I was just perusing Instagram and saw someone calling themselves a skincare blogger…they review a bunch of makeup and skincare products on their profile.

And I had a thought.

Be careful when reading reviews or watching review videos.

Most people don’t even understand how skin works, and can’t possibly understand skincare…yet they make recommendations.

Consider this, how much do you really know about the reviewer?

I do not pay attention to reviews if I don’t see current photos of the reviewer anywhere. I need to see the reviewers FACE.

For all I know, the reviewer is covered in acne and is telling me to buy a product that is super irritating.

I always want to know how the reviewer’s skin looks TODAY because it’s too easy to write reviews and make recommendations without showing your face.

For this reason I often post photos of my skin on social media without makeup, and/or with minimal makeup.

I want people to know that I know what I’m doing when it comes to skin, and that my skin is actually clear as a result.

Another thing to consider is skin type.

Does the person have normal or acne-prone skin?

I purposefully avoid reviews from people with good skin — that is people who have always had good skin.

Why?

Because good skin is not picky skin. You can apply anything on good skin, like plain butter, and it won’t react.

Acne-prone skin, on the other hand, is a skin care connoisseur.

Acne-prone skin knows when a product sucks, and will not just want to use anything – no matter how popular and no matter how big the cult following.

I only promote products that are great for acne-prone skin, which means they’re great for all skin — AND I’m not sponsored by these companies no matter how hard I wish that I was (Bioderma, Paula’s Choice, and The Ordinary, I’m looking at you).

I look for reviewers who have acne-prone skin to see if their review is kind of accurate.

But reviews are also a business.

Another thing to keep in mind about bloggers that write reviews is that, for the most part, it’s a business.

That means, companies send people products for free or even PAY for reviews.

Most people can’t help but write positive things about products because they want to maintain a good relationship with the brand to continue receiving products to review.

It’s a symbiotic relationship — you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

You get material for content, we get your whole audience to know about this product and even buy it.

But a lot of bloggers don’t even do the due diligence of using a product for at least a month before recommending it.

They try it once or twice and then tell you that it smells amazing and has a great texture. You don’t know what will happen to your skin if you use the product longterm…and yet it’s the only way to know.

TO RECAP

• Look for current photos of reviewers, and before and after photos of their transformation.
• Check if the blog posts or videos are sponsored.
• See how long they tried the product.

Final Thoughts

I know that when you have acne you’re tempted to try a ton of stuff because of the rave reviews, but look at the ingredients first, and then decide if the reviews are even worth reading.

I know lots of instances when people rave about a product that later messes up their skin — because they don’t give the product a chance to work before doing a review about it…A follow-up review usually never comes.

I did this with Argan Oil back in the day. I used it for about a week, and couldn’t foresee the damage that was coming…

I posted a positive video review of Argan Oil, later to see that it was giving me juicy whiteheads. I never filmed a follow-up video, not because I didn’t want to, but because I moved on to other things (videos are labour-intensive!).

Now when I review products, it’s at a stage where I’ve literally used the product up and am ready to repurchase a new one.

Don’t believe everything you read on the interwebs, alright?

Love,
Olena