Oh, for sure, and I love when it happens. I never thought anything could steal my heart away from the Shu Uemura Lash Curler, but Sonia Kashuk’s excellent Curl Up Eyelash Curler ($12.99) came pretty darn close.
Then there’s the $29 MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush. After feeling just so-so about it for years as an eyeshadow brush, I used it to apply my under-eye concealer one day and was totally blown away. Now it’s my favorite brush to use with my current favorite concealer, MAC Pro Longwear.
And earlier this month, Urban Decay’s Stardust Sparkling Lip Glosses ($19 each) threw me for a loop. With so much glitter, I was sure they’d feel gritty, but they turned out to be downright comfy on my lips. Plus, they last a lot longer than I expected from a gloss.
How about you? Are there any makeup or beauty products you were surprised to like?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. We’re almost to the Friday finish line, YAY! Hope you had a good one today. Doing anything fun tonight? Right now I’m watching the Terra Nova pilot on TV, and so far, so good. Always helps to have dinosaurs…
Definitely there were, but off the top of my head, the biggest surprise for me was Britney Spears Fantasy perfume. When it first came out, I didn’t think much of it until I was flipping through the pages of a magazine. It had one of those fragranced pages. It smelled so good, so I went to find out what perfume it was. Haha, and to my surprise, it was Fantasy!
Since it was released, it’s still my signature scent and I get lots of compliments on it. That was a real winner for me…hehe, and I’m embarrassed to answer whenever someone asks me what I’m wearing. 😛
Karen – do you know if Target sells refill pads for the Curl Up Eyelash Curler?
I haven’t really had any pleasant makeup surprises…though I have a laundry list of stuff I really wanted to love but ended up hating.
Hello Karen.
This really sounds great. I might try it out. 🙂
Nivea’s Diamond gloss hair styling collection is my favorite. I didn’t expect amazing results but they are, so now I love it.
NARS Nana lipgloss – it’s a dark, plumy purple. It’s very dark in the tube and I was scared to buy it. Only got it after the makeup artist in NARS encouraged me to. It’s sheer-ish when you put it on. Pigmented, but it doesn’t give an intense, dark purple, just a nice plum. I love it.
Also, an emerald green eyeliner from Anabelle. I got it to do a Halloween look last year and I figured that because it was a drugstore brand it wouldn’t be that good. But it’s great. It stays on quite a while and I love the unexpected touch of green when I don’t have much colour going on for my makeup that day.
I must say, after years of dismissing drugstore makeup, I’m pleasantly surprised to find some outstanding quality at amazing prices. Wet n Wild eyeshadows, E.L.F. tinted moisturizer and gel liners, NYX, well, EVERYTHING!
I am not one to use tinted moisturizer because I need more coverage but I tried the one from E.L.F. and loved it. Best 3 dollars spent plus it’s SPF 20 🙂
I also have the elf tinted moisturizer. I got mine at kmart. Im an nc42-43 in mac so i purchased one of the darker colors but i found that it ran a bit orangey. When i apply it to my face you can kinda notice so i set it with my mac studio fix powder which matches me perfectly. The powder foundation makes it look less orangey and like a better match for my skin. But for $3, it works just fine(:
loooooooooooooooooooove elf tinted moisturizer. i put it on, of nothing else (& by nothing else, i mean eyeliner & mascara) just to give my face a bit of color & make me look not so pale & sickly (my natural color).
i’ve previously tried NYX eyeshadows and found them blah. since then, i told myself never to buy from them again. but to my surprise, i loved their soft matte lip creams so much! i have two shades now (Stockholm and Sau Paolo) and want more!!
Hard Candy Glamouflage Heavy Duty Concealer. I thought…Wal-Mart? Six dollars? Yeah right! I LOVE this concealer as an under eye concealer. It hides dark circles like nobody’s business, including Eve Pearl’s Salmon Concealer (which I hated!)
I’m 100% with you on the 224 and Pro Longwear Concealer!
Definetly 24/7 eyeliner from Urban Decay! I regret not buying more than the one gorgeous purple, since we dont have Urban Decay in Denmark 🙁 But after my next trip to London my suitcase will be filled with make-up from Urban Decay, Nars and so much more 🙂
Maybelline’s 24 HOUR Bold mascara. It has two great brushes, curls, volumizes, and lengthens. It lasts and lasts without any flaking, too.
Two things I was surprised by: Kat Von D Tattoo concealer and Milani Minerals compact makeup.
I had heard the concealer was very thick and cakey. But I gave it a try anyway…and LOVED it. The trick is all in the application. A little goes a very long way!
And the compact, I was also expecting to be cakey and very powdery-looking. But to my surprise, it applied so finely and evened out my skin in the most natural-looking way. It’s not the most long-lasting compact, but for a drugstore brand, it’s top-notch.
