figure out that said product continues to sell after being on the market for years because it’s perfect as is??? I understand if the product contains an ingredient that has recently been shown to be troublesome, or if the ingredient gets outright banned. But to just reformulate for no good reason? Drives me crazy. The newer version is almost always never as good as the original. Just leave it alone!!!

    Whew.

  • Tina

    I’m hoping the whole industry slows down, along the lines of your quality quantity comment. I’d like influencers to show the full depth of a product instead of new stuff all the time. For instance an influencer could do a new ABH soft glam eye look each week and I’d follow that influencer as I have that palette and need inspiration as I am very typical in the looks I create. If they wanted to post three videos a week then add in another popular palette each week. Show how to pair with blush and lippy for different day and night and work looks. I doubt it will happen as brands send new product to influencers in order for influencers to feature them and advertise the brand, so brands need to keep coming out with new stuff or new offers like sales to keep being talked about.

  • Miss M

    Wasn’t it Sunday Riley, not Drunk Elephant, who admitted to having their employees post fake reviews?

    I thought Drunk Elephant got into trouble for social media misbehavior – fake accounts on reddit or some such.

    • Isabella Muse

      ugh thanks I’m having one of those days where nothing makes sense YOU are right I’m totally wrong!

  • Kish

    All of this!!!! It would be nice if companies would start by listening to bloggers like you instead of IG accounts that they throw free swag to every other day. The truth will set you free!! Lol

    • Isabella Muse

      ha! ;D I like that, “The truth will set you free!” and thanks my dear! you flatter me!

  • TropicalChrome

    Yes, you’ve pretty much got it here! Especially the exclusives – I went looking for some holiday editions in the stores not too long ago and found none. So I bought none. I hope people in the industry are reading this article and taking it to heart!

    Also with drugstore makeup: please go back to being priced like drugstore makeup. When I can pay only a dollar or two more for a mid range to higher end brand in a store where I can actually try out the product before taking it home, I’m far more likely to shop and buy there. (And please don’t tell me “you can always return it” as if that takes no time and effort.)

    Finally, if someone does start catering at least a tiny bit to an older demographic, please don’t assume that 1. we can afford and are willing to pay $70+ for foundation and 2. we all need nothing but moisture, moisture, moisture. Some of us still have oily skin, which is why my favorite moisturizer right now is marketed to the blemish-prone youth market.

  • Tara

    Totally agree with you on all of those!! Especially the quality over quantity….I miss when brands had much better formulas. Way to nail it Muse!!

    • Isabella Muse

      aw thanks Tara and yes agreed! I’d like to see more quantity, less quality this year!

  • Kimkats

    Two snaps up on this post, muse! Esp. About the age thing; makeup brands make women over 40 essentially non existent, unless they’re resurrecting someone who was a model back when. We may be older; we are no true invisible and we have a lot of disposable income, so a bit of respect and acknowledgement would be nice…

    • Isabella Muse

      thanks Kim! hell even ladies and lads in the 30’s are dismissed lately too! It seems you have to be 18-22 and that’s about the extent of their demographic!

  • Adrienne

    I could not agree more. What happened to truth in advertising? I trust your site because I know if it sucks or is overpriced in comparison to other releases from that brand you will be honest about it. I don’t like not being able to go to the drugstore and actually look at the colors so again I come to your site for good swatches to see if it might work for me. I also agree about the marketing and trying to make people feel older than they are. I remember Sephora had these beauty bags by age and in looking I wanted something from every bag and the products suggested for my age group didn’t apply to me yet. Lastly the celebrity endorsements don’t guarantee it’s a quality product or justify the price increase but your always honest. They market items to age groups and have people thinking they will look like the models and that’s not always true nor do they have the money. The sales associate at Ulta told me the most shoplifted item was those Kylie lip kits and it was mainly really young girls stealing them from the display because they couldn’t afford them. That makes me feel bad. I agree there’s a lot that can be done better in 2019 but I still enjoy looking at the colorful new items.

