Product Reviews… The Good… The Bad… The Ugly
I read about a lot of products. I am continuously searching for the next great product… who isn’t? I want something that will turn me into Cindy Crawford overnight – and by the way, it isn’t “Meaningful Beauty.” I know because, of course, I tried it. One thing that is increasingly daunting is the plethora of reviews on each product. While at first this seems a good thing, you can soon realize the ugly truth – it’s actually bad.
What? Reviews are there to help us decide whether we should buy something or not. They tell us whether it works and whether people are happy with it. Surely, reviews are a really helpful tool, right? Sadly, not really.
“They’re heuristics – mental shortcuts that allow us to simplify choices – that help in making purchase decisions. That’s why we like and use them,” says Peter Noel Murray, a New York City-based consumer psychologist. “But especially in beauty and skincare, it isn’t about functionality. It is about the experience. What emotional end – benefits does it provide to me?”
Photo Credit: Aimee Sye
When you look at products online, you want to see a 4.5 rating. That tells you that most everyone liked it, and okay, maybe a few people didn’t, but the overwhelming majority did. If it’s below a 4.0, you might as well keep looking. Something else surely has a better rating. Better ratings equal better sales. Businesses know this – especially big business. I’m talking Amazon, Sephora, Ulta… they want tons of reviews of your product and they want good ones. If not, the product won’t sell and if it won’t sell, they’ll send it back to you. Wow! Imagine a company like Sephora saying, “Take back the $30 million worth of product we bought and we’d like our money in ten days.”
Even the possibility of a scenario like that is enough to make some (okay… way more than just some) of these companies put their foot on the scale. Enter paid for reviews… tons of them. When you are reading Maddy M.’s review of that cream you’ve been eyeing, you really should wonder if Maddy M. is, in actuality, Ivan G. who has never even seen that product before. But with the wonder of IP address manipulation, he can be Maddy M., Irene R., and 400 different people that day. All who swear by said cream and its miraculous benefits.
I recently read a review on a lip product that made me want to buy it that instance. It had a 4.5 review and the reviewers gushed about it. Then I started hunting around and reading different blog posts and looked up beauty reviewers I trust, and boy, did they sing a different tune – crap – that was the consensus.
So, if we can’t trust online reviews, what are we to do? This is why we believe in shopping local. If you come into the store and want to know what will work for you, we’ll give you an honest opinion. We want you to be completely satisfied with your product because we want you to come back. We want you to trust us. When we tell you we love something, we do. That’s not to say that everyone in the store loves all the same products, we don’t. We all have different skin types and we’re all different ages. What we do know is what each one of us loves for that particular skin type and age… and the best part… not a single one of us gets paid to tell you to buy one brand over another.
- About the boutique
Located in historic Old Town Alexandria, for more than 17 years Bellacara has been Northern Virginia's preeminent boutique for high end cosmetic, skincare and haircare products. At Bellacara you will find premiere beauty products that have been carefully edited by the store’s owner, Angela Sitilides, who personally tests all the products sold in store. The boutique carries only the best product lines – Kiehl’s, Jouer, Dr. Dennis Gross, Christophe Robin, Moroccan Oil, Bumble & Bumble, Fresh, Molton Brown, Skinceuticals, Smashbox, Stila, Mario Badescu, Clarins, Dermalogica, Kevyn Aucoin, Kai, Child, St. Tropez, Smith and Cult, and many more.
1000 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.299.9652
3 Comments
That and the fact that you all are truly EXCELLENT at what you do is what keeps me a loyal customer from states away!
An \d I so appreciate that and you!
Ditto what Dianne says, except I’m in state, for now. and when I’m not I will still buy from Bellacara!