MAC is over-hyped and has been for a long time
. Dior quality is not consistent, for sure, but
Dior lipsticks are primo quality. I wouldn't pay $75 for their latest eye color compact because the shadows looked chalky to me.
I only use high- end skin care and cosmetic products.. I disagree with some comments here. I love
Diorshow mascara. I recognize that I don't have long thick eyelashes, never have, and Diorshow is one of the few brands which makes the most out of what I have. Since I wear contacts, I won't/ can't wear false lashes comfortably.
As a very fair skinned white person, both
The Nakeds and
The Nakeds2 are great for me. Not a bum shadow in the bunch, They are great for a casual eye on a laid back weekend but aren't meant to be " exciting" like most of
UD shadows are.. I have every BOS ever made, those are the exciting shades for almost every skin tone.
If I was AA, I wouldn't consider most of the shadows in
The Nakeds palettes. Brown on brown isn't going to show up any more than my beige eye primer does on me.
MUFE has great, long lasting lip pencils and lipsticks.
I love
Stila's lip glazes.. Have used them for almost 15 years.
Most over-hyped for me-
1)
Benefit's line with the TEENY TINY bottles, jars, etc. Most of their full sizes look like travel sizes. ( I do use the
PoreFessional primer, Some Kind Of Gorgeous creme to powder face color sometimes, don't dislike their
Erase Paste, and own many of their boxes of face
bronzers and
blushes) BUT I still feel that I am paying too much for the very lightweight FEEL of the items in my hands,
I think their "
Girl Meets Pearl" and "
That Gal" face highlighters/ cheek illuminating sticks are more representative of what I think the sizes and feel should be.
2) ANYTHING by
Ojon now that Lauder changed the formulation. It was great until they goofed with it. Just like the original Swiss Pantene was great many many years ago.
3) Anything by
Estee' Lauder or
Lancome', I used both lines when I was younger. It never occurred to me to ask why I needed half a dozen face creams and serums, eye creams and serums, day cream, night cream-- everything but a " weekend creme". I had great skin then, and I have great skin now. No lines, wrinkles, never have smoked, imbibed alcohol, or spent time in the sun without sunscreen.. But, I ALWAYS came home from the mall with 6 shopping bags FULL of jars and bottles of skin care I had been talked into buying. Also, the two lines have a long history of very muddy eye, lip and cheek colors. Neither company spends much time with the color spectrum. I am aware of the entire Lauder group of cosmetic brands and try to stay away from all of them.
4) MOST eye liner pencils are overpriced. They are usually so generic that it is insane to spend $25 or so for a brown or black pencil made in Germany, as most are.
5) Most
Philosophy " themed" items around holidays and other occasions. Their products perform very poorly for me compared to better skin care, generally, and their 3 in 1 shower gels are too drying for my skin. ( I use Korres bath gels)
Those are my pet peeves as far as value and quality go.
I can't say how much I love most
Stila products, most
Too Faced items- especxially their " The ___ Eye" palettes ( and agree that their holiday line is a rip off) ,
Chanel lip colors, blushes, foundation
and
YSL concealer. I adore
UD shadow palettes usually, own over 30 different ones, and hope they desist with animal testing. I think
NARS is a fab company if a person can wear Orgasm or one of the other peachy- pink tones they do so well. I love NARS blush, nail polish, and
The Multiple in Orgasm, but if I had dark skin, I wouldn't see any effects from these light colored products. I can't really wear any
NARS with a tan.
For the money, I like Fekkai's Glossing line of shampoo, conditioner and glossing cream better than anything else I've tried, as I have very very thick, straight, long hair which is professionally colored and highlighted.
My basic skin care is
CellCeuticals, and I adore every bit of it. I also use a
Clarisonic Plus with my facial cleansing.
I didn't think it was fair to say what I didn't like and not add some of what I really do love and why I love it. I have an entire dressing room full of cosmetics and skin care in my dressing room, and I spend quite a lot per month on new cosmetic items. My skin care will never change unless something drastic changes with CellCeuticals, though.
Thanks for letting me share my opinions.
/emoticons/
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Lilly .