The beauty world on TikTok has come under scrutiny lately, with viewers second guessing the products some of their favourite influencers are pushing.
Due to a number of make-up mishaps where beauty gurus have been caught misleading fans about products they’re being paid to promote, consumers are wary as to what to believe when watching online reviews. One recent controversial event that sparked mistrust in the online beauty community is ‘mascara gate’, or as some viewers have dubbed it, ‘lashlighting’.
It came after a popular TikTok make-up artist posted a video reviewing the L'Oréal Telescopic Lash Lift Mascara, but was accused of adding fake eyelashes to her look as part of a paid partnership.
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This ignited the rise of de-influencing.
What this essentially means is that people all over TikTok are reviewing products they were influenced to buy, and giving an honest review, normally saying how awful the product is and urging you not to waste your money on them as they did.
The trend has over 121.4m views and is mainly made up of the average social media user – not an influencer – rebelling against false reviews. De-influencing has also grown in popularity due to the cost of living crisis, along with the popular dupe trend which finds you a similar product to your favourite high-street names for a fraction of the price.
With features such as TikTok shop, it’s so easy these days to purchase products after watching reviews on the app, so being extra diligent when it comes to buying stuff online is crucial and it is important to consider if a creator is being paid to advertise a product, their opinion may not always be unbiased.
However, ‘de-influencing’ may not be as positive a trend as it may sound.
Some people partaking in the trend are offering alternative options compared to ones that don’t live up to the hype. Basically, influencing you to buy one thing over the other – a bit of a contradiction.
Here are some top tips you need to keep in mind when watching people talking about products you should buy
- See whether or not they are being paid to do so. This will be indicated in their hashtags or captions that should clearly say whether or not the item is an ad, whether it was gifted or if the content is sponsored. If someone is being paid to essentially sell something, it can be hard to determine whether or not they are being genuine.
- Does the review offer any flaws to the product? It is worth watching or reading reviews that offer alternative opinions to that product. Don’t buy a product after watching just one review, the more you watch, the bigger perspective you’ll have of the product.
- Don’t impulse buy! If you really want to buy something, whether it be a concealer, setting powder or hair product, take some time to see if you really need it. Sometimes influencers can create a sense of urgency to get the product now because ‘everyone is buying it’ but it’s worth taking a day or two to see if it’s something you really want.
- Shop around. It is worth checking out to see if there is a dupe of the product that’s less expensive and does the same job. It’s easy to get drawn into big beauty brand names, but guaranteed there is a cheaper alternative out there.
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