Monthly Misses: August 2022

[greeneyedgirl107]

Another month has gone by, and I'm sure it had its ups and downs for everyone.  So, if you had some beauty disappoints, disasters or were just plain underwhelmed, let us know all about it.  We don't live in a perfect world, so all our products can't be winners.

[faeriegirl]

@CookieGirl1  I was so hopeful at first, but now the search continues…

[CookieGirl1]

@faeriegirl I LOVE trying new hair products but I feel like I get more misses than hits :(.

[robyndipi]

Let me start by saying that my go to eyebrow choice is ABH brow wiz. I’ve been using it for years and haven’t found anything even close to comparable to it (for me anyway). I recently ordered the ABH brow pen and unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment. It went on way too dark, which I’m sure that would just be an easy fix by ordering a shade lighter, but I thought it would be a great way to “draw”

on a more natural eyebrow look. I’m going to give it another try with a lighter shade, if I can figure out what to go with. Hoping for the best. Stay tuned and I’ll let you all know how it goes. I’m also open to suggestions for any other eyebrow product you’d all recommend. 😁

[Loretta55]

I would not call the ABH Brow Pen a fail but I think that it is going to take practice to perfect my eyebrows using it @robyndipi . 

[Loretta55]

I had a few misses this month @greeneyedgirl107. I have seen the videos of the eye bags disappearing using Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx® Eye Temporary Eye Tightener 1 oz/ 30 mL . Maybe it is user error but I felt like it never dried down. It also left a film behind. I like almost anything chocolate scented so I was excited to try Too Faced Lip Injection Maximum Plump Extra Strength Hydrating Lip Plumper Chocolate Plump. It burned my lips so it will be returned. During lipstick day Ulta had a sale on the fresh Sugar Lip Balm Hydrating Treatment . I purchased multiple colors but I don’t find them moisturizing in the least.

[makeitup305]

@Loretta55 the Too Faced Lip Injection is too much for me, too. You might like the Too Faced Hangover Pillow Balm Ultra-Hydrating Lip Balm Cocoa Kiss if you haven't tried it. It's so smooth and hydrating.

[Loretta55]

I learned about them from @QueenMarceline . I stocked up on them during Ulta 10X Days @makeitup305. Highly recommended!

[QueenMarceline]

@Loretta55 @makeitup305 Literally love these ❤️ can't wait to stock up during the 21 days sale.

[CookieGirl1]

@Loretta55 I used to love the fresh Sugar Lip Balm Hydrating Treatment and then it was like they suddenly just didn't do enough for my lips, either.  I finished what I had and I've never gone back.

[Loretta55]

I wish that I read the reviews @CookieGirl1 , before I purchased 8 of them. 

[CookieGirl1]

@Loretta55 hopefully you'll like me better than I did!

[Loretta55]

I am going to return 7 of them @CookieGirl1. The reformulated version is a huge miss.

[CookieGirl1]

What a bummer, @Loretta55!

[WinglessOne]

@Loretta55  Ouch, sorry the Too Faced Lip Plumper burned your lips! I haven't tried any variety of Lip Plumber because, if I recall correctly, they all contain capsicum frutescens resin (derived from chili peppers). I can (and do) eat hot pepper dishes, but I can't wear their extracts on my lips all day without a burn. I wonder how the chocolate one's different from the others, since you mentioned the others caused no burning. It must be formulated differently. 

[Loretta55]

I am going to have to compare the ingredients @WinglessOne. I even tried the Cinnamon Bear version (which sounds painful) but it wasn’t.

[Loretta55]

I photographed both versions @WinglessOne . I tried to compare ingredients lists but I can not figure out which ingredients are the cause of irritation.

 

[WinglessOne]

@Loretta55  Thanks for the INCI list comparison photo! I couldn't tell at first glance either, so I went to Ulta and pulled their posted INCI for both the "original" shade of Maximum Plump Lip Injection and the new chocolate shade. Then I copy/pasted both lists into a spreadsheet so I could more easily skim for differences. Ingredients in red are different between the 2 products; there may be more but I didn't do a slow and careful comparison. 😄 

Italic dark red = possibly the same ingredient, just labeled differently.

Since folks can be (or become) skin sensitive to nearly any ingredient, and an INCI list doesn't explain how a product's formulated (I have no idea what % of chili extract's in either product, for instance), it's hard to tell which ingredient(s) caused issues. But this is the kind of comparison I usually do when something irritates the heck out of my skin and doesn't contain something I already know I'm sensitive to. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Loretta55 I hate it when products burn lips!  🔥 

[Loretta55]

I had high hopes for it @greeneyedgirl107 because none of the other versions gave me that reaction. I saw it marked down to half price earlier this week. That is unusual for a newly released item.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Loretta55 very perceptive!

[greeneyedgirl107]

I've been flat iron-free for most of the year in an effort to get my hair healthier -- which is what I should've done at the start of the pandemic!  So, I thought that I'd try some new hair products since I figured I didn't have much to lose with not really styling my hair much.  I finally splurged and bought Virtue Restorative, Hydrating Treatment Hair Mask with Keratin .  I was disappointed.  It couldn't compare to Redken's All Soft Heavy Cream. 

It could be b/c this is a mask with protein in it, and I've never really explored that kind before.  However, I was expecting my hair to be softer than it turned out.  I will say that my hair looked a little better - it just didn't feel that way.  I thought the price didn't justify the results.  If it were less expensive then I might have kept it around to use it occasionally for the protein. 

I was also surprised at how effortful it was to rinse out.  Again, that could be due to the protein - I just don't know.  I will say that I enjoyed the smell well enough.  It reminded me of toffee and flowers.

My other miss was Bioderma Sebium Exfoliating Gel Facial Cleanser.  The first time I used it, the scrubbers were a little sharp and I was worried that it would result in microtears.  I tend to get red bumps on my cheeks if the scrubbers are too gritty - and esp when irritants like fragrance or EO are in the mix.  I used it without issue the first time, so I kept using it.  The problem was that over the next few weeks the scrubbers seemed to get weaker. 

I shook the bottle and this helped a little, but I still didn't get the right amount of abrasiveness that I was looking for.  It was close, but not there all the way.  I think this would be a good option for a lot of people, I was just needing a little more oomph. 

Also, I didn't care for the fragrance.  All of my skincare products are fragrance-free except one, and it bothered me that the scent of cucumbers and "perfume" lingered.  Now, normally I would have kept this around to have as an option.  However, I returned it just today b/c I've been getting promising results from Kiehl's Since 1851 Epidermal Re-Texturizing Micro-Dermabrasion 2.5 oz/ 75 mL -- I'm hoping to post this as a Monthly Favorite in September - fingers crossed!

I was quite happy with my Bioderma experience, though, since I bought it from Target.  I will take this opportunity to say that I think 30 days just isn't enough time for me to experiment with certain products.  This scrub was something I could only use once a week, and I needed more than four weeks to make a determination about it.  I was so appreciative that Target gave me 90 days.