5 Beauty Products I Do Not Love Right Now

Since I’m a Libra and we’re all about balance, I thought I should share the counterpart to my ‘5 Beauty Products I Love Right Now‘ post.  Without further ado, here are my 5 most recent disappointments:

1.  YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick–For $34 I expected this lipstick to do a lot for me.  YSL says: “Both light and covering, the cream texture becomes fluid on contact with the lips, for a delightful feeling and an exceptional gliding effect.”  For me that translated to a slimy-feeling lipstick that didn’t provide even coverage for my pigmented lips.  No matter how much I applied there were still patches of my lip color peeking through.  I have to admit that the packaging is dead sexy, but the product itself can’t justify that hefty price tag.

2.  Napoleon Perdis eye shadow–I found a few of these on clearance from Sephora a while back, and I have nothing positive to say about them.  I got a few different formulas in several shades and they were universally awful.  Chalky, unpigmented, and no staying power even when applied over a good primer.  A waste of money even at clearance price.

3.  L’Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayon–These got a lot of positive attention on Makeupalley.com so when I saw them in the store recently I figured I might as well try one.  I chose ‘Meticulous’ which L’Oreal describes as being a taupe shade.  I think I may have mentioned my love for all things taupe once or twice on this blog, so I was fairly excited about this.  I thought maybe it would be a less expensive version of MAC’s Shadesticks.  Except…it really isn’t much less expensive.  It was $11-ish while a MAC Shadestick is $16.50.  It also doesn’t look taupe to my eye…more like a metallic tan.  It is pretty, just not the color I was hoping for.  However, the real problem I had with this was the fact that it wouldn’t blend and turned flaky after it dried. 

4.  MAC Zoom Lash Mascara–I love me some MAC, but this mascara is probably the worst I’ve ever tried.  Turned my poor lashes into a smudge-alicious, clumpy, flaky mess.  FAIL.

5.  Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter–It’s two of the things I hate most in a lip balm:  it’s potted and it’s scented.  I hate dipping my fingers into a pot of anything that’s going on my lips.  I also prefer my balms to be fragrance free, because I have a healthy suspicion of any scented lip product that claims to be moisturizing.  In this case the suspicion is validated because this balm did not moisturize my lips at all.  Quite the opposite.  At $9 a pop I’ll stick to Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer.

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Makeup giveaway musings plus new cosmetic lemmings

A few things are on my mind tonight.  First, I’m so completely excited by the response to my inaugural makeup giveaway.  I hope more people will enter and I can’t wait to choose a winner and make some lucky beauty addict happy!  Can I just tell you that I’m secretly hoping that whoever wins will have chosen option C, the surprise goodie bag?  Because that way I get to have fun going all out and making a totally sweet package for the winner.  I’m pretty certain that even if the winner has chosen A or B, the Bobbi Brown Shimmering Nudes palette or the MAC goodies, I’m going to end up putting extra products in the package.  I just can’t help myself…I really love spoiling people and I wish I could be there to see the winner open up the goodies!  Boy Scout laughs at me constantly for not being able to keep a secret when I have a gift for someone–I want the recipient to open it RIGHT NOW!  He always knows I’ll totally cave and tell him what I got him for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc.  The Shop My Stash giveaways will become a regular feature here on Beauty Sleeping, so please bookmark my blog and come back to check often…I promise the prizes won’t disappoint.

Secondly, the responses to the contest have given me so many new lemmings that it’s positively unhealthy.  What can I say–makeup is like Kryptonite.  It makes me as weak as the Man of Steel when I’m exposed to it.  So many people have referenced the Dior Iridescent Leather quint that I now think I MUST have it even though I’ve never owned a Dior quint in my life.  If MUA wants it, I want it.  Heh.  Maybe I’ll have to feature it in my next makeup giveaway.  What do you think?  Personally, I think that I need to get my hands on one to try first!  This Dior gem caught my eye while I was surfing Sephora tonight, too.  I’m wondering if it’s similar to the Dior IL Quint shade-wise?  It’s gorgeous to look at, that’s for sure.  In any case, I do believe Dior is high on the list of brands I really want to try.  Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent are on that list too, so please tell me the must-haves, ladies!  I’m a neutral-loving taupe hoor so give me recommendations please. 

Another item I’m just drooling over is the upcoming MAC for Manish Arora palette.  Even though the shades go against my typical love of neutrals, the packaging is just so stinking cute that I really NEED it.  I also think the Kiss Manish lipstick from that collection looks lovely.  Thank you to Specktra.net for the information on the upcoming MAC collections, and also for fueling my makeup addiction.  As if I needed encouraging. 

I think I also need to know more about these Giorgio Armani Lip Waxes I keep hearing so much about.  I’m a sucker for nude and berry lip shades, and the range of colors on these babies looks right up my alley.  I’m curious about the consistency, pigmentation, and durability.  Is this like a lipstick, balm, or gloss?  Or is it a hybrid of one or more of those?

Of course, my number one lemming still remains the Clarisonic Skincare Brush.  Oh how I want this…maybe the makeup fairy will drop it in my lap for my birthday?  *hint hint*  It’s made by the same company that makes the Sonicare tooth brush, which is an AMAZING product.  I just recently got the Flexcare brush and I can’t believe the difference it makes.  I can already see that my teeth are whiter and I’ve only been using the brush for a few weeks.  If the Clarisonic is even half as good as the toothbrush I think it would do wonders for my skin.

I’m off to bed now and I’m pretty sure I’ll be having sweet makeup-filled dreams tonight.  Thanks again for all the new lemmings ladies, and don’t forget to leave me comments with your thoughts on the Dior Iridescent Leather quint, must-haves from Chanel and YSL, and the Giorgio Armani Lip Wax.  Inquiring addicts need to know!

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