Do you ever wait SO long and get SO excited for the reveal of a beauty product or a new collaboration and then get majorly let down by it? The truth hurts, but sometimes, makeup just doesn't live up to the hype it's preceded by — and it becomes a big ol' flop.
You know what they say: The bigger the hype, the bigger the let down. Here are 12 times we were all let down by brands this year:
Kylie Cosmetics' Silver Series makeup brush set
Kylie Jenner had to defend herself from serious backlash following her announcement that this 16-piece makeup brush set would cost a shocking $360. Despite price comparisons to other sets on the market, fans refused to believe the quality level would be high enough to warrant the price tag.
And they were right — after multiple damning reviews across the beauty community, the brush sets failed to sell out, unlike most of Jenner's other launches.
Too Faced's collaborative collection with Kandee Johnson
As it does with every collection it releases, Too Faced pulled out all the stops for its big collaboration with influencer Kandee Johnson — there was a candy-coated launch party, multiple announcement posts, and a slew of how-to videos from Johnson herself.
But once the collection's anchor — a neutral eye shadow palette not too different from Too Faced's others — was revealed, buyers were already moving on.
KKW Beauty's Creme Contour Kits
The world lost its damn mind when Kim Kardashian launched KKW Beauty and revealed its first product, a range of cream contour sticks. But fans of the brand instantly noticed two deal-breaking flaws with the product itself.
First, the shade Kardashian named "deep dark" was insultingly light for deep-complected customers. Second, each sticks only provided .032 ounces of product, which customers considered an absolute sham for $48.
Kat Von D's Mini Metal Matte eye shadow palette
Although Kat Von D's original Metal Matte palette was a bestselling cult-favorite in the beauty community, the launch of its miniature little sister palette was met with utter frustration.
At the time of its reveal, fans instantly swarmed Von D's Instagram to tell her $39 was stupid expensive for a palette that small.
Anastasia Beverly Hills' Subculture eye shadow palette
The hype for Anastasia's second eye shadow palette skyrocketed after a Reddit leak that happened before the world even knew it existed. The palette launched in the summer as planned, but the masses were enraged when reviews determined the palette was… well, an absolute mess.
Those who bought the palette immediately noticed its high level of fallout; The shadows were so loosely pressed, many customers found their shadows had fallen apart while shipping.
Jouer Cosmetics' collaborative lip topper with Jeffree Star
Jeffree Star and Jouer Cosmetics both teased this collaboration to no end before revealing what they'd created together. When the internet discovered it was a single pink lip topper and not and entire collection, it felt it had been led on by photos of outrageous eye shadow looks and elaborate photo shoots.
Kat Von D's Metal Crush highlighter palette
Von D's recent highlighter palette came as a complete shock to the beauty world and caused a huge hullabaloo after its announcement.
But once she revealed swatches of all three shades in the palette, everyone took back their excitement. The shades looked extremely sheer and weren't exactly complementary to a wide skin-tone range.
Gigi Hadid's collaborative collection with Maybelline
The beauty community certainly thought that a drugstore brand's collaboration with a young supermodel would sell out in seconds — but the Gigi Hadid collection, specifically its multi-use palette, failed to catch the eye of customers.
Even with a severely discounted price, the Jetsetter palette still struggles to sell from drugstore shelves.
Benefit Cosmetics' Beauty Influencer Stowaways collection
In the summer, Benefit released a massive collaboration with five massive beauty influencers including Star and Manny Gutierrez — but even the brand's biggest fans gave it a hard pass. That's because the set, which cost $38, only included miniature versions of already existing Benefit products in new packaging.
Kat Von D's Shade + Light Cream Contour palette
While Von D's original Shade + Light pressed powder contour palette was an instant hit, the cream version was met with a resounding and disappointed head shake. The product swatches revealed the palette was not at all inclusive of deep skin tones — and the brand's fans had expected some improvement in that department after three versions of the palette.
Laura Lee's Cat's Pajamas eye shadow palette
Laura Lee's fans knew she'd been working on a cosmetics brand for at least a year when she unleashed Cat's Pajamas on the world. That being said, customers were more than disappointed to learn the palette was made up of neutrals and plum shades they could find in most other palettes.
Alongside the general frustration about the palette itself, Cat's Pajamas failed to get any love from other major beauty YouTubers, save for a single video from Jeffree Star and another from Manny Gutierrez — both close friends of Lee's at the time.
Huda Beauty's collaborative collection with Tweezerman
For months, Huda Kattan teased a collaboration with a brand she wouldn't name but was "one of her faves." Fans jumped to the conclusion that this brand was a big hitter such as Charlotte Tilbury, MAC Cosmetics, or L'Oreal.
When Kattan finally revealed that the collaboration was a collection of tools with Tweezerman, her fans were ultimately disappointed.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
