Products that went *poof* and you wish were back?

[Crumblecakez]

I was just browsing through the Vice lipsticks from Urban Decay as they were my first colored lipstick brand that I actually wore out and about and I realized that some of the shades I have been in love with are 'out of stock' now. Voodoo, which was meh as I didnt wear it much. But Roach (brown), Junkie (green), Big Bang (glitter pink), Studded (brown), and Backfire (purple) are all gone now and I dunno what to do with myself as they are my favorite colors. The only reason it took me so long to notice (I mean they could have gone away last year for all I know) is because I stocked up on 3 of each last time I bought them. 😞 Are there any shades or even entire lines that have retired out that you wish were back?

[greeneyedgirl107]

I remember hearing ages ago how YSL Glossy Stain Lip Color was a product to look into.  I just never got around to it, probably because back then I wasn't into glosses and it was pricey.  It popped back onto my radar, and now I realize YSL has discontinued it.  

[danielledanielle]

Sephora's Colorful blush pre-reformulation

E.l.f's beauty shield

CoverFx, I know it's still around (for now), but wish it was still sold at Sephora

Bite's Agave Lip Mask (OG one) and they also had these coffee glosses and their first glosses that came out

Becca's Luminous Blushes

[CattyT3]

I'm scared to like lip products any more - that entire Urban Decay Vice range is gone - the one with the pretty metal cylinder packaging. I really hate the clunky cuboid packaging everywhere now and is literally a reason I won't purchase a product - I want things to look good on my shelf or at least not be designed in a way to take up double the space for no reason (I travel a lot). 
All the liquid matte lipsticks I liked from Juvia's Place are now either discontinued or forever waitlisted.
So now I fear for the few lippies I love that aren't gone *yet*.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Crumblecakez I'm scared, too - things come and go so quickly!

[greeneyedgirl107]

Does anyone know what's going on with Lancome L'absolu Lacquer?  (I'm unable to tag.) There used to be a ton of shades (about 29) and now the direct site only has a few...and there are barely any at department store websites.  Just my luck that my workplace finally removes masks, and I can't get my hands on any decent shades. 

I contacted Lancome and this was their response:

"We appreciate your interest in L'Absolu Lacquer Gloss. Unfortunately, we are not sure when or if products are being discontinued or when they will be restocked. If a product you like is out of stock at this time, please click on the 'Notify Me' button on the product page to get an update when the product is back in stock.

We appreciate your understanding and hope you find this information helpful."

Tagging @RGbrown because and I know you're a fan and @WinglessOne because I *think* you are as well (if not, then feel free to disregard).

[WinglessOne]

@greeneyedgirl107  The L'Absolu Lacquers are my favorite lip glosses ever. There were over 30 shades and I have 20 of them. I noticed the shade range shrinking a couple years ago and got nervous that Lancôme might discontinue the whole line. So I started trying other glosses that seemed similar in performance—but I've yet to find a worthy replacement. 😞 Shu Uemura once made a gloss that came close but had shorter wear time. I don't like any of the "vinyl" liquid lipsticks you have shake before use; no brand's version of that comes anywhere near L'Absolu Lacquer's non-stick super glassy shine. Bobbi Brown Crushed Liquid Lipstick is reasonably long wearing and non-sticky but isn't shiny/glassy enough at all. 

Lancôme is known to discontinue any products that don't meet their sales quotas. That's one of the reasons I tried to let as many people know about the L'Absolu Lacquers as possible: I wanted more folks to buy 'em so they wouldn't be discontinued. I can't count the number of times a stranger asked me what gloss I was wearing that day and was shocked to hear the brand name. 😂 "Wait, did you say Lancôme?" Heck, these are the glosses that finally got me into gloss in general. (I was scarred for years by the old school MAC Lipglass, aka lip glue.) So I'm super bummed to 'em go. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@WinglessOne the rep at the Lancome counter at my local Macy's sd they were being "phased out" which is probably accurate - although I wish their CS would have owned up to it when I e-mailed them.  I bought 4 from NM that didn't work out due to shade issues.   My sister had an in and got me 4 others.   I tried 2 of those so far and they didn't work out either.  One reason may be that since the shades I have access to are diminished, I'm not picking shades that would be optimal for me.  

Two shades I could have avoided, tho, if I had access to my Sephora reviews.  I've been beating myself up for not exploring these further when I knew their potential.   Then, I realized why: I first tried them summer 2019.  Then 2020 hit!

Some were too tacky and idk if I applied too much or if it was old stock.

For some reason I'm so drawn to these that I feel like I might track down any shade I have an interest in because I have the notion that at least ONE will be lovely for me.

Do you think Lancome will come up with something similar?  At first I was hopeful but upon typing I feel like with the popularity of nude lips and the Matte lips that we don't have a chance.   I agree that there's nothing else like these out there. 

[WinglessOne]

@greeneyedgirl107  Aw, I also wish Lancôme's CS would've just admitted these glosses are being discontinued. I don't fully understand why some brands are afraid to notify customers that certain products are going away. They could've noted that on their own product page, instead of making folks nervously watch the dwindling shade range and then being cagey when asked about it. I think most customers appreciate upfront honestly these days. At least NARS and MAC have a section at their sites dedicated to products (or specific shades of products) being discontinued. I've been watching the Audacious bullet lipsticks at NARS's site to see if they add any new shades while discontinuing older ones, and I'm starting to feel a bit more optimistic that the Audacious product line is staying—but that's a different topic. 

