Don't Believe The Hype.

"Products not worth the hype" are quite divisive here in the beauty community; some people think that just because one person doesn't feel an item lived up to its internet hype that they're attacking them and their own love for that specific product. Of course, this absolutely isn't the case and no one should get butt-hurt over someone not liking something. If any of these products mentioned are your number 1 forever and always then that's great - I'm jealous! And I'm pretty sure there's plenty of products out there that I love and others don't. That's the beauty of being an adult, isn't it?

Either way, I'm here to share with you guys today some products that I feel get a lot of love from the beauty community in blogs and videos, and from my friends included (hence why I purchased them!) but unfortunately for some reason or another, they fell short of my expectations. I want to make it clear that not all of these are necessarily bad products (there are some downright crap ones, and I'll get to those)... some of these I do use quite often, but it's just that they didn't live up to the crazy mega fan girl hype they have online.
 I've included quite a lot of higher end products, mostly found in the likes of Sephora. I feel like high-end products get hyped up a lot more and with good reason; typically a more expensive product will or at least should perform better although this is obviously not always the case as you soon see when you try a range of different products. I'm generally very picky and harsher a critic on more expensive products because they should be out-performing their cheaper dupes for the price. Not to say that these are the worst products in the world, or to put you off looking into all of them, it's just to say that actually what was supposed to be the mecca of all lipsticks turned out to be the meh of all lipsticks, for me at least.

 Let's start off with skincare. I've mentioned this in empties posts before, the Garnier Micellar Water. Why is it in here if I've gone through bottles and bottles of it, you ask? Because it's convenient and I can easily take my makeup off with this and cotton pads instead of having to wash a face cloth every night from an oil cleanse. I don't love it, I don't think it does anything particularly nice for my skin and it doesn't take makeup off in the best way so I do have to rely on a good cleanser afterwards. I do use it and repurchase it, but it's sitting pretty in this post because I just don't feel like it's as amazing as everyone on YouTube makes it out to be. SUE ME.

I remember seeing this in every favourites or hair related post a few years ago and decided to invest once I got my extensions out a few years ago. This Macadamia Oil Deep Repair Mask is so mediocre it hurts. I didn't find it made my hair feel any less frizzy or tangle-free, it did nothing for split ends or damage. Sure, it made it a bit shinier but I could get that with most masks or shine sprays if I really wanted to. I had such high hopes for this, maybe a bit too high - but I think anyone who remembers the hype around this will agree that it was biiiiig. It was another case of just using it up because I felt like I wanted to finish it, but I've always kind of resented this because it was so expensive and never worked for me. I'll stick to my Schwarzkopf for salon priced products, thank you xoxo

I'm really crap with my nails and don't tend to fall into much hype with polishes. I actually don't think that there is a lot of hype around brands or shades except for maybe Essie and OPI. I remember when Formula X was launched by Sephora, everyone and their mother was talking about how incredible the formula, finishes, shades and lasting power was. I was delighted to see them pop up in a French Sephora a few months later and decided to give a lilac one a go. I hated it. It was streaky, chipped after a day and didn't even dry nicely in the first place. I've tried it with/without different base and top coats and have come to the conclusion that Formula X just isn't for me. I also bought a glittery shade in a Sephora sale a few months ago just to give it another go. I certainly prefer the glitter shade to the creamy lilac one, but overall I just don't think they're the end all be all of polishes and don't think they're worth the hype behind them.

The Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask was one of the things at the top of my Sephora list when my mother went to Canada. I had heard how this thick mask would make my lips feel brand new by morning. I suffer from really bad cracked and flaky lips so I was all about something that would be super moisturizing and hydrating. This is not it. I should preface by saying that the woman at Sephora accidentally gave my mother a tinted version, so I'm not sure if that has affected the performance of the product (I don't think it should be any less hydrating though). Regardless, this stuff is so crap and not worth the money at all. It's very sticky and thick, which I would be okay with using at night if it meant that my lips felt super moisturized come morning but that's just not the case. I don't notice any difference in the condition of my lips between using this or something like a heft dollop of Carmex. Once the thickness of the Bite mask wears off the dryness in my lips sets right back in. Boo-urns. I'm really just using it up at this stage.

Continuing on with lips; the Kat Von D Liquid Lipsticks. This will probably be a bit of a shock to most people, because they get so much love on Instagram and elsewhere online. In its defense, the only one I've tried that I'm not mad about is Vampira, a deep vampy red. Since buying this I have heard that the darker shades don't perform as well as the others, so this might be something to do with it and I have some more nude shades that I like much more. I found this to be kind of patchy and uneven in places on the lips, I definitely need a lipliner underneath to disguise any areas that the liquid lipstick wouldn't cover on its own - it needs a little help. Once it's on, I find the formula to be comfortable but the wear time isn't anything out of this world. It isn't necessarily a bad product, it is definitely use-able and I love the colour itself, but I just don't think it deserves the hype it gets when I like my €7 Sleek Matte Me just as much, if not even more because of the price.

I reviewed the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette on here a little bit after Christmas and wasn't overly impressed. It was just a "meh" review and I can say that after several more months with it in my collection it is definitely a product I actually regret buying. There is nothing spectacular about this palette for me, nothing terribly unique and the formula is quite disappointing across most of the shades. I couldn't wait to swap this for my MAC and MUG eyeshadows in my makeup bag, and I can't remember the last time I reached for this. This is probably quite a "controversial xoxo" one since so many people love it, and are currently going crazy for the Sweet Peach palette (rolling my eyes so hard right now, we won't even DISCUSS that) but it was overall very poop for me. I gave into the hype and was disappointed.

I was saving the best (or worst) until last. When Charlotte Tilbury came to Ireland it was a magical moment for me, and lots of beauty bloggers. I love Charlotte and the look of the line, especially the eyeshadow palettes. I received Vintage Vamp as a Christmas present after coveting it or La Dolce Vita for months. However, Vintage Vamp is so problematic for me for a number of reasons. The shadows in the pan are stunning, they really are. I'm a sucker for burgundy and that sheer glitter pop of colour. I'm not even mad that the pop shade is sheer, I really like the idea of a light glitter top coat and I actually think it's the better shade in the quad. However, the 2 burgundy shades are just too similar for my liking, and are too similar to the point where you get no variety in your look, especially when they're on your lid. No mattes either which brings this quad down quite a bit in star rating for me. So shade and texture range isn't the best, but on top of that I'm just not overly crazy about the formula. In my opinion, these are not the smoothest, most buttery or pigmented shadows in the world, they're a "meh". They're comparable maaaaybe to MAC, but even still MAC has more variety and more product in terms of gram for the price. These shadows are not bad by any means, they will apply just fine to your lid, but they just don't blow me away and for the price I think they definitely should. This is mostly why they're disappointing and not worth the hype - if 4 small shadows at like €50 are anything short of "oh my god this is amazing how did I live without this" then they're not worth the money in my opinion. I back this up by the fact that I honestly can't remember the last time I reached for this palette, sad and all as that is. I would still love to invest in a lipstick or the Film Star Bronze and Glow, but the Vintage Vamp palette was a huge letdown for me. Makeup Geek where you attttt.

These are my disappointing products or products that just didn't live up to the online buzz. If any of these are your go-to products then that's absolutely great, but I'd love to know if any of these were a whomp whomp for you too and why. Or, let me know what your disappointing products are below - I'm always interested in seeing what popular products didn't work for someone!