If you’ve even opened TikTok in the last couple of weeks, you probably know about the mascara drama that went down during the last week of January. In short, a famous BeautyTok influencer named Mikayla Nogueira partnered up with L’Oreal to promote their “Telescopic” mascara. Instead of just using the mascara, Mikayla sneakingly added false lashes at the end of the video, claiming that she got the look by only using 2-3 coats of the L’Oreal mascara. Needless to say, her followers weren’t happy. A lot of them pointed out the fact that it looked like she was wearing wispy fake lashes, but Mikayla denied it. The whole thing turned into a huge mess. But since then, it seems like there has been a shift in the beauty industry and the way TikTok influencers create content.

TikTok Influencers and Brand Deals

Back in 2020, TikTok was my favorite social media platform to get beauty recommendations from. The videos were short and sweet, and most of the beauty influencers were smaller accounts that were just starting out. Mikayla is actually one of the OG TikTok beauty influencers, who posted her first video in 2020. Since then, most big brands realized how powerful TikTok really is. 

Most products that went viral on this social media platform would be sold out immediately. Even the mascara that I mentioned previously was sold out for weeks after the video was posted. So you can only imagine the money that brands would pay to successful TikTok influencers such as Mikayla. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with false advertising and straight-up lying.

Most of us are already aware of the fact that traditional advertisements aren’t realistic. But when it comes to influencers that we love and follow, we just can’t help but feel a certain amount of biases. So when they tell us that a product is great and worth our money — we believe it’s true.   

The Shift in Beauty Consumerism 

After getting the much-needed wake-up call, a lot of us started being smarter and more careful when it comes to trusting TikTok reviews. There’s a ridiculous amount of new beauty releases, and no matter how much you love makeup, you just can’t buy all of them. So to know what product is worth the money, and what product you should skip, I would suggest two things.

The first one — look for reviews from smaller accounts. Unsponsored videos from real-life people who have nothing to gain or lose from reviewing a product are more trustworthy than the ones of influencers who partner up with big brands. That sounds a bit rough, but it’s true. There’s no need to sugar-coat your opinion when you have no ties to the brand. 

Another great tip — even if a product is hyped up on the internet, don’t buy it before checking it out at the store. Most makeup products have testers available in every drugstore. Testing them out first will give you a better idea of the color, texture, and formulation of the product you’re eying. The only person who has to be satisfied with the product is you. So make sure to value your own opinion before anyone else’s.

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