Beauty websites/blogs - who can you trust

[jjwhite]

What beauty websites and/or blogs, if any, do you go on?

I feel like most are very obviously targeting at a younger audience and there are relatively few that cater to an adult readership.

The few bloggers that I do tend to follow are Caroline Hirons and A Model Recommends, and I read Sali Hughes columns in the Guardian... That said I am somewhat wary of their reviews just because of the nature of how they make their money/where they get the products from in the first place, they're never going to be truly neutral opinions. However, I do find good recommendations from all three, and they're much more honest/transparent than a lot of others out there.

Before buying anything I always check Paula's Choice Beautypedia ingredients checker and MakeUpAlley for reviews... I might also just do a general google around to see if any random blog posts reviewing products come up...

I rarely buy magazines and would pretty much never take advice on skincare/beauty products from them (I assume that it's pretty much all sponsored/paid content).

And of course mumsnet - love hearing people's opinions on beauty-related topics on here!

Would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations...

I use exactly the same blogs as you, with almost exactly the same thoughts!!

I love Ruth from A Model Recommends and think she gives fair reviews and genuinely likes the products she recommends. The same for Caroline Hirons.

I think there's a grey area where they work with a company because they like the products but then recommend the products a lot, no doubt because they've been given a lot of samples and just really like the brand but you are suspicious because you know or suspect they have a separate paid relationship with the brand eg Caroline couldn't really not recommend products sold in Space NK, Ruth likes a lot of Burberry and clearly does work with them but you always wonder a bit.

I think if you have used mulitple souces though eg checked with Beautypedia for exaggerated claims, ingredients more or less make sense, a blogger you generally like also likes it, that's as close as you can get.

I also follow Dr Sam Bunting on twitter - she links to her press articles and I would trust her recommendations.

Sorry - just want to add I also like Lisa Eldridge youtube videos for makeup/skincare recommendations and actual application tips... I also watched all the Sali Hughes's 'In the Bathroom' series inc. Caitlin Moran, Mary Greenwell, Charlotte Tilbury etc. and enjoyed those...

Kundry thanks for your reply - and I completely agree re: the grey area... I understand why the bloggers themselves feel quite indignant when they're reproached as being bias because they clearly do feel they're promoting only products they like... That said, I do think the very nature of their various affiliations (either official or unofficial - e.g. paid promotions versus having friends in the industry) means that from a reader's perspective you do have to be slightly wary and collect opinions from other sources too....

And thanks for the Sam Bunting tip - I will find her on twitter right away... From what I remember her blog is very good but not updated very regularly?

Ooo I forgot about Lisa Eldridge, she's brilliant.

Occasionally look at Wayne Goss as well for makeup tips.

You are right about Sam Bunting's blog - I think she's moved on to twitter.

Lisa Eldridge, hands down.

Buy now blog later is a good one . I have read hers for a few years it's a mix of makeup and fashion .

Essie button is good. My favourite is makeup by Tiffany d.

Chelsea wears is hilarious if you aren't easily offended, but she doesn't post very often anymore.

I used to like Essie Button but I'm not keen anymore. I like Vivianna Does Makeup, Ruth Crilly, Lisa Eldridge and Caroline Hirons.

Wayne Goss is good for application tips, his method of applying powder under foundation is excellent for oily skin. He seems a bit shady regarding recommendations though, he only promotes really high end stuff unless he's paid to talk about high street brands. He did a video recently saying some high street mascara was the best ever and even in the video it looked shit. So totally obvious.

Apparently Lisa Eldridge is now linked to Lancôme.

Just googled, she's actually their creative director.

Temptalia is good for unbiased, consistent makeup reviews. She mainly does American brands, and often more high-end, but she seems very fair and will say if she doesn't like something and why. Her dupe list is really good too.

I really like hot and flashy woman on YouTube. She's had work done but looks great given she's 50. clearly buys and tries everything herself. Seems to have done her research too.

