Mixed Feels: Products I Don't Know What To Think About

I've never featured any of these five products in any of my posts - the simple reason being that I really don't know what to think about them. Mind you, this is different from a non-disputable case of shitty products I regret buying; none of these are bad, really. They're just... not here nor there, maybe? As a long-time blogger, I usually have lots of clear-cut opinions about every beauty product I try, but these five give me very mixed feels:

1. First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. I'm a huge fan of FAB Radiance Pads, but their cult extra-moisturizing Ultra Repair Cream doesn't really do it for me. You may be surprised why, as a combination-skinned gal, would I even have this in my stash, but I was actually hoping to use it on my eczema-ridden hands. But nope, it does very very little to moisturize my severly dry, flaking and cracking fingers, and even as a regular hand cream, it's just alright. Is there something I'm not getting about this, you guys?

2. LORAC Front of the Line Pro Liquid Eye Liner in Black ($23 for 0.02 fl oz). I'm not a massive liquid eyeliner user, usually prefering the convenience of a pencil, but I can appreciate the precision of a good pen. This LORAC liner seems to gather a lot of great reviews, having both beautiful pigmentation and a tiny brush (not felt!) tip. However, I can't make it work - I dislike its shiny/vinyl finish on the skin, and whenever I need to go over my line to thicken or even it out, it seems to really drag on itself, making it time-consuming and unpleasant to apply. I'll use it up, but I won't repurchase.

3. Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer in Light ($24 for 0.24 oz, I have a mini that came in a set). This is a really weird one: sometimes I really like how it works on my skin, sometimes I hate it. The big pros of this concealer are its longevity (really stays put, and I would even call it water-resistant) and how well it covers discoloration and redness. The cons are the finish on the skin (dry, accentuates lines and flakes) and not enough coverage to be used for spot-concealing. It's definitely not my favorite, but perfectly matches the foundation I'm currently trying to use up, the Estee Lauder Double Wear Light in Intensity 1.

4. Benefit Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel in Light to Medium ($24 for 0.10 oz). Are you shocked? I know this is a must-have for a lot of people, but for me it just didn't hit the mark. I bought it hoping to use it on its own on lazy make-up days, but I dislike how my brows look with it on: the shade is too ashy, making my brows look like they're greying (I guess that's my fault for choosing the wrong color), the texture is quite crispy, but most importantly, it just doesn't give me the definition I was looking for. I have quite good brows naturally, but there's just a couple of sparse areas that I like to fill in to give them a better shape, and for that purpose, using a good eyebrow pencil is undoubtedly superior to this gel. I can wear it paired with my Shu pencil - but that's more, not less effort on my part when getting ready in the morning. On a different note, I think I'm done with Benefit products for a while; I just can't stand their marketing strategy and constant hype. From what they say about their own products, you'd think it was the second coming of Jesus - but from my own experience, the products are mostly overpriced and mediocre. So. You won't see much of Benefit on this blog any time soon. I've had enough.

4. Shu Uemura Anti/Oxi Skin Refining Cleansing Oil ($77 for 450ml, mine is in LE Mika for Shu packaging). Shu's oils are like the big daddy of cleansing oils on the Western beauty market, but I think in this day and age, we can all do better than splurge nearly 80 bucks on a bottle of predominantly mineral oil. Does it remove my make-up? Yes, but not all of my mascara, and it always clouds my vision - so I think after I'm done with this giant and awesomely designed bottle, I'll switch to something like The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil, or an Asian drugstore oil.

Have you tried any of these products? If so, what were your thoughts? Have you been using any products recently that gave you very mixed feels?