You know the lists I’m talking about — the best-of products for hair, makeup, skin, etc. The roundups. They pop up a lot around the end of the year, and sometimes also between the seasons.
Allure does them every year, and they’re pretty extensive. I read a good one recently in Real Simple.
Back before social media, blogs and YouTube, magazines had more influence over how I spent my makeup money. Now, not so much. I’ve definitely purchased products based on magazine best-of lists before, but I can’t remember the last time I did it. It’s been a few years…
At one point a few years ago, I remember seeing Maybelline Great Lash Mascara and NARS Orgasm Mascara win year after year after year, and thinking, “Yeah, Orgasm is a good blush, for sure, but there are SO MANY other great blushes out there. Why does it keep winning??”
I dunno…
I love reading those lists, because I love lists (you know me). I think they’re interesting, but when I’m in the mood to do some hauling (which I still love to do, much to El Hub’s chagrin), I don’t really use them.
How about you?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Are you doing food and snacks for the Super Bowl? I want to do something low key but also yummy that doesn’t take a lot of time to plan. It’s just going to be El Hub, Connor, Tabs and me, so burgers? Nachos? What are you doing? Do you have any favorite dip recipes? Inquiring minds want to know.
P.P.S. GO FALCONS! 🙂
Back in the day (before internet) I really gobbled up all the magazine lists and beauty that they listed. Now since we can see swatches and reviews often before products are released, it makes me a much more informed consumer.
They always have the same things listed, so nothing is really ever that profound.
I love reading them too, but agree it’s a little crazy to keep seeing Orgasm blush (way too orange and sparkly for me) and Great Lash mascara (such a “nothing” mascara compared to so many others). I preferYouTube videos and blogs like yours where the opinions feel much more authentic, not based on advertising, and you can see the product on the person’s face, not just in a beautiful photo. THAT has influenced things I’ve bought much more than magazine lists! 🙂
Fellow Barbara here – I as going to post about the Great Lash mascara also. Tried it as a teen and a few years ago it was recommended by Allure so tried it again and threw it away lol.
You are so right – every magazine list has Orgasm blush and Cetaphil cleanser on it as well.
I do like the lists, they help narrow down the selection a little. I’ll sample first though to make sure it works for me. I just found a recipe for buffalo chicken crock pot meatballs so I’m going to make them for tomorrow.
In the life we lived pre-internet, I think these lists were waaaay more influential-honestly, I get my beauty news and reviews from Temptalia and from you, Karen! I feel like there’s just so much advertising that it’s hard to work out how many products have actually been compared to find the “best” each year-though I do love a list!!
Sometimes I’ll be curious to try out new products that pop up on the lists, with this exception: virtually any color makeup product that is declared to be “universally flattering” is guaranteed to make me look sick, or worse, so in that case I know what to steer clear of!
It’s pretty clear that advertising dollars have a large influence on those lists…
These lists are little mor than thinly disguised paid product advertising. That’s why we often see subpar products make the list while so many outstanding products go unmentioned. You have to pay to play! LOL. In addition, too often the products that are featured do not correspond to my skin care needs or my beauty esthetic. So, no, “The Best of . . . ” lists don’t influence my purchasing decisions in the least.
I don’t trust them for thus far. Unless they give me reasons why its a good product, and insight into the ingredients, performance, finish, and skin types suited for it; maybe then I would consider taking the suggestions into consideration.
If they give good reviews to products I’ve tried that are not good, I lose respect for the magazine very quickly and tend to not even bother to look at those lists. Instead I just look at the ads to know what new stuff the brands I like have come up with.
Why DOES Orgasm keep winning reviews? It’s pretty, but there are plenty of other (less pore-emphasizing) great blushes out there!
I love reading lists too, but I don’t use the “best of makeup” lists for any purchasing decisions. If it’s a blog’s best-of, I’ll take it with a little more weight, but the magazine ones just seem so heavily influenced by advertising $$.
In the past it happened a lot, the Orgasm blush is one good example for me too, but nowadays I think much more carefully about what really match my skin and style.
Never really trusted those magazine lists. When I lived in NYC I had a friend who worked at one of the fashion mags. She said they would get stuff in return for featuring a company’s product. I rarely read fashion magazines anymore. Sometimes I buy the September issues to see all the fall fashions/trends.
I have my favorite bloggers, but ultimately it’s my opinion about a product that determines whether I purchase it or not.
And Maybelline Great Lash? C’mon, you gotta be kidding me. One of the worst mascaras ever. And I’ve never bought Orgasm blush either.
When I was younger I used to love those lists and if I could get one of the products mentioned I would be so proud.
But now I know that I know better than those beauty editors. I have tried so much over the years, discovered so many great products out of the lists, that I know I shouldn’t trust them.
Go Falcons!!!
My daily round-up of beauty includes Allure and Marie Claire, although the Hadid/Kardashian fawning may put an end to that. But because of their online presence, I still pay attention to them … and I still subscribe to Allure. That said, I’ve found some beauty bloggers I trust and pay attention to their year-end lists too. So the answer is yes, but I do my research before buying anything, and if any outlet says X by Y is a must-have and Y doesn’t work for me, it could top God’s list and I wouldn’t buy it.
I always read them, but I’m much more likely to use blogs and social media as a guide.
15 years ago, I would handwrite lists of all the products I wanted from Allure’s Best of Beauty. Now blogs and social media are what influence me. I’m more aware now of how magazines really just feature glorified ads, while blogs are more willing to admit when a product is not good.
Hi Karen!
They used to influence them some years ago. But not any more. I might go and check something out because I saw it on a magazine or a blog, but it’s what I really need and what I know can work with me that’ll influence me. I think knowing yourself and what works helps with controlling influence :).
Have a great Sunday,
Elena
Nope I don’t read magazines!
I think everyone summed it up: mags are influenced by advertisers. So I don’t always trust the products that they say are “best”.
GO PATS! (I live near Boston and I always fantasize I will bump into Gisele Bundchen Brady on, like, Newbury St or in Boston Common and we will talk about our kids and we will arrange play dates. Hasn’t happened yet…)
I bought Orgasm because of it! Which I still like and use.
When I was younger, I loved them, that’s how I found Orgasm blush, which I like, Ballet Slippers Essie nail polish, Clinique Black Honey almost lipstick. But the same winners always win. These days I prefer your blog, or YouTube videos, or just browsing Sephora!
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara seems to make every best beauty list ever and yet I despise the stuff. But the lists are a great way to introduce me to researching the products on my beauty blogs and in reviews on sephora.
I always read them, (personally HATE Great Lash, it’s so blah) but I did discover the best stuff I still use on my hair from one of those lists. I always read them for information and if there are descriptions of what makes the product so good, that influences me a little more. Reading beauty blogs is the way I determine whether or not I want to give something a try more than just reading “best of”.
Sometimes. It depends on who put out the list. A lot of them are paid product placements, so you have to be careful.
What do you review for hauls?