Photo courtesy of Allure Magazine.
Hello beautiful people! Hope the holidays treated you well? Was down during Easter but up and running now. Looking forward to an amazing rest of the year. Great plan in place. Here is to sticking to the plan and making it work!
Anyways, that was a quick update. Back to the topic at hand.
Anyone noticed the growing rash of celebrity beauty/skincare/hair/nail care brand announcements? Every week, there is a new one.
Every time I see one of these announcements, I roll my eyes, think, do they have the knowledge to create these brands, do they care about the products they put out or is this just the newest form of cash grab? Are the products even worth it?
Taken a look at some of the products I have used recently and a number of them are from Celebrity brands...Go figure.....
So, decided to explore the topic in more details and give mini reviews on some of these brands.
I have utilised some of the products these brands put out and I will give a review on those I have used. My opinions are based on my experiences with the products I have tried.
My belief is, if you want to do something and you have a knowledge gap, employ people who can help you achieve your vision as long as they know exactly what your core objectives are and they are onboard to make it happen. That basically answers my 1st question. The knowledge is not necessary as long as you have the right people in place.
The most popular of these celebrity beauty brands is Fenty beauty by Rihanna which has also expanded into Fenty Skin and Savage Fenty. Cannot give an opinion on Fenty Skin and Savage Fenty as I do not have a user's opinion on them.
However, I am not enamoured with the marketing strategy for Savage Fenty. Why do I have to take out a subscription for underwear/lingerie in order to get them at good prices? However, this works well for her and the subscribers who love the service.
She seems to care about the products she puts out. Is it a cash grab? Who does not want to make money? However, I can say, there is careful thought and heart to the brand. Her face products literally carries the most shades and caters to the most diverse races of people. Since the establishment of her brands, her net worth has increased exponentially.
She has some holy grail products, the gloss bomb. This came at the time when most glosses on the market were sticky and gloopy. This was smooth, non-sticky, hydrating and kept expanding into shades that were complimentary to every skin tone.
There are also some duds. Eyeshadows (the snappy snap ones) had terrible formula (this is featured in my de-clutter post - coming up soon). Patchy as heck. The foundation (which a lot of people consider a holy grail), was a dud for me. I tried both the matte and hydrating. The matte was cakey/too matte and the hydrating one left me an oily mess. The lipsticks was also duds for me.
I am on the fence with the skin tint. When newly applied no matter the primer, hydrating or mattifying, it looks amazing on 1st application. However this does not last. I become extremely shiny in about 4 hours and needed to powder or blot my face. Also not good for face mask wearers as this transfers a lot.
Need to mention the eye pencils are horrid! This literally had zero pigmentation after a month. No matter how hard I press, nothing! Horrid! Waste of money. Nyx cosmetics has better!
Alicia Keys has soulcare brand which focuses on skincare. She claimed several years ago to no longer wear makeup, however has this amazing glow which is just beautiful. Decided to take a dive into her product range and got her comforting balm.
Sigh....this is just glorified vaseline. I was majorly disappointed. While the idea of a skincare brand is great and would fit into her general current outlook, this does not seem to have must thought or care into it. its just packaging simple products, slapping a label on it and selling for as high a price as you can get for it.
While I do appreciate the word of affirmation on each product, that is not the essence of her range. So just an added extra and does not deviate for the lacklustre product.
Are they worth the price bring charged for her products? Hell No! You will find better in the drugstore and for much, much cheaper.
Will feature more from Keys soul care in an upcoming future post to explore more of this brand.
Watch this space!
Selena Gomez for Rare Beauty - I actually like the rare beauty brand. There is actual care about the brand and love the blushes which a little goes a long way as they are very pigmented. I am also a fan of the little knob at the top that helps to open it.
Also a fan of the lip products, however not as much. A lot of the shades do not compliment my skin tone. That is a personal opinion. Seen a lot of deeper skin toned ladies wearing her shades. However, they are not what I would typically wear.
