Like every other woman on the planet, I had heard so many wonderful things about Bare Minerals by Bare Essentials that I just had to give it a try. I’m handy with makeup application, but the Sephora associate made me look so good, I wished she could do my makeup every day! I was so pleased with the result that I ended up buying the original starter kit. This kit included two shades of foundation, Warmth, Mineral Veil, foundation primer, Maximum Coverage concealer brush, Flawless Application face brush and a kabuki brush. I couldn’t wait to apply my Bare Minerals the next day! Well, I didn’t do such a great application job, but I knew that would come in time. My biggest issue was the itch factor! All day I was scratching my face. What an annoyance. I used it on two subsequent days and the second day I applied it with my own makeup brushes, but I still had the dreaded itch. If I can help it, I won’t stick myself with overrated makeup items, so back to Sephora this went.

I’m a Sephora Beauty Insider so I receive a birthday gift each year from them. One year it was a 2 pack mini of the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment by Fresh. It included Sugar Rose and the Original Sugar. I was super thrilled because I had been contemplating a purchase of the Sugar Berry, but because of the $20+ price tag, I had hesitated. Good thing! By the third time I used this, the product was already listing to the side like a miniature replica of the Tower of Pisa. The fourth time was the death knoll, and the contents just broke in half. I kept the other mini in the fridge and it held up slightly better, but my intent was never to buy a pricey lip treatment that I couldn’t carry around with me. I did return it, hoping that just maybe this particular Sugar set just happened to be a lemon, but the replacement did the very same thing. I never bought the full size.

Oh, I wanted to love this because I think it’s the most beautiful, most becoming lipstick I have ever worn. Aside from being sexy and flattering, it makes your teeth look undeniably whiter. Unfortunately, this product disappeared from my lips in under 30 minutes. This was a huge disappointment to me. Black Honey would be my one and only lipstick if it worked. Aside from the disappearing act, I had to apply so much of this product just to get a decent color payoff. I’ve actually purchased this on two separate occasions, hoping I would get different results. Duh. I didn’t.

I will never understand what makes this mascara a cult favorite. Are you kidding? I can start a petition to rename this. How about: Great Clump Mascara or maybe Great Transfer To Under Your Eyes Mascara by Maybelline. Either of those names would be more a propos. If you are a fan of this mascara, please help me to understand why. I think the problem might be because the formula is just too wet. This leads me to an even better name: Great Smudge Mascara. I wouldn’t take a tube of this for free.

My favorite shadows tend to come from MAC Cosmetics, but when I saw this 100 pc palette for $10 at Target, I just had to try it. I have such incredible eyeshadow brushes, and I use the E.L.F. eyeshadow primer, so I thought I could combat anything that could go wrong. But I was the one that was wrong and all 100 pieces are wrong. From the moment I put this on my eyelid, the shadow had so much fallout, that my black top was loaded with a purple mist. The shadow went on so light and the more I added the more fallout I experienced. I gave up, removed all eyeshadow from my lids, and then for the entire evening my left was eye was irritated. I didn’t even feel comfortable giving this away, so I just tossed it.

What’s the deal with this? It looked like a shimmer bomb had exploded on my cheeks. This might be the most unnatural color blush I have ever seen. It just screams makeup and because of that, it’s very disconcerting to me. I look at a picture of someone wearing this blush, and I can’t see any of the other makeup she is wearing, or her pretty eyes or smile, I am that focused on this coral over-the-top shimmer. I think people are just infatuated with the name and secretly hate the blush as much as I do.

Fondly referred to as UDPP, this primer has a huge following. Can’t understand it. I had to apply a lot of the product to get the desired result. Way too much product was left in the container with no easy way to remove it and you can’t see how much remains with the opaque packaging. I did use the original with the doe foot applicator and now it’s in a squeeze tube. I don’t know if that would change the application any. I am way happier with E.L.F. with the see-thru applicator for only a buck.

Have you tried some of these popular cosmetics? Has your experience been anything like mine, or did you love them? My problem is I get so caught up in the moment that I have to make the purchase as soon as I see the product, rather than wait until I can buy it at a store that allows returns.