They started off useful, but then they became more and more edited, so often they appear photoshopped (and they just might be!). When a brand has realistic swatches or does live swatches, those can be more useful.
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They are not really useful in my experience. I rely heavily on your arm swatches and your descriptions of the colours.
Exactly! And Christine has the best swatches out there. Perfectly photographed.
Nowadays they are not helpful at all, at worst they are misleading. Two recent examples come to mind: the newest mothership looked more neutral and muted in promophotos, but apparently it is much more pink in real life based on some content creator footage I’ve seen. Based on the promo swatches, I was expecting the ND Mini Starlette quint to be cool toned and quite mauve, but seeing a review on YT, it’s warmer and more brown. For some surely positive surprises, for me not. In both cases I can’t help but to think, if the brand expects the promo swatches to appeal to the consumers better, why didn’t they create the colorstory they photoshopped?
Brand swatches are just a starting point for me because they’re rarely realistic. If I see a brand swatch I like, I’ll usually look for videos or pictures of real people actually wearing it, then the next step would be to swatch it in person. I never buy a product solely based on brand swatches.
Same here; I couldn’t have said it better! I’ve been burned by brand swatches before so I always look up videos or other peoples’ swatches before I buy.
Not very….just one of the many reasons I prefer shopping in person.
Not very which is why i shop in person and rely on your swatches and reviews.
I wish more companies that definitely have the resources to do so would clearly demonstrate products actually in use. MAC actually started doing this at some point. Then again, given how pigmented and vibrant the eye looks supposedly showing the Connect in Colour palettes are…I’m skeptical that those are accurate/truthful lol (once again, I’ll reference the Colour Craft campaign whose behind-the-scenes photos revealed the use of Ben Nye face paints).
YES! I have been catfished by MAC eyeshadow swatches too many times!
In this much more recent age of brands finagling their swatches, also various lighting used by both the brands themselves and some reviewers as well, I just have a hard time trusting most to be accurate. That said, there are also plenty of very honest, live swatchers out there on YouTube and there’s also looking right here for accuracy and no weird lighting or photoshopped/edited images! Some of the best are Alicia Archer, Tarababyz, Jen Luv (when she does a “swatchathon”), Morgan Turner, KBJ, Tara Lynn, and back when Mel Thompson was still around, she was very accurate. Of course, there are others, but these are the first ones to spring to mind.
Brand swatches on light/pale skintones may start me looking at the beauty product more closely, but true reviews from you Christine, show up the dud shades and the real colours and finishes.
Like others here, I’ve found that the brands’ swatches used on retailers’ sites are not accurate representations of the actual color. That’s why I am such a fan of your site (Temptalia) and why I make my online purchases through this site. If you haven’t swatched an item of interest, I usually pass on it unless I can swatch it in a local store to see the color in person.
Not really. Most brands don’t show real swatches. Also people put heavy swatches on their palm. Your palm isn’t your eyelid. It says nothing of how it will wear over time on your eye. Lighting can also skews how you see things
What you said, Christine.
I don’t have any really good stores near me, so I do most of my shopping online. I generally only buy colour cosmetics that’s been swatched here at Temptalia.
I love reading the reviews, but sometimes a swatch by Christine is enough.
Erica mentioned palm swatches, those and also the fingertip swatches are just odd to me, for sure some products are best applied with a fingertip, but the colour you get on the fingertip doesn’t really give you the colour when put on an eyelid. Arm swatches are a lot more informative.
Lip product swatches on an arm drive me crazy. I really appreciate when the product page shows it on a model’s lips.
I think finger swipes of eyeshadow on an arm are underrated. People criticize those swatching photos as unappealing, but they’re so useful compared to stencil swatches with product packed on.
In the last year or two, they’ve become not only unhelpful but inaccurate; with the level of technology available now, photoshopped swatches and excuses of bad lighting are unacceptable.
I also find it really annoying when brands, usually indie, launch new products or post photos of upcoming releases with swatches on only one skintone instead of waiting for swatches on all to come in. I love Sydney Grace but they do this often; their photos of upcoming releases often only include swatches done on light skintones (their staff) but when someone asks abt photos on deeper skintones or why they were posted days later, they say they haven’t received them yet/received them late. Either wait until all come in to post, send products to all models earlier or, if the swatches are always late coming in, find new models. This has even happened when new products have launched, with swatches on deeper skintones added later or not at all.
Initially I say they are super helpful but as you say, Christine, when they are photoshopped it’s lazy and useless. When the swatches are real and used on several skin tones (most companies use ivory, tan and ebony), I find them a major source for decision making.
Agreed with what everyone said here, 1000%!