How to tell if beauty influencers are lying to you, according to Leigh Campbell and Kelly McCarren.

If you're someone who's partial to a wee bit of beauty goodness (read: all of us), chances are your TikTok or Instagram is bursting with beauty content. From your favourite brands and their newest launches to a giant slew of beauty influencers reviewing products and telling you what to buy and what not to buy.

And while it's mighty helpful to get the lowdown on trending products that are often hyped up as 'the next best thing', how do you really know what's legit and what's just someone trying to flog something to make a quick buck?

With beauty brands launching a new product every other day, how is it actually possible for influencers to give you an accurate review of something they've probably often only used for a short period of time - especially when it comes to skincare?

Well, if you've ever asked yourself any of these questions, you've come to the right place.

Watch: Speaking of influencers... at 30, successful influencer and business owner Sophie Cachia turned her 'perfect' life upside down. Listen to a snippet of her interview with Mia Frteedman on No Filter. Post continues below.

On a recent episode of You Beauty podcast, our very own Leigh Campbell and Kelly McCarren answered this exact question.

A You Beauty listener asked: 

"Genuine question: Beauty influencers, You Beauty host included, say that they try all new products before recommending them. But if you need to try a product consistently for a month or so to see any actual results, and you are constantly trying many new products at the same time, with so many to try, how can you actually tell if anything is working? Or what is causing the good results?

"How can you isolate one specific product if you are trying so many and for such a short time? This sounds cynical, but I just don't understand how you could possibly recommend any serums when there are way too many factors at play."

Good question. Important question. Because while we all like to think we've got some pretty good BS detectors when it comes to beauty advice online, the world of beauty influencing is a bit of a Tetris puzzle - and sometimes it can be really hard to know what's genuine and what's not. Even for people who are in the industry themselves (see: me).

So, we put it to Leigh Campbell and Kelly McCarren to explain exactly how they test skincare and makeup products - what they recommend and what they don't. (And yes, it's pretty nosy to get a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes).

To kick it off, Leigh said, "I have been doing this for 20 years. And when I first got into beauty media, I absolutely slapped anything and everything on my face."

Enter: Beauty editor skin. The somewhat ~unspoken~ phenomenon characterised by sensitised skin, irritation and an impaired skin barrier - all earned from trying way too many active ingredients on your skin. Anyone else been there?

"We did anything we could because it was free," said Leigh. "It was exciting and there were so many treatments. I definitely went through that phase 15 years ago, but I'm not in that phase now."

"Whenever I get new products and items are sent in, in particular, if it's right for my skin tone or concern (and oftentimes they're not), I look at what's in my routine at the moment. And I will only ever have one active at that time."

When you get sent a product, Leigh explained, you're also sent what's called a 'press release', which talks about the expected results over however many weeks. 

"So, if products are making a marketing claim, we put that to the test," she shared.

Of course, not always will beauty reviewers use a new product for three whole months. As Mamamia's designated beauty rat, I'm someone who also spends a lot of time putting a lot of new products on their face - so, this is something I can attest to.

Because if beauty brands are marketing their product to say that after one week you'll see brighter skin or a more even skin tone, we're going to want to see this after one week. 

When it comes to heavy-lifting ingredients like vitamin A, however, this is when things are a little different. Because these types of products need more time.

"I will only ever put down my other vitamin A and add a new vitamin A in," said Leigh. "That's probably the product I would test for the longest because that's a slow burn."

The same goes for vitamin C, said Leigh. "Everything else is just calming, soothing, barrier support." See: Your hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and ceramides.

"I only test one results-driven product at a time - and the rest kind of remains the same," added Leigh. "I will never add a bunch of results driven skincare to my regime at once. Firstly, my skin can't handle it. I'm not sensitive, but I'm sensitised. Secondly, it's not a fair review of the product." 

"If I really don't like the smell, if it's you know, the texture is not right for me, for whatever reason I don't enjoy it, I probably won't continue - and that's because what we talk about on You Beauty podcast is opinion-based."

Makeup, Leigh said, is very different. "You can test once or twice and you know how you feel about it. Sure, we're testing for efficacy, but we're also testing sensorially - so smell, texture, dry down, longevity. You know if you like it or not. If your make up flakes after two days, we retire that one and we don't recommend it."

As Kelly goes on to explain, there are a few different things to keep in mind when you're scrolling through (or listening to) product recommendations.

"I get that it is hard to know who to trust and who's recommendations to trust. But the thing that people need to remember is that if we're saying something is good, and it's actually rubbish - that does not benefit us at all. If we were getting paid to talk about a product, yes, we would get that instant benefit of money, but our long term reputation and trust within an audience would be shot to shit, which means it would cost us money. There's no reason to lie."

"Do we change our mind about products all the time? Are products that I didn't like two years ago that now I froth on? Definitely. And there are products that I recommended years ago that I'm like, oh my god, I would never put that near me - but that's because everything changes. Our skin changes, life changes, the science behind skincare particularly."

Importantly, Kelly also said to always listen to the language beauty influencers are using around certain recommendations - often you'll be able to pick up on what is legit and what might be a little... off.

"I always pay attention to the language that someone is using when they're talking about a product. Whether or not it's an organic recommendation or it's paid, you will hardly ever hear me say I saw 'a reduction in pigmentation' or a reduction in fine lines' when I'm using a product. Because I hardly ever give something the proper amount of time to trial it to be able to say that.

"What you might hear me say is that 'the clinical studies are amazing' because I was sent the press release and saw all of that. But I don't have three months to try one product - that's only four products a year in a different category."

Wanna get your ears around the full episode on You Beauty podcast? Head here:

Speaking of product recommendations, have you voted in the You Beauty awards yet?! Click the link below to nominate your favourite brands and products.

What do you look for in a good skincare or makeup product? Share with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Mamamia/Canva/Instagram, @mikaylajmakeup/TikTok, @zozoroe.