Every morning, before I steep my morning tea, I scroll through my Instagram feed taking note of all the standout swatches, 60-second videos, and interesting products I see. Perhaps it's an occupational hazard of working in beauty, but I can't help jotting down the names of each and every product that appears to be working wonders. Then, when I see it pop up again and again in myriad profiles, my interest is piqued. I must try you, I think to myself.

There are dozens of Insta-famous brands that have followings in the hundreds of thousands — millions, even — but I'm always a bit skeptical. Is it simply filtered magic that makes these products seem so miraculous? Will they really perform as well in real life?

Ahead, we put five Insta-famous beauty brands to the test and delivered our un-filtered opinions in the slides ahead.