Ranty Post: The Love-Its

Late night ranty posts are almost always a bad idea, but talking with a couple of bloggers about how please-all posts are starting to be the very things that beauty blogging was supposed to replace has got me thinking.

Beauty blogging has largely replaced traditional media as the go-to last word on beauty. It’s the place where you’ll get to see the products, see how they swatch up and hear about how they look and feel to wear – there isn’t room in print for the level of detail on individual products that blogs provide. I read a lot of blogs – I tend to surf rather than stick to individual favourites so that I get a different overview every time I look.

I have noticed though, that there’s an upturn in ‘love it’ posts – you know, the ones where there is never anything wrong with any product and everything is wonderful. I can’t help thinking that they’re not really any help at all to the general consumer looking to part with hard-earned money. It may well be that some people are easier to please! I don’t doubt the reviews for one second, but I do wonder what happened to the products they didn’t like and why they’re not prepared to say they didn’t like them.

It’s very tough to send out a negative review – but it’s real life – you cannot love everything! If I put out a review that’s not positive, it’s highly likely that the brand or the PR will be in touch to say their product has been misunderstood or even be asked to remove the post (which I don’t). I never, ever, post in anger or spite – if I don’t like a product, I feel I have a responsibility to say and have good reasons for it. I’m often having to remind PRs and brands that I don’t work for the brands, I work for the consumer. I often get asked to hold back a post so that I can ‘drive sales’ at a date convenient to the brand (wtf!), I very often get told there aren’t samples available because the entire allocation is going to print (safe option). And it’s not that unusual to find myself being played off against other blogs. And the trouble with that is once you realise you’re being manipulated, the trust is entirely gone. I’ve fallen for the ‘scoop’ so many times, only to then discover that the scoop has actually been split several times to spread the brand across a number of blogs. A clever PR strategy, but only in the short term. I actively have to stop myself being caught up in enthusiasm and scoops that are designed to be drip-fed out for maximum blog joy and positivity. If I haven’t tried a product, I’m happy to flag up it’s out there, and the review can come later. Or sometimes not at all. There are several brands that won’t send out at all because my timings don’t suit them or they won’t risk a review that isn’t 100% positive.

So, what if bloggers stop saying what we really think? The bottom line is that blogs just become girls with some make-up. And that’s not terribly interesting really. It’s really easy to get into the mind-set of actively promoting brands without thinking; it’s an absolute risk that if you post negatively then you may well never hear from the brand again. On the other hand, you’ll have provided a far more useful post for other women to read and helped consumers make a real choice – which is kind of why they come to blogs in the first place.

Then there’s the ‘nothing nice to say, say nothing’ attitude. Well, that’s what we had way-back when, and it didn’t suit us at all. There wasn’t anywhere that women (and men) could talk openly about products and hear the views of people who have actually tried the products. If blogs want to be a trusted voice, then turning a blind eye is the last thing that can happen. Obviously, a good range of opinions is what makes the beauty world go round – my opinion is just that – it’s not the last word on anything but it’s always good to have a range of views and not just a plethora of ‘love-it’ posts.

‘Love-its’ are always going to be the easy PR option, but they’re not the best option for the people who read blogs – you know, the people who actually go out and buy the products. And as we all know, a negative can boost a positive, so it’s a short-sighted strategy at best and I’d hate the blogging tide to turn into something that doesn’t reflect what really goes on in beauty world.

Let me know what you think. Too many love-its? Or is it better to adopt the nothing nice to say, say nothing attitude?

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Jane Cunningham

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59 responses to “Ranty Post: The Love-Its”

  1. Sarah

    Interesting post. Since ‘starting again’ with my new blog I’ve had little or no PR contact and have stopped calling in samples altogether (although I do still read my press releases with interest). I thought I’d miss the events circuit etc. but I’m enjoying having that distance from the PR world and feeling able to say exactly what I think, write about only what I want to write about, and generally get back to being a consumer first, blogger second. It’s very difficult to maintain impartiality when you’re working with PRs, and I’m noticing that difficulty by its absence these days.

    Reply
  2. Kristi

    Jane – Thank you once again from not shying away from a post about what happens in the beauty industry. You’ve nailed it on the head – as a consumer I read blog posts to get information beyond what companies post online. Good points, not so good points, bad points, accurate color swatches, how a product compares/contrasts to other similar products. When it comes to product reviews I am not in the ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything’ camp. I do think it is possible to write a blog post that explains what a reviewer doesn’t like about the product or how it didn’t live up to the claims the company makes without it just being a product bashing post. My funds are finite when it comes to beauty purchases. I appreciate and rely on blog posts that are more than just “This is SOOOOO fabulous”. I can get that from the companies website or copy on the packaging.

    If a blogger is writing rave reviews about everything they review, I won’t continue to read. Over time, the blogs I read consistently are ones that I have come to trust. Whether a product was sent for review or purchased by the blogger out of personal funds, I expect to find the same information included in a product review. Your blog is one that I continue to read because I know that you will give your honest opinion every time. Thank you for that!

