When it comes to beauty products, I am all but clueless. I started putting energy into buying higher quality makeup about a year ago, and it all started with reading beauty reviews online.
My favorite review method is definitely YouTube videos from gals with great cameras and makeup skills (there are so many!), but when I just need product info now – I go to Makeup Alley.
I remember this website from ages ago, when I was a regular on the LUSH forums. (Yeah, outing myself as a major nerd. What can I say? I’m a big fan.) Over the last several years, Makeup Alley has developed itself into a mega-database of beauty products, beauty product users, and even more reviews from highly reputable makeup users! (Oh, and they have forums, too… if you’re into that.)
The product review page.
The site has other functions, like a social profile and diary/log of all your favorite beauty products and how you felt about them. This can be super handy if you’re looking for serious organization, but I mainly use the site for its comprehensive rating system and user reviews.
A product review for Garnier Anti-Dark-Circle Roller.
It uses a basic star system for reviews, and a score between one and five is given for product and again for packaging. Dollar signs are applied, but you have to adjust your “what a dollar sign means” expectations, because apparently two dollars signs means $4.99… So adjust your scale accordingly.
One of the features I love about Makeup Alley’s review system: the filters. You can filter by age, which might sound silly, but my skin has changed so much in the last decade – I definitely want to see what other 28 year olds said about anything that touches it! You can also filter by hair type, skin type, skin tone, and other narrowing traits.
Next time you have a question about a product and want to know whether it’s worth spending your hard-earned cash on – check the reviews on Makeup Alley! If it’s a common product at all, there is an excellent chance that there will be several comments on the product page!