Last week, news broke that cult skin care brand Sunday Riley had agreed to settle with the the FTC over allegations that company employees wrote fake positive reviews on Sephoraâs website. A whistleblower had reported this practice on Reddit in 2018.
But Sephora reviews havenât always had the most trustworthy reputation. For years, people have shared their concerns that reviews on the makeup sellerâs website are too promotional and may even be censored.
Below, find 24 tweets that show Sephora shoppers havenât necessarily trusted its web reviews for quite some time.
sephora reviews arenât trustworthy bc everything on there has 4.5 stars. makeupalley and reddit are the only ones u can trust
— ă (@emilymester) October 22, 2019
A tiny thing to be mad about in an earth-sized vortex of shit but Sephora product reviews are now full of "I received this product for free from [scammy website] in exchange for my honest review" reviews and it stinks
— Helen Rosner (@hels) September 11, 2018
hypothesis: other brands using the same review hyping scheme as sunday riley (you know they arenât the only ones) are shook right now and telling folks to cool the fake reviews for a while.
— Scare-ricaJoy (@EricaJoy) October 21, 2019
to be a fly on sephoraâs data science teamâs wall.
why does sephora sell $60 water bottles and why are all the reviews positive? yâall buying $60 water bottles AND being happy about it?!
— cherylâs blossoms (@jourdayen) January 9, 2019
One of the awful things about the leaked Sunday Riley email on Reddit: it demands glowing fake reviews for Saturn, an anti-acne product, claiming it totally cured acne.
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) October 21, 2019
At the same time, I remember, other Sephora reviewers complained it was too strong & would burn your face.
Never believe Sephora's reviews. I have screenshots of bad review comments I have left that disappeared. About 5 of them.
— Felisha Kay (@FelishaKay89) May 15, 2019
I'm surprised they were blocked by Sephora, who often deletes negative reviews. None of this is a surprise to me. There are fake/dishonest reviews all throughout the beauty industry.
— Jerklord Cromwell đ #LABeaten (@iamjerklord) October 22, 2019
It's not the first time. Sephora also practices deleting negative reviews and farms out anything they don't like. I was a VIB for years, now I go elsewhere. #VIBLies #SephoraLiesToYou
— Lolo Avalon (@lolo_avalon) October 22, 2019
After the Sunday Riley scandal I donât know if I can trust any review on Ulta, Sephora, or Morphe ever again.
— đ€đđChelsea 𧩠Kelley đđđ€ (@TheChelsea1) October 24, 2019
Most reviews on Sephora are basically "I'm giving this product 5 stars because I can't admit that it was a bad decision to spend $60 on aloe vera patches to put on my boobs."
— đtwitr darlingđ (@the_real_keg) October 16, 2019
Sephora really needs to add a âverified purchaseâ tag to reviews. Sure, let anyone continue to contribute, but I want to know that the person actually bought it. It would help combat nonsense like this.
— It's Christina! (@Shower_Girl) October 16, 2018
sephora reviews are literally like "okay so i had a severe allergic reaction to this but it is sooo pigmented, OBSESSED, five stars!"
— hannah chambers (@hanchambers) August 4, 2018
hell, if Sephora needed some positive reviews to boost sales they shoulda just dialed a brutha
— Rubsomedirtonitâąïž (@_rubdirtonit) October 22, 2019
i like reading reviews for makeup and lol why is someone promoting bwl on the sephora website pic.twitter.com/GntY8Q0fAc
— ăŸă (@ksjjkoo) August 24, 2019
I like that Sephora rejects my review of my Bitch, Perfect lipstick shade because it has the word Bitch in it.....
— PrairiePhlox (@PrairiePhlox) October 14, 2019
This is why you can't trust Sephora reviews. Not a single one of these people actually HAVE the product. pic.twitter.com/fxAWp7HeE9
— Jessica Desjardins (@jessica_desj) September 19, 2014
sephora sells a 7 oz jar of coconut oil for $36 the only ingredient is coconut oil & the reviews are like "its WAY better than coconut oil!"
— ^âą^ (@dickfettuccine) November 12, 2016
Sephora reviews are like âthis $60 product is a great stocking stufferâ
— đ± (@bexdoesthings) September 30, 2019
Whatâs it like to be rich
i love when the reviews at sephora come for the other reviews "WE ALL KNOW THIS IS A FIVE STAR PRODUCT" "i don't even own this!!" pic.twitter.com/YLJbkgVXgI
— Safiya Nygaard (@safiyajn) December 28, 2016
i don't trust sephora reviews for this very reason pic.twitter.com/E9Hh3Vg2oF
— Syd (@sydschaefer) November 13, 2016
sephora reviews be like: âI have very dry skin but I used this product that explicitly states itâs for oily skin and it didnât work for me!! 0 stars terrible product!!!!â
— Asia Jackson (@aasian) November 23, 2018
Sephora reviews are wild sometimes lmaoo pic.twitter.com/VDPjR6504o
— Naomi (@_mimiamaro) August 15, 2019
i have tried at least 3 times like a week apart to review this ouai hairspray i got at sephora bc i hate it sooooo much and every single time this happens đ€ pic.twitter.com/ZOKdfC1SUV
— the cash register sounds in st percy (@hellakyra) June 15, 2018
Still waiting for that skin care product that "changes your life" like the Sephora reviews say
— Kara G (@karagold_xo) November 22, 2017