    Reply
  3. Karen (lovelygirliebits)

    I definitely think with the increase in the number of blogs has come an increase in the number of love-its. Beauty blogs used to be something I read instead of magazines as I felt that they were more honest being written by “real women”. While I do have my tried and true favourites that I trust implicitly when it comes to reviews (yours being one of them), it takes a while for me to fully trust a newer blog because I’ve gone all cynical in my old age!

    Recently, nearly everyone in Ireland (it felt that way!) was sent a product to test out and I read well over 10 glowing reviews of it. I wondered if I’d been given a faulty one because I’d the complete opposite experience with it. And for the first time in ages, I doubted myself and wasn’t going to post the review. Then after about 10 seconds, I copped on and reviewed it, only to have people leaving comments saying they’d had the same experience as me. I’m not saying those who gave it a positive review were wrong or their reviews were any less important than mine, but it just reminded me that I’m here blogging away every day to tell people the truth. It’s what I expect when I read other blogs.

    Great post as always Jane.

    Reply
  4. mysteries1984

    I came to this manipulation realisation a few days ago in relation to a well-known UK blogger. She deleted my comments and others asking if the post in question was a sponsored one, when in my opinion (and seemingly others, judging by the comments) it clearly was. Then she blocked me. She’s had other posts full of affiliate links from only one brand and says they aren’t sponsored either, despite her disclaimer stating ‘These posts will only be published if I feel the content is relevant to this website and will always be clearly marked as sponsored content.’

    Readers aren’t stupid. When bloggers post glowing reviews about everything and rarely/never post a negative thought on a product, it eventually becomes very apparent what the blogger is all about. I think it’s deceptive and misleading, and it’s a shame that some bloggers sell out in such a manner.

    Reply
  5. Charlie

    Way way way too many love its. It’s very rare for me to just not like a product at all… and it does depend on a few things whether I blog about it or not… I am not afraid to blog about the things I don’t like, or even if overall I like something but don’t like something about it, be it the smell, texture or something else… who can forget the mask that burned my face off, damn right I’m going to blog about it! And I did, and sure enough the brand have never been in touch again. Whatevs. What I don’t often blog about are the things that I’m indifferent too, if I’m neither wowed or turned off, then it’s hard to be inspired enough to write about it. Now that happens far more than not liking something at all.

    But yeah, the love it’s, yawn. It’s no coincidence that they are some of the most popular and I think it’s because people like the sunny disposition of the love its, so as I saw someone else say, they are drawn to the blogger, not the reviews. In a way it’s a compliment. To be liked for your personality is indeed a great thing, to have thousands of followers based on your personality is a wonderful thing, but I’m not sure that’s a great foundation for a reviews site.

    Reply
  6. Colin

    Reviewing anything, product, book, play, is a waste of time if it isn’t honest. I can see the temptation to have a generally positive attitude if you are hoping to bag a few free samples but if it makes your blog unreadable it is a short sighted strategy.

    Reply
  7. Vivien @ The London Oil Co

    As a brand, I very much prefer to read an honest review of my products. I don’t say it doesn’t hurt a little to read something unpleasant or negative being written about my “babies”, but I take it for what it is: a feedback from a user, a customer, that needs listening to, and if there is anything I can to improve my products, I will.
    We have worked with bloggers who “absolutely adored everything we ever sent them”, and frankly, all that means to me is that they want more free products…

    As a consumer, I also agree with you Jane, I read blogs, because I want to know how a product performs before I spend my money on it (mostly make-up in my case, I can’t be caught buying non-London Oil Co skincare 😉 ). Otherwise, what’s the point? One might as well read the brand’s own description of their product.

    Reply
  8. Anya

    I really dislike love-it reviews; as a consumer I read blogs to get an honest, realistic review or opinion of a product, as magazines will recommend anything they are paid to do so… However it feels like many bloggers feel scared to write negative or honest reviews as brands might feel less inclined to approach them in the future. I can totally understand this, but to me it defeats the purpose of a blog. They simply become more cheap advertising for these brands. It bothers me when a blogger will mention (on twitter etc) an outbreak or reaction caused by a product, but not be honest about what it was. Was it something they had recommended the week before? Or paid to give a good review?

    Reply
    1. Linda

      Surely it’s better for the brands to get a real review so they can improve & develop products. Theres nothing more valuable in most industries that true and constructive feedback. its the only way to grow. And it also helps them reach their correct target market if people know what skin/hair/body type or issue a product which in turn would get get them less negative reviews . Perhaps if some brands didnt try to be, or pretend to market some products to be all things to everyone and for every issue we would trust their branding and marketing more.unfortunately this isn’t always the case and therefore the consumer needs to be able to trust well reputed bloggers such as yourself to tell us how the products perform in real life and on real people and who it will or won’t work for . They can’t expect the best of both worlds. You have to take the negative with the positive.

