This is a blog post that I normally shy away from because I feel like it’s “mean,” but as much as I recommend so many products, there’s quite a few I do not care for and I would recommend saving your money on. This post is strictly covering the “popular” products (not everything… that would take me forever), and it also does NOT mean I hate these brands – just these specific products. Also, if you love them, please continue to LOVE them. This isn’t about brand ingredients, it’s just about performance in my opinion. Let’s chat about these popular clean beauty products I hate…
I have been using nearly exclusively clean beauty for over three years now. A seven year battle with infertility really spurred it on, and having autoimmune disease to boot makes it sort of a no brainer. I don’t need any more products interfering with the way my body is trying to process things.
Also, as a reference point, I am normal/oily skin, suffer from hyperpigmentation and texture. Prefer a soft glam makeup look, and I’m in my mid thirties.
kosas revealer concealer
This Kosas concealer has to top the most popular clean beauty product on the list. The reason I have it here is because as nice as it is, and how pretty it looks on the skin, the tube I had went totally rancid before the 6M expiration date. It smelled TERRIBLE and I felt that was totally unacceptable for a high end product to expire before the date. I purchased this concealer from KOSAS’ website directly when it launched. Will I try it again? Never say never, but there are so many great clean concealers now (Rose Inc., Lawless, Beautycounter) I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
kosas lip oil
I’m very particular about lip oils. I actually prefer them to be cushiony and a bit thicker (like the Dior Lip Oils, or Haus Labs). This Kosas one just disappeared on me. I had the shade Unhooked and it was a bit patchy on my lips and just did NOT last. It also did not feel at all hydrating to me. If anything, it was drying. *see my thoughts on the Merit lip oil below, too. If you like one, you’ll probably like the other. If you hate one, you’ll probably hate the other (like me).
ilia matte liquid eyeshadows
This could also be a problem with their shimmery liquid shadows, but I only tried the matte ones. I was SO excited to try them, too. I even did a couple TikToks with them. The colors are stunning, but the performance was atrocious on me. Patchy, couldn’t be layered, just terrible. Maybe these work better on naked skin vs. on top of foundation/concealer, but that’s just not my makeup style so these are a pass for me.
tower 28 cream bronzers + blushes
First of all, the bronzer is totally shimmery. To me, this is a highlighter for deep skin tones. I know it looks so pretty on others, but as an oily girl, I’d say away from these. My biggest qualm with this formula is HOW dewy it is. It’s almost like a potted lipgloss. So so dewy. I just cannot.
merit lip oil
This Merit one is very thin in consistency, like I’m actually applying olive oil to my lips. That shiny finish also disappears almost immediately on me… leaving a very mild stain. I’d rather just use a lip stain. Worst of all, this style of lip oils (the thinner ones) seem to dry my lips out, which is a problem I never have.
merit mascara
Did I HATE this mascara? I dunno if that’s totally necessary, BUT it is one I see raved about all over TikTok lately and it was so unimpressive to me. This is essentially a lash tint. There’s no volume, barely any length… to me, it simply just tinted my lashes darker.
bareMinerals complexion rescue*
I *-d this because bareMinerals is not exactly “clean,” but some of their products are cleaner, so I wanted to mention this one since so many rave about it. For me, this broke me out so badly in cystic acne. Not much else to say. It looked nice initially, but not worth the horrible breakouts for my insanely sensitive skin.
ilia powder eyeshadow palettes
A recent eyeshadow purchase that immediately was returned to my local Sephora, the ilia powder eyeshadows look so pretty in the pan and they even swatch nicely! But once applied to the eye – with or without primer – they just seemed to blend away to nothingness on me! It was so bizarre. Stick with the Lawless palettes if you want a talc free powder.
jones road miracle balm
I have tried Jones Road over and over again and although my biggest opinion is that it’s pretty expensive… I also just think I am not the target market for Jones Road. Most of the products seemed geared towards a drier skin type. Particularly the Miracle Balm, I tried three or four different shades of this product and it just did not work on me. I have normal/oily skin with texture and acne hyperpigmentation. A product like this is not meant for me, but as a beauty blogger, I tested it out thoroughly. If you are super dry, with nearly perfect skin, you may love this tinted aquaphor/vaseline.
Remember, if you love these products, please don’t come for me. It’s just my opinion on what worked for me at this point in time. If you love these, comment below with your skin type and age range as it may help others on the fence about trying these! Thanks 🙂
-Steffanie