Anyway, sorry you've had issues getting some shades to work. The trick with L'Absolu Lacquers is not using more than 3 coats. Seriously, they'll get very gummy and patchy and gross if you apply 4 or more coats. 

• 1 coat = sheer coverage
• 2 coats = demi-sheer to opaque, depending on the shade (deeper bolder shades will be opaque in 2 coats)
• 3 coats = full opacity, if an additional coat's even needed 

The lighter shades I own are never as boldly opaque as the bolder reds, plums, and roses. Well, except for the gold shade... that one reaches full opacity in 2-3 coats. Energy Shot (the coral one) also gets boldly opaque on me. I'm curious which shades you've tried so far. They're all numbered and Lancôme no longer lists them all at their site, but I have a list of all the shade numbers with their names. 🙂 Energy Shot is 315; Gold For It is 500. 

I hope Lancôme replaces them with something worthy, but I have my doubts about that. They tend to kill product lines and never bring 'em back. Then again, they did kinda sorta replace their old Blur & Go primer stick with Lancôme Priming Serum 24 Hour Hydrating Solid Smoothing Primer , though I haven't closely compared INCI lists to see if they're similar enough. I do know the new primer's fragranced. (The old stick wasn't.) Not sure I want the L'Absolu Lacquers back if they're gonna be drastically reformulated for potentially worse. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@WinglessOne I completely, 100%, absolutely agree with your whole first paragraph!

I appreciate your tips!  I think one issue was that some of them were a bit thick.  BUT, I take a lot of the credit for mis-use.  One thing for me was that I kinda knew the doe foot applicator had too much product but I went ahead with it.  I borrowed a few loose ones from Ulta, as they don't sell them, and plan on trying them to get a little less product to apply.

That's a shame that Lancome won't bring things back.  But even if they did, it would be a long time before we'd see them again since they kinda just started to eliminate this product.  It's just such an amazing formula.  

I kinda blind bought the shades as there weren't testers to be had.  I could have eliminated two purchases if I had better access to my Sephora reviews*.  I haven't been able to pull them up for ages, so after I made some missteps I did it the hard way and went through almost all the pages of reviews before I found mine.

I bought the following (my notes to myself were rushed):

Nuit & Jour (one I had written a review on but didn't know): Too shell/orange

Pour Toujour: Looked pink online and in the tube but was too orange-y/beige/neutral

Be Unique: Too bright

Power Rose: Too bright

Rose Fugace: Too red/brick red

Infra Rose (one I had written a review on but didn't know): Too muddy/ruddy; had to layer a lot to get color

The brights were quite pretty, I will say that!  I still have two left to try, but I don't have the names on hand.  

[RGbrown]

@greeneyedgirl107 

No clue exactly what's going on, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're being discontinued 😔 I noticed shades being pulled from both Ulta and Sephora last year (or maybe even two years ago now) as they sold out after a really nice sale. It's such an amazing formula, so it's disappointing that they're getting hard to find!

[greeneyedgirl107]

@RGbrown you had posted a pic of swatches of the shades u owned years ago, and I bookmarked it.  Now, I can't find it.  I was going to use it to help me blind buy any shades that were available that interested me (many u had did).   Sigh.  I guess u snooze, you lose!

[jyeezy31]

Hi @Crumblecakez 

I miss all of the LIPSTICKQUEEN 👑 lipsticks & lip balms way too much & try to find it whenever/wherever I can but it's getting harder... I hope that they will get back in business someday.... so unique & fun + great performance too

Totally agree with you about good memories of long ago Urban Decay Vice Days... I liked Manic  still have one that I'm holding onto although for some reason the shade doesn't look as good as I used to think it did anymore - 🙂

Also miss some of the old Smashbox lippies... still ok, but don't hydrate as well

What I miss the most is the original YSL Volupte-Tint-In-Balm (had the silver YSL monogrammed case & the black heart at the center of the lipstick), they changed the formula... so sad! 

SOOO many AMAZING products have been either discontinued or have been reformulated ... no idea why or how these decisions are made because so often the newer versions don't stack up.... maybe using cheaper ingredients or outsourcing... who knows?

[greeneyedgirl107]

@jyeezy31 I miss LQ, too!

[pocketvenus]

So many of the BITE products

Dusita's Oudh Infini

Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour Le Soir

Frederic Malle's Superstitious

All the original Serge Lutens formulations

So many niche fragrances I can't count

[DevNew]

Becca Cosmetics 😞 She had a highlighter that I loved so much. V sad its not available any more.

[WinglessOne]

@DevNew  Which highlighter was your favorite? Smashbox took on 5 of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector shades, so those are still available. But I know there were more shades than that (including some limited editions) before Becca closed. I miss Becca's blushes and lip glosses, and one of their concealers was a fave of mine. 

[DevNew]

It was the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter in Champagne Pop! I didn't know that Smashbox pick some of them up...I loved her products in general they had a quality I loved so much. 

[Samtian]

@DevNew #Smashbox Smashbox X BECCA Mini Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed Highlighter Champagne Pop  

[DevNew]

You are a saint!

[greeneyedgirl107]

I confirmed with Living Proof that their Anti-Frizz Humidity Shield has been discontinued.  I figured it was going to be years ago, when they came out with Living Proof No Frizz® Instant De-Frizzer (which I don't think works well).  They said, 

Thank you so much for contacting us, we really appreciate it! Saying goodbye is never easy. Our products are part of what makes us the brand we are today. We need to say good bye to some products in order to make room for new innovation as we continue to develop products that will change your lives in ways both big and small. The product has been discontinued but we have the Smooth Styling Spray and Instant De-Frizzer!