TikTok Makeup Artist Mikayla Nogueira Says These Products Aren't Worth The Money

TikTok makeup artist Mikayla Nogueira isn't afraid to get vulnerable and be honest in her beauty videos, which explains why she has 5.2 million followers on TikTok with over 260.2 billion likes and counting (via SocialTracker). Her expert makeup skills and down-to-earth personality make her advice feel more authentic and like you're confiding in a friend. Nogueira shared with Allure that her viral TikTok makeup hack for concealing acne pulled in 300,000 followers seemingly overnight. The TikTok beauty influencer lived and breathed makeup long before blowing up on the platform, and built up her clientele while attending college in Rhode Island.

Per Yahoo, in 2020, she picked up the Emerging Makeup Artist of the Year award for her bite-sized, glamorous and accessible makeup tutorials. Nogueira told In the Know that her strategy and overall beauty philosophy has always been to be as real as possible, and avoid sounding scripted. She also revealed what sparked her relationship with makeup. "I was not accepted in a lot of different ways. Having a deeper voice, being really short ... And makeup was a way for me to sort of escape from that," she confessed.

Nogueira added that experimenting with makeup gave her a safe space. "For much of my life, makeup was what I went to feel happy, to feel a sense of love," she explained. True to her brand, the TikTok makeup artist shared her honest opinion on popular beauty products that aren't worth the hype.

Mikalya Nogueira regularly dishes on popular beauty products and whether they're a hit or miss. Her honest takes are what make her videos so entertaining. In a series of TikToks dubbed "Full Face of Makeup I Hate", the makeup artist openly admitted which makeup products she dislikes. In the first TikTok of her makeup series, she opened with Becca Cosmetics' Zero No Pigment foundation, and claimed that it's overpriced, weirdly textured and was mislabeled as a foundation. She also shared that Kosas' Tinted Face Oil is extremely oily and has an unpleasant smell.

In the follow-up to her viral makeup series, another product that didn't live up to the hype was Fenty Beauty's Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer (via TikTok). Nogueira mentioned that it doesn't blend easily and is too sheer. It also needs to be layered to notice any real changes on your face. This critique initially came as a huge surprise considering Fenty Beauty's cream blushes and bronzers line has gotten a lot of love by beauty enthusiasts. 

But a deeper look at some reviews left for the product on beauty brand Sephora's website shows she's not alone in this feeling. One Fenty Beauty user shared her disappointment in the highly rated bronzer, writing "I usually love all things Fenty. This cream bronzer just didn't do it for me. It fades into nothing. Perhaps there's not sufficient pigmentation? Cream bronzers are my jam, just not this one."

Though Glossier's Haloscope Highlighter is considered a staple by many beauty lovers, and even has crystal extracts in its formula (via Byrdie), it's a hard no for Mikayla Nogueira. She explained in another TikTok tutorial that it gives off a barely noticeable shine. When testing out Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Gel, Nogueira also didn't hold back. "It's just too thick. They need to change the wand on this, it's too big. Pigment can come off uneven and patchy," she admitted in the same video.

Other product misses were Anastasia Beverly Hills' Subculture Eyeshadow Palette, Huda Beauty's Life Liner Double Ended Eyeliner Liquid & Pencil, and It Cosmetics' Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil (FYI, she's not a fan of the latter because you need to apply pressure to see actual results).

More influencer-adored makeup products got the axe on her channel like Kylie Cosmetics' famous Lip Kit. It turns out she's not the only one who's skeptical about the expensive brand's quality, judging by The List's survey where a shocking 46% of women polled voted Kylie Cosmetics as the worst makeup brand. Noguiera's blunt opinions prove that she's not afraid to share the good, the bad and the ugly about the makeup industry regardless of if a product's trending.