  • Paris B

    The fake reviews and unnecessary drama and the release of a new average quality product every minute really get to me. As a beauty enthusiast, it saddens me that we don’t get the quality we used to, and that we are seeing more gimmicks than quality releases in recent times. Oh and the lies and fakery from reviewers and influencers… it’s all time to stop and reset. Not that I expect to see it happening in 2019 if I’m honest haha!

    Happy new year Iz! At least we’ll still be kicking around, kicking up dust and a fuss in the coming year 😀

    • Isabella Muse

      totally agreed! Totally agreed! There are few dependable blogs like yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’d love to see 2019 refresh and restart with more honestly. LOL amen! happy new year my dear friend! May it be a good one for us old aunties ;-D

  • Frozendiva

    1. Consistent Quality

    Whether I buy drugstore, mid-range, or high-end products, I expect some quality. Moreso from more expensive products. Inconsistent quality/poor quality control will turn me off as a customer and I will take my money elsewhere.

    2. Overwhelming Releases

    No, as an older, probably Jurassic aged customer, I can’t keep up. It’s nice to appeal to a lot of women with collections arriving every 2 weeks, but enough is enough. I don’t like hearing about something that may interest me only to find out it sold out two minutes after it came out. I am not Quick Draw McGraw. What appeals to an 18 year old with lots of disposable income may not appeal to someone more than double her age.

    3. Packaging

    I like nice packaging. I am not a fan of huge palettes. Cut down the size or make a smaller palette to snap in/out the product so I am not lugging around a 2 lb box. Do put a proper expiry date on the packaging. Not fun to spend a lot of money on a lipstick that turns rancid in no time. Respect the customer.

    4. Sales

    Canadians don’t get a lot of makeup sales. Mostly 10% off or $10 off a $75 purchase a few times per year. I will buy skincare and such then. Or when it comes with the meagre gifts with purchase promos. Same shades and products all the time. Maybe give a $20 discount on another product instead. When I was younger, you got a nice bag with the GWP. Now some smell bad and are really, really cheap. Maybe reduce the prices a bit, cut down on some of the models and advertising in magazines. Oh yeah, also have staff at the counters. And stock in some of the stores – not just the million dollar stores that get the nice stuff.

    5. Lies/Subtruths/Truthasanevermovingtarget

    I don’t do a lot of reviews. The makeup sites are like some psychic sites – false 5 star reviews only to find the one star reviews later, new psychic names to cover up the predictions that didn’t come to pass, and more glowing revies. Reinvention when things don’t work out. Like the diet industry scams too. Don’t make promises that you don’t intend to keep. Unless it’s the game that women will keep voting with their wallets and move on to other lines or another product. Be clear about who owns you and what other lines you are part of. Admit to animal testing, etc.

  • Ryou

    THANK YOU.

    I admit I’ve been having a massive make-up fatigue the past year or two, launches are happening way too fast and include more (lower quality) products, I feel. WHO NEEDS THIS MANY PALETTES. PLEASE TAKE SOME BACK, BRANDS, I BEG YOU. D:

    (TBH the only “mainstream” brand I follow on social media is ColourPop and that’s already A Lot to keep up with)

    On top of being more inclusive in regards to skintones (INCLUDING undertones bc so many of us gets left out of the conversation) and gender, I’d really love to see brands start thinking about disabled folks as well! Unfortunately the recent trend with putting fragrance in eyeshadows is definitely a step back on that front. >:

    And finally, can J.Cat beauty please start shipping internationally? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

    • Isabella Muse

      LOL too true sadly too true! It’s just too much! I think brands can really be overwhelming on social media :-/ That would be great! older people, disabled, women, men, everyone should be included!!!!!! Aw! You should write them! I’m sure they’ll listen if more of their fans ask!

  • Amber G.

    GREAT article, Muse! I think these are concerns most of us have these days. I hope in 2019 companies take a note and really listen to their consumers needs.

    • Isabella Muse

      thanks Amber!!!!!! I sure hope they start listening to us more this year!

    • Isabella Muse

      Aw thanks Susan! I use MUA too! It’s one of the best resources out there and the most honest!

