I’ve seen a few videos about this topic from people like Elle S, and I thought it would be a good blog conversation to have here, too.
As someone who is obsessed with makeup, I pay very close attention to makeup releases from all brands. However, there are some brands I pay closer attention to than others: Colourpop, Urban Decay, Natasha Denona, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Marc Jacobs, Juvia’s Place, Morphe (especially when Jaclyn Hill is involved), Kylie Jenner (even though I haven’t made a purchase yet – I am always interested in what she’s putting out!), and drugstore brands like Wet n Wild, Milani and Maybelline.
But there are definitely a few brands that I can’t manage to drum up any excitement for. And this isn’t a knock on them or the quality of their products, but just that their marketing/packaging/vibe does not appeal to me.
The first brand that I thought of when I saw the videos I mentioned earlier is Lorac. I don’t know why, but honestly, they have not ever put out ANYTHING that has interested me. Ironically, I won a contest on their Instagram and was gifted two Lorac MegaPro palettes, so I gave one to my bestie, Melissa. The formula actually seems really nice, but never in a billion years would I have ever purchased it with my own money. When I scroll through their palette selection on their website, everything is very, very neutral. Which is obviously totally fine – there is a giant market for that. Most people aren’t wearing super adventurous makeup to work. (Can’t relate.)
On the left is Lorac Pro Palette 4, and on the right is ABH Soft Glam
While other brands are pumping out palettes, it seems like Lorac is attempting to keep up, but in my opinion, they are a bit behind the curve. They just came out with the Pro Palette 4, and it looks so much like the Anastasia Soft Glam palette…. but released months later. Even Soft Glam was not groundbreaking – it was a neutrals palette. But it came out first, and I think the people that would have purchased the Pro Palette 4 already bought Soft Glam.
So not only do I feel like they are behind on trends, I also feel like all of their palettes just seem to sort of run into each other and look the same. Like, there are other brands that release palettes all the time and I still want to buy all of them. (Hi Colourpop.) But with Lorac, I have never gotten that feeling where I “have to collect them all.” I feel like If you have one of their palettes, you basically have them all. I’m never inspired to use the MegaPro palette I own because I feel like 2/3 of that palette looks like the same shade of tan/white.
They have done some weird/interesting collaborations in the last few years. The most promising to me was a Beauty and the Beast collection they released around the time of the live-action movie. If I was going to buy anything from them, it might have been that blush palette or lipstick set. But after the hype died down, I lost interest in it, and forgot about Lorac once again. They also released a Pirates of the Caribbean collection. WHY. Who was asking for that? The eye shadow palette was this giant, bulky packaging, again with neutral shades and one pop of soft blue. The packaging was meant to store the other items in the collection, but if you didn’t have them… it was just bulky for no reason. I have no idea who came up with that whole idea but it just feels like it’s not a super fun collaboration for people to get excited about. I feel like Lorac is really trying, but missing.
The next brands that bore me are Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown and they bore me for a similar reason: their vibe is extremely natural. They are similar to Lorac, but I don’t feel like they are trying nearly as hard to keep up with other brands or releases – these brands know who they are and they know who their customer is, and they aren’t really deviating much from that. I think both brands skew towards an older audience – one that wants to look extremely naturally beautiful. I was being very careful to not mention gender here, but then I changed my mind – I think both of these brands skew towards older women, specifically. I don’t think the men who wear makeup are going for a super natural look, so I don’t think these brands would appeal to them as much either. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a super natural look, but it doesn’t appeal to me, personally. So when they release brown/bronze palette after brown/bronze palette, I’m just not interested. They aren’t releasing anything that would be “surprising,” and they are totally fine with that.
Benefit is another brand that really bores me, and I say that as someone who started poring over their catalogs well over a decade ago. The problem with Benefit is that I don’t believe they release enough new products. I feel like they will release one or two new things a YEAR, and the rest of the time, they are simply repackaging all of their older items. I honestly don’t know how Sephora and Ulta have let them get away with that for so long. I do have some Benefit products I really enjoy, but 9 out of 10 times when I see something “new” from Benefit, it’s just a new little kit with all of their old products in it. Sure, I guess that’s new, but if you have already tried those products and you don’t care about them, the release isn’t as exciting, and it’s certainly not new. This year, they have released a foundation and a mascara. And that’s it, in terms of new products. Meanwhile, Colourpop is over there pumping out new full collections by the week. I do think Colourpop’s release are excessive but I definitely feel like Benefit could be doing way, way more. (And for the record, their foundation range sucks, too. I hope they improve that going forward.)
I have been keeping my eye on Tarte ever since the Shape Tape Foundation debacle. I know I am beating a dead horse here, so I won’t go into all of that again. However, after that happened, I was interested in what the brand would do next to appear more inclusive going forward. And basically every palette they have released since then has been 50 shades of beige. I wouldn’t think most of the shades would even show up on people of color. Sure, they don’t HAVE to make something for everyone, but I was hoping they would make attempts to do better after that catastrophic release, and I just haven’t seen it. I am pale enough for a beige palette, but I don’t want that either. Tarte used to be one of my very favorite makeup brands, so I actively WANT them to do better, and I hope they will.
In the past couple of years, they have also released a few collections that skew young. Very young. Like a unicorn collection, a mermaid collection and a fairy collection. Sure, these things are cute in theory. But I don’t personally understand the customer who is buying them. I feel like they would really appeal to young girls, but are really young girls buying that much high-end makeup? Are their parents spending Sephora money on mermaid makeup? Additionally, when you hear words like, “unicorn” or “mermaid,” you might imagine a colorful makeup collection, yet Tarte managed to keep them 50 shades of beige as well. (I’m generalizing here, but overall, that’s the theme.) The packaging in these collections is fun, sure, but the products themselves? Same old, same old.
I actually have more brands that I think are kind of boring but I feel like this blog is already pretty long, so I will save the rest for a part 2! Obviously, this is all subjective. Brands that I might find boring might appeal to you for the exact reasons I don’t care for them. That is why makeup is so much fun! Not to mention a billion dollar industry!
Til next time!
xo,
L
laurenelectro
A self-proclaimed beauty junkie/hoarder with a serious Sephora problem. This blog is a total rationalization of that problem. Everything is TOTALLY fine. Her free time is a mixed combination of making fun of reality TV with her husband, hanging out with cats and finally trying to figure out how to do her hair.