Rant & Rave: Makeup Reviews
Tell us what you love and hate about...
Makeup Reviews
I love reading reviews where it is clear that the person actually tried the product out–used it, wore it, checked in on it–to see how it performs. I want to hear about why someone liked or didn’t like a product in a meaningful way, not just “hated the color!” The latter drives me batty–I don’t mind a comment within a larger review to the effect of, “I didn’t think it was flattering on me,” though.
As someone who reads lots of press releases every week, I don’t want to hear or see press release verbiage in a review (unless it’s in quotes) passed off as the reviewer’s own words–I immediately lose interest and do not trust anything said in the review.
I also cannot abide by positive-only review policies and find it extremely difficult to rely on that person’s reviews, even when I’ve felt that they’re pretty honest. There’s something about the lack of “negative” reviews that is inherently dishonest to me. (Shouldn’t you be saving me from a potentially bad purchase?!)
— Christine
I like reviews that are honest, that have an understandable “basis” for the judgment/rating a product receives and I like reviews that are well-written and grammatical. I’m the child of immigrants so it’s not like I come from a long line of Oxford dons or anything but if someone is going to communicate via the written word (or the spoken one), I expect reasonable grammar and spelling. Different if someone’s first language isn’t English and we all make typos and errors but when I hear a native speaker of English repeatedly say “I seen these at Sephora”, I just sort of twitch.
I love reviews when they’re thoughtful, detailed and made to be helpful to others. If it’s just “this product sucks” or “it’s amazing” it has zero value for me. I need to know why someone liked/disliked a product, what the pros and cons were, who they think it could work or not work for.
I really have a problem with the “1st impressions” trend that’s especially popular on Youtube. You just can’t tell how good something is by putting it on once. I think that recommending (or trashing) any product after applying it once and wearing it for 5 minutes is dishonest.
I find it particularly unacceptable for mascara: we all know that mascara formulas are their wettest when you first open it and get a little thicker or creamier within a couple weeks. Don’t tell me how the mascara feels on day one, tell me how it performs after a month!
I like reviews that delve into formula and performance, I don’t necessarily just want to know if a product works or doesn’t work but why it works or doesn’t work. Like my favorite Subculture review was one where the reviewer went through the ingredient changes between Modern Renaissance and Subculture, and determined that the Subculture formula was primarily made up of pigments and lacking binders which caused many of the issues people had.
I also favor reviews that think critically about a product in the larger context of the beauty market, a la “Do you really need another palette of warm neutrals?” or “This product is tailor-made for light skintones, but deeper skintones probably won’t get much use out of it.” I automatically distrust anyone who argues that every single new product is a must have.
And this only applies to video reviews, but if someone posts a tutorial I like to see them use older products where appropriate, like if someone’s doing an eye look and they need a certain color that isn’t in the palette being reviewed, I love it when they bust out a well-used palette from last year. It shows me they don’t just buy products to buy them, they buy them to use them.
I want to see swatches and ideally the person wearing the makeup. I just saw a YouTuber the other day on the Spring Chanel collection– and it was, “I love, love, love this…” and “I love, love, love that.” It was so sickly sweet and unconvincing that I just fast forwarded with the sound turned down looking for swatches. I will never watch another video by this person. Also everyone has a different skin tone and color preferences. Therefore people like you, Christine, who can apparently wear and look great in any color are quite rare. It would therefore be nice if reviewers had the awareness to say, “this would look good on these skin tones, and might be less flattering on these,” rather than to say “this color is wearable by everyone,” which is rarely true. Some colors are– but many are not.
Secondly, I personally tune out on someone with a certain skin tone, say warm tanned skin, who consistently wears bronzes and nude pink lips– over and over from every single brand. Hello, we know you like these colors, girlfriend, got anything else to show us? Also, it’s less interesting to me to see someone posing like a pin-up than it is to have someone perform the service of helping us readers to figure out if a product will work for us.
