In beauty, not much as I tend to purchase based on newness more than anything else, so there may not be reviews or I am going to review so I avoid being exposed to other reviews (to go in “fresh”).
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I look at the negative reviews bc I think that’s where more of the truth lies. Positive reviews tend to just gush and say it is amazing. Well that tells me little. However if 5 people are complaining about patchiness or breaking out etc that gives me pause and I will think more about not buying whatever product!
Not much. I mostly rely on this website, as the reviews are very detailed and fair, and the photos are well-lit and consistent. I often go to YouTube to watch the product in action, too.
Moderately important. I will look at the negative reviews to see what is wrong with a product. Sometimes you get an honest review instead of a “I hate this because it broke in shipping” complaint. If the review is overwhelmingly negative it makes me not buy an item.
I don’t tend to go to retailer websites to buy as it is easier (and less shipping if I pick up multiple items) to go to Ulta, Sephora, or Nordstroms. For a few of the indie brands I have read reviews. CP’s don’t work on my computer so I just go into those pretty blind, but the Coloured Raine reviews convinced me to pick up one of the brushes as well as my palette.
I definitely read reviews before buying products; especially if they are expensive. That being said, not everyone’s experience with a specific product will be the same, so if I’m looking at something on Sephora, I try to take the really negative ones with a grain of salt. On the other hand, not everything with rave reviews works as well for me. I prefer reading reviews here on Temptalia when possible. A couple of times I have purchased products despite lukewarm reviews, and ended up kicking myself!
Not
After using both this website and beautypedia, not at all. Especially with the recent Sunday Riley scandal. Sometimes even on different views of a product on Sephora, such as the home page where it is being advertised vs the actual product page, the star ratings differ! Usually when a new product comes out the star rating on the home page starts at around 3 and then magically the next day it’s a 5. I don’t trust reviews just one bit. Beautypedia also points out which skin products are not likely to be good because of simple criteria such as whether they are in a jar or a pump bottle. That is already enough to know how hygienic and long lasting a product will be. Most customers probably aren’t even aware of this, and judge based off the short term effects/ hype. Also, (psychology 101) , people tend to justify spending larger amounts of money to themselves and to rationalize that expensive products are worth their costs.
I also love Beautypedia as a resource, I just wish there were more people from the community adding reviews as well. Same for Temptalia. I try personally to do my best to leave reviews on products I use, even if they are older ones. I don’t know if anybody reads my review, but I least I put it there.
I like that Beautypedia doesn’t just give a review but also the pros and cons as well as they give an ingredient list
I read through the comments, but I always take them with a grain of salt. If I’m to rely on a consumer review, I look into longer, more detailed ones, which explain how they used the product, how they like it, what they didn’t liked. I just don’t look at overall score or many positive (or negative) feedback that comes in short phrases.
I tend to prefer reviews on retailers sites. There are too many brand websites with just stellar reviews… sometimes brands curate too much the comments on their website. It’s not like Ulta and Sephora review system is perfect; but it’s a little more permissive to critiques.
Hard to say — I usually read them, but how much I let them influence me depends on what I read. If the product has less than 100 reviews, I tend to assume the reviews have been “seeded” by the creator, vendor, or if the company is small enough … family, friends and employees. If there are quite a lot of reviews, but the negative reviews don’t seem to have anything to do with the product itself (“arrived broken!”), or are just generally ridiculous, I tend to look on the product favorably (I once read the review comments for a fairly dark, intense blush, and a bunch of reviewers responded negatively along the lines of “this is too dark for a blush — who could wear it?”; I also read comments for a product that had too few reviews to be reliable, but there were only two negative reviews, and one claimed the color “wouldn’t look good on anybody”).
I still look at them, but I don’t trust them as much as I used to. Companies hire people to write good consumer reviews, influencers get perks and products, etc. Negative reviews can be more useful, if everyone is saying the same things.
ONLY as it pertains to specific tackling of issues related skincare/foundation concerns or finding a formula of eyeliner/mascara/eyeshadow primer for my hooded, oily, allergy tearing eyes. And even then, especially with skincare, I’m not so trusting anymore. Not after that whole Sunday Riley scandal! I quit using her UFO oil after that. So, yeah, you could say that my trust in the brand died afterwards.
I do read reviews on retailer sites, and it influences me. I look for the things that matter to me, and if I can, select for reviews from my age cohort.
No, I don’t rely on them at all because generally they are always positive, even though genuine reviewers like yourself have rated the product poorly.
I do read reviews, particularly on retail sites (I trust them more than brand sites). First I read the negatives to see if several people are reporting a problem with the product (such as a faulty pump in a skincare item), or if there’s a common complaint. But I take all reviews with a grain of salt as I find most of them to be so over the top with praise or generally unhelpful. I appreciate when someone leaves an honest, thorough review, listing both pros and cons, the shade purchased, their age, skin type/tone, etc.
I look for “useful” reviews, negative or positive, in how the product performs and then I will make my decision.
I don’t, really-I’ll skim those reviews, or I’ll check YouTube or this site, but I tend to have a pretty strong idea of whether or not I’ll want a product from the first time I see pics and/or video of it.
I use makeupalley constantly. I only read retailer reviews if there are no reviews on makeupalley or I can get someone on the makeupalley board’s opinion. On retailer websites, I’ll read a few positive reviews looking for more detailed descriptions of the products and then I’ll read the negatives because I find they are usually more descriptive. I have reviews that are “I love it! So amazing”. I use temptalia a lot. Also there are youtubers that I seem to have similar views on things for. Like I seem to have the same taste in eyeshadow as Mel Thompson.
Rarely. I generally buy what I think I’m going to like and then read reviews afterwards, as well as post them. I like to try for myself and then see if others agree or disagree with me.