      Reply
  9. Sarah

    As a consumer, I prefer to read all the reviews in one place.
    I can see it from brand’s point of view; you don’t like the smell, texture, colour, etc, and your review of their product is read by thousands of people. Yet it’s only one opinion.
    When lots of different people review a product in one place, you get a much more balanced view of the product. So, unless you are following 10, 15 different blogs, logging in and out of each, it’s difficult to get an objective overall assessment of the product. I prefer a reviews site.
    Make up is easier to review. The packaging, the colour, the feel of it on the skin etc. It’s more immediate and only needs to last a day.
    But with skin care, it seems a little unfair. After all, it can take a good month for products to take effect and if you as a blogger receive tens of hundreds of products how are you really going to assess them properly?
    I do love reading bloggers’ reviews, but I don’t depend on them for my final assessment of a product. All reviews, good or bad, I take with a pinch of salt, because they are just an opinion.

    Reply
    1. Philippe

      If you truly want to review skincare it’ll take a long long time, more time than most bloggers want to spend as flashing makeup collections roll in.

      Reply
  10. Chrissy

    I really couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve said in this post. Blogs have become so much like traditional magazines these days and that’s not always a bad thing, ie if it comes to sleek design, good photography and easy to read snippets of information. But it’s also come with this attitude of only saying positive things about everything and in that case there’s no point in reviewing a product in the first place. It’s not easy to say bad things about a product that you’ve been sent for free, but that’s what makes a blogger a blogger. Whenever I review something and there’s one or several things I don’t like about it, I make sure I say WHY I don’t like it. What makes it a deal breaker to me might not be a problem for somebody else looking to buy it! But not mentioning any downsides makes beauty posts one-dimensional and, quite frankly, dull.

    Reply
  11. Nicola

    This is an interesting post, I see it from two angles, love its for the sake of keeping PR/brands happy is not very helpful to the reader but on the flip side I personally don’t write bad reviews because if i dont think its worth it in my eyes I don’t want to waste my time writing it but also I don’t want my blog to adopt a negative vibe which is a personal & very important choice for me. I mainly write for myself to express who I am but I do see where your post comes from I just hope everyone who doesn’t write a bad review is not put in the same category.

    Reply
  12. Sascha

    I agree with Charlie: it’s the ‘meh’ products that I struggle to post about as I always try to ensure my posts are fairly in-depth which I just can’t manage for a product I’m not fussed about either way.

    Whether I love or hate a product, there are likely to be very personal reasons as to why I feel strongly about it (for example, I have very tricky skin so a cream that everyone loves might cause me problems) so I think as long as people explain their reasons then that review is helpful regardless of whether it’s positive or not xx

    Reply
  13. Tracey Snell

    I started beauty blogging just 5 weeks ago and I have been shocked by the number of ‘push positive’ blogs out there. Blogging by its very nature should represent the independent voice. There are no set up costs associated with it, no favours needed from the industry – a truly honest voice should always reign supreme. There is also such scope to get to the heart of a product and to review it properly – your only limit on word count is reader attention span. So many reviews I read are a short vacuous rehash of a press release or brand website copy with no concept of a proprietary ingredient that needs explaining or an opinion that needs justifying. Yes most times you will probably want to talk about products you love, and why you do so. That’s fine if justified. No one wants to read a blog that slags off all the time. But there’s a need for balance and so just as important are the write-ups on products you tried and didn’t gel with and why that was. If you explain your reasons for liking or disliking that’s constructive and helpful. Vacuous love-ins are not!

    Reply
  14. Sam P

    I agree with other commenters – there are an awful lot of “love its” and not enough honest reviews on a lot of blogs these days. Although I’ve only recently gotten into reading blogs (swapped my cave for a 2 bed terrace lol) I like to think I’m intelligent and it hasn’t taken long to spot which bloggers clearly have strong links to particular brands. No brand does everything right for everyone so it’s evident there’s an element of advertising going on when someone loves every single product. I also don’t like the heavy reliance by some bloggers on purely high end brands. If they were truly writing for the consumer (and not just receiving lots of lovely free samples) then they would realise we can’t all afford to spend £100s every month on products and perhaps present a more appropriate mix of expensive and budget.
    To be honest these bloggers, both the high end honies and the love everything girls, come across as a little fake to me and I very quickly stop bothering with them. It’s boring to read and not in the least informative, making it pointless from my consumer’s point of view.

    Reply
    1. Philippe

      We all have our favorite brands no doubt, I have my own for sure. Your comment about “doesn’t take long to see they have a strong link” made me think about it myself. I do love some brands more than others and then it hit me, I got reviews ready from their lineup that aren’t great at all. Where products made me break out, itch, rashes.. so yeah. Those are going online too and I know the PR personally now, she doesn’t mind cause in a way the ton of positives -not sponsored- are thrown into the balance.

      Reply
  15. Unevenlemming

    I think as a ‘smaller’ blogger this is where the advantage is I don’t need to brand please and be constructive. The brands I have worked with I have done just that ‘worked’ in the sense of constructive feedback on where improvements can be made or something simular.
    I don’t want blogs to turn into something that is a repeatition of the same product having the same review only because people feel obligated to give it a good review because it was a gift; That is not the point.

