Amazon’s sales rankings produce an unusual mix of bargain staples, established prestige products and unfamiliar viral items, which gives James Charles plenty to test beyond simply applying another routine. The concept works because he follows the bestseller premise even when he expects a product to fail, most notably with the Lux color-changing foundation. That willingness to let the ranking determine the purchases creates genuine uncertainty about how the finished face will turn out.
The shopping section is especially useful when James looks beyond the headline ranking and notices complications in what “best-selling” actually means. He distinguishes concealer from under-eye brighteners, catches shade-specific purchase figures for brow pencils and questions surprising sales numbers for products such as the Laura Geller palette and Charlotte Tilbury lip liner. His claims about monthly units sold and Amazon’s position in the makeup market are presented confidently, however, without independent evidence here establishing how Amazon generates those figures or whether different listings and variants are directly comparable.
Once application begins, the review becomes much more informative than the initial jokes about supposedly suspicious products. The Lux foundation appears to provide limited but visible coverage, and James changes his first impression rather than forcing the negative verdict he predicted. He similarly reassesses the Maybelline concealer after underestimating its coverage, while the inexpensive Wet n Wild contour proves usable only after he adjusts the application to tame its unexpectedly warm, intense color. Those reversals make the testing feel meaningfully responsive to what happens on his face.
Several products receive particularly useful demonstrations of why technique matters. The Elf cheek stain creates a visible line when applied directly over foundation, yet behaves better when transferred through a brush or hand first; James therefore separates its potential usefulness for lighter makeup from its poor performance in his fuller base. The Laneige powder is another standout surprise, requiring little product while giving what he sees as an effective setting and blurring result. His enthusiasm is persuasive as firsthand experience, although comments about why certain products have become popular remain speculation rather than demonstrated explanations.
The Laura Geller palette provides one of the better arcs because James begins skeptical of both its sales popularity and price before finding strong pigment in the blush, bronzer and highlighting products. He also explains what he understands to be the manufacturing difference between baked and conventionally pressed formulas, helping contextualize the higher price rather than merely declaring it expensive. At the same time, some of the broader assumptions about the brand appealing particularly to middle-aged or older women are asserted casually rather than supported within the review.
Not everything can be rescued by technique. The Elf brow pencil requires repeated layering for relatively little payoff, and its combination with the NYX brow glue creates enough difficulty that concealer is needed for significant cleanup. The Urban Decay neutral palette receives an especially harsh assessment for weak pigmentation and an uninspiring color selection, while the Julep shimmer stick disappoints with a patchy, sticky result. Bringing the Laura Geller highlighter back into the eye look demonstrates a practical workaround and reinforces that the final appearance does not necessarily mean every component performed well.
The closing products are more straightforward but still produce useful distinctions. Essence Lash Princess is praised as a reliably good low-cost mascara despite James’s fatigue at repeatedly encountering it in shopping challenges. He dislikes the waxy feel of Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk liner, likes Clinique Black Honey primarily for its sheer color despite complaints about smell and application, and initially approves of L’Oréal’s setting spray for its even distribution and more pleasant scent. The promised later assessment of how well that spray actually preserves the makeup never arrives, though, leaving one of the more performance-dependent products judged only at application.
Pros
- Following the bestseller rule even when James expects a product to fail creates genuine surprises and prevents the experiment from being predetermined.
- Application demonstrations clearly show differences in coverage, pigmentation, blendability, texture and ease of use rather than relying only on verbal opinions.
- James repeatedly revises his first impressions when products perform differently than expected, particularly with the foundation, concealer and Laura Geller palette.
- Technique adjustments with the contour, cheek stain and eye products make the review more practically useful.
- The mix of inexpensive staples, prestige products and unfamiliar Amazon favorites produces a more varied comparison than a routine dominated by one price tier.
Cons
- Amazon sales figures and the opening claim about the retailer’s position in the makeup market are repeated without demonstrating how those numbers were verified or how comparable the listings are.
- Some explanations for product popularity and audience demographics are speculative.
- Frequent comedic tangents and repeated complaints about familiar bestseller products occasionally slow the evaluation.
- The Urban Decay and Julep sections lean heavily into ridicule, even though the visible application problems do provide a basis for the negative verdicts.
- The setting spray is supposed to receive a later wear assessment, but the promised follow-up never appears.
Strong hands-on testing turns a simple bestseller challenge into a useful demonstration that popularity, price and performance do not consistently move together. James is at his best when an actual application forces him to reconsider an assumption, although the sales-ranking premise would be stronger with more caution around unverified marketplace figures and a completed wear test.
