The Reason Clinique Isn't Worth The Money

Choosing makeup and skincare products can be a pretty overwhelming process. You have to consider price, brand, shades, and reviews, to name just a few factors. These days, we have more choice than ever before, which can make differentiating between high- and low- quality brands tricky and time consuming. Indeed, the distinction between the price and quality of department store makeup products versus drug-store products was once fairly clear, but now, that line is blurred. Products from Sephora can be affordable and attainable, while CVS can sell high-quality products that are borderline unaffordable.

We want to help make your makeup and skincare buying experience a little bit easier — and to do that, we're going to start by telling you that Clinique isn't worth the money. We know — that's a bold statement! But keep reading to find out why we think you should pass the Clinique aisle next time you're browsing the shops.

Just like any brand, some products are good and some are bad. But what makes Clinique not worth the money is just how unreliable it is. For every Clinique product that has good reviews, you'll find one with bad reviews. For a brand that markets itself to a more affluent community of beauty lovers, with prices that are comparable to high-end, high-quality products, Clinique really needs to do better than that. Skincare mogul and Youtuber Hyram is one of the most well-known skincare reviewers on TikTok, with a whopping total of 6.7 million followers on the app. This year, he posted a video to his YouTube channel titled, "The Truth about Clinique", which he claims was one of his most highly-requested videos. After nearly 16 minutes of reviewing Clinique products and giving his thoughts, he ends by saying, "With the budget that they have and the amount of influence that they have, they could be making really impressive formulas, but they just aren't doing that."

Makeup empress Tati Westbrook, with a following of nearly 10 million on YouTube, posted a video titled "AWFUL PRODUCTS." She echoes Hyram's sentiments, commenting on one of Clinique's eyeliner pens. She claims that she wore it only one time before she knew she never wanted to wear it again. She called the product a "hard pass" at a whopping $21.

On Consumer Affairs, one user reviewed Clinique's clarifying lotion, saying, "I will not purchase Clinique anymore for my daughter or anyone else." Another person said she spent over $175 on Clinique products, but after trying them all out, she wrote "Very unhappy! Will not recommend Clinique to anyone!"

While it's standard for companies to receive a mix of positive and negative reviews, we mention Clinique in particular due to its nearly 50-year history, a period long enough for it to have addressed and smoothed out its spotty record. Hyram hits the nail on the head when he jokes the brand is for people who say, "'My grandma used Clinique, my mom used Clinique, I used Clinique, and I'll use Clinique until I die.'" Clinique appears to be the type of company that is successful and expensive simply because it has been around for a while, and not because it produces solid results.