    Reply
  16. Cherie Tian

    While I agree there are more love-its, I think it has to do with inexperience. I’ve been reading beauty blogs since they started coming out a decade ago and I find the younger blogs tend to have more love-its, sometimes out of the desire not to offend anyone but more often out of the range of products used and their experiences. When I first used make-up, unless it was a horribly performing item, I had no idea how “good” a product was. It was basically, oh this works (however well) and thumbs up. Fast forward to now in the last few years where my skills have gotten better at application and judgement (not to mention an acknowledgement that tools sometimes interferes with performance), I can definitely find more nuanced differences in product quality compared to when I first started. Same with skincare as it took me a while to realize 6-8 weeks is an optimal time to see if a product is actually performing well in consideration to other factors (such as health-related ones).

    I definitely do not like the rise of love-its just to get freebies because the freebies also tend to be deceiving. Sometimes while a deluxe sample works superbly, the full-size flops or I don’t believe the person has tested the item long enough for the cases with skincare.

    Reply
  17. Ting

    I prefer honest reviews. That way we learn a lot more about why & how the product fails. I have learnt a lot from blog education than from SAs because I always feel pressured by SAs to buy this, you need that etc.

    Yes I of notice the sponsored posts and too many love-its around. When I am really interested in a certain product, I search for my trusted blogger reviews who is well known for providing honest reviews. 😀

    Reply
  18. Mim

    Sorry but this post was the last straw for me. While I love that you are honest and very up to date with new releases; your negativity is too much. You are very entitled to your opinion but I’m tired of the rants. From pr’s to magazine journalist and now fellow beauty bloggers….they all piss you off daily! Unsubscribing….I don’t want to see the world through your eyes anymore.

    Reply
  19. Bonnie

    That’s funny because I was thinking exactly the same thing, recently…
    I’m a french blogger myself and I just moved to Dubai.
    I know very well the french blogosphere, and I have my favorites, which are trusty because they’re not afraid to talk about some products they didn’t like, or even didn’t see the purpose of the products (really, a serum which is full of silicones to treat the skin? Thank you L’Oréal!). I started reading some english blogs to improve my English and quickly, I had the impression of reading the same positive reviews everywhere, so I guess I would have to choose right my favourite blogs in English, too!
    And last but not least, the blogosphere here in Dubai… Well, well, well, here all the products are sooooooo gorgeous, and sooooo wonderful!
    And everybody go to the same events and talk about the same products: so boring!
    So, I guess I would have to be the trusty one .;)
    By the way, I discovered your blog thanks to one of my trusty french blogger (http://babillages.net/2013/12/10/8-blogs-beaute-etrangers-a-suivre/) and I absolutely love it, especially those kind of posts!
    And sorry for my bad english, I hope you will understand my comment!:)

    Reply
  20. Alyson

    Brilliant post. I get so frustrated when I have to unfollow blogs I enjoy because they have turned into one long advert.

    Reply
  21. Tiffany

    Well said, Jane. Some of these blogs/vlogs are getting increasingly untrustworthy which is such a shame.

    Reply
  22. angie

    I agree, i don’t enjoy reading blogs as much as i used to. It used to be a gal or lad that just loved products and wanted to share what they’d brought, if they liked it and how they used it, now its all just a business and people blog about anything that benefits them. For me the trust isn’t there anymore, everything’s amazing, holy grail and life changing, then i go and try this amazing thing and its actually so terrible that i check the date for april 1st. The new max factor mascara is one example, hyped up to lords end, boasts of amazingness so i part with my hard earned cash and its pants, just pants, nothing amazing about it, even boots review’s are not good for it, i guess thats the difference when you actually have to pay using your own money for products with nothing to gain than being sent stuff or knowing you’ll get quoted, some people just love their name in press. Give me the gal sat in her front room with a dodgy camera showing you the bits she picked up at the weekend any day.

    Reply
    1. Jane

      That’s really interesting.. because I liked the MF mascara.. although it was only tested on bottom lashes.. it did work for me and so there you have it – varied opinions are what makes the blog world turn.

      Reply
  23. Ruth Mojito

    As a relatively new blogger, I found this post really interesting and actually quite empowering. The blogs I read and trust are those which present a balanced view of things and that’s exactly what I want my blog to do. I agree that far too many are too favourable and it makes me not trust them. I’ve a few posts planned about products I’ve not been enamoured with but have thus far resisted publishing them – expect to see them online soon though! x

    Reply
  24. Zoe

    You are spot on with this, which is why I tend not to rely on blogs when deciding whether to actually purchase something, but look to sites like MUA for the true picture. When I do see a post saying a blogger didn’t see the promised effect of a product I find it genuinely surprising. I do think in that sense the blogs are going backwards – most of them just feel like a string of press releases now and the critical component has disappeared.

    Reply
  25. ANNE

    you are SO ANNOYING SOMETIMES

    Reply
  26. Jan

    I agree with everyone else and it is pleasing to read the comment from the London Oil Co. Any company should take constructive criticism as an opportunity to look again at their product. Be a WISYWIG…..for those too young to remember the early days of computers that’s What You See Is What You Get. Telling people what they want to hear never got anyone anywhere, look at all the fallen people in the music industry.