And finally, if a blogger does not have the guts to give a negative review or say what does not work. how in heck do I know that she is not just collecting PR products and I am just another eyeball to help her do it?
I don’t appreciate that. Rants are as important as raves.
The reality is that I am much more strongly influenced to pick up or try a product shown by a trustworthy reviewer.
On another blog I enjoy, where the photography is also excellent and the reviews honest, someone commented that she would like to see that person produce content featuring women with different coloring and skin type than the primary blogger. Amen to that!! When posts are high quality, people will want to read them. And a skilled blog producer could consider diversifying if the economics were right.
A blog is going to be more useful if the skin care needs match the readers– and if the coloring matches the readers. And yet by definition, that won’t always be true. As someone with fair neutral skin in a dry normal condition, I’m lucky to be a close enough match to the definitive go to reviewer named Christine. And I can also rely on certain high quality cool-toned bloggers, but they are rare. I’m not sure if economics would allow diversifying– maybe not. But it would be cool.
I completely agree with your second point! I get so bored watching them use the same colors all the time. I’m constantly challenging myself to use all of my collection so I expect them to do the same.
I refuse to watch the videos where they are making kissy face to the camera. Just no, that’s not what I’m looking to buy.
I think that every reviewer should be allowed to review the products they want to without thinking, “gosh, will this video please that particular viewer?”. They set out to make themselves proud of their content, and when people don’t like a reviewer, there are hundreds more they may be more to your liking. No need to bash someone for having a favourite look. lost of what they buy is for testing purposes only, so I thank them for spending their money so I do not have to. And if the reviewer feels good making a kiss face at the camera, then I’m happy she feels beautiful, not need to criticize a kiss face. They are trying to show a completed look. They do us normal folk a great deal of service, buying products just for testing.
I have never understood why people are so critical of all reviews. (i.e., “hate the kiss face” “hate the first impressions”) If you want to try the product, wouldn’t the logical thing be to buy it so you can try it out yourself instead of being annoyed a reviewer didn’t review it the way you wanted?
I prefer to think it’s logical to research the product prior to purchasing.
What I really enjoy about this column is we can rant and or rave about the chosen topic without being judged. It’s a safe space to voice your opinion on your personal likes and dislikes.
Raising a glass to you, Jennifer!
“…I am just another eyeball…”
New to me and my favorite phrase of the day
I love reviews on products when the reviewer has used the product quite a bit (obviously xD). I love when video reviews include a demo! I don’t really hate first impressions, but I prefer when the first impression is about multiple products and not just one thing. In that way I do like first impression/grwm videos and then the products all are gone over at the end. I know the people I follow try a toooon of products. So in a similar way that I trust Christine’s first impressions, I trust those individuals. But it will never be the decision maker on if I buy a product.
Love decent swatches – the type where they put their finger in the pan to pick up colour and do one or two swipes to lay down product. I don’t find brush swatches useful – or swatches where they’re segmented into neat little boxes that are completely even and look like they’ve used primer and fix to make them look “nice” instead of giving the consumer an idea of how pigmented they actually are…
Also appreciate reviews where it is apparent they actually used and tested the products and can give info on application, texture, pigmentation, lasting powder, etc. I don’t really give a flying monkey’s about the box it comes in – I have no idea why people think that is useful. Suggestions about what type of brush (not necessarily the specific brush brand and code itself) they used can be helpful, same if they prefer using alternative application techniques.
Hate “I LOVE this!” or “This SUCKS!” without saying why is pointless. Also saying something isn’t worth it or that the quality isn’t there without actually specifying WHY isn’t helpful either. You don’t like something, cool, say why – you don’t need to be a &^%$ about it. I remember watching one review where she did swatches that to me, looked absolutely fine and just kept saying “these aren’t good, the quality of these mattes is terrible” and it turned out that she just had a thing against stuff manufactured in China… so why bother even trying it out then?!
