Thursday, March 27, 2014

Products that didn't work for me #1


It stands to reason that in the course of buying, testing and using all manner of beauty products that some things just won't work for me even though they do for someone else. I'm lucky that I don't have sensitive skin so I rarely suffer from any bad reactions and there's such variety of products that if one doesn't work there's another that will and life's just too short to use something that I don't enjoy using. Here are a few things that have been passed on to friends and family as they have no place in my routine.

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer link
The Elasticizer is such a cult product that it's sold in supersize bottles on QVC and the majority of people have great things to say about it. I may have got to grips with my skincare regime but hair is something I'm still struggling with. I picked up this tube from Marks & Spencer's beauty hall months ago and expected great things and I was sorely disappointed. I used as a treatment, tried leaving overnight but nothing worked for me. There was either little difference to my hair or it looked work. Let me tell you I was annoyed, this is not a cheap product and worse free samples were given out with a magazine about a week after I'd purchased it. This has now gone on to my friend who loves and uses this product so don't let my bad experiences sway you but beware it won't work for all.

L'Occitane Lavande Lavender Hand Cream link
I love hand cream, especially those from L'Occitane but not in this instance. I loved the idea of a relaxing bath with my Ragdale Hall Bath Essence (read about that here), climbing into bed and applying soothing hand cream and falling into a deep slumber but I just couldn't bear the scent of this. I don't mind a little lavender in my products but in this case it was just too overwhelming and I found it distracting. In a world with so many hand creams on offer despite persevering I had to add this to the 'bin it' pile.

No 7 Pore Vacuum Mask link
I reviewed this mask in my 'What to buy with No 7 vouchers posts' here so I won't repeat myself too much but in short this mask is messy, hard to remove and generally an unpleasant experience. I used twice in the spirit of thorough testing but wouldn't put my skin through any more. 

Crabtree & Evelyn Gardners Hand Therapy link
I was given a gift set containing four Crabtree & Evelyn hand creams and loved them all, apart from the Gardners Hand Therapy. The formula itself is lovely but the scent described as 'herbaceous freshness of green clover, sage, thyme and rosemary' it's no surprise the smell didn't appeal. It literally smelt like a garden on my hands and I'm certainly not green fingered.

Clinque High Impact Mascara link
I received Clinque's High Impact Mascara with a bonus time collection and simply I suffer from fall out with it. By lunchtime my mascara is sitting under my eyes and that is not a good look for anyone. I have an abundance of mascara's in my drawer that the results just weren't worth putting up with tidying up throughout the day

Revlon Lash Potion link 
I picked up this mascara when I was in Las Vegas last year and was completely led by it's attractive packaging and tag line 'for spellbinding volume and supernatural length' - I'm a marketers dream. I didn't have high expectations for it's 'potion' which strengthens lashes that was just an added extra and I can't comment on them further as I didn't use it for any length of time. What did disappoint was it promised to 'magically transform' lashes to be long and lustrous which I didn't find at all. It was what I'd refer to as a day mascara, you know the ones, it makes lashes look nice and prominent but certainly not anything special and I wouldn't reach for it on a night out. I would've maintained using this mascara if it hadn't been like Clinque's offering about the fall out. I can forgive a product if the look is right but in this instance it was out of the make up bag for me. I've since seen one or two reviews that this works better once it's started to dry out but the impatient soul I am, I have no time for that when there are bigger and better mascara's to use.

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer link
And we end on possibly the most disappointing of all, Laura Mercier's highly spoke of foundation primer. This was one of those products I first brought when I entered into the beauty blogging world. Every blogger and YouTuber was talking about this in favourites, I was new to Laura Mercier, loved a wonder product that would mean minimal effort from me to touch up my make up throughout the day so I added a tube of this to my shopping basket. Firstly I wish I'd researched more as I would've gone for the smaller, cheaper tube I didn't know existed. I'm not a fan of the formula of this as I found it quite heavy and sticky when applying. I always apply my primer well in advance of my foundation to allow it time to sink in but this always felt like it needed extra time. I also didn't see any longevity with my make up after using this and as I'm not a big primer user I needed to see something positive to add the extra step into my routines. I've recently been testing my primers for a post to come next week and gave this another whirl and it's just not for me compared to others I own.

So there you have it, some surprising and disappointing products in that list which I'm sure some of you will say 'but I love that' and other's I hope I'm not alone with. Let me know any of your experiences with these products or anything I should stay away from.


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12 comments:

  1. Such a shame that none of these products worked for you Victoria. I love the idea of the No7 mask, I won't bother trying it now though xx

    Gemma | Miss Makeup Magpie

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    1. I really loved it too and I think if they tweaked the formula they could have something great x

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  2. I didn't particularly like the Revlon mascara either - it started out OK for me, but then it went down hill from there. I'm so disappointed in the Elasticizer, but I'm glad I read this since I was definitely going to buy it so saved a bit of money there :o) Xx

    Makeup by Candlelight

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    1. That's funny because a few people said it starts out bad and gets better! I think it's safe to say it's not a great product though!

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  3. I'm not a lavender love either xx

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  4. How disapointing! I know you have alot of loves though. lol Grace

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  5. The Laura Mercier was the first ever primer I used, and not having anything to compare it with, I thought it was OK. Since finishing it however, I have used lots of different primers (all far cheaper) and they have all been better. Some more so than others. Wouldn't buy the LM again, I must say.

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    1. I'm still not convinced primers are worth the effort but have been using the Garnier Miracle Blur this week which I've enjoyed x

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  6. always dissapoitnig when you don't like products

    This Girl Loves Chic xx

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    1. It is, especially when it's something you have high expectations of.

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