    Reply
  27. Rachel

    Your honesty is exactly why I read your blog. I have unsubscribed from so many others because after a while they just become very samey samey and dishonest

    Reply
  28. Charlie

    I’ve been mulling this over for some time and I think it’s really important to not make sweeping judgements…I’d hate people to think I was being dishonest when I simply do love pretty much every single Jo Malone London product I try for example… I’d hate to start feeling as though I had to be more critical so people didn’t think I was just being positive to get nice things for free. I think only regular readers of my blog would spot the negative reviews or even negative comments within a wholly positive post…

    Reply
    1. Jane

      I agree with you – I think if you visit a blog for the first time and see negative reviews, it doesn’t give the whole picture. There’s nothing wrong with enthusiasm for make-up and beauty products – god knows I’m the biggest beauty geek in the world, but it’s a question of balance. There genuinely are times where I feel super enthusiastic about products and other times when I feel products just aren’t living up to expectations. I’m happy to say when they don’t perform, and also happy to say when they do.

      Reply
  29. Jessica White

    I totally agree with you! I’ve started my blog this year and intend to just use it to express exactly how I feel! If for instance in my next post about all the foundations I own and how they compare is just “oooh I like this one…oh and this one and this one and this one” it offers no comparison or actual advice for anyone and is just rendered worthless! Always tell the truth about what you think – it’s your blog after all!

    Reply
  30. Sian Sutherland

    As a skincare brand that grows by word of mouth rather than spending millions on advertising, I really appreciate your honesty, The web gives everyone a relatively equal platform – big, small, good, bad – and a blog is not meant to be affected by advertising spend but should represent the blogger’s true opinion. Sometimes that is harsh, but so long as it is fair and always put across as ‘a personal view’, not gospel fact, we should all be able to cope with a little criticism. Women have controversial opinions on beauty products – the web should reflect this.

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  31. Kay

    I take the line that if you choose to review something, whether it is off your own bat or a sponsered post then you should be truthful. I’m not saying if something is not for you, then you slag it off, but be objective about it and state why exactly is is or isn’t for you. Otherwise what is the point in doing a review at all? I like reading blogs to get a true overview of a product I am interested in. If they are all “this is sooooo AMAZING” posts when the product isn’t, then aren’t we misleading readers?

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  32. Jo

    If I read a blog for a while and it does become a ‘press release and love-it’ filled blog then I stop reading, which is why I always still come to your blog! Interesting opinions and honesty. If all I want are love-its then I can buy a magazine! It’s good to have a few trusty blogs to go to to get an idea of a product and to remember that it is all a personal thing as well anyway.

    Reply
  33. Steph

    I could not agree more.
    Im a blog reader and not a post-er and it drives me mental reading the same ‘love it’ post from several different bloggers only to spend my hard earned money on it to find out its rubbish or in the best case average. The prime example of this for me was the benefit fake up. Rave reviews all round with many including the ‘holy grail’ phrase so i bought it and was so disappointed. Not one mentioned how it has little coverage (one even said it had better coverage than erase paste) and no one mentioned how quickly it runs down (again one said you use so little it will last you nearly a year which was the biggest lie!) and then after watching al the offenders yearly favourites there was not one mention of this holy grail product instead they mentioned products they bought themselves and has never been given a PR sample. I know it must be hard to give a bad review in this industry but i agree better to say nothing at all as instead of being loyal to your readers and not encouraging them to spend £19 on a concealer which is not up to par they take their FREE sample, say its amazing, never use it again and keep convincing the viewer it is so worth it. Bloggers have become nearly worse than print. Money dictates what they say and post and honest bloggers like yourself are becoming a thing of the past!

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  34. Gabby

    I absolutely agree. Lately I’ve noticed a few of my once favorite blogs have seemingly had only positive things to say. It’s not helpful at all as a consumer in narrowing down what products are worth my money and which ones aren’t. At this point, there is one blog in particular, that I used to follow religiously, which I’ve become so cynical about that I simply look at the swatch pictures and don’t even bother to read the blogger’s review since they tend to be so unbelievable.

    The worst aspect is that I know certain bloggers are getting these products as free/PR samples, so it’s no loss to them if they rave about a not-so-great product, since they didn’t pay for it anyway. But when I go out and spend money and then have to go return the product because oh wait, it actually sucked…Its the worst. Many regular consumers can’t afford that.

    I especially noticed this with the recent Wet ‘n’ Wild eyeshadow trios. I think most everyone admitted that the new formula is really bad in comparison to how pigmented and soft it used to be. Yet I saw a couple bloggers raving about how pigmented the colors were and making sure not to clearly mention that their swatch pictures were over primer & wet – which obviously is not something the average consumer will be doing when trying to use the e/s.

    Reply
  35. Bee

    Couldn’t have put it better myself Jane! More and more, I’m finding myself deleting certain blogs from my feed as they’ve just become glorified adverts. I literally breathe a sigh of relief when I read a negative review these days. Like others have said, a negative review doesn’t automatically mean a terrible product, it just hasn’t worked for a particular person.

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  36. Nicola

    Totally agree, well said !

    Reply
  37. Karyadoll

    Honestly! That’s way I like your blog.