Also, if they’re reading marketing copy or the back of the box, I don’t even bother. We can find that out ourselves pretty easily.
I’ve seen people bashing a product just because it’s not cruelty free. I know this is a totally different issue and I respect people’s choices, but if a person chooses to review a product, cruelty free is just one aspect. People like me who don’t rank this as an absolute priority deserves to know the performance of this product as well.
On another note, I know there are a lot of people who don’t like products manufactured in China. As a Chinese person, definitely hurts a little to hear that. Sure, Made in China nowadays is the term for “low quality, mass produced and probably has bad ingredients”, just… hurts a little.
Oh Zee, I’m so sorry – I absolutely in no way intended for that to be slight against China as a country of origin! I should have phrased that better, so I apologise for the hurt caused.
I personally have many lovely, high quality products that happen to be manufactured in P.R.C. and it irritates me when “influencers” just dismiss something because they dislike ONE single aspect of a product. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions (and so it should be) but assuming that just because a product is X doesn’t mean that it’s not good – and if they feel that strongly about it, then they should avoid reviewing or promoting those items, instead of angling for clicks by bashing something they have preconceived judgements about, because that is lazy and damaging.
On the cruelty free thing, a lot of brands can claim this status because the ingredients they commonly use have been around for a long time and have already had hard data established on toxicity, etc – so while they might not have to carry out any animal testing themselves, they could well be relying on historical information that has been gathered under different circumstances.
I am Chinese too. And not born in the USA. Saying it for years on a Temptalia. I don’t buy Made in China. Not personal. Will not go into the reasons.
I am Chinese as well and share a similar mindset. However two things to keep in mind: 1) where a product is made doesn’t have an impact on performance. 2) Beauty products not “made in China” may contain ingredients that ARE sourced from China (like pigments, binders, etc) and the regular consumer won’t really know. So it can be hard to avoid.
What you say may be true. Thank you for your info. Still hold my regards to buying from the brands I purchase from, especially those I have bought even before “made in China” came to the scene. If I could, I would buy all non-cosmetic products “made in the USA”. More reasons than possible to explain on this blog.
I love when there are swatches. Things are not always as they seem from the tube/ pan, etc. I want to see it swatched in real time, not a perfectly rectangle swatch that’s opaque af which does not represent the formula very well for me. When the reviewer describes the product from an unbiased standpoint and notes the pros and cons to give the viewer a better idea of whether it’s worth the purchase or not. I cringe when I hear, “I absolutely loved it”, etc.
I tend to favor those who play more with their makeup and experiment with different and sometimes extreme colors as this shows a more open approach to reviews (in my eyes) and not just trying every taupe eyeshadow from every brand. (As one commenter pointed out)
I don’t like the “products that I hated”
type of videos as to me they’re just very negative. I prefer a pro and con format but I know that sometimes there’s that one product that just didn’t work at all. Which probably then deserved the didn’t work at all category.
Along with the other thread about beauty reviews, and I may be alone on this, but I’m starting to get a little burnt out on the over-the-top artistry in a lot of the influencer sites. Don’t get me wrong – I love all the wild rainbow colors and unicorn looks and love the idea of makeup as art. There are some truly awesome artists out there. But it’s kindof turning me off these days when I feel the looks are not generally achievable. And I’d like to see the product – no matter the color – also presented in an everyday-wear kindof way. (Christine you do an excellent job at this, I think.) I used to be more interested in the glitzy-out-there artsy looks but when my husband saw a particular artist I used to follow and he said “I don’t like it. She looks too perfect and really fake” it did make me see things in a new way and realize that’s not for everyone, and maybe not always for me either. I don’t have 45 minutes every day to make myself look like perfect and there needs to be balance to makeup for different people. This is not to bash the artists who do the unicorn/art looks, and amazingly so. It’s just to say that I feel the product reviews and marketing have started to focus really heavily on that aspect to the detriment of more grounded presentations of products for the wider customer base.