U.S. Based but you can get some stuff here.

She's brilliant - she has done so much research and explains it really clearly.

I use the same websites and blogs as you, op, except Paula's choice (she thinks some of my favourite stuff is crap, so I don't rate all her recommendations!) I find Ruth good for makeup and lifestyle stuff, plus a bit of skincare. I find her to be quite upfront about paid trials and working with brands, to be honest I just skim over those posts. Caroline is my favourite for skincare, and Lisa Eldridge for makeup and tutorials.

I want to like Paula's Choice, but she annoys me as she is so picky about ingredients and I think she is really just steering people to her own brand stuff.

She says Elemis is all overpriced rubbish but I love their gentle Rose Petal cleanser, she claims it's full of irritants. And she also goes on a tangent about Pixi Glow Tonic containing witch hazel and therefore probably loads of alcohol, it reads like a conspiracy theorist tbh.

I read Makeupalley reviews, often useful.

Caroline herself told us on her adoring fans thread that she had only endorsed about 5 products ever that she has been approached to (I thinkvthat's right Kundry, can you remember?)
I read Sali Hughes but I feel CH is more 'real' somehow.
The fact that according to Paula, Paula's stuff is the best, makes me kneejerkingly refuse to ever buy it.
I'm not as interested in makeup as skincare as I pretty much believe it's the quality of the canvas, not the paint, that matters.

Thanks everyone for all your responses... Really interesting to hear...

I agree re: Paula's Choice that at the end of the day she is basically just trying to sell her own product line... That said, it's a great resource for looking at ingredients lists and you can take what she says (e.g. about witch hazel or mineral oil etc.) with a pinch of salt... You can pick and choose what to agree with...

Yeah I think Caroline really does come up tops - and she does seem a very ethical blogger. Interesting to hear her saying that about only endorsing 5 sponsored products - but I think that 'bias' (and I don't mean that with the really pejorative connotations it usually carries with it) can take many forms i.e. not only being paid directly to endorse a product. Caroline herself says (and all the others like Ruth, Sali etc.) that they are sent pretty much the majority of the products they talk about by the brands themselves. On top of that if you follow any of these bloggers on instagram/twitter they seem to be constantly at launch parties put on by big brands and similar kinds of occasions which mean that even when their links to brands are not paid links there are lots of reasons for bloggers to (consciously or subconsciously) feel more favourably towards certain brands, and for that to be reflected in some way, shape or form in the way they then review the products. Don't get me wrong, I dont think they rave about products that they don't like - I'm sure they do only promote products that they actually like, but I'm just saying that being a little wary is probably a sensible way to go.

At the end of the day I always check MakeUpAlley and Mumsnet for people's opinions/experiences before buying products, because there you can be sure that it really is just us average Joe Bloggs buyers off the street who have no vested interest whatsoever. While we may not know that much about the in-depth formulation of the product, we can say from experience 'this worked for me' or 'this didn't do anything' - which is pretty valuable information to have.

Just as a side note, I think it's really interesting that there aren't more bloggers/beauty 'gurus' like Caroline, Sali etc. who appeal to a more adult audience... Presumably most of the higher end products, i.e. products with decent profit margins, are bought by women in their 20s, 30s upwards, when women have a bit more money to spend on such products... You'd think that as a result there'd be lots of 'grown-up' skincare/beauty blogs around, but instead the market seems to be saturated by teen beauty blogs?

There are sadly less and less beauty bloggers that are trustworthy nowadays. All too often products are mentioned, we are told they are their "favourites" and then we never hear of them again.
Stay totally clear of Essiebutton (one of the very very worst offenders, it's been sad to watch her become greedy and go so downhill over the last few years) and anybody that is part of the Gleam pr group. They are nothing more than walking billboards. Sadly this means a lot of the "popular" bloggers/youtubers as they are the ones that have some of the most sneaky advertising within their social media outlets.

