Products that didn't work for me: October 2014

Hello, Ladies! Hope your week is going fabulous! 

I had some disappointing product fails this past month. I was really excited to try a couple of them, had heard great things about them and I ended up not liking them at all. They were a little bit of a let down, but now I know and can try out other things!

Under Eye Concealer and Highlighter by e.l.f.
     I am not too upset about being let down by this product. It was only $3. It was something that I grabbed when I was trying out e.l.f. products and it was the only thing that didn't work for me. I grabbed this product because I wanted to see what the highlighting cream of this duo was all about. It does give a slight sheen, but it is more sparkly than anything. When you blend out the product, all you see are these tiny sparkles. And it was something I did not care for at all. It might be more appropriate for a young teenager. The concealer is a decent shade as far as being something light and bright for highlighting, but it is not a good quality concealer in my opinion. It sets cakey and does not look good. If you are looking for some great e.l.f. products, click here to see what I love from e.l.f.

Under Eye Concealer and Highligher by e.l.f.

Miracle Complexion Sponge by Real Techniques
     I was really disappointed by this little guy! I have heard some many great things about it being a great alternative for the Beauty Blender. I would have to disagree. I tried out the Miracle Complexion Sponge because I thought that if it really does work as good as the Beauty Blender, I would way rather pay the $5-6 for it vs. $20 for the Beauty Blender. First, I hate the texture of it! That might sound a little weird, but it just feels so cheap and grainy compared to the Beauty Blender. Second, I have heard that the flattened edge of it is really great for the under eye area. I did not see anything special about it and think the tapered end if the Beauty Blender works much better. Third, I like how with the Beauty Blender, it evenly distributes foundation/concealer and soaks up any excess product. It really helps to create a flawless look. I don't think the Real Techniques sponge does as good of a job as the Beauty Blender. I know that a lot of girls like this sponge and it works for them and that is great! I just prefer the Beauty Blender and the Real Techniques sponge was not for me! 

Miracle Complexion Sponge by Real Techniques

All About Eyes Rich by Clinque
     This is the second month in a row that an eye cream has not worked for me. I just can't catch a break! Last month wasn't so bad because it was something that I received for free. But I actually purchased this eye cream from Clinique. And we all know eye creams are not cheap! I decided to buy All About Eyes Rich because it is one of the top-rated eye creams on Sephora's website. It is very hydrating and I like that about it.... But that's about all I really like about it! It claims what any other eye cream does - diminish undereye circles, shadows, puffiness and fine lines. I have been using this eye cream for about 7-8 weeks now and I haven't noticed any changes in my eyes. I really don't have terrible dark circles or puffiness and only have a couple fine lines, but I want to prevent aging as much as I can! And with this product, I don't feel like it is helping me any. If any of you have any recommendations on an eye cream you love, please let me know! 

All About Eyes Rich by Clinique

Well, those were all the products that didn't work for me this past month. I hope it gives you some information to go off of if you were thinking about purchasing any of these products! 

Have a great Wednesday!

xoxo Kayla

Products that didn't work for me: September 2014

This is going to be a short and sweet post, ladies! I only had a couple of products in September that didn't work for me. One was a sample and one only cost a few dollars so I got pretty lucky and didn't really waste any money! It was a good month :)

1. Complete Eye Renewal Balm by Algenist
     I got this as a sample from a Sephora order. And it was such an awesome sample to score! The full size of this is $65 and the sample was half the size!!! So it was worth $32.50!!! I have heard great things about Algenist and am always looking for a great eye cream, so I was pumped about all these great things going for it! But it ended up not working for me and I am really bummed about it! This balm claims to do what any other typical eye cream claims - hydrates, decreases puffiness, fights signs of aging, decreases dark circles, etc. But even though every eye cream on the market claims these things, I thought that with Algenist being a well respected brand and the hefty price tag, it had to work! I used it every night before bed for about three weeks. I noticed a slight tingling when I first started trying it out but it didn't bother me. But the more I continued to use it, the more the tingling started turning into an intense burn! It felt like my eye area was on fire! I could not handle it and had to give it up. I didn't notice any change in the appearance of my eyes. I know that I only used it for three weeks, but I feel like by that point I should have at least started to see some benefits. I quickly scrolled through the reviews on Sephora and I saw a lot of women saying how they didn't like it either. So maybe stay away from this one if you are looking for a new eye cream!

Complete Eye Renewal Balm by Algenist
sorry the lettering is a little worn off!

