Disappointing Products #1

As you can probably tell from the title this isn’t going to my usual type of review as most of my reviews are generally quite up beat and positive but from time to time I do come across a product or two that I really haven’t liked. Now, being an honest blogger and all that i’m not going to hide the fact I don’t like a product for you guys so I have decided to start another little series where I basically review products that have disappointed me. Sound good? Ok, cool! (Sorry if they are a little lengthy).

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB – Boots (£7.99), St Tropez Instant Tan – Boots (£10.99), S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer – Beauty Bay (£10.69), Blistex Daily Lip Conditioner – Boots (£2.59)

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream (Medium) – I bought this back in the summer in the hope to replace my Erborian BB Creme as it was rather pricey to replace, so I thought i’d see what the high street had to offer. I needed a BB Creme that gave a light coverage, but was a little darker than my natural skin tone to match with my fake tan so I chose the shade medium thinking it would be an okay match. Described to be an 8-in-1 BB Cream that created a natural glow, hydrated the skin throughout the day, feels fresh etc etc.. I had high hopes for this product and it’s safe to say these were crushed. I applied this normally using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush all over my skin and no word of lie it looked as if I had not applied anything to my skin. I thought maybe I wasn’t using enough, so I applied more to try to build the coverage but no that didn’t work either. I have tried using this a couple of times since and I still get the same results, I mean I know BB creams are supposed to give a light coverage but it didn’t give any. 

St Tropez Instant Tan (Light/Medium) – I picked this up as a freebie in a magazine last month I think and I was super excited to try this after hearing the buzz about this around LFW. An instant tanner that was water and transfer resistant, with this British weather? Hell yes! I applied this normally with a tanning mit in circular motions mainly focusing on my legs and gave it a little time to develop, even though this is an instant tan you do have to let it develop a little. As I only noticed a slight colour difference, I applied another layer (as you sometimes have to with instant tanners) in the hopes it would come out a little darker. Even though this did give me a slight golden glow, it just wasn’t enough for me, especially on someone pale and to be honest I still looked rather pale. On the other hand, I really do like the idea behind this product and it does do what it says. It doesn’t come off if someone spills a drink down you and it doesn’t transfer onto clothing (which is a royal pain, especially on white clothing). I think if I had tried the medium/dark shade I would have been more impressed but this shade was far too light for me.

Tigi S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer – I bought this right at the start of the year as it was mega cheap on Fragrance Direct and i’d loved a few products from this range so I thought i’d give it a go. Described as a defrizzer and tamer than softens the hair whilst fighting humidity. This sounds right up my street as my hair can be horrendously frizzy. I applied this after washing my hair, whilst it was still wet, focusing on the lower sections of my hair and then allowed my hair to dry naturally. Now let me backtrack a second, I found when applying this the formula was rather thick and sticky making it quite difficult to spread throughout my hair, it just seemed to stick in one section but I persevered. Truth be told it did leave my hair feeling soft and smelling of strawberry calpol (yum!), but it did nothing what so ever to defrizz my hair and left my hair with a glitter sheen to it as there seems to be shimmer within the formula.. not too sure why. I do use this from time to time, mainly to use it up but it’s not a product I would recommend.

Blistex Daily Lip Conditioner – I don’t know how many times I mention that I suffer with dry lips but I do and it’s that bad that I could be a test bunny for products targeted at dry lips because nothing sorts mine out. Anyway, I bought this a while back to give a test run as a lot of people had recommended it to me. Described as a daily lip conditioner that keeps your lips healthy and in tip top condition. When I first used this I noticed the formula was one i’d never come across before, slightly oily but still balm like. I applied this to my lips and within seconds noticed a tingly feeling, similar to what you get when you use a lip plumper and I thought ‘ooh, this must mean it’s working’.. no, as soon as the product has soaked in and come off my lips there were dry within minutes, with no sign of it conditioning them, in fact I think they were worse than before applying this stuff. I think it would fine for those who’s lips just need a little priming before applying a lip product but not for very dry lips.

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think of them?

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