Archived Post

Temptalia Asks You - Do you research before you buy a beauty product?

Do you research before you buy a beauty product? What kind of information do you try to find first?

.

Yes and no. I don’t research in the sense that I’m playing scientist and trying to understand all of the ingredients and the like, but I do look into what I’m interested in and see what others are saying. I also look at claims vs. realm of reality.

.

45 Comments

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!

Comments on this post are closed.
Madalina Avatar

Sometimes I do, but most of the time I count on my instinct. It’s true that there were cases when I was wrong, but when the beauty advisors helped me they were always write – when I bought from shops. Anyway, when I reserch, first I look for the reviews.

DonnaN Avatar

Happy Saturday Christine!

I will research for specific stuff–I especially did this with my skincare and mascara, because of sensitivity issues….but for stuff like eyeshadow and liner, not so much. For the mascara, I looked at reviews about wearability, flaking and smudging. The skincare is still a work in progress….thankful that most retailers have a 100% beauty guarantee.

Missy Avatar

Yeah I always research a product, especially if its expensive. I trust some of the girls on youtube and I trust your site. Btw your site is love lol=)

Liz Avatar

It depends on the cost and my mood. If it’s a $2 lipstick, I’m going to buy it, but if it’s a $75 face cream, I’d rather read a few reviews first. My beauty spending has become more focused lately, in an attempt to end up with fewer expensive bombs. 🙂

keerthamina Avatar

I always check MUA reviews for everything (especially skin care!), and if its something like lipgloss or colored eyeliner, Ill also search blogs to see if I can find a swatch/look using it from someone with my skin tone. Too many things that look vividly pigmented on girls with lighter skin just disappear or look brown on me. :/

Cherokee Avatar

Happy Saturday to all you beauties. And yes, like everyone else I research by reading reviews from different sources. Your website and Youtube are my number 1 sources because I know you guys will give an honest opinion. I usually try to sample the product first and then give it a try. Because I am a product junkie sometimes I just have to have something and just go on impluse. Recently it has paid off but, I try not to make impulse purchases that are expensive. I started using a sample of Absolue by Lancome which I had for a while. I really like it but it is expensive. I’ve been researching the cheapest place to buy it and then I will research a dupe. Macy’s is the cheapest.

Keep up with the great reviews. Because of you I am ordering China Glaze glitter nail polish in Meteor. My favorite color is blue. Thanks girlie. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this site.

Miss_M Avatar

To a certain point. I do read reviews on different blogs and MUA to see what other people say about a product, but if I’m really interested in a product I will try it anyway.

Emily Avatar

I do research too! I like to look through my favourite beauty blogs, MUA and the sephora reviews before I buy something!!! Additionally, I am NOT afraid to try something and return it – I probably return half of the new things I try because I’m not happy with it!

Andrea Avatar

I definitely research skincare like crazy before I buy!! I take a look at ingredients and what others are saying. I will usually check here and MUA. Regular makeup not as much.

Heather Avatar

Yes, I have to research to see if it’s a good product before I spend money on it. Also, if the ingredients suck I’m less likely to buy the product.

CRiSTaL Avatar

I do rely on people’s reviews before I buy a product, mainly on the ones that are a little on the expensive side, defenitley dont want to waste my money =P

happybadfish Avatar

Yes I do.
I check every product in “Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me” and then if it a product I feel is good then I check online for user reviews of it. This way I feel like I have it triple checked it. The ingredients, value and performance all checked before I spend my money.

Jenny Avatar

I read reviews on MUA and Sephora and google-search blog reviews too. But I hear about all of it here and if I like it enough from your pics and review then I usually just go buy it.

amy Avatar

Not really. I only look up skin care because I would like to know the ingredients, especially if they have special claims such as brightening and skin tone correcting and etc. Otherwise for colour cosmetics, I don’t really research, because it is very subjective and I rather form my own opinion of it. I live in a city where most major brands are very accessible, so I am able to test things myself at counters and stores. For colour cosmetics I would look at previews and swatches of colour; however, I would go to the counter myself to test it out.

