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How much do beauty promo images influence you?


How much do beauty promo images influence you? Share!

Little to not at all; I really like looking at campaign visuals and promos, but I tend to take them with a grain of salt! Between professional lighting, makeup artists, photographers, and a team of retouchers, I look at them as art or inspiration but not to tell me how they perform.

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xamyx Avatar

Not at all; while I do look at them to get a glimpse of what may possibly be coming up in a new collection, I still take that with a grain of salt. I can’t even begin to count how many ads I’ve seen, and a lip or cheek color catch my interest, yet it is nowhere to be found in said collection. Also, half the time, eye colors are barely discernable on the models eyes, so that’s useless, as well. Then there’s the fact that most models are nowhere near my coloring, so while something may look good on the model, I know it will look completely different on me.

june Avatar

the only time i think where the promos had an impact was when illamasqua’s promo image had the model in black face (unintentionally black face, but unintentionally or not, it still read as black face to many, many people). i didn’t buy anything from that collection, and it took a few months before i’d even consider buying anything else from them (i had similar issues with some of mac’s promos and collections as well)

xamyx Avatar

Being that “black-face” was a US concept, it’s really unfair to hold a foreign company to the same standards. It’s like comparing white wedding dresses to red; in some cultures, it’s not only acceptable, but traditional, and it would be unfair for those same cultures to condemn us for wearing white.

Heidi Avatar

“Black face” was used in the theatre. It took white actors and painted their skin to play black characters the portrayal was extremely offensive. She’s not saying that she didn’t buy it because the model was black but because it looked like the “black face” images.

Veronica Avatar

There was quite a bit controversy awhile back over Kate Moss using blackface on the cover of the Independent awhile back in the UK, and a couple of French magazines also found themselves in hot water when they did the same. The concept of blackface isn’t unfamiliar to Europeans, though maybe it’s not quite as darkly illustrated in their history as it is in the States.

I don’t think Illumasqua’s ad was intentionally offensive because I see the effect they were going for. What makes it problematic is the lack of awareness. You can’t make a fair argument that art exists in a post-racial context when we don’t yet live in a post-racial world.

Denise S. Avatar

From what I remember the model had a pretty “black face” which is different from the racist interpretations of black faces with big lips and bug eyes. I personally didn’t find it offensive .And what about the white face used in mimes and clowns,lol. kinda creepy

ProperIntro Avatar

Ehh not really, It kind of helps me show what the product could possibly look like due to editing and etc xD I always have to rely on swatches and reviews for products from bloggers like you! ^___^

vicky C Avatar

Not at all. They dont affect my orinion for a product. Only one exception! I fell for dior addict lipstick promo pic and commercial ad!
BTW I love the lipstick but I bought it because I was dazzled by the promo

CatherineM Avatar

I might look at them for inspiration for any makeup looks, but I wouldn’t buy a product just because the promo images look good. There’s a huge difference between making an eyeshadow or lipstick look good for the 30 minutes it takes to take a good picture, and for wearing them in real life. Take for example the glossy eye trend that has been going strong last year: looks great in pictures, but it’s “welcome to crease-city” in everyday life.

Ryou Avatar

I tend to treat them as a work of art attached to a collection, not something to compel me to buy products from them. Having studied photography, make-up, and retouching made me quite skeptical to non-creative ads, sadly.

Naomi Avatar

I really love ads and promotional videos! Sometimes I will like an ad for a collection and not care for the collection much at all. I even feel (in some cases) that more work was done on promoting products than was put in creating the actual product (making things of high quality as well as making something unique). So to end I would say promos do not influence me, but I do enjoy them. You probably asked something about this before, but I do feel that for a lot people packing influences them (e.g. Manish Arora) or if something was “created” by someone famous (e.g Rihanna) or based on someone or something famous (e.g. Marilyn Monroe and Hello Kitty).

Christine Avatar

They influence me quite a bit as an impulse to inquire – if I love a promo photo, I will immediately look for swatches and reviews online, preferably here.

I never ever run out and buy the item immediately, though. Also, it puts me off to know that, for example, for a certain promo pic 2 or 3 of the collection’s colours were used for a lip colour as happened with the MUFE summer collection. When they attract me like a moth to light with a beautiful orange coral summer lip, I expect that lip product to be in the line, and not some volatile combination that would turn out competely different each time I mix the colours. In general, I get a little frustrated when they do not even attempt to show the collection’s colours as they are. I don’t care for fancy craft in an advert – I’d much prefer to see the standout colour, as truthful as possible, so I can safely go out and buy it with a fair chance of it looking similar in real life (granted, my own lip colour will be a factor etc).

I think adverts would influence me much more if I had not learnt I cannot depend on them. AT ALL.

Aelita Avatar

I love Iris Apfel so I got some stuff from her collection for MAC last year basing on the promo pics:) well I liked bright coloured lipsticks anyway, but I guess promo pics influenced me a little here:)

Mindy Avatar

For me it really depends. It the promo image is more artistic and a look I would never actually wear, the it influences me very little. If a promo image is something I could very much see myself wearing, it generally holds my attention longer.

Cat G Avatar

They don’t influence me at all when it comes to shopping. I kind of see them as photography projects but they don’t really lead me to believe anything about the quality of the products showcased. I guess they influence me in the sense that sometimes I like a look I see and want to recreate it.
What influences me above all else are your makeup reviews Christine.

Maggie Avatar

Yes–to an extent. Sometimes, I admire the ads as a work of an art. Sometimes, the ads are a good inspiration for a look. If I find I like the looks of the images/packaging and the products sound exciting–I may special attention to its release by looking out for reviews and such. This is especially true with beauty promos/collections linked with movies. However, this doesn’t mean I would actually buy anything from it. For example, I’ve never bought anything from a MAC LE collection based on promo images/packaging even though I do buy things from their permanent range. But I always like looking at the promo images.

Danielle Avatar

I like looking at visuals, but that doesn’t usually sway me. And on the other side of the spectrum – a lot of the time I don’t actually like the promo images, but that doesn’t stop me from looking at the products.

Nikki Avatar

Not at all! I only see it as a pretty visual. I don’t really make up my mind about products in a collection until I see actual swatches and read reviews.

Karen Avatar

Generally not at all unless something in the campaign is offensive in some way. For example, Coca Cola’s recent fiasco with the bottle cap sayings they claim are a random English word paired with a random French word and one of the caps got by management with a derogatory term for disability. There is no excuse for that even though the product remains the same.

doroffee Avatar

Colors can influence me, I admit. But otherwise, I’m not that influenced by the ads, I know the tricks of media and manipulation – photoshop, false lashes (used for artistic reasons, actually, as told by a cosmetic company… yeah, really, “artistic” reasons… -,-), correction…

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