I do still enjoy Lisa eldridge and believe so far she is still fairly honest despite her work with Lancome. I also love camilleloveswiki who did a great video recently on the dishonesy of beauty bloggers.
Thriftthick is another lovely youtuber who frequently makes it very clear that she will only give true opinions on products. She is a bit rough round the edges, but you will always get good honest in depth reviews. Not just "I like this product because it smells nice" etc.
HelloGemma, is also quite good, although again you do have to look out for clearly sponsored content that slips in.
www.hellogemma.com/
I also enjoy Fleurdeforce and like a lot of her recommendations. Again though, she does do a lot of sponsored content, but it's usually fairly easy to spot, and she's a bit more honest about it in general than some.

Yeah I think there are some very obvious telltale signs that all is not what it seems re: brand blogger collaborations ... A classic is that for about three weeks all of the beauty bloggers are talking about a product (e.g. Benefit They're Real Liner, Miss Manga mascara, The Body Shop cleansing oil - the list is endless) raving about how great it is and then you hear nothing more about it. Seems quite clear in those instances that they've all been sent the product from some cosmetics giant (L'oreal etc.) in a big PR push. Likewise, all the reviews come out at the same time as all the advertising campaigns (v. obvious the companies are using two-pronged approach to their advertising - tv/print ads plus blogger recommendations).

Likewise certain brands stick out as a bit of a sore thumb... It seems very clear to me that The Body Shop is giving a lot of these bloggers a good deal (don't know if it's paid posts or sponsoring product mentions or what - I really have no idea how the practicalities work!), but not a 'March favourites' or 'Bedtime skincare routine' goes by without them all slipping in at least one Body Shop product. When this first started happening last year I thought 'wow, Body Shop must have started upping their skincare game' and went and bought a whole load of stuff (what a sheep!) The products I got were okay (some were pretty crap, others fine but nothing amazing) but to hear these bloggers go on about them you'd think they were the best products out there.

I don't actually know what the rules are re: paid collaborations/promotions? I know that Gleam Team people have started putting 'ad' hashtags on their titles because of some change in advertising regulations? But on the whole I think they rely on the fact that they can just put a small-print disclaimer in the description box saying 'this video may contain sponsored content' or some other vague, noncommittal phrase... I for one have stopped watching the worst offenders although tbh they pretty much all do it to some degree or other. It's tough because i dont know how else these bloggers can make money from their blogging and I wouldn't expect them to run such professional sites for free so it's a bit of a catch-22. That said, I do think it can really undermine them and I've definitely started going on their blogs/watching their videos less and less as a result...

Thanks to this post I recently signed up to A Model Recommends. Today she reviewed a bareMinerals product I bought last week. I'm new to the brand and whilst I love this product regardless, it was good to read her glowing review.

www.amodelrecommends.com/2015/04/29/bareminerals-complexion-rescue-review/

Makeup blogs for adult women: Cafe Makeup is great for high-end makeup. Affiliate links, yes, but Amy has an adult daughter and an impeccable taste. She is a successful professional so has little time for posts. And I like Beauty Professor as well although she seems to do a lot of PR work for brands.

I don't follow blogs for that reason as they're generally affiliated even if they say they're not!

I do research eg DHC cleansing oil (after I bought it!) but compare and contrast several blogs.

At the end of the day I know I have hydrated skin, need SPF and also rich night creams break me out. I also have an aromatherapist friend who makes up or gives me recipes for her own handmade creams.

I did used to go on spectra, makeupalley etc they're good for certain reviews, products etc but remember it's their views.

Just try to trust your own judgment more!

I mean i know my skin needs hydration.

I like getlippie.blogspot.co.uk/ she's generally quite honest about views on products and open about what has been a PR sample and what she's shelled out her own cash on.

I enjoy Caroline Hirons too, while her skin isn't my skin (some of the stuff she loves does nothing for me) she seems pretty honest in her writing.