Anyway, this poll was up for about a month, and it received almost 300 votes. So the results are in, and here's how our favorites brands ranked:
The top five drugstore brands as voted by Nouveau Cheap readers:
1. Revlon (148 votes)
2. Wet n Wild (147 votes)
3. Maybelline (144 votes)
4. L'Oreal (115 votes)
5. Rimmel (114 votes)
Now let's take a look at the bottom five brands:
9. Sally Hansen (64 votes)
10. Neutrogena (44 votes)
11. Prestige (43 votes)
12. Jane (32 votes)
13. Almay (20 votes)
I was a bit surprised to see brands like Prestige and Jane score so low, but I have a hunch that this has more to do with their lack of availability than the quality of their products. What do you think?
As for the least favorite brand, I'm not too surprised that it was Almay. I used to ADORE Almay in the 90s, but it just seems that, nowadays, their price points are a bit too high and they don't seem to be releasing many new, innovative or interesting products. Some of their older products are indeed fantastic (I love some of their powders and eyeliners) but on the whole, I think this brand is definitely in need of an updating/rebranding/complete overhaul. Not to mention a surge of bright, pretty colors! The shades of eyeshadow and lip color from Almay are kind of on the dull side lately. Do you agree?
I also want to point out that many of you were upset that I didn't include brands like NYX, Jordana, Jesse's Girl, etc. in this poll. The reason I excluded those brands was because I only wanted to include brands that are the most EASILY available at just about every drugstore in America. So I hope that if any of the brands I didn't list in this poll were your favorites, you clicked the "other" box when you voted.
So, what do you think of the results of this informal poll? Do you agree, disagree, kind of agree? Also, if you have a brand that you truly adore that was NOT listed in this poll, leave a comment and let me know about it--I'd love to know why it's your favorite!
And one more thing: I have a NEW poll at the bottom of this page that I would absolutely love you to vote on--it's about this blog, and it would help me immensely to get your feedback. Thanks!
Huh! That is interesting that Prestige scored so low. I love their eyeliners! And I'm gratified to see my beloved W'n'W so high on the list! (Got several new Color Icon eyeshadows and a few polishes during a BOGO at Rite Aid today--SCOOOORE!).
ReplyDeleteRevlon & WnW are no surprises as they've been up-ing their game. A very close tie between those two!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Jane and Prestige being lower on the scale as both Prestige and Jane are no longer widely available, though more Jane than Prestige...
I love Revlon. If I had the money, I'd buy just about every product they have.
ReplyDeleteWet 'n' Wild definitely deserves to be up there, since they improved so much within the past year.
I like Almay's foundations and concealers, but their eyeshadows and liners and mascaras aren't anything special.
The only time I see Prestige is at some Ultas, and I am in an urban area. I haven't seen Jane in years, since high school/college...which has been years too ;)
ReplyDeleteI voted for Revlon too. I feel confident in its quality in most areas--face, nails, *some* eyeshadows, eyeliner...but thank god I don't have to shop only one brand!
I don't think its the lack of availability ( this could be true for prestige) but the fact that these brands range of colors are as extensive as the top 5 ( except for WNW).
ReplyDeleteI love the top 5 brands, except maybe L'Oreal, which I think is way overpriced. I'm not surprised that Jane and Prestige were on the bottom since not that many people know about it and don't know if it's good
ReplyDeleteWnW is a winner for me. I buy that more than Revlon. And I wonder if Jane is still going to be around. A Walgreens that I visited had all of their Jane products in the clearance bin.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusions! I definitely think that Prestige and Jane are more unavailable than the top brands, and while Almay's old products are still lovely, I would love to see some new innovations from them. Maybe they are more popular among an older crowd that likes the same products they have been using for years, the people that don't tend to use the internet or read this blog.
ReplyDelete@Kimberly (and anyone who is wondering) Jane is alive and just revamping their image right now. Since they were sold the new owners are repackaging items, moving headquarters, and working on building Jane's fan base. I look forward to new leopard print packaging next spring!
You are right about Almay. They were good back in the day. I saw a commerical for them and wondered why this line hasn't been discountinued yet.
ReplyDeleteprincessfats: I'm a HUGE Prestige fan so it bummed me out because I rave about their products all the time on this blog. I just think they're incredibly underrated. I think the low score has more to do with availability than anything else, but that's just my opinion. :) Glad you got some WnW goodies! I'm going to do a post on that killer sale tomorrow, actually!
