That's why I'm writing this post. To help you figure out if a beauty guru is genuine and honest. Granted, you won't be able to tell every time if your favorite vlogger is lying to your face but this should help most of the time.
Here's a list of the "tale-tale" signs I have noticed over the years.
The best way to recognize a dishonest guru is by their reviews.
The reviewer doesn't have many specific details about the product.
Speaking from experience, when a product is being reviewed it goes through a trial area. When being tested, all of the qualities are learned and memorized. If a reviewer doesn't seem to know what to say, then it's likely they didn't thoroughly test the product. Now this doesn't necessarily mean the person is lying but they're not being honest about its performance. Any blogger or vlogger should know every good and bad thing about the product they are reviewing.
If they're just saying stuff like- Yeah, it's a pretty color and it lasted all day on me without disappearing on my lips. The packaging is pretty, too. Oh, and I got it for $15 and it's my new holy grail.- then chances are they are not telling the full truth.
Someone who really tested the product would say something like- Th lipstick is pigmented with one swipe but the coverage is more even with two. When I applied the second layer I didn't notice any streaking. The formula is matte but not drying like liquid lipsticks are known to be. The wear time is any where between 4 to 7 hours, depending on how often you eat and drink. It does transfer a little but stops after the first time. And so on..
The more details, the more likely the reviewer is being honest.
They talk about it once, then it's history.
We've heard it before, the new foundation is, so and so's, new holy grail. But yet, they never mention it again. If they only talk about it once but it permanently gets lost 30 videos back, then, yeah, they're lying. Good products don't just get forgotten.
Everyone else says it sucks.
Majority rules. If everyone says it sucks but just a couple say it's really good, then... A. The beauty guru is lying. Or, B. That product just happened to work for a very small group of people, but that's unlikely.
It should be a red flag if there's a reviewer who stands by a product but it's a bad one. Check and see if the product was sent to them for sponsorship.
The reviews on the products website are poor
Go to the website for the brand of the product and check the review. If everyone hates it but the beauty guru you just watched happened to love it, then I bet they are indeed lying.
The review sounds like a commercial
If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
The best way to tell if it's actually a good product is to watch or read a couple other reviews. If everyone says it's good and they're not sponsored, then it may just be good.
The video or post is sponsored
Beauty bloggers/vloggers lie to get paid or to recieve free products. It's business but it's unfair to all of you. Always check for sponsorship before believing a review from any blogger/vlogger.
One vlogger I trust is Emily Noel (just like someone else said in yesterdays post). She is very honest with her reviews and she's not affraid of making a company mad about reviewing one of their crappy products. She'll even bash a product in a sponsored post if it's necessary.
What's the best way to get a honest review? I hate to say this because I'm a beauty blogger, but I'll say it anyways for your sake. The best way to get a honest review is on the products website. Consumers are almost always honest about the product they purchase. And sometimes, it's nice to see multiple reviews.
For example, it's can be hard to pick out a foundation based off of one review. When I look for one, I go through the products reviews and look for people with acne because I need to know if it has good coverage. A beauty guru with great skin isn't going to like the same foundation as me.
I would like to let everyone know that my reviews will always be honest. I can't be bought out and I'm not interested in turning my blog into a joke. It's important to me to keep my reviews truthful, even when I'm sent a product from a company I love. Honesty is something we should value as beauty bloggers. I started out as a genuine blogger and I will continue to be so until my last post!
How do you tell if a beauty guru is being honest?
Do you have any tale-tale signs up your sleeves?
Let us know in the comments below!