  • Jessica

    This is my absolute favorite blog post I’ve read for makeup in 2019. I couldn’t agree more with everything that was stated. I’ve actually become bored and I’ve also been a bit turned off by the makeup industry with all of their drama, why do we need drama with makeup? It should be fun. We need a change.

    • Isabella Muse

      Amen on we don’t need drama with makeup! Preach jessica 🙂 and thanks I’m glad you liked the post!

  • Dot

    Yes to all of this”�especially to the first point; I hate how brands are trying to cash in on diversity and inclusivity bc it worked for Fenty, but just slapping on “shade inclusive”� on a foundation line with limited offerings is not genuine. It’s completely tone deaf (but then not surprising when you see something like Blandino’s cake kerfuffle).

    • Isabella Muse

      exactly! I feel like everyone wants to jump onto Fenty’s success and they aren’t doing it because they are genuinely interested in being more inclusive! It feels more like $$$ to me versus actually caring about a better shade option! I see It Cosmetics launching bye bye concealer and I swatched a lot of the shades and I’m sort of puzzled how like the first ten shades are all really pale and they have names like tan and medium! Clue me in! WTF!

  • Randi Macdonald

    I’d like to see Wayne Goss use more female models. Lately, he demos everything on himself and I just can’t relate.

  • Silvia

    So agree with everything! Yes on getting feedback on real makeup lovers of all shades and see what we really desire. Cover Girl has plenty of big bucks not to esoand their silly ‘including’ new shades. Come on get real CG! And that trend in anti-aging nothing ya going to anti age the click back please get rid of such shaming sells tactics. I’ll be old and proud to be. Listening to a great podcast The Beauty Brains they were just discussing this topic. Improve all ingredients don’t put so much perfume and nasty stuff in products darn junk causing cancer. We deserve better and be honest! And keep prices recent even at drugstores is getting way ridiculous.

  • Jane

    Very good post. I agree with almost all your points (I don’t care if they offer colors for deep tones and rare undertones if it’s trendy so long as they do it), but I’ll add that I miss when magazines were decent and conveyed beauty info. I wish they’d gone like the Japanese beauty mags do (allegedly. I’ve never seen one with my own eyes) and showed like every single item in a line. Or swatched every single lipstick.

    You’re an invaluable resource, but you’re one woman with another full time job, you know? I don’t expect Allure circa 1998 from you, I just miss when Allure was providing that service, too.

    • Isabella Muse

      Aw thanks so much I appreciate that. I totally understand about wanting every single swatch! You can def subscribe to Japanese magazines (I do!) if Japanese brands are of interest to you but they sadly don’t feature a lot of mainstream brands you’d find in the US. I wish there was some mag dedicated to writing about beauty, doing swatches, etc..! I’d totally read it!

  • Tavia

    Isa this is such an amazing article and I can totally relate to everything you mentioned, especially social media. My Instagram account was disabled last month, unfairly, because of several reports from Dior against some photos that I re-posted just like others did. One thing I like to also mention is that I would like to see brands stop giving exclusivities to some bloggers/influencers. This is a dirty game the brands are playing and causes for influencers/ bloggers and so on to go after eachother to catch the bone first. I was disappointed to see how some brands that I supported for years, buying their products with my own money are favoriting bloggers they work with and try to eliminate the competition by reporting your social media content if you post something before their beloved paid influencers do. They even reached out to me to delete content from my blog so one famous blogger can have all the engagement and rank first in Google. Brands are messing with us, and so many are falling for their strategy. I wish in 2019 I would see bloggers/ youtubers/ influencers supporting eachother…. i really miss the good old day back in 2008-2010 when we were mentioning eachother, help eachother grow and not relying on brands so much. I feel tired nowadays as I cannot keep up with all the launches anymore and I do admit I feel saturated sometimes. Happy New Year !!!

