2018 was a monumental year within the beauty community. Not only were we blessed with new groundbreaking products, but we also saw both new and existing brands successfully expand. Last year also gave us a number of beauty controversies, drama and products that were not so great. Let’s take a look at some of the best and the worst products of 2018.

The Best:

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Sugar Palette

Jeffree Star’s Blood Sugar palette, which sold out within three minutes of launching, was definitely one of the biggest game-changers in 2018. The palette features 18 eye and pressed pigments with various formulas including metallic, matte and pressed glitter.

Aside from the super pigmented shadows, the element that made this palette unforgettable was its packaging. The vegan leather palette resembling a first aid kit is a style and quality that the beauty community has never seen before. Star announced that a different palette with a similar style, Blood Sugar Part Two, will launch next month.

Morphe Cosmetics: The James Charles Palette

YouTube sensation James Charles teamed up with Morphe Cosmetics to create his very own, self-named eyeshadow palette. The full spectrum palette contained 39 pigmented shades and is currently sold out. Charles was accused of “faking swatches,” which is overlapping or altering the color of the pigment, in his YouTube video about the launch. The rumor has been debunked and critics are still raving over his palette.

Glossier

In case you didn’t come across a Glossier ad on your Instagram feed at some point in 2018, they are a relatively new beauty brand that embraces and encourages the idea of natural beauty. The brand offers a wide variety of products including makeup, skincare and fragrance. Some of their best sellers include Boy Brow grooming pomade, Lash Slick mascara and their Balm Dotcom lip balm. Glossier’s huge marketing campaign and seemingly overnight success left many people feeling skeptical about the brand. Nonetheless, the products eventually spoke for themselves and Glossier is still thriving into 2019.

Check them out here:

• Blood Sugar Palette
• James Charles Palette
• Glossier

The Worst:

Beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Foundation

Beautyblender’s foundation launch was one of the most talked about beauty controversies of 2018. Immediately after its debut, pictures of the 32 shades were posted across social media with captions that pointed out a lack of darker shades. Within the past year, makeup brands have been held to a higher standard when it comes to creating foundation after Fenty Beauty launched in 2017. Fenty’s Pro Filt’r foundation was considered revolutionary and set the bar high after releasing 50 very inclusive shades, a bar that Beautyblender completely missed.

Morphe Cosmetics: The Jaclyn Hill Vault Collection

In the midst of all the 2018 beauty blogger drama, The Jaclyn Hill Vault Collection fiasco was definitely one for the books. Hill announced that her second collaboration with Morphe Cosmetics would include four new palettes that were scheduled to be released in June. However, Morphe delayed the launch due to poor reviews from YouTubers who received early samples of the product.

Several months later, Morphe announced that the palettes were reformulated. When the collection finally went on sale in August, buyers were not impressed. Many accused Hill of lying about reformulating her products after noticing similarities in the batch codes and that stickers were being placed over the ingredients list. Hill eventually admitted to reusing packaging, but insisted the eyeshadows were reformulated. Regardless, critics remain disappointed in her palette collection.

Crayola’s Makeup Collection

In Summer 2018, Crayola launched a 58-piece makeup collection that didn’t live up to the hype. Many bloggers took to social media to point out that the quality of the products did not match the price point. The common problem that people had with Crayola’s makeup collection was the lack of pigmentation. It’s safe to say that Crayola should’ve just stuck to making crayons.

Check them out here:

• Beautyblender Foundation
• Jaclyn Hill Vault Collection
• Crayola Collection

Overall, we could appreciate the epic beauty wins of 2018, along with the fails, as we look forward to what 2019 has in store for us.

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Twitter: @TatianaTellTWW