On the same note, I like reviewers to actually use products for at least three times or a week or with different primers (for foundations) to have a comprehensive opinion on the product. I’m not appealed to first impressions for this reason exactly. Also for this reason, I like end if the year favorites and disappointments videos because those are tried and true (or false) products.
I don’t mind when they say explicitly that they are sponsored by brands, but I would use caution when watching products sent by PR in general.
I’m with you on that. I so dislike when someone is reviewing a product based solely on shades and not performance. Those shades might be exactly what someone else is looking for even if you are drowning in those shades within your own collection or if you don’t like those particular shades on yourself.
Also, lighting and backdrop. Both can mess with how swatches look. A neutral background with clean lighting is optimal to really see the true to color swatch. That’s if they do swatches at all.
Which leads me to what I do love. Swatches. And NOT these swatches where they swirl their finger in the pan for what seems like 10 minutes straight and then rub back and forth on their arm for an extra 5 to show you “how pigmented it is”. I want realistic swatches please. Also, actually describing how it applied and how it wore. Not just “Its so creamy, this is a must” and then move on to the next product.
Rave: Makeup reviews, such as the ones you do Christine, are constructive and based on a results platform that is consistent across the board eg your rating system. These are most accurate and your opinions provide us with accurate feedback concerning the product. That is most helpful in determining whether the product is worthy of the money spent to purchase it.
The dupe list you provide is invaluanle in helping us to realise that most shades (if not all) are similar to ones we probably already have and encourage us to use what we have already purchased.
Makeup reviews that contain comparisons to other similar products are also helpful.
Rants: Reviews that are overly positive have me suspicious as I think the review has been sponsered by the brand.
I personally like the disappointing reviews that state why one shouldn’t buy the product. There are too many positive reviews out there that I tried the product and it was a dud.. Narrowed it down to a few reviewer I follow, you being one Christine.
I agree, and I think there is a way to language negativity so it conveys useful information but doesn’t ruin the product for those who do like it, or may have different coloring or skin type. I’m thinking especially of fragrance reviews where reviews from some younger and less experienced users seem oblivious to the subjective nature of scent and the effect that a particularly unpleasant and image painted by their words can have on other’s associations and enjoyment of a fragrance. Make sure the comment is about your personal experience as such, and why you might have had that experience if known, and it’s not necessarily about the product.
YES. I am applauding this comment in my head.
I understand that everyone has a right to their opinion, but I am incredibly sick of reading on Sephora that a particular scent is ‘the worst EVER’ because ‘it makes me smell like my grandma’. I may be the age of their grandmother, but that’s not how I choose to think of myself (!), and it really f… messes with my prior enjoyment of a fragrance.
My rant is the same as a lot of people’s on here. There are some majorly influential reviewers who are, quite literally, positive about every single high-end item they feature (maybe they skip things they don’t like). I also have absolutely no desire to see 25 pictures of you posing at the end of of your review. Yes, I can skip it, but this is about what turns us off, and those have taken bloggers off my trustworthy/worth the time lists.
I search for swatches when Christine hasn’t reviewed something, but otherwise, I’ve narrowed down the field considerably: I read temptalia.com, and I watch videos by pro makeup artists only. I figure I might be self-taught, but I’ve put a lot of time into learning my hobby, and I only want to spend time learning from people who are proven to know more.
I also don’t trust reviewers that never have any negative reviews. It seems like they’re just trying to make sure they keep getting free PR or don’t want to create any waves with brands who might potentially give them free stuff. I’m really tired of the IG trend of swatches inside cutesy little stencils!!!
Things I love: Focuses on longevity, performance and ease of use. I also love reviews that note if the product comes in a range of colors or not. A mini-tutorial on how to use the product is always a plus.
Things I hate: YOU CAN NOT SWATCH A PRODUCT AND TELL ME IT’S AMAZING. I need to know how long products, i.e. foundation, lipsticks will wear and you CANNOT get that from a first impressions video. Also lipstick swatches on hands and not on lips. HATE.