I, too, like the milani mineral compact makeup. It is so natural looking and for me perfect coverage by itself, and not too much if applied over a liquid foundation. I have enjoyed using many of the milani products–especially the sheer lipsticks and eye shadows (although some of the shadow textures can be hit and miss.)
The one that comes to mind is Cetaphil’s Gentle Cleansing Bar. I’m more of a liquid person and thought a bar soap would dry my skin out. I used it by chance because I was out of face wash and it was sitting in the closet. Now it’s my twice daily cleanser! 🙂
How was Terra Nova? I saw it was on as I was flipping through the channels last night but, you know me, I put it on hockey instead. 🙂
i was surprised to fall in love w/ the 224 ….
again, its one of those brushes that in theory, would not work on my small eyes as a crease brush.
however — for applying transition color and for blurring out harsh lines as well as applying and diffusing under eye concealer — nothing beats the 224.
another product that i fell in love with but a majority of girls i know seem to hate is studio fix fluid … the finish is gorgeous, i dont need to set it with a powder and its never ever broken me out. totally HG for me!
The entire Wet n Wild line, because it was so awful during the 90s. I bought a tube of Revlon Mulled Wine back in 2007. I knew I’d like it, but I didn’t think it would be my HG red after 4 years.
Mine is Urban Decay Gash lipstick. I needed a red lipstick, but I’m not really much of a red lipstick girl. But everyone should have a red in their arsenal, everyone! I had gotten a teeny tiny one as a free sample with a Sephora order, and I tried it, and it was magic! So I bit the bullet and bought a big tube!
You should do the opposite of this post, products we thought we’d love but ended up hating! I have a million of those! LOL!
On a whim at Target I bought the new Maybelline eyestudio gel liner in black. It went on smoothly and lasted all day with no smudges or fade out. I’m going to toss my Tarte in the trash.
1. I almost gave up on mascara, everything smudged on me! But something happened in the mascara universe, and CoverGirl LashBlast renewed my interest (and now love) with mascara. It really doesn’t smudge, and make my lash extension-looking.
2. Also, Sephora Kohl eyeliner (much better than anything else, including Urban decay, Bobbi Brown, MUFE, Lancome).
3. Too Faced Shadow insurance. It really helped my eyeliner stayed. Ha, you can tell i’m obsessed with my eyes.
4. Vaseline in removing eye makeup. It works amazing, just like the Balm makeup remover in the tin pot, for 1/20 of the price. You slab on a thick layer, then wipe off. The thick layer cushion your eyes from all the massaging and wiping.
I’ve never owned an eyelash curler in my life… I feel if I just avoid it, I won’t ever know the need for it haha
(btw. Terra Nova was definitely pretty awesome)
I used to be a liquid foundation only girl because I thought powder foundation = horrible dried-up cakey mess (thanks to a string of bad drugstore powder experiences). Then I had a MAC consultation where the makeup artist used Mineralize Skinfinish Natural as my foundation, and I LOVED it. Now I’m a powder convert! I alternate between the MAC MSF Natural and Laura Geller’s Balance N Brighten.
Bronzer! I’m a redhead with fair skin and I never thought I could wear bronzer. But both NARS Laguna and Benefit Hoola proved me wrong. I am a convert.
After trying for years to find a mascara that wouldn’t give me the dreaded raccoon eyes, I was surprised when Covergirl Lash Blast passed the test. I had tried so many department store brands and then this drugstore brand did the trick!
My biggest surprise were the eyeshadows made by a Hungarian euro store brand called Lora. They were really cheap, so I was like, why not try it… but I didn’t really expect pigmentation this strong from them…
also, I was surprised at the NYC Liquid Lipshines and the Essence lipstixks to be so cool (the NYC glosses are pigmented and lasting, the Essence lipsticks are super moisturising and quite lasting :D).
Maybelline’s Matte Mousse whipped foundation. It is a perfect match for my skin color and the formula is smooth, matte but not dull, and hides my pores perfectly. It’s my favorite to take traveling because it’s a mousse, not liquid, so it’s easier to put in little plastic jars without risking leaks.
LOL, all of them! I’m almost 30 and just now getting into make-up. Times, they are a-changing!
The Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation from Bourjois. I heard good and not so good things of this product, but a couple months ago I needed a new foundation so I got the one from Bourjois. It totally amazed me! It gives a good coverage, but not too heavy, it doesn’t look cakey, the foundation feels very light on the skin, the gel foundation gives your skin a healthy glow and sheen, it stays onto the skin for at least 15 hours, plus there is enough foundation in the bottle for six months, the bottle has a pump which makes using it very easy and hygienic… and the foundation smells so fresh!!!