A former Sephora worker spilled the tea about which makeup products she thinks you should skip out on.
“Now that I’m leaving Sephora, these are the makeup products you should not have in the cart. Take it out now,” TikTok user Katie (@kattvillla) starts the video, standing inside a Sephora.
Katie says she bought all these products herself and would not buy them again.
She also knew some of her opinions on some of the beloved products would be controversial. “THIS IS MY OPINION OKAY RELAX!” she prematurely told viewers in the caption of her video.
Her opinions have garnered significant interest, drawing in 816,000 views since she shared them on May 27.
Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter
First up on Katie’s wack list is Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Filter. “Honestly, the Hollywood Filter by Charlotte Tilbury,” she says. “They’re not my favorite. I just feel like it looks not cute on my face, particularly.”
Customers use this “complexion booster” as a foundation or concealer. A standard size of the product will cost you $49 and comes in 12 different shades. The popular product has 4.3 stars on Sephora’s site, and 84% of the shoppers who reviewed it would recommend it to another person.
Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint for Dewy Sheer Coverage
Second on the Katie’s list is Glossier’s Perfecting Skin Tint for Dewy Sheer Coverage. “This is honestly just tinted water, and it doesn’t give nada. Not one thing,” she reiterates.
Perfecting Skin Tint for Dewy Sheer Coverage offers light coverage. According to its description on Sephora’s site, it “evens out the look of skin tone, minimizes appearance of pores, and leaves skin with a smooth, dewy finish.” It also currently has 3.9 stars, with reviewers complaining that it made their skin look too oily.
However, viewers defended the product in the comments section of Katie’s video. “Nahh glossier skin tint w a dewy sunscreen best combo,” one user commented.
Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation
Katie then turns her attention to Selena Gomez’s beauty brand’s foundation. The Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation is one of Sephora’s best-selling foundations. It’s right behind two other celeb brands, Rihanna’s Fenty foundation and Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs foundation, on the site’s best-selling section.
Despite its popularity, Katie is not a fan.
“I did not like the Rare Beauty foundation,” Katie says. “I feel like it felt weird on my skin, and it’s just kinda patchy, and the shade range is kinda yellow for me.”
Rare Beauty’s foundation comes in 48 shades and is supposed to dry to the wearer’s natural skin tone.
Skin that is too dry or oily, however, can cause any foundation to separate, creating a “patchy look.” In these cases, the areas where the foundation separates are either too dry or oily, per Charlotte Tilbury.
Viewers have similar complaints. One commenter claimed that the foundation made them appear orange after it oxidized and “melted” off their face.
According to Sephora, “The pigments and oils in your makeup can react to air, your skin’s acidity and natural oils, causing your foundation to turn darker.” This process is oxidization.
Benefit Cosmetics Benetint Liquid Lip + Cheek Blush Stain
Katie then focuses on Benefit Cosmetics’ Benetint Liquid Lip + Cheek Blush Stain. Although this product aims to give its wearer a natural look while enhancing their lips, Katie says she didn’t have that experience.
“Definitely a no,” she says, pointing at the product. “Especially if you have lines on your lips. This is gonna make your lips look a little crazy.”
The lip and cheek stain costs $26, and has 4.2 stars. While some reviewers lauded it for cheeks usage and the color payoff, others who were disappointed complained about it being messy and drying.
Hourglass blushes
The content creator is actually a fan of this next product: the Hourglass blushes. However, there’s one caveat. “I just wish they give a little more pigment,” she says, rubbing her fingertip onto one of the shades.
“Where did it go? It disappeared,” she remarks of the color payoff on her skin.
To make powder products more pigmented-looking, adding a liquid blush first and then lightly applying the powder is recommended.
This is where Katie saw some detractors. “The hourglass blushes are soooo pigmented & beautiful!” one viewer said.
Katie might be in the minority here because this product is pretty highly rated, with 4.5 stars. Sephora shoppers who like the product laud the color payoff.
Fenty Soft Matte Longwear Foundation
When it comes to Rihanna’s beauty brand, Katie says she dislikes the Fenty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Liquid Foundation but is a fan of Fenty’s newer foundation, the Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Hydrating Longwear Foundation.
The Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Liquid Foundation offers matte, full coverage. It also holds the crown of being Sephora’s No. 1 best-selling foundation. According to the product description on Sephora, it also has “climate-adaptive technology to fight heat, sweat, and shine.”
The Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Hydrating Longwear Foundation offers natural, medium coverage. It’s also supposed to be waterproof.
People who have tried both foundations might agree with Katie’s assessment. The OG foundation has 4 stars, while the newer foundation has 4.4 stars on Sephora. Reviewers laud the Soft’Lit Naturally Luminous Hydrating Longwear Foundation for its coverage and how luminous it makes them look.
The cost of the two foundations is also the same: $40.
Too Faced Born This Way Super Coverage Multi-Use Concealer
Then, Katie turns her attention to Sephora’s No. 1 best-selling concealer, the Too Faced Born This Way Super Coverage Multi-Use Concealer. This concealer aims to “conceals, contours, highlights, and retouches in a wide range of flawless shades.”
However, despite the wide range of shades, Katie’s problem with it is that she couldn’t find a shade to match her face.
“As much as I wish I could wear this concealer, the shade doesn’t match my face,” she says. “Like, can you make an in-between? I wanna try it but they’re all yellow for me.”
Viewers agreed with Katie on this one. “Too faced is sooooo yellow,” one viewer wrote.
“Agreed on top face concealers. I bought 2 and it was it was [either] too yellow or too light,” another said.
However, the product has 4.3 stars on Sephora. Some of the pros mentioned by reviewers are the color and coverage of the concealer.
Huda Beauty Easy Bake and Snatch Pressed Talc-Free Brightening and Setting Powder
Lastly, Katie calls out a very highly rated product, the Huda Beauty Easy Bake and Snatch Pressed Talc-Free Brightening and Setting Powder. This product, according to its site description, is “a creamy, hydrating, noncomedogenic pressed powder designed for targeted brightening, lifting, and setting for medium coverage and a natural finish.”
“These ones just didn’t hit for me. I don’t think I’m using them the right way, but I don’t know,” Katies says. “I just feel like it didn’t do much for my eyes.”
Katie does “love” Huda Beauty’s Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder, however. That product is also very highly rated at 4.7 stars.
Viewers also shared their thoughts about these two products in her comments section.
“Huda’s powders are amazingg,” one said.
“The pressed Huda powder is better for setting the whole face imo,” another suggested.
The Daily Dot reached out to Katie via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment.
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