SO TRUE that a swatch cannot determine if a product is good. I hate when they swatch and go,” ooooh soo creamy and pigmented” well yea you ran your finger across it and put it on your arm. Show me how it performs with a brush and on your eye lid with and without a primer.
Reviewers who take 5x as long as needed to make their point, are completely subjective/without meaningful detail make me feel like I’m back in my son’s kindergarten class for show and tell. Self-indulgent, unprofessional performance, presumably because they can get some free products….?. Provide a real service or play with your makeup on your own time. (who is that mean woman talking?) If you’re not clear about what it means to provide a real service, check out Christine and Lisa Eldridge.
The one that really makes me cringe is the reviewer who hasn’t even received the product yet and gives a review based on the picture or maybe past experience. How does that help anyone? I wish I did more reviews as I think I generally do a pretty good job with the written description. I’m trying to do the Influenster thing since I’m seeing tons of reviews on Sephora that people got some really expensive products in their Vox box. Jealous! I don’t do pics or swatches. I don’t do pics mainly because I don’t photograph well due to my age except with those Snapchat filters. That doesn’t help anyone else because while they are better than Botox at removing wrinkles, they don’t give a true impression of color. I’ve taken selfies of a few looks I did to share on Temptalia but changed my mind because they just weren’t flattering. I’ll keep swatching in mind for future reviews. For me to review skincare, I feel like I would need to use it for a month to give an indication of whether it works or not. I’ve been making myself use products every day for a month just for this purpose. I’m really curious as to how The Ordinary works. For the price point, even if it doesn’t work, I’m not out much dinero. I described it to my daughter as generic skincare!
Honest, detailed, the how, when, where and why. That is how I leave a review, so the person that reads it can make up their mind if they want to spend their money on the item or not, with eyes wide open.
Everything you said, Christine (you would know!). Plus, I’m annoyed by reviewers who reiterate redundant information and can’t edit themselves, especially in videos. Giving a summary at the end or beginning of a review is one thing, but almost immediately repeating a point (that could’ve been excluded from a final review) is unnecessary.
I love swatches first of all I find three different shades of skin wonderful as Colourpop does so I can get a better idea whether the product will look ok. on my skin. I hate long videos where they go off and talk too much of their daily lives and such, I prefer they do that in a different blog which I won’t bother to watch anyways if rarely. Unless I really like their style and personality I will not follow them no time for it. I do like honest rants about some products yes not all is great stuff from drugstores to high end products. I do prefer someone who speaks well and is educated than someone just rambling on and not making any sense or being too Mickey Mouse with facial expressions and silly sounds or noise. I like to see honesty through and through their explanations.
In all honesty, I don’t mind the “I don’t like the color.” quip as much because I’d like to know I the reviewer was biased in some way and that’s an indication of a bias.
What I really really hate is how difficult it is to to discern whether a review is truly genuine or not when of isn’t immediately clear if the person has a Gerard cosmetics type contract with a company where it is stipulated that they must exchange products that were subpar with ones they like better which is shady as fuck or their symbiotic relationship with the industry/rose tinted glasses/reluctance to be critical prevents them from being truly honest.
I’ve encountered more people who are casual reviewers with a clear bias towards mid/high end products that clouds their judgment than I have people who would sell their grandmother for PR, though which has led to my disillusionment with the makeup world. People who see makeup as empowerment or as just self expression, that our desires are intrinsic, that makeup usage occurs in some kind of vaccum and is not at all related to women being subordinate under the patriarchy are my #1 pet peeve though.
