Influenster, please go away!

[DebKaye]

Can Sephora please block all Influenster-related reviews? They are taking over certain products and it's so hard to get to a real review to determine if a product is worth buying. These ladies are only posting a review b/c they got the product for free, and they are making the review positive b/c they want more free stuff. I'm sure some, or even most, are honest, but it's so hard to weed through them. I was looking through the reviews on Becca's Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer and every review was from an Influenster. It's irritating!

[itscarin]

@browncourtneya I feel so embarrassed to admit I've left influenster reviews on Sephora because there seems to be so much disdain for them! 

But, let me tell you that my reviews have been honest.  The Bobbi Brown palette I received was trash, and I believe I indicated that in my review.  I also reviewed koopari deodorant for influenster, and if I gave it a glowing review, that's because I really liked it!  I actually just went out and purchased it last week during the sale -- so it is a product I would stand by. 

I will say, and this applicable for all reviews -- that I think there's a human bias to either write a 1 or 5 star review.  I'm not going to review something I feel ho-hum about.  I'm only reviewing things I hate or things I love.  It's possible that people writing reviews from influenster are just doing cut and paste reviews, however, it's really not that hard to do an honest review.  Influenster doesn't pay you for positive reviews or slap you on the wrist for negative reviews, so there's no incentive to leave a dishonest review, other than being lazy.  It is also possible that people are just so happy to receive free things that they write a glowing review just because they're in a good mood. 

I'd be more concerned about the fake reviews than Influenster reviews.

[Cyncynn]

@itscarin 

Agreed.

I've left influenster reviews as well and all reviews I've left were honest. 

I do understand and share the concern about the influenster reviews though:

 - a lot of them do seem like copy and paste 

- I believe some people feel like they need to leave good reviews in order to receive more products. (not true from my experience either)

- If you receive a high end product and you normally use drugstore products you might have a superior experience with it and based on that rate it highly. 

I wish Sephora would offer a way to filter the reviews by (1) verified purchase, (2)receive free product and (3) BIC status. I'd be more inclined to believe the review of active community members like Rookie II and above. Nowadays I mostly turn to BIC when I'm interested in a  new product tbh.

[AnneS316]

I know this post is now over a year old, but it seems like the Influenster spam has gotten even worse. Some very pricy products like FRESH - Rose Deep Hydration Sleeping Maskand  Glow Recipe Pineapple Vitamin C Serum 1 oz/ 30 mL have 500-600 reviews, most of which are glowing, most of which are from people who got the product for free, and a good portion of which are very poorly written and uninformative. I get that  it doesn’t technically violate Sephora’s TOS, but what does it benefit them to have literally hundreds of reviews from people who didn’t purchase (or at least get a sample from them)? I wish Sephora took this seriously. So far their responses have been a big nothingburger.

[yuline]

I finally got smart and made sure to sample the new glow pineapple serum and it did nothing for me. It does not feel or smell good good on the skin and was even a little irritating. At that price tag, a big NO from me. I was turned off by the weird abundance of glowing ravereviews when it just launched. I really do rely on reviews when deciding which products to go for so it’s sad the review process is out ofcontrol now. I’ve got my eye on a different product now. I don’t want tomention which brand yet because I’m still haven’t bought it yet and done an adequate trial. I will say this. There are actually some NEGATIVEinfluenster reviews. I do think it’s human nature getting something freeyou tend to go soft on the review without even realizing it. Here’s whatI do. I read ONLY THE NEGATIVE reviews when there’s an overwhelming abundance of positive reviews that all look the same LOL. I also put more stock in VIB and Rouge reviews. The ones with NO negative reviews and all these overdone positive reviews NOT by VIB or Rouge members, well that makes my homework harder so sampling and researching other sites and even you tube is a must. If there are just no answers I gowith my understanding of the ingredients listed and take a chance buying and hope for the best.

[Anonymous]

Right!! Influenster booming in popularity has way oversaturated the reviews sections of so many products... just because people are so keen on getting stuff for free. I actually signed up for their site a long time ago but quickly realized the amount of effort (and fudging many glowing, positive reviews) required gave very little payoff in return. It's seriously a nightmare trying to sort through what reviews are legit and which ones are just kissing up for freebies.

[itscarin]

@Anonymous You actually don't have to write reviews.  Every time you do a snap and they ask you what products you have used and to then write a review for said products, you can skip.  I let them know what products I use so they can put me in the right category, however, I do not write reviews for the items I have indicated I use.  I still get selected for boxes.

The only review you *have* to write is a review of the free product you receive once you've received it, and that seems fair to me.

[ather]

@AnneS316  How do you tell if it’s a spam review? 

[AnneS316]

It’s not technically spam; I just call it “spam” because it’s all over the place and useless to me. People who received products “for review” are supposed to identify their reviews as such. Usually they do... and usually these reviews are over-the-top positive. I don’t doubt that some of these reviews are authentic, but for the most part I don’t take them seriously. And there is no way to hide them.

[sandykat79]

The Influenster spam seems to be getting even worse lately! A brand new product will have 500 rave reviews before anyone could have bought it. 😞

[mmmiu]

It's really unfortunate because I can't trust those reviews...of course it'll be a great/decent review to make sure they keep getting more free products... if i'm looking at reviews on sephora, i quickly scan the longer paragraphs for "free, complimentary, etc.." before committing to reading the full review 

[curlychiquita]

Yes, I would really like a "verified purchase" tag!

[blackkitty2014]

I this idea 😉

[fieldsofclover]

Another vote for a "verified purchase" tag! Yes please! 🗳️🗳️🗳️🗳️🗳️

[grizzlymaze]

I generally dismiss any product that has all these Influenster reviews. If you need to bribe people with a freebie in exchange for gushing and totally exaggerated praise then the product in question cant be all that great. Anyone with any sense pays no heed to these reviews and yes indeed, it would be nice to see them gone or at the very least, filtered out.

[naturalooks15]

Or at least create a filter so that we can filter out the ones that were “part of promotion”, “got free product”

[DebKaye]

A filter would be lovely.

[txcatx]

It would be great if Sephora could follow Amazon's lead and have "Verified Purchase" next to reviews!

[DebKaye]

That's a great idea!

[alexasteph]

Haha, yeah it’s a bit annoying. I gave a couple bad reviews and refused to try one thing they sent me because I knew it would not work for me aaaaaand I stopped getting things. Tons of surveys. But nothing in probably.... a year? 

[Samtian]

@alexasteph I had gotten a few, but ya know not many followers. It's been a few years. Recently I just got 4 different pre-survey's...all for hair stuff. I don't even really have hair lol.

[BohoBeauty1313]

I noticed that same issue A LOT over the last year. You’re absolutely right too, of course they’re going to be super positive to continue getting free makeup that would cost them thousands of dollars otherwise. Darn, I wish I could get all my stuff free too. But anyway I do agree that it can be difficult to sift through the reviews to find out what people like us think about the products. It’s hard to really be sure if the other reviewers are actually being honest. I have never seen one bad review from a Beauty Influencer. I wish that Sephora could put those reviews in a separate review section for those who don’t want to go by what they say. Idk. Just thought I’d say my part and ty for bringing this up.