The internet is a funny old place. For us as a tiny startup organic beauty brand, it was an incredible leveller. Social media and search engines allowed us to target the same customers as mainstream ranges with much bigger budgets.

We grew rapidly and built an audience of global customers that in a previous age wouldn’t have been possible. I love that I can talk directly to our customers, allowing us to respond to your needs and build the sort of relationships even modern bricks and mortar businesses dream of.

But, over the last eight years or so, another phenomenon has arisen that has given me pause for thought and often leads to interesting discussions in our team and with our community: fake news.

What is fake news?

Fake news is the use of social media and dubious content outlets to share facts and stories that have no or little grounding in truth.

Why do fake news and facts in beauty matter?

Being able to recognise fake facts, or cut through marketing noise is important for your self-esteem.

One recent example was a story that did the rounds in 2020. After six months in lockdown, a new ‘beauty worry’ emerged called ‘tech neck’.

This was the idea that looking down at your screen all the time would cause a saggy chin and wrinkles. Several articles, all linking to ‘anti tech neck’ problems emerged, all conveniently selling products.

The truth is tech neck doesn’t exist. Some marketers somewhere wanted women to worry about it so they could sell skincare.

It’s a rotten truth, but much of the mainstream beauty industry is built on misinformation and what marketers call ‘creating a need’. By making you feel insecure (often about something you’ve never worried about before), brands create a desire in you to purchase a solution.

At Odylique, we’ve worked hard to build a transparent, ethical marketing process that doesn’t play on the self-esteem of women, but it’s not the easiest space to control.

Another great example of this is the rise of women worried about cellulite, which wasn’t a thing until recent decades. Cellulite is not abnormal, unattractive, or weird in any way. It’s a perfectly natural consequence of ageing. NO product used on the surface of the skin can remove it and there are many ‘fake news’ stories out there that are designed to incite a response from you, with very little truth.

You have a right to choose and use products in an educated way:

One of the ways you may see fake facts turning up is in stories that rely on a percentage of people. Often, in beauty and skincare this will relate to how many people worry about a problem OR more seriously, how many people saw great results.

Before you take these numbers as credible, it’s important to ask a few questions:

1. Who conducted the survey, and do they have a vested interest in the results?

If a survey for an age-related issue has been held by an anti-ageing beauty brand, they’re going to look at the data with a skewed view, usually to prove their credibility or assumptions. Independent or clinical research is usually more trustworthy

2. How up to date is the information?

Ingredients, formulations, and views are constantly tested, and even beauty and skincare manufacturers have a hard time keeping up.

I really like the apps Yuka and The Good Face, which both help consumers independently assess the safety, efficacy and ethical standards of the ingredients they use.

An educated consumer is a powerful consumer, so don’t just trust what you see on the label, do some research around a product’s promise by checking its ingredient list with a credible source.

3. How big was the sample size (and how was it selected)?

88% OF WOMEN FELT THIS MOISTURISER MADE THEM LOOK YOUNGER. That’s a great selling point and sounds like the truth. But if the test was carried out on six 25-year-olds with limited signs of ageing, and it’s aimed at 50-year-olds, then it’s not relevant.

In advertising always look for the tiny, small print that says how and who a brand got their data from.

4. Reviews aren’t always the truth

We have a review process at Odylique both on and off site that we have worked hard for, and we never shy away from a negative comment. It’s our chance to learn and demonstrate how much the delight of our customers matters to us.

But we’ve seen examples of sites editing old product pages with great reviews to show a new product.

One very well-known cult skincare brand was fined thousands in the US for lying on its reviews and sometimes competitors will deliberately sabotage a rival (rare in our industry, but it does happen).

We always say that the devil is in the details. When were the reviews published? Can the purchase be verified? Is there a photo (we’re working on bringing this onto our brands asap) and are there details beyond ‘an xxx customer’ on the review?

Also, is the review fair? If there are 50 good reviews and then one that absolutely slaughters a product, chances are that person may have experienced some expectations that weren’t met or a rare bad experience. All brands have them, it doesn’t make a bad product or brand. It's important we think critically about information without an obvious source.

5. Influencer doesn’t mean expert

I love working with influencers. Over the years, some brilliant, educated minds have worked with us to try products, assess how effective our skincare is for their skin type, and offer unbiased reviews.

Because of them, we’ve reached new audiences, gained brilliant feedback and achieved brilliant things.

At the same time, we have a policy of not paying for influencer pieces. Influencers are doing a job like anyone else – we know that and respect it. But we made the decision as a business that paying for someone to honestly review your product was a huge conflict of interest, we weren’t willing to compromise on.

Secondly, many ‘skincare experts’ have no or very little formal training, in organic formulations, skin aesthetics or how to treat different skins.

We’ve seen advice be downright damaging. If you want valid, reputable skin advice, ask a dermatologist. If you want to know how a product range will affect your skin and what to put with it, ask the brand. If you want to know about formulations, it’s trickier but many people enjoy labmuffin.

Just because someone is famous and has a lot of treatments, doesn’t mean they know skin. ALWAYS take the time to check the ingredients you’re using to see how effective they are.

At Odylique, I vowed to create a skincare brand that does three key things:

Empowers its customers

Protects the planet

Ethically treats its suppliers

A big part of that is being upfront with our customers, so, if you have any questions at all, ALWAYS contact our organic skin experts or post them on our Facebook and I’m delighted to give you the most transparent response I can.