This summer, I got a job that could either be seen as a girl’s dream or a girl’s worst nightmare: I worked at Sephora. Before anyone asks, no, the discount was not worth the random swatching of ten-year-old makeup on my skin from customers, being asked to find “lash serum that was in a white tube” and being rejected several times after showing several white tubes, and having to deal with men saying our colognes were not “authentic” (I’m still trying to figure out what he meant, BTW).
However, if anything made that job more difficult than it needed to be, it was this: viral TikTok products. Not a day would pass by without some person — old, young, middle-aged — asking if we had a product they had seen on TikTok. Just for reference, my Sephora was in a Kohl’s, meaning although it was part of the company, we didn’t carry all of the products a regular mall or branch Sephora would. But the viral ones? We just didn’t have those because they flew off our shelves mere hours after we put them there.
So, the question that needs to be asked: Which products are worth the hype, and which are better to leave on the shelves?
- Sol De Janeiro Mists
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To be completely honest, not a day would pass by at work without someone asking “Where’s your Sol De Janeiro section?” and for good reason. Although rather common now, both the mists and the Bum Bum cream have long-lasting, beachy, sweet scents that make it hard not to understand their appeal. But take this into account: it wasn’t the yellow signature 62 fragrance everyone typically wants that we were sold out of, it was the pink 68. With everyone using the 62, it only made sense that people would want to try something new and go for a different fragrance from a brand they know and love. The only problem is, the scent they switched to became just as common.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with these perfume mists. The red 40 scent has been claimed to be a “dupe” for the Baccarat Rouge 540 and with the addition of the new and limited edition After Hours spray, it’s hard not to be drawn to them.
Overall, I’d say they’re worth the hype if you don’t mind having a common scent and reapplying after a couple of hours. And as a reminder, you can always layer it with the infamous Bum Bum cream if you want your scents to last. But don’t be surprised if you smell like several other people in the room. Personally, I think the scents are a nice layer, but a good base fragrance with similar notes can give that extra edge of uniqueness that will make people remember you and you can create a scent you can call your own.
- The glow recipe dew drops
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Ok, hear me out. I understand the packaging is really aesthetically pleasing, and I get the hype behind Korean skincare; the stuff isn’t too expensive and it works wonders. However, this product was not it. I asked my coworkers what their opinions were on it one day and they claimed it was “way too sticky.” Of course, curiosity killed the cat and I had to see for myself. It couldn’t be that bad, right? I was wrong. So, so wrong. I think the only sticker thing one could put on their face is either a heavy-duty makeup primer or just straight-up tape. Something about the stickiness of it didn’t sit right with me and if you’re a texture person like I am, I can only imagine how difficult it is to sleep with this stuff on, let alone layer it with other products. For the price point, there are definitely better ways to incorporate hyaluronic acid and niacinamide into your skincare routine without feeling like you could trap a rat with your face.
- Rare beauty Blush and Highlighters
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These deserve the hype! There is a reason you couldn’t find certain shades of the Rare Beauty Blush and almost all of the highlighters in stock for months and it’s because they are inexpensive and effective!
Let’s start with the blushes, shall we? Pros:
- They’re long-lasting.
- The packaging is accessible to everyone and easy to use.
- Extremely pigmented (the shade Bliss is the one I use and I found that it was easiest to control the pigment of it because it’s light enough not to overdo it but still has a nice peachy pigment to it).
- They’re affordable.
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There are some cons: they can be hard to blend and depending on the pigment, hard to take off. However, you’re really getting a bang for your buck here and a quality product that has easily fixable downsides. Overall, definitely worth the buy.
Now, on to the highlighters. The packaging isn’t lying when it says that they’re “silky” because boy oh boy, were these products soft on the fingertips. The Makeup by Mario highlighters are close in texture to them, but the pigment pays off and the texture of these highlighters beats them by a mile. They come in four shades as of right now, with shade Enchant being the most popular, and for good reason. A staple highlighter for under $30? Sign me up!
- The Summer fridays lip butter balms
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The texture of these balms is lovely because of how thick and creamy it is. However, if you’re not into strong scents, this is not the lip balm for you. No matter how hard I tried, I had a hard time justifying spending almost $30 on a lip balm when the scent was so strong it almost gave me a headache. Now, if you’re into scents like Vanilla or sweet scents like Pink Sugar, I’d say this is a fun item to splurge on. But, if you’re the type of person who wants something they can put on their lips and not pay attention to, then I’d say this is probably a pass.
- Drunk Elephant Moisturizers
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Surprisingly, at work, I didn’t get asked too many times about the Drunk Elephant line, but I got asked enough to truly understand its popularity among teens and adults alike. With fancy fluorescent packaging combined with a heavyweight luxury feel, you truly wonder whether a moisturizer is worth $68.
Well, after trying it out for myself, because yes, I did make the jump and buy the Protini Polypeptide moisturizer, I can say that it’s a pretty good moisturizer. It didn’t leave my skin feeling oily or heavy, and it didn’t have a fragrance to irritate my nose. Not to mention the packaging contains an easy-to-use pump, which allows the person using it to not contaminate the product with their hands.
There’s just one small stipulation about this product: It’s almost $70.
As nice as it is, it’s not something I can keep up with purchasing, nor would I want to. I believe everyone should invest in skincare, but that doesn’t mean you need to cough up your life savings to do so. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives such as the Skinfix or Pharmacy moisturizers that are just as good for a bit cheaper. When buying a product, more expensive isn’t synonymous with better: ingredients are. Read product labels and see what’s in it, then compare cheaper products and see if you can notice any similarities. That way, you can save your money while still getting the benefits of something more expensive.
Drunk Elephant, you’re pretty, but you’re not worth the hype.
- Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen
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I can feel the angry glares as I type this, but personally, I don’t know why my hopes got so high after I felt the texture in-store. This product simply did not feel good on my face. In fact, the weird smell which felt too strange to be a regular sunscreen smell combined with the almost plastic-like texture on my face made me return this product as soon as I could. Whatever your budget is, there is no reason to spend $30 on a sunscreen that feels this weird on the face, especially when there are better sunscreens out there like the one by Laroche-Posay or the Centella Madagascar SKIN 1004 sunscreen.
At the end of the day, whether you decide to buy something based on the hype is completely up to you. However, keep in mind that just because a product goes viral doesn’t mean that it’s a “perfect” product or something that will work for everyone. Try things out for yourself and don’t be afraid to stray from the crowd, as terrifying as that might be. After all, there’s a reason “Popular Products I Hate” videos on TikTok and YouTube are so popular and their comment sections are littered with people agreeing with them. Whether you like something or not is your own choice based on your own experiences. And no matter what you decide to do, please, please, please, don’t believe you have to do what everyone else does simply because it’s popular. There’s nothing wrong with liking a product that no one talks about. Hey, you might even discover an “underrated one” in your experimentation.