    Reply
  38. Amanda

    I find myself scrolling through and not reading 85% of the blogs I follow in my RSS feed because it’s just list after list of the same 5 products (rotating from week to week, of course, based on what the PRs are sending out). I wonder why I even bother with them anymore. I used to wait for “reviews” and swatches of new products before I bought something, but I find that I make better choices at the counters when I buy based on my own likes and preferences.

    I became fed up when one of my favorite bloggers/YouTubers (probably the same one mentioned earlier in the comments…) started to get fast and loose with her disclosures, finally just removing the asterisks from each free product and just slapping a general disclaimer on the site. She may disagree but I find that dishonest and lying by omission. I still watch her videos (I shouldn’t give her the views) but I don’t trust her anymore.

    I recently saw 3 very well-known bloggers/YouTubers post the same photo of the same products on Instagram right around the same time one day. They must really think we’re stupid! I don’t care that bloggers are sent free things, but at least cop to it and start giving actual real, honest reviews instead of just swatching the product and then throwing it at the back of your Ikea Alex drawer and never touching it again (until that favorites post at the end of the month…)

    Bloggers are sent so many freebies that there is no way they can actually test the efficacy of each product. They just can’t. There’s this school of thought that bloggers shouldn’t be held to the same standards as magazines regarding disclosures, sponsored content, etc. I don’t see why not, after all, they are expected to report on the products in exchange for the products themselves. I know the regulations are stricter here in the US and I wish the UK would follow suit. It’s bad for consumers, period. Let’s not even get into the gross consumerist culture these bloggers are creating. I’d be here all day.

    Reply
  39. olivia

    Interesting post again, jane! I agree everything can’t be loved. Yet, I am sure bloggers love to try which means they do love the product in some way but not in the actual love as in “this is a great product that does what it is suppose to do”.

    I myself, get many press releases but no samples, therefore, I don’t post many products due to this because the question that pops up from my cult is: “did you try it?” This means no and, therefore, what is the use of putting up a tidbit of it when I can’t even judge how it feels or works.

    I sometimes wish there was a beauty blog that would just state the truth by saying packaging is great but the product is just pigments pressed together or just water with some minerals. But, then beauty wouldn’t be fun and curiosity would be killed.

    I have thought, myself, of starting a Dumb Beauty Blog like the Dumb Starbucks but that would take some money on my part and, I don’t have a tv show to show my parody.

    Getting back to the subject, I just wish there was someone who would just say, “What kind of shit is this and why the hell should anyone pay for it?” That would make and wake up the beauty blogging world!

    Reply
  40. Georgia

    Thanks for this, Jane. I don’t trust beauty bloggers/vloggers that don’t disclaim or have sketchy blanket disclaimers on their sites. As a consumer, I value transparency, not overexposed images and ‘reviews’ which don’t differ at all from the information fed to them via e-mail.

    I’ve always been weary of sponsorships (at least three ‘big’ British YouTubers/bloggers openly worked in PR before quitting to blog full time) and it doesn’t take much to discover that a lot of these bloggers are friendly with the same firms and feature the same posts at the same time. An increasing number no longer put those reassuring little asterisks on their blogs.

    Plus, it’s easy to give a product, particularly skincare products, a favourable review when you’ve only tried it once (probably because you haven’t the time when you’re being sent tens of products daily). I don’t understand how they can harp on about something being a holy grail product that they’ve barely even tested.

    I’m baffled as to the sheer amount of readers who put all of their trust into one blogger, and spend a lot of money on items mentioned by their favourite individual just because they gave a product a favourable ‘review’. A well-known ‘guru’ regularly mentions products in passing from brands she works with (without disclaiming) and thousands of ‘disciples’ – many of them bloggers, take her word as gospel and go out and buy it regardless. PR agencies must LOVE her.

    Even if a blog features sponsored posts, swatches are helpful (and when it comes to make up, I’m sure it leads to more purchases), and disclaiming is necessary for the consumer, end of.

    Reply
  41. Abigail

    I’ve been reading beauty blogs for a few years now and it’s becoming a little ‘boring’ with endless glowing reviews and everything becoming samey. A review with just an artistic photograph of the product on top of an ikea duvet with no swatches or what the product actually looks like on. No comparison to other products, which I think should be an important point in a review, not just ‘the product does the same as every other similar product’. I don’t know, it’s easy enough for me to judge when I don’t blog myself, but when everyone’s talking about the same products all the time with very little to differentiate blogs, I’m slowly loosing interest…

    Reply
    1. Sarah A

      To be honest, I think bloggers have created their own monster.
      They want to have their cake and eat it – be treated like a magazine and get free samples, invitations to launch parties, and be the first in the know, whilst at the same time, reserving the right to negatively critique anything they want.
      PR, marketing and advertising all come under the same banner – a company promoting its products. Why on earth would a brand want to spend a small fortune on creating a product, go through all the red tape and marketing spend to get it to the consumer, only to have a blogger write a negative review?
      If bloggers had wanted to remain completely impartial for the benefit of their customer base, they should never have accepted press samples in the first place.
      I understand that consumers want objective opinions. I am one. I don’t like the use of celebrities, airbrushing, exaggerated claims or general bullsh*t. I can pretty much see through it all. But I don’t expect a brand to lay itself wide open to negative criticism as part of its PR and marketing strategy.
      As a consumer, I see bloggers as online magazines, the first in the know with regards to a product launch. And that’s why I’d read them; to keep in the know.
      But for reviews of the product itself? No. I’d turn instead to the likes of MUA where individuals have spent a month or so trying out a product and given it a proper chance, before they write a review.
      Let me ask this of bloggers; in the interests of truly unbiased reviewing, would you be happy to be excluded from launches, scoops and free products, and to receive instead a small foil sachet post launch that you could review honestly and objectively? Unbiased and truthful answers please!

