I'd bet 98% of your issues were RH related, Brother. Microbes should not burn your plants. Too much of just about anything else in the kit will, but I don't see how the microbes will. Trich's on the dried buds never look like they do in the tent before harvest, but, yeah, when you look at the dried buds, they look like they're coated in sugar. Shining a light on them, just makes them sparkle.
I don't think the dry or cure would be the issue on the looks - only the smell & taste. It all starts with good genetics and a good environment. From there, just make sure the plant has what it needs, whether it's with the kit or some other nute program. When your plants are battling things like RH, PH, Temps, etc., they can't put all their energy into producing the best possible buds cuz' they're putting all their energy into trying to deal with the problems themselves. If you eliminate those problems for the plant, it will have nowhere to spend its energy except to produce the highest quality buds its genetics allow.
IMHO, all those other "tricks" like a dark period before harvest, supplements like Snowstorm Ultra, etc. don't make any noticeable difference once you have good genetics in a good environment.