Are the products worth the price? Yes! She does offer her products as a package buy, 2 blushes, 1 liquid lipstick and 1 lip balm (all deluxe sizes) for a discounted price. If you wish to try out her product, this would be best. They are offered at Sephora.
Honest beauty by Jessica Alba - This is a little part of the overall honest company. Focuses on both skincare and makeup. I am really not a fan of this brand. I previously tried the lip products. If you are looking for the butt hole lip look after a coffee, this is for you. Fades too quickly, especially after a drink. You will need to re-apply multiple times to make it work. Not for me. Decluttered.
If you do want to try this out, boxycharm drop shop seems to always have this in stock for at least 80% discount.
Is this a cash grab? Yes! Are the products worth it? No!
Hair brands - Gabrielle Union for flawless and Tracey Ellis Ross for Pattern beauty. These I would have loved to try but hair care is not something I am willing to experiment with as a rule. Its too easy to ruin your hair.
If interested, Pattern beauty is stocked at Sephora.
Obvious cash grabs - HAUS LABS rings the bell loudly! When this beauty brand was announced, I was interested. Lady Gaga is very extra so expecting packaging like Christian Louboutin beauty packaging. Those things can be used as a weapon or even an accessory.
Haus labs is just bland. There is literally no similarities between the brand owner and the brand. The brand is just blah while Lady gaga is very extra! If the word disappointment can be manifested into reality, it would be the haus labs brand.
Literally no interest in trying this out. Its products are permanently on sale on several sites.
Florence by mills - Millie Bobby Brown - My nieces are forever trying to get products from this brand. I guess the owner is close to their age and its marketed appropriately to their target market from the packaging colour to the products. The products are geared towards teens.
To the brand I want to rant about, JLO Beauty by Jennifer Lopez - Honestly, never going to try this brand and an obvious cash grab. When you say olive oil is responsible for your beautiful skin at over 50 with a look of a 30 year old, I call bullshit! That is the work of a dietician, dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon combined.
I just cannot take anything she says seriously. She needs to practice a little honesty.
if we go into all the celebrity beauty brands, I will never finish this post....Will list the others i am aware of below:
Hyram Yarbro - Selfless by Hyram - over-priced inkeylist in coloured packaging.
Jennifer Anniston - Lolavie
Ellen Degeneres - Kind science - I know right....
Lauren Conrad - Lauren Conrad beauty
Miranda Kerr - Kora Organics
Catherine Zeta Jones - Casa zeta jones
Halsey - About face
Pharell Williams - Human race - some cannot even put thought into the name
Kristen Bell - Happy dances
Kim Kardashian - KKW Beauty
Victoria Beckham - Victoria Beckham beauty
Taraji P Henson - TPH by Taraji
Michelle Pfeiffer - Henry Rose
Jada Pinket Smith - Hey human - Come now! At least try!
Kylie Jenner - Kylie cosmetics and Kylie skin - I tried the cleanser from Kylie skin about a year ago. Yeah...this did not work out. Too harsh.
Issa Rae - Sienna naturals
Cindy Crawford - Meaningful beauty
Kesha - Kesha rose beauty
For 2022, the under-listed new brands have been announced:
Hailey Beiber - Rhode
John Legend
Kim Kardashian - Skin by Kim
Idris Elba - S'Able labs
Scarlett Johansson - The outset - already annoyed by this brad and deserves a whole post of ranting.
Winnie Harlow - Cay skin - terrible personality, obvious cash grab. For clarity watch Cassandra bankson’s review of cay skin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qefB6w2P0k
Gwen Stefani - GXVE
Peyton List - Pley beauty
Lala Anthony - Inala
Marsai Martin - Mari by marisai
I am certain my list is not complete, you can add any I have omitted below.
We can agree or disagree on brands and performance but clearly the beauty industry/market (hair, makeup, skincare and nails) are now seen as a major source of income without much thought or effort put into it. There just seems to be this belief slap a celebrity name on it, consumers will shell out money for it.
Is that true? Are we as consumers that basic?
As consumers, we need to do better! Choose wisely and research better before we buy.
I just love your sense of humour and style of writing . I feel you all the way !