Catherine Avatar

Oh yes. I rarely buy anything without having looked up reviews and ingredients. I’m allergic to a lot of things and I feel like my face chemistry is much more picky than others (I have really oily lids, for example) so I don’t want to waste my time on things that definitely will break me out or that statistically has practically no chance of working on me.

Lorna Avatar

yes. i hate buying blindly. i like to know what to expect from a product before buying. reviews and especially swatches have been really helpful to me.

Ashley Avatar

Yep. I rely on makeupalley and my good ol’ pal Google to look up reviews. If the reviews are average or lower, I skip it. Average or higher, I consider it. I also look up ingredients for face products, since my face breaks out easily and I have to ensure I’m not purchasing/trying something that has ingredients I’m sensitive/allergic to. With other things like hair care products, lip products, polishes, etc I’m not as strict with reading their reviews, because those areas aren’t as testy as my face haha. Unless it’s really expensive that is, then I’m review bound.

Valerie Avatar

not really a usualy look up the items on makeup alley AFTER I purchase them!!! But really as makup goes I like to see for myself I do not buy over the internet. All purchase is made with swatch on my arm. It might take a couple of trip to the beauty counter but I least I know it will look good on my complexion.
As for cream and facial product I have a friend with the same acnee-prone skin and have tried more product then me so SHE is my reference 😛

Rosie Avatar

I look up reviews on youtube, makeupalley, sephora and blogs. Although sometimes I just buy because I see it, swatch it and have to have it. Also sometimes I buy things recommended (not often) right off the bad if the person seems to really understand what I’m looking for (like the Korres yogurt kit last night).

Rosie Avatar

You know what peeves me about reviews on sites, when people give a bad rating and review simply because the color didn’t work on their skin tone and they had to return it or kept it but didn’t use it because of that. It’s a little annoying to me since not every color is going to work for everyone. Like Honolulu Honey looked awesome on me in store but the person who recommended it did say on her it would look bad cause of her skin tone and before I tried it on she mentioned it looked better on medium to darker skins as a nude lip. And low and behold it was magic on me and didn’t make me look like a corpse.

Liz Avatar

I always do a research before I purchase almost anyhing, not just makeup. If I go to a makeup counter and something catch my eyes, I don’t buy it right away, I came home and read a review about it and then decide if I should get it or not.

Sass Avatar

Yes. Most of the time I know what I’m going to buy or what I want to buy when I go beauty shopping. I never buy something “new” to me without first see what everyone else thinks first. I usually go with what I think about the product after trying it out at the store first and then I come up with a decision. But no, I just don’t buy w/o reviewing first. I don’t have time to waste like that.

dolce aria Avatar

I do a fair amount of research. I’ll see products on here, or look up makeup alley reviews, but i always take them with a grain of salt. A lot of the color tones that look awesome on you would make me look like a corpse with orange accents. So when I look for reviews, I look for more immediate notes, like if the product caused an allergic reaction, or breakouts, or wouldn’t adhere to the lid, or tasted AWFUL. If i buy a color i can’t use like i thought, I can usually find other uses for it. Either i give it to a friend, if its REALLY unusable, or use it for something else. NARS orgasm can be too orangey on me as a blush, but used lightly, i can use it to contour my cheeks, with a more natural blush on the appples. My favorite “blush” is a crappily textured pink eyeshadow my aunt gave me.

Jennifer Avatar

“I also look at claims vs. realm of reality.”

This, right here. Too-good-to-be-true descriptions and hype deserve skepticism, which is healthy. That’s when I turn to what consumers (like you) are saying…it doesn’t matter how many different ways it’s printed on the box or whether there’s an “official study.” The consumer paints the more accurate picture.

Emm Avatar

I research to make sure it wasn’t tested on animals. And I always look at reviews. Makeupalley and Sephora’s are decent and obviously youtube guru’s (go pinkiecharm!)

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!