Comments on: Beauty Reviews: Who can you trust?

By: About all those product reviews… « BeautyOlogy

About all those product reviews… « BeautyOlogy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:48:08 +0000

[...] 1, 2009 in Weblogs Jen over at Mythbuster Beauty has a great post about beauty product reviews. I really love her site–it’s informative, entertaining, and I think she has good [...]

By: Jen Hill

Jen Hill — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:00:45 +0000

Thanks for your incredible perspective! Yay!

By: NYCEsthy

NYCEsthy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:39:55 +0000

I love that beauty bloggers are even willing to tackle this sticky subject. When I was a bty editor, the ad dollars usually bought the product mentions. I try not to blog about the lines I work with and retail, and if I do there’s full disclosure (tho I retail and work w/ the lines b/c I love them).

Thanks for bringing this up, Jen! It’s an important subject!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:21:30 +0000

I agree Jen – there are some BAD reviews out there! But I think really reading them is most important also. Much of the time, the person writing may have really used the product..but just saying “it broke me out” is a terrible review. People that take the time to write about ingredients, their own skin type, etc. know what they’re talking about. It is easy to write paragraph after paragraph about nothing!

By: GreenGoddess

GreenGoddess — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:06:38 +0000

I too, like to see what the review sees as the pros and cons of a particular product. The problem with writing negative reviews will be apparent at some point in the not to distant future, I suspect. Already there has been one perfume review blogger attacked by a major (huge conglomerate) company for comparing one of their fragrane bottles to a similarly designed one by another company. I hesitate to name names here, so as as not to draw attention to this site. Unfortunately any type of negativite review might be construed as defamation.
Obviously this is going to have HUGE ramifications for bloggers everywhere and freedom of speech (if we still have that)

(In law, defamation (from Wiki= also called calumny, libel (for written words), slander (for spoken words), and vilification) is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government or nation a negative image).

By: Kimberly Kolodziejski

Kimberly Kolodziejski — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:28:43 +0000

This was a most impressive article. As I am reading it from the other side of the street (full disclosure, I am co-owner of Chella Skin Care and provider of products to be reviewed), I appreciate the honesty and fairness of unbiased reviews, although we can’t always guarantee that the reviewer will agree with us on the fabulosity of our skin care! We fully guarantee our products and believe them to be among the best out there.
As we are a new company and living with a limited marketing budget (have you any idea how expensive it is to buy even the smallest ad in STYLE magazine?) we are learning the benefits of social networking for the newbie and truly feel beauty bloggers reviews are even more respected and trusted than paid advertising. Thanks Mythbuster Beauty for providing that platform, and I hope that you may find our products worthy of your recommendation (no yacht trips attached!). Have a beautiful day, all!

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:08:04 +0000

Great post I had the same problem for a long time. My blog is independent but we can’t review everything! Multiple reviews are absolutely the way to go, particularly if you can find them on several sites that you trust. Deciding who to trust…there’s the rub.
And, like you said, what one reviewer of a product experiences may not be my experience but I do like to hear if something’s worth even trying.
There’s just so much out there and all of the site/review hopping can be exhausting. I want one-stop shopping!

By: Mo

Mo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:58:59 +0000

It’s hard to write reviews sometimes. I try not to totally rip something I don’t like because it’s so based on my personal preference and results that I just can’t rule it out for everyone. I try to suggest skin types or personality types that might prefer it, or point out reasons I like it but others might not.
There are certain reviewers I know like similar things to myself and I try to read them the most when considering something new. You can usually tell when someone’s getting something extra from companies for good reviews. I usually gush about Urban Decay but I’m not afraid to say that I’m not in love with something from them (Primer potion isn’t my favorite, sorry loves), and I think that type of honesty shows.
As for the FTC, I think the concept is great, but we can’t save everyone from everything, so people need to take everything with a grain of salt. Beauty bloggers obviously receive samples from companies, so disclosing every last product seems kind of silly, but if you’re getting cruises and other excessive gifts and feel like you need to hide that info, then that’s probably a good sign that your review isn’t an honest one.

By: Shannon-A Girl's Gotta Spa

Shannon-A Girl's Gotta Spa — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:01:03 +0000

I completely agree with you Jen. I always read multiple reviews on the same product to get a feel for if it is for me. Plus I tend to read blogs where the blogger is very similar to myself. It’s also about trust. I have to say I rarely if ever go to MakeupAlley because I am aware of several brands that post reviews of their products under an alias. I much prefer to read reviews from people I already know, have a relationship with and trust.

By: Jami

Jami — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:49:47 +0000

As always, a very well laid out article. It frustrates me to no end to see some blogs and websites with everything 10 stars! Or “I don’t write negative reviews”. How in the world will your readers know the pros and cons of items if you only review the things you adore???

And for further discussion… have you heard about the proposed FTC guidelines for reviews and bloggers? I’d love to pick your brain on that.

Thanks again for a wonderful website, Jen. You ROCK!