2. Brush-On Striplash Eyelash Adhesive by Andrea
     The eyelash glue that I use is LashGrip by Ardell and I have a love/hate relationship with it. It works so awesome. It adheres the lashes amazingly to my eyes and I don't have to worry about those suckers going anywhere! The glue lasts for hours and and doesn't begin to come off at all. I never have to be concerned about my lashes falling off with the Ardell glue. But the smell is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. It is such a foul smell and I hate it! One day I was at Walgreens and saw this lash glue by Andrea. It looked of poor quality and I was a little skeptical about if it would really work that great because of how you are just supposed to brush some of that thin, liquidy glue on the lashes. But I just said "What the heck... I'll try it out!" I would never know how good (or not good) it worked if I didn't try it and I was kind of wanting something that didn't smell so bad. So I went for it. Maybe I would be surprised by it?! Nope. Should have went with my gut! It is a cheap glue that doesn't work whatsoever! I couldn't even get my lashes to adhere for 30 seconds. I will gladly stick with my Ardell glue that smells for a few seconds when applying it after trying this Andrea lash glue not working at all. Oh, the sacrifices we make for beauty ;)

Brush-On Striplash by Andrea

xoxo Kayla

Products that didn't work for me: August 2014

Hello Beauties!

Last month I posted some products that didn't work for me. I thought that I would continue doing this as a monthly thing so that if you are thinking about purchasing these same products, you can hear the reasons why they did not work for me. As I also stated in my last month's post, just because they don't work for me does not mean they won't work for someone else! I am just posting my personal experiences with these products so that it might be helpful for others :)

1. Fix and Perfect Primer by Rimmel
     I picked up this primer because I liked the matte primer from Rimmel and thought I would give this one a try too. This primer claims to have "5-in-1 results" and that it smoothes, resurfaces, brightens, mattifies and protects. I didn't really notice any of these claims in this primer. It did not give me a brightened look, didn't really create the best base to resurface or smooth, wasn't really all the mattifying and I am not really sure what it is claiming to protect?? Basically, I would have just been happy if it helped to prolong the wear of my makeup and I do not believe that it did. My makeup did not last very long as it started to break up in different places. I tried to give this primer a couple of chances and had the same results the second time. This primer was just not for me.

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer

2. Whish Shave Cream in Acai Grapefruit
     I got this as a sample in my Birchbox last month. I was happy with the sample size when I saw it because sometimes Birchbox doesn't give the best sizes for you to try out a product. This was one of the biggest samples I had received though, so I gravitated towards this first to check it out. I opened it and the first thing I did was smell it. I am not going to lie, I was disgusted! I thought it smelled exactly like vomit! I was so grossed out and extremely disappointed it did not smell good. I tried to give it another chance a couple hours later but it still smelled the same to me. I did decide to put a little of it on my hand to see what it at least felt like and it actually feels amazing! It is super silky and has a luxurious feeling. Although I would never, ever purchase the Acai Grapefruit scent, they do offer many other scents that I would try out (like coconut or lavender) just because it really does feel great!

Whish Shave Cream

3. Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil Shampoo and Conditioner by OGX
     In one of my Friday Five's, I mentioned that I had been loving the Hydrating Macadamia Oil Shampoo and Conditioner from OGX. And the only reason I ended up getting those was because I had orginally been using the Keratin Oil ones and did not like them at all. I had never really used OGX products before but thought that I would check them out. They have so many different scents with different oils and ingredients that I was not sure which one I should even try! I had been wanting to try products with Keratin Oil in it since it is supposed to increase the elasticity and hydration in your hair so that is why I decided to first try these out. After several washes, I was realizing more and more that I was not satisfied with it. I thought it did the exact opposite of what it claimed and my hair felt so much more dry and brittle looking. I also thought that the scent was a little overpowering. It smells more masculine and it would linger throughout the day. I just was not happy with it so decided to give OGX another try and have been very happy with the Macadamia Oil products.

Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil Shampoo and Conditioner by OGX

4. Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo by NYX
     This is the product I am most sad about that did not work for me. I have mentioned several times before that I absolutely LOVE the NYX Butter Glosses! In my opinion, they are by far the best glosses in the drugstore. Incredible creamy formula that lasts so long, looks so pretty on the lips and so affordable. So since I love the Butter Glosses so much, I thought I would feel the same about the Matte Lip Creams! Unfortunately, this was not the case. I have heard so many great things from different beauty girls that the formula is so amazing and they absolutely love them...... I thought the formula was terrible!! It looked really good right when I applied it, but five minutes later it was dried up and had lost about 80% of the pigmentation. It did not look pretty at all. I am so disappointed! Has anyone else tried these and had the same results? Or maybe some other shades are better than others? Let me know if there are any that work for you because I am willing to give others a try!

