I need to preface this by saying that this is not intended to be a bash session against the brand in any way. These are my opinions based on my own experiences.
If you have watched a YouTube makeup video in the last, I don’t know, 5 years you’ve heard of Morphe brushes. They started out strictly as a brush company offering a huge assortment of brushes at extremely low prices. It was not long beauty influencers like Jaclyn Hill started putting their brushes in every video, and in 2015 we saw our first collab palette. This was the Jaclyn Hill Favorites palette, 28 shades of eyeshadow for $27.99. It sold out instantly, like so many others that would follow in its footsteps.
I never got my hands on that first palette, nor did I care to only because the color scheme didn’t do much for me. I’ve also never really been that excited about Jaclyn’s Hill. I used to enjoy some of her tutorials but for quite some time she’s earned a reputation for only posting when she has something to sell, and I have some strong opinions about that but that’s another post. Her collabs always seemed to have major issues too, and eventually you’d think people would recognize the common denominator. Morphe used to be somewhat difficult to get ahold of. Many of the brushes in my favorite gurus’ videos were sold out, but I had heard I could find them at the America’s Beauty Show in Chicago as they had a booth for a couple years. I used my discount codes and placed orders online, just as excited as everyone else to have amazing brushes for as little as $4/each. My collection of brushes and 35 color palettes grew. I found many products that worked well from them, but after years of support, I am pulling back almost entirely. Here’s why:
The brand is involved in a never-ending amount of drama. I could go on and on…and It’s not cute, it’s a gimmick and it’s all about getting the consumers’ dollar no matter what it takes. Unfortunately, many of the brands target audience does not have a lot of money for brushes or makeup and these types of marketing strategies work. There are so many better brands out there making far better products. And yes, they may be more costly, but what I am here to say is STOP buying cheap brushes and makeup. The old saying goes ‘you get what you pay for’ and with Morphe, more often than not it is totally true with little exception: Jaclyn Hill Palette (I haven’t tried the 2nd one), and her brushes are actually very good products. The quality is far superior and noticeably so. I am not sure why the brand stepped it up for her release, but the majority of the rest of the brushes and palettes are nothing to write home about. Seriously. I have actually just started throwing them away or giving away where I can.
So how do I know the brushes are trash? Because of what happens after you wash them once. See below. The shape of the brush is compromised, bristles shed all over the place, and they lose softness. The image on the right is my Morphe brush, less than a year old. By comparison, I have a MAC 224 shadow brush (left) that I bought when I was working at Mayfair Mall at Trade Secret (I’m old) at the MAC counter at Marshall Field’s. Yep, Marshall Field’s, not Macy’s. To this day, it clearly isn’t the prettiest looking handle, but the bristles are still the same shape and softness as the day I bought it…nearly 17 years ago! For $32, I would say it’s safe to say I got my money’s worth. The Morphe alternative may be a fraction of the price but it won’t hold a candle to the higher quality alternative. And you’ll need to repurchase far more often. Now I am not saying all expensive brushes and products are better, I’m just speaking about Morphe. If you must purchase Morphe, stick to the Jaclyn Hill line or the Elite line. Jaclyn’s line has a wider variety of natural and synthetic brushes than the Elite line, and both Jaclyn Hill and the Elite line are more expensive than some of the other collections they sell.
The palettes are all well and good because you think you’re getting an amazing deal, right? I want to see one person that has used 35 shades of shadow from the same palette. And there’s no way that the palettes don’t have the same colors in them. Jaclyn’s again, more expensive, but better performing and more usable colors. And there are definitely no repeats. Even still I would stay away from a majority of their products. Your favorite YouTube beauty lover is more than likely being compensated to talk about how much they “love” their products. Note: if there’s a discount code, there’s a paycheck and that’s your cue to take the recommendation with a huge grain of salt! I’ve wasted lot of money (lots because of the volume of products) on useless things from the brand and I am simply trying to prevent you from doing the same. If you’d be interested in seeing my favorite brushes in a post, let me know!
The bottom line: we work hard for our money, I am here to tell you to invest it in something better, even if it means waiting a little while to invest. There are other affordable brands doing better things. Not everyone needs to be a #MorpheBabe