    • Isabella Muse

      OMG tavia I didn’t know you were going through any of this. Chic Profile has been around 10 plus years and they are doing this to you!? That’s insane! I’m sorry to hear that. I miss the old days as well! It’s a real shame that beauty is so dog eat dog. I feel horrible that you’ve had issues like this because indeed I see plenty of leaked items on Instagram yet they are bothering you about stuff that’s readily available on the Internet already! 🙁 I wish I could say that the beauty community will get better but it seems like blogging is a dinosaur media and brands prefer Instagram which they seem to have better control over! 🙁 that’s sad! Happy New Year dear I hope this doesn’t happen to you again!

  • Josephine

    I so agree with you. My pet peeve is having to go here there and everywhere to get the products you used to get at the drugstore. Also what happened to all the nail polishes in the drugstore from different beauty brands? As well if you change a formula for a beauty product you better actually improve it. I recently had to change moisturizers because the one I was using had “a new and improved formula”� it may have been new but it certainly was not improved. I also believe beauty brands under exploit the part of the market where people don’t want new and better, they just want the classic product that has worked for years for them. In my case I have bitchy sensitive skin and it can literally be painful trying new formulas. And lastly because I am old and grumpy, packaging changes all the time suck. Right now my debacle seems to be that my hair dye Clairol Natural Instincts is going through a packaging changeover. Is Clairol making the auburn colors anymore? I can’t find my hair dye to save my life in actual stores or maybe it is there and I just don’t see it? Keep up the good work. I’ve read your blog for years, I like your honesty.

    • Isabella Muse

      Aw first off thank you for reading so long Josephine! Secondly, ITA on all you said. If new and reformulated meant it would be better that would be great but new and reformulated seems to stand for creating a much cheaper and suckier formula than what I already know and love! If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. And having to travel the world to find collections and new releases just stinks! :-/ It’s a PITA! I can’t really relate with hair color, as I don’t dye my hair, but it would drive me bats if they didn’t offer my color anymore or repackaged/formulated the old one I used UGH!

      • Josephine

        Check out the controversy going on with the “new and improved” Clairol Nice & Easy hair dye. You can read the terrifying reviews of it on Facebook. The reviews totally make my point that there is a market for classic products. Almost every review reads that the person has used the hair color for a decade or more. I got the answer to my question. I think they are probably reformulating Natural Instincts. I guess I need to find a new semi permanent hair color. I so appreciated your blog entry on what be can done better. Please keep trying products so I don’t have lol.

        • Isabella Muse

          I’ll go google it ;-D That’s a shame 🙁 I’m sorry about that as it can’t be great to have something as important as hair dye just change colors/formulas. le sigh. WTH do they do that. Haha I always will ;-D you can count on me!

  • Rachel

    “it makes me feel like a dinosaur!”
    Possibly my favorite quote to date. I’m 25 and I agree. Well said!

  • Victoria

    OMG!!! that is everything on my mind, the lies, the bull, the dishonesty, I also would like to see makeup for all shades and age groups.

  • Rebecca

    I agree with everything you said. I would also add moving away from the new fad of selling beauty vitamins, teas, etc in stores like Sephora. At best they are snake oil with no scientific evidence to back claims, and at worse can cause side effects like kidney problems, etc.

  • courtney

    I, for one, would like to see brand/influencer collabs slow down a little or even better, just stop! i had the biggest eyeroll and then chuckle when i saw the Nicole Guerreiro x OGX shampoo/conditioner on clearance at a discount store. and theres some WEIRD collabs too where beauty influncers are collabing with meal prep services that ship meals to your home, and collabs where beauty influencers are collabing with Audible book companies.. like what?|?!?! i am legit confused. NO thanks! Wayne Goss did this, amongst many other Influencers as well. i literally do not buy influencer/brand makeup collabs at all. there are just too many and its a marketing scheme i am not down for.

  • Tina

    I like Temptalia for swatches, her dupes list is real good too. I’ve seen lippies I like in Sephora and referred to her swatches and dupes in the past, also she has a foundation finder they shows you brand and product matches based on the brand and shade you are currently wearing which is very useful.

    • Isabella Muse

      I love Christine! She’s been a good friend to me for many years and her site is priceless for dupes/swatches/reviews! She’s always honest not to mention she works damn hard on her site!