Soft Matte Lip Cream by NYX

And that is what didn't work for me in August. As I also stated in my last post, I am ok with having some products that don't work for me because that is the fun of trying different things out! You find what you like and you know when something just isn't for you.

Hope these tips help!

xoxo Kayla

Products that didn't work for me: July 2014

HAPPY FRIDAY, LOVES!!!! :)

Since I have been sharing my "Friday Five" every week of the products I have been loving, I thought I would share products that haven't worked for me this past month. Not only do I enjoy hearing what others have been loving, I really do like hearing about what doesn't work for them as well. If I am interested in a product, it is so nice to know what others think about it and I can have an idea on what to expect. One product might work amazing for someone and for another person, it is just not right for them - that is the power of makeup in my eyes! You can learn about pros and cons of a particular product and decide if it will fit your individual needs! 

For July, I had three products that just didn't work for me personally. Only having three products that didn't work throughout the whole month is not that bad though, so I think I came out alright!

1. Salon Grafix "Play it Big" Volumizing Dry Shampoo

     A couple of weeks ago I talked about Batiste Dry Shampoo being in my Friday Five. I ran out of my Batiste and couldn't find it anywhere so I had to settle on a different dry shampoo for a while which I ended up absolutely hating. This is that dry shampoo I was talking about. I decided to try this one out because I really do love the hairspray from this line. It is my holy grail hairspray and I have gone through dozens of bottles from Salon Grafix and thought if I love the hairspray, I am sure the dry shampoo is great too! Sadly, I was wrong. It claims to be volumizing and I did not experience that whatsoever. It didn't take away any greasiness from my hair - I felt like it made it look even worse! With Batiste, you just spray a few quick sprays and your hair is fresh and volumized and good to go! With this, no matter how little or how much I sprayed in my hair it really did nothing for me - I felt like I was just spraying a product into my hair that yielded no results. Although I am extremely disappointed in this dry shampoo, I still love Salon Grafix because of their hairspray! (Find it at Target or Walmart!)

2. Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray

     I got this product in my Ipsy bag for the month of June. I didn't try it out until a couple of weeks ago and I was so sad it didn't work for me! I love soft waves and wear my hair like that often so I was so excited when I received this! The first thing I did was smell it and it smells HEAVENLY. It smells like coconuts and I love anything tropical like that. I tried it out on my damp hair and after a couple of hours, it looked like a wet mop that had been set out to dry. Not the luscious beach waves I had been hoping for! I do have a lot of hair and the product is really lightweight, so I don't know if I just didn't put enough product in (I felt like I did!), but it just didn't work for me. I don't think that this is a bad product though! I could tell it was creating waves in my damp hair and the actual product feels of great quality so I am sure other girls have had better results than me. If you have tried this out, let me know how it worked/didn't work for you!

3. Physicians Formula Nude Wear Glowing Nude Blush in Natural

     I posted on my Instagram (@beautyandbasketball) mid-July that Target was having buy one, get one free on all Physicians Formula products and this was one of the products I got. I was excited because I had never used Physicians Formula products so this was the perfect excuse to try it out! But again,I was incredibly disappointed in this blush. It has no pigmentation whatsoever. I have to go back with my brush to get more and more product to make it show up on my cheeks and even then, it still is barely noticeable. I'm not the fairest, but I do have pretty light skin and if this doesn't show up on me, I can't imagine it working for girls who have a darker complexion than me. And honestly, the other product I got was the Mineral Glow Pearls highlighter in Beige Pearl and I am not that impressed with it either. I am still on the fence trying to decide if I like it or not, but I definitely have not been reaching for it when doing my makeup. I don't want to give up hope on Physicians Formula, so if you have any recommendations on products you think are great from this line, please let me know!

I swatched this on my arm and cropped the area it was in... If I hadn't cropped it, you wouldn't have even been able to tell where it was at on my arm! (And still barely noticeable!)

So that is it! And I am ok with having products that don't work out for me. It is fun to try out new things and if it doesn't work, no big deal! 

On a side note, if you have a blog or YouTube channel, let me know what it is! I would love to check it out! It is so fun getting to know girls in the beauty community!

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo Kayla