Products that surprise you...

Have you ever bought a product with really high expectations for it, and it turns out to be a dud? Or vice versa, you buy something, not expecting much from it, but it turns out to be amazing.

I've compiled a list of products that have either been a disapointment, or a pleasant surprise...

The disappointments...

Butter London polish in Come to Bed Red

Clinique Long Last Lipgloss

MAC eyeshadow in Swimming

Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer

Butter London polish

To be honest, I bought this because I adored the cheeky name. The colour is a beautiful red, and the formula is decent. The brush is pretty good too. So why did it disappoint, you say? Wear time! It started to chip in under two days...even my Ulta3 polishes do better than that. I've read mixed reviews about Butter London polishes so I'm not the only one with this issue. I doubt I'll buy Butter London polishes again, as they are so expensive, but I'll still use this polish because the colour is amazing.

Clinique Long Last Lipgloss (GWP size)

I do not like sticky lipgloss - the end! I guess this is more of a personal preference thing, I don't know what I was expecting, but it sucks that I don't use this product very much.

MAC eyeshadow - Swimming

I used to get so excited about MAC products, but I completely dismiss them now. This shadow is a lovely colour, but the texture is so grainy...eww. It also has large shimmer particles. The pigmentation of this is average when swatched dry - it looks sickly green, and I'm pretty sure no one ever has looked good with a sickly green gaze. It is also difficult to blend. It would probably work better when swatched wet. 

MAC eyeshadow in Swimming

Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle concealer

First, let me stress that this is NOT a bad product. The problem was that I had very (very very very very) high expectations for this, almost thinking it would be a miracle product. Yes it does the job, and it does a good job, but it's not a magic cure. Either that, or I have terrible dark circles. Who knows? I was tossing between this and Benefit's Erase Paste, but chose this Korean product as it would be better suited to yellow undertones. Definitely set this with powder, it will help a lot. I use this product quite a bit.

This is shade #2

The pleasant surprises

Elf Studio blush in Berry merry

MUA Dusk til Dawn palette

Jordana lipstick in Cranberry

Boe Beauty lipstick in Natural Tea Rose

Elf Studio blush

At first, I wasn't too excited by this blush. But now, I love it! It's a plum sort of berry colour (such a useless description, I know) with gold glitter. This is probably better suited to warmer skin tones. Also, it is similar to NARS's Sin blush. I think these blushes are about $4 from beautyjoint.com, so I'll be ordering a few more with my next order.

(why do my photos keep going in the wrong way?! help!)

Elf Berry Merry swatch

MUA Dusk til Dawn palette

For someone that doesn't wear anything other than neutrals on their eyes, I have been using this palette a bit. Admittedly  the aqua shade doesn't get as much use, but this palette can create a lovely purple/pink smokey eye.

Jordana Lipstick

Cheap packaging, but whatever. The lipstick is a bit dry, so I'd suggest using a lip balm first, and then applying a sticky gloss over the top to help it last. This colour is such a pretty red, but what I love the most is the delicious smell - it smells like juicy cranberries! This cost me something like $1.50 from beauty joint. I wish Australian drug store brands were this cheap/good!

Boe Beauty Lipstick

That nameless lipstick at the bottom is the Boe lipstick. The silver writing (or at least I think it had silver writing...?) has worn away, as it has been living in my handbag for a while and it's been quite warm here (naughty me, I know). For a $2 lipstick, the packaging is not great - it feels very light. But the lipstick is pigmented and a nice colour. It's called 'Natural Tea Rose'...which does not fit the colour at all. I'd expect a tea rose to be a soft rosey pink...this leans towards purple. Anyway, name aside, I have been liking this a lot more than I thought!

Swatches

Left: Boe Beauty Lipstick in Natural Tea Rose

Right: Jordana lipstick in Cranberry

Now, tell me about the products that have surprised you!