ReplyDeleteSilly Lilacs: Yeah, it's difficult to find Jane if you don't have Rite Aids or Kmarts in your area (I think Walmart carries Jane too but I rarely go into Walmart so I'm not 100% sure). :(
Yuki: Yeah, there are only very specific items I still like from Almay, but I've never been too crazy about their shadows. Although I love their liquid liners.
cait: That's a bummer about Jane. Hopefully this brand will be more widely accessible in the coming year. I know it hit a lot of people hard when Walgreens ended their relationship with Jane a while back. :(
Vanessa: Do you mean foundations? If so, I can name a lot of brands on this list that don't have a wide range of colors, unfortunately. :( But as for lipsticks, eyeliners, shadows, etc., I think both Prestige and Jane have an awesome range of shades to choose from! :)
cjx3pooh: Well, I try my best to review as much from Prestige and Jane as I can on this blog, because I really love both of those brands. I'm bummed that they ranked so low. :(
Kimberly: I actually did a post a while back about how Walgreens and Jane ended their business relationship, so THAT'S why Jane is no longer sold at Wags. This was a while back, so I'm actually surprised that you were still able to find clearance products at your Wags--the Jane products at my Wags were wiped out months ago (believe me, I bought a TON on clearance! Haha). But as PCS said, they have new owners now, and I know they've been working on revamping their website for a while, so I think we're going to see a lot of interesting new things from them in the seasons to come. :)
PCS: Yeah, it's difficult to try and imagine Almay's current customer base, but all I know is it's NOT the people who voted in this poll! haha. And I am so excited about the Jane overhaul. Can't wait to see what they release in the months to come. My PR contact (who actually no longer works there) was so excited about the website revamp--I can't wait to see what improvements the new owners make to the site! I'm just glad they have an online store, so no matter what, I can still get my Jane fix. :)
Melody: Thanks! I'm so glad you agree about Almay. I'm kind of surprised they're still around too, but I'm happy to see them hanging in there. It would be sad to lose yet another makeup brand!
Almay's quality is unpredictable. I have some eyeshadows that are good quality and others that barely show up. I also bought mascara that was packaged two for the price of one and have no issues with it. No smudging or flaking, it lasts all day, it's just not a -WOW! My eyelashes have never been this long and lush!- mascara. So it's my daytime go to mascara, I wore it today in fact. Er, yesterday now. And then theres the gloss I bought at Dollar Tree...oh my Gawd! I can't believe they unleashed this stuff on the unsuspecting public. It's the Pure Blends tube gloss, it smells horrendously, mostly like wood, chipboard I think. Then you taste that slightly bitter wood taste. Blech! And it separates, so that when you squeeze it at first this clear oil oozes out and none of the tint/color. This stuff is just nasty.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, skip the Pure Blends gloss, but the Pure Blends eyeshadows are decent, about medium in pigment for a nice wash of color, smooth and easy to blend. The blush is iffy it barely shows up on me, but I'm a medium-leaning-towards-dark skin tone. I think it would look nice on someone who is fair/light skin toned. (All of these can be found at Dollar Tree/Big Lots)
@G I work in a Kmart (granted I'm holed up in pharmacy, I still browse the makeup section which is right in front of it) and I don't see Jane. And Walmart doesn't have 'em either =(
ReplyDeleteIt totally schmucks because I just found out about Jane a year and a half ago -ish and that was when Walgreens was taking down everything Jane. =/
I'm really astonished by Wet'n'Wild's high rating, to me they are below the standards of good cosmetics, and their packaging really sucks... It could be that I've chosen their worst products to try, don't know. I haven't noticed the poll, but I would have definitely voted for Revlon
ReplyDeleteI love WnW, especially for when I want to try trendy shades or new products. I used to love Jane. Jane is sold at the Rite Aid by my house but I have noticed they have been downsizing their section. This makes sense in light of the brand overhaul though. They used to sell it at the Walmart where I work, but it doesn't carry ANY variety now. They don't even carry WnW, NYC, or Rimmel. I have to travel 30 minutes away to even see a Rimmel product. Walmart sucks. LOL
ReplyDeleteEli, give WnW another shot. They have been upgrading over the past few months and many of their products are so much better than in the past. You really won't be out much if you live near a Rite Aid and can take advantage of the BOGO free sale this week. I suggest trying out some of the eyeshadows or e/s palettes, they have been getting excellent reviews here and with many other beauty bloggers.
ReplyDeleteDonna, you got me thinking... I might give 'em a try:) I haven't checked their counter for an year now, and if they have been releasing new and better products - it's worth checking them out, at least they aren't expensive:)
ReplyDeleteI love revlon eyeliner pencils, foundation (colorstay is my HG), lipgloss (super lustrous rock!!)! :)
ReplyDeleteHow about doing occassional polls about each brand, where we could vote for our favorite thing out of each brand! For example Revlon: eyeshadow, foundation, lipstick, eyeliner, concealer etc, vote for your absolute favorite category of products from revlon! ;)