I prefer reviews that have a consistent, set criteria and aren’t based on emotion but like many said , performance. But if I’m being honest I don’t trust most reviews and don’t watch or read reviews. I may to see a swatch or read about dupes but in general I buy bc I have interest and I looked at it/tested it in store. Too many don’t do thorough reviews are biased, unreliable and meaningless. I’ve given up on them. Too much of first impressions and ooh you must have this blah blah. I saw a review where she tried to look like she was giving a product a chance bit she literally went from one primer to the exact same type of primer and from one brush to the same type of brush expecting different results. How is that honest or meaningful? And I find a lot of reviews are too ignorant about ingredients and what should be in products to make them work and what different skin types need etc. Ive seen reviewers with oily skin criticize a product that is not meant for their skin type and then complain it made them oily. Um duh what did you expect. In general, no offense to anyone, too much attention is paid to influencers and their reviews. I rather think for myself. A review is nice for reference but it shouldn’t be the end all be all. All they promote, it seems, is massive gluttony and over consumerism. It’s too insane. And sorry but not every influencer needs to be a reviewer. You aren’t doing me any service or favors esp if you’re not honest, biased and you don’t know what you’re talking about!
I like checking reviews of unknown people. While I enjoy reviews from the known “Beauty Gurus” I watch those videos to pass time. I have a strategy when I read reviews, I always look at the negative reviews first. I do this to see if there is a pattern in the negative review like “I broke out from this” or “it’s too drying for my already dry skin” etc. That shows me a consistent pattern that I may not like or shows me a pattern in something others find negative that I find positive for my skin.
When I see too many positive reviews against hundreds of reviews I worry that negative reviews are being erased.
I like detailed reviews also not the “ugh this is so ugly” type I want in depth thought on a product.
Love: detailed evaluation of products, a variety of high to low end products, a range of product for different skin colors and undertones, and comparisons between similar items. These create real consumer-focused reviews.
Hate: all positive content, collaborations with companies, and too much of one brand. These seem centered more on enhancing the bloggers personal brand, than being useful to others.
Dislike, But Not a Deal-breaker: bad photography or writing weaknesses.
I like the reviewing to be done much like you, Christine. I like how you try to be absolutely honest, as well as mentioning ones complexion, and how some colors may not show up. I love the swatches you do. I like how honest you are about formulas, and whether or not you purchased something or got PR. I like how you are not beholden to anyone. I love how you let us know about how products wear, especially liquid lipsticks. I guess I just wish more influencers were more like you. You are so very honest, and I often wait to buy something based on your reviews. I have read many a good review of a product I know is bad, and I just can’t trust those sort of reviews or the people who write them. When you don’t like a product, you don’t make excuses for it. I wish I had read your review before a few of my purchases. At least now, I am no longer afraid to return something. I returned my first makeup product last year in November.
I’ve come to rely on your reviews so much. After following your blog for years, I know with 100% certainty that if you rate something highly, I won’t be disappointed in the product; if you rate it low, I will hate it. And this is why! You review your products so thoroughly and use meaningful language, not just pleasing jargon.
There is one blogger – whom I won’t name – who goes farther than merely giving only positive reviews: she gushes and raves over the products as if they were the greatest and best ever. She has great photography, lots of swatches and wears the products to show what they look like on the face, but come on, every single product is fabulous, fantastic, a must-buy? She only reviews high-end products (Chanel, Dior, Guerlain) and I’ve concluded that her main purpose for having a beauty blog must be to get lots of expensive stuff free.
My rant about makeup reviews are when they state a product no good simply because it doesn’t work for their skin tone/complexion. I have watched YouTube review by fair skinned Caucasians who automatically give a product a bad review cause it doesn’t look good or complement their color and completely ignore the fact that the product would work well on darker skinned individuals. It bothers me particularly when the product is eyeshadow. I’ve seen that done a lot by Youtubers and I don’t trust those reviews and will not watch or read anything else from that person! I also agree with the previous comments about saying you like or dislike a product without elaborating on why you feel that way. If I feel your not being completely honest and the reviewer has nothing but good things to say about every product that’s they review, I feel like they are probably sponsored videos and that person is really not trustworthy either!!!