A theme that I’ve been seeing recently, especially leading up to the big sale season of the year, is this “Anti-Haul” movement. It started on YouTube where I watched Anna from The Anna Edit talking about her anti-haul, and then Jenny from Geeky Posh writing about a similar theme. The whole idea behind the “anti-haul” movement is really sharing the products that you would not buy again.
It got me thinking – there’s definitely a whole bunch of items that if I could go back in time, I would not have purchased at all. They may have been way too hyped up or simply unnecessary in my routine or for my skin type. Like everything else, you live and learn. Here are a few of my anti-haul products (in no particular order or brand preference)
The Beauty Anti-Haul Movement
BB/CC Creams: What started out as a Korean beauty trend, BB/CC cream quickly gained a lot of traction a few years ago with each brand coming out with their own version of these skincare-makeup hybrid. Not to be outdone, we even saw variations of the formula which went as far as a DD/EE cream from certain brands.
I’ve tried a few cult favourites but never really got along with any. The results were average at best but the one thing that turned me off is the oxidization factor. Although the formula is supposed to adjust to match your natural skin tone (which is why these are often only offered in 4-5 shades), a lot of the high-end brands I’ve tried saw the cream oxidize to a pink undertone which looked very unnatural on me. In addition to this shortcoming, the creams typically have a lot of lighter coverage and high-maintenance wear use.
Oil-Based Makeup Remover / Any Non-Micellar Water Makeup Remove: I don’t get along with oil-based remover – I dislike the process, application and greasy residue left on the skin. If you accidentally get them in your eyes, they sting and take forever to wash off. When I started out with makeup, I tried out the whole bunch of pre-micellar water makeup solution have been too harsh for my skin. I’m glad that micellar water is so readily available everywhere as I haven’t wanted to use anything else.
Designer / Celebrity Fragrances: This may be pushing it a little but I don’t find celebrity or designer fragrances to be as well-made in terms of their quality. I like the variety of scent and new scent combinations but I find the wear time and chemical reaction on the skin to be very lacking relative to the price. They fade very quickly and don’t always smell good on everyone despite everyone saying otherwise. These tend to be severely overhyped which leads me to often be disappointed.
Dry Shampoo / Salt Sprays: I have a love-hate relationship with hair products. I have very thick hair so I typically stay away from having too much styling or treatment products as they tend to be too heavy for my hair. I never really understood the hype around dry shampoo though. Baby powder does perfectly for my hair whilst most dry shampoo formulas tend to add greasiness to the scalp.
On the other hand, salt sprays are beloved by many for adding grit, texture and volume to the hair. I’ve tried a few cult favourite formulas and they haven’t lasted as long or impressed me as much as a texturizing creme has. I think for lighter, shorter and less voluminous hair the spray formula’s work well but not on my very thick hair!
Cream Concealers: Yes, believe it or not, I’ve not been too impressed with a lot of cream concealers I’ve come across. They don’t adhere well on my skin, whether under the eye area or any other part of the face. I prefer the lighter liquid concealer instead.
So there you go – my shortlist of a number of my least favourite products that I won’t be repurchasing!
Over to you now – what are some products you aren’t going to buy again?
Hahaha!! I definitely haven’t ventured as much into the world of Asian BB creams and maybe I really should!! It seems like I’ve been misled by a lot of the (expensive) brands at Sephora!
I LOVE Oil based makeup removers because I wear waterproof mascara and no micellar I’ve tried gets even close to removing. I double cleanse so I’ve never worried about residue.
Also, dry shampoo is a must for my fine straight hair too, BUT it took ages to find one that actually left a clean feeling and not a sticky or gritty feeling.
I’m totally with you on salt sprays, I’ve never managed to reap and rewards from them. I’m also totally uninterested in matte liquid lipsticks, they’re just gross IMO.
It’s so interesting to read about others’ anti-haul list!! I have to agree with you on the liquid lipsticks too – aside from the MUFE formula, nothing else has worked for me!
I love this idea of a post! feeling super inspired to write one myself ???? Thanks for sharing! ps, totally agree with the dry shampoo…. I keep feeling it clots my scalp with more damage!
Aww, thank you for the shout out! So glad you did an anti-haul post too, it’s always fun to read why certain products belong in people’s anti-haul ???? I do agree that most BB/CC creams have this weird graycast and horrible oxidization, not to mention the limited shade ranges. Also, I find the ones released by Western brands seem more like tinted moisturizers. I also feel the same way about designer fragrances – the quality and the scents themselves are definitely lacking in comparison. They do have interesting and sometimes creative bottles though! ????
Jenny // Geeky Posh
I completely agree with you on most of these anti-haul products…except for BB creams! You can pry my BB creams from my dead cold hands! I’m not sure what you’ve tried, but there are definitely some (usually Asian brand) that don’t have a pink undertone! I like the Canmake Be My Baby BB Cream which is from Japan – it has a yellow undertone and remarkably good coverage (actually better coverage than a lot of foundations, IMO!).