7 Overhyped Makeup Products You've Probably Bought and What to Buy Instead

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(Image credit: @amanda_montell)

Makeup aisles (both physical and digital) can be daunting, dare I say nightmarish places, simply because there are so many options to choose from. How is one possibly to know which of the 147 foundations, brow products, or highlighters to buy? When in doubt, we often default to purchasing the items we've seen or heard about before—the buzzy products with zingy names and cute packaging that we seem to remember our friends or some celebrity or social media influencer liking well enough. This is a perfectly legitimate technique for choosing which products to buy; however, coming from someone whose very profession it is to sniff out the best makeup products from the cluttered market (rough life, I know), I have some makeup upgrades to suggest.

As a disclaimer, I do want to emphasize that I actively like all the "overhyped" products on this list—they are perfectly good, sometimes even excellent formulations, all of which deserve a place in the makeup market. However, these products have also gotten a ton of air time, which leaves less space for products that might have an advantage or two over them (in my personal opinion, of course). 

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the makeup recommendations: Keep scrolling for seven super-buzzy makeup products you may have purchased before and seven products you might considering trying next time.

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Next: This New Foundation Is Designed to Look Flawless in Photos—We Put It to the Test

Amanda Montell
Features Editor
Who's your beauty icon?

Tie among Linda Rodin, Hari Nef, and David Bowie.

Who are your 5 favorite people to follow on Instagram?

@petracollins @katiejanehughes @alwaysjudging @bonnyrebecca @hotdudesreading

What's the beauty essential you can’t live without?

If I have some brow gel and Sisley's Phyto-Lip Twist, I'm good to go forever.

What's your desert island album?

Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism

What's your favorite Byrdie.com story?

Game of Thrones's Nathalie Emmanuel looks so achingly beautiful in our feature with her that I think it's gonna have to be that!