      Reply
      1. Jane

        Many, many bloggers don’t have the luxury of press samples: I couldn’t even begin to to post at the level I do if I didn’t have access to information and samples so I’m one of the lucky ones. I tend to do a mix of brief reviews and new information to keep it lively and interesting, but brands tend to be keen for me to have them. I get things in lab sample format sometimes and I genuinely wouldn’t mind on a skin care level because it’s impossible to do long-term reviews so I agree with you re MUAs who try and test thing on all skins and can very much get a feel for it, but with make-up that doesn’t work really because the packaging and presentation is so much a part of it. Thank you so much for your interesting comment.

        Reply
  42. elka

    one of the reasons I enjoy your blog is because you do convey that something is not all that with a side of fries without coming across as being biased. yes people can have both a positive and a negative bias. I read beauty blogs for two reasons… one to see swatches and the second to get a review of how the product works. When looking at swatches I tend to go towards blogs that do comparison reviews… this red is similar to X, Y, and Z {the beauty look book does this particularly for nail polish which is one of my weaknesses}. I trust your reviews in large part because I have read ones from you that basically said nice but not worth the hype. Just like swatch comparisons say nice but look you probably own something similar already. These are invaluable services to the consumer. The whole ‘love-it’s’ bandwagon gals are basically just showing off their make-up bad and not reviewing the products at all. There is a huge difference. One that a person should be well aware of before claiming to be a reviewer.

    I used to knit sample garments for work many years ago. I admit I only worked with companies that provided yarns I enjoyed working with otherwise why bother investing my time, sometimes a month, working with a material I didn’t like however I did also say hey this little baby sweater is going to set you back $120 and is made of novelty yarn. The yarn creates a lovely feeling fabric but it isn’t going to be an heirloom handed down item so I wouldn’t go out and buy the yarn to knit it for my kid but maybe you have the money to use that way. Was that the nicest thing I could have said? No. I could have said look at this super cute fun sweater that took only a couple of days to create. But I am still the kinda person who looks at my yarn monies as serving the dual purpose of providing entertainment and providing a useful or attractive article. If I am plunking down $100+ dollars I want to get more than a couple of hours of enjoyment out of it~ in both the creating and use of the creation.

    Although this may seem a digression the truth is I expect cosmetic blog to also say hey you are getting the bang for your buck here. Which may be unfair considering there is only so many variations in color available and most cosmetics are about the color of the day.

    Reply
  43. Olivia

    Can I put in another of my 2cents or pence? I as a longtime beauty blogger and pretty much have ended up as an independent one has to say I have become a bit numb by all the beauty reviews because I know they will say the same thing.

    If I am lucky, I do get samples. And, I have to say it is just luck to get these for me. Will I write a bad review? If the stuff just doesn’t live up to its standards then probably. But the brands that have offered me samples, they have been good.

    However, there are brands that have contacted me on press releases and I have tried their products via my own money and found them less than stellar. I would not hawk their products even if they offered me another sample to try because I, first, wasted my money on it.

    I also have to say that the reviews I have been brutally honest in are the ones that appear to get some people angry because I have dissed not only the product but the integrity of it. Do I care? No because I wasted my money on a product that had been raved by many including makeup artists. Could I say I was duped? In a way yes, because I bought the product as a consumer and nothing more. I am the one that has to work with the product and use it everyday or so knowing it didn’t live up to the hype.

    To make a long story short, the past few weeks, I have had to break from my blogging and the beauty world just to get my perspective in the clear because I just didn’t comprehend it anymore since everything became almost the same and just felt like static.

    Even on Pinterest, if you look there, everyone is beginning to look the same and the products pushed are the same brand. This brings me to the conclusion that these brands will just give me the same look as everyone else and not myself.

    And, if this is the goal of these brands, then I will just stick to being small, independent, and being myself!

    Reply
  44. Suzie Oulton

    As a brand I agree wholeheartedly (don’t shoot me down in flames) everytime I send something out I wait with baited breath for the review.

    I know my products are fab quality, ethical etc, but not everything suits everyone and thats a risk a brand takes when doing this.

    Recently we worked with a well known beauty box, and some bloggers loved the lippy they received in the box and others hated the colour (all liked the consistency and packaging – phew) but that was fab feedback for us about what colours worked, and how people (real people – my customers) perceived them.

    As the bloggers were reviewing the box, they said honestly what they thought about our products – it was brilliant, there was no unease or minced words. As a result any negativity about the lippy colour in the box was soon rectified as I sent them out a colour they would wear, and win win – everyone was happy.

