If you are reading the title and thinking what the heck does that mean? Well, this is now a trend on Tik Tok. “De-Influencing” simply means talking about products you can’t stand or products that simply did not work out for you. Beauty influencers over the years have gotten some slack for supporting brands for a pay cheque. They would simply say they love something even though the product was completely crap… they just do not want to get on the bad side of brands that would no longer give them opportunities. Some of the opportunities include, brand parties, brand trips, paid advertisements, free product and the list goes on and on! Since there has been a recent scandal with “mascara gate” if you know, you know… influencers are now jumping on the “De-Influencing” band wagon and its about damn time! Now let’s go through some of the products I could not stand.

L’Oréal Paris Mascaras

I love a lot of different Loreal mascara’s but recently… these two are not hitting. Lash Paradise is clump city & the Voluminous Noir Balm has barely any pay off. I was super disappointed with both these mascaras and felt like I wasted my money. The lash paradise intrigued me the most based off of the way it was marketed. Also, side note…Why are drug stores mascaras getting so expensive that you might as well buy an high end one from Sephora? What is happening with drugstore makeup? Anyway… Lash Paradise was marketed as – Clump Resistant, Smudge Resistant, Up to 24 hour wear & it conditions lashes. When removing this mascara, sure my lashes felt soft but this is certainly not clump resistant. I applied two layers and had to manually separate my lashes with my fingers. It was not a clean process. Moving on to the Loreal Voluminous Noir Balm… I would like to mention that the regular Loreal Voluminous in carbon black is my favourite mascara or all time but this Noir Balm is a complete disappointment! It doesn’t even look like anything is on your lashes? There are some great reviews on this mascara and that makes me generally confused. If you want a light mascara that all its gonna do is fan out your lashes then, this one might be for you. The Noir Balm was marketed as creating more volume, clump free and as mascara that would treat your lashes more healthily. This mascara does not build and just sort of glides through each hair. I would not repurchase either mascara.

Glossier Cloud Paint

Listen, I love this product for what it does but I wouldn’t buy this again. A little does go a long way, it does blend well but the colour does not last on the skin for a long time. The packaging is awful. The amount of accidents I had with this packaging is annoying. The tube always looks dirty and even if you squeeze the tube just a little a big glob will come out. I cringe every time I have to squeeze the packaging onto my blush brush. You can’t put all that product on your cheeks because then, you will look crazy. The gross thing I do is I leave the product in the lid because I do not want to waste it and it is just such a mess. I understand Glossier’s price point is average but cleaner packaging would be nice and I would pay a few extra dollars for it. Now for the marketing part — This is what Glossier Cloud Paint claims:

• “Sheer enough upon initial application…”
• “Special Blurring Pigments give a soft-focus effect that doesn’t accentuate texture or pores…”
• “The lightweight gel-cream formula has a pillowy, bouncy feel that blends seamlessly and leaves cheeks dewy, not streaky or chalky.”

I will say all their marketing terms are correct. Nothing is false advertising in that. It is quite sheer, which can be a turn off to some people. Packaging sucks and needs to be re-looked at. If they changed the packaging I would probably re-purchase this product.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Gel

I love the clear brow gel from Anastasia Beverly Hills, that is why I thought I would try this one. I am not happy with this product. First of all, if you are a rookie with makeup do not choose this product. It is hard to apply. So much product stays on the spoolie brush tip. I do not think the spoolie brush is big enough. I understand how to use this product. For your reference; you are supposed to use most of the product to fill the front of the brow then use the rest of the product for the rest of the brow. I just feel like this product does not brush out well and tends to go everywhere. Here are the marketing claims — “A highly-pigmented brow gel with a long-lasting, waterproof formula for creating fuller-looking, defined brows.”

I never tested to see if it was indeed waterproof but it does wear for a long time. It is “full coverage” but like I mentioned the product does not blend out well. They also mentioned the product leaves a “natural finish” this is something I disagree with. I believe most of the marketing claims regarding this product is correct but this is definitely a product I will not be re-purchasing.

I personally think this De-Influencing train is a good thing and will shake up the industry a bit. Consumers will start to become harsher critics and will know what they want and what to expect, from some of these brands that are selling over priced products that half the time do not work or are just over hyped. Let’s continue to be as real as possible.