    Bloggers like you Jane terrify brands (sorry but its true!) which is madness, as honesty and a proper critique is the only way a brand can and will improve. 🙂

    And bloggers, writing a negative review will not stop you getting sammples, but what it will do is make your audience respect what you are saying and the brands who you love ultimately will prosper as your honest opinion matters, and those products you dont the brands have a chance to move forward and improve, I as a brand look for honest bloggers

    Anyway – going to duck back under the parapet, Don the hard hat and hide!

    Happy blogging
    Suzie
    The Xenca Way

    Reply
  45. Beth and Beauty

    I am a very new beauty blogger so I have not dealt with any PR’s yet but I agree I want my viewers/readers to get my honest opinions about what products I use. That is what got me interested in blogging in the first place was following bloggers and You Tubers that gave their honest whether negative or positive opinions.

    Reply
  46. roxilicious82

    So far everything I’ve received I have given an honest review to. Mostly I’ve liked the stuff, but I have expressed any niggles I’ve had with things. But I would honestly say if I didn’t like something or if it didn’t work.

    I am currently sampling some hair products and I have both negative and positive points to add to my review. I try to review fairly.

    Reply
  47. Sharon BehindGreenEyes

    I have a few trusted bloggers who I know are 100% honest. The rest I can pretty much work out based on the language used, or by the amount of samples people feature on a blog. I stopped reading one Irish blog because every bloody post had an asterisk on it and I knew it was all samples, so there wasn’t one product bought and written about because the authors just loved it so much that they couldn’t wait to tell people about it. If something doesn’t work for me, I’ll say it. I try and present the negatives as positively as I can, if that makes sense. But there are just some products I KNOW are crap and I can’t fathom why people still go on about them like they’re HG products. One particular cult lip product from the states felt like I was rubbing my lips with a crayon, I hated it, and thought it was overrated. One of my most popular blog posts ever was one in which I talked about my most disappointing buys, because people DO want to read the truth. I was so excited for that lip thing and it seems like there’s a kind of underground disappointment – 1,000,000 great reviews yet if you ask on twitter, everyone goes “yeah I thought it was overrated, it was crap, hated it”. WELL THEN SAY SO!!!!!!!

    Reply
  48. Strikkelise

    I don’t read many blogs anymore, but I do read some and I watch quite a few beauty vloggers on YouTube. I have unfollowed quite a few of them because they stopped feeling honest. I can understand if a young rookie blogger gets over enthusiastic about getting stuff in the mail and thinks everything is “oh, so great”. What’s really sad is the “real” ones that start to seem calculated and sometimes downright dishonest.

    A review (a real review) should take into consideration BOTH the pros and cons of a product as well as ask “who is this for, and who is this not for”. Otherwise it is just sweet talk, and useless.

    Reply
  49. Vicky (@aroundandupsidedown)

    It’s strange – I was thinking this myself only yesterday. Though a regular reader I have been super busy over the half term and only just read this via a newsletter. I’m a newish blogger – so part of me doesn’t want to tread on toes, the majority of me will always stick with honesty. I purchase products on the say so of other bloggers and have been disappointed. This could be differing tastes, or it could be that they’ve talked up a product that isn’t all that great.

    The product that really made me think the other day was the batiste dry shampoo – which people rave about. I saw it come top in the InStyle (I think) beauty lineup. I hate the product, as it leaves me with dusty roots. I also saw that some collections were pushed over others. It could be that they are fantastic, or it could be that the relationship between the brand and the magazine just happens to be tight. This is what we are meant to get past as bloggers, but it doesn’t always happen. Without butt kissing – I know I can always count on an honest review from you Jane, and wouldn’t hesitate to buy a product recommended by you 🙂

    Reply
  50. Adorngirl

    This is a tough one, because I have such a limited time to blog I don’t tend to blog about things I really don’t like. If said product was a PR sample I just let the PR know that it wasn’t something I was happy with and that it will not be featured.

    I hope people come to my blog to find something new and get a little more info, and my opinion because at the end of the day that is all it really is, an opinion, if I rant about how much I don’t like something doesn’t mean that it is necessarily a bad product just not right for me.

    Imagine a quality print magazine wasting precious white space on a brand they don’t believe in?

    Reply
  51. jacquelyng56

    As a newbie blogger I hear what your saying. I’ve slowly lost interest in many of the big blogs, yeah the pictures are good quality and they often cover stuff before its released but many of them contain the same stuff. It’s frustrating at how a lot of them write the same thing and sometimes you get the idea that they haven’t even tested the product. I appreciate that big blogs can’t always wear test everything, but I feel they should say that. When I blog, I blog honestly. There aren’t many products that I hate, but there are many that aren’t perfect and I point this out in my reviews. I really enjoy your rants like this, they are so true!

    Reply
  52. Sharon

    I read a lot of beauty product posts but I also always, always check the sites where average people (regular people who just love makeup) post reviews. I tend to trust those more than a bloggers post because its like one stop shopping–I get dozens of reviews from dozens of different people. It makes me sad to think that these big companies try to bully the beauty bloggers and it makes me sadder that some bloggers fall to the pressure.

    Reply

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