Am I the only person who thinks that this phenomenon is really creepy?!
I am subscribed to probably a dozen gurus who regularly accept "gifts" from subscribers. Sometimes the items the gurus receive are used, and other times they are brand new.
I don't mean to pass judgment on people who send the gifts, or those that receive them, but the idea is really strange to me...
I could definitely elaborate on this, but for how I'll keep this short and sweet!
If you are inclined, share your thoughts in the comments ;)
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Honestly, when I see any Haul videos all I ever think is "they're only recommending this because they're paid to" even though they might not be getting paid. I guess I'm just conditioned to think that way since there's so much deceit in a lot of the YouTube beauty community. But yeah, that's absolutely creepy. They shouldn't be accepting gifts, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little conflicted about this. As a former "guru", I've actually SENT gifts to subbies. I've exchanged gifts with other people in the makeup community. I do sometimes look at people with the side eye when they promote stuff (hawking wares), particularly if they have a ton of subs & it looks like the vendor is trying to capitalize on their popularity.
ReplyDeleteI truly respect how recently, one of my favorite hair gurus disclosed how a vendor from whom she purchased a wig, as well as rec'd a free wig asked her to LIE to YT & tell us that she bought the free wig. It went a long way towards the credibility of the guru to be honest with us all. As if somehow buying the free wig contributed to the "hotness" of it. On top of that, the guru realised that the vendor had STOLEN copyrighted images of custom wigs & published them on her website. It was an issue of integrity, so she could in no way recommend the site to us. The guru has over 25k subs. We value her opinion as she is ALWAYS honest with us. I couldn't help but wonder, "Just how OFTEN does this go on?"
There are other gurus whom I've seen do gift hauls, but generally they were items sent for a bday or something like that. I've also seen beloved gurus rec hard to find items from subbies. I always just thought it was from a generous soul who really loved the guru & appreciated the time they took to share what they do on the YT. However, the prevalence of some YT gurus to HAWK the wares of different companies who've rec'd terrible reviews really makes one skeptical about the veracity of their reviews. UGH!
I DO NOT agree with wearing USED lip products (YES, I'm judging), LOL but I'm also a certified germo-phobe! LOL
@ blahbethany.com & 1xellus1: I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting gifts from people I don't know. I view "swaps" differently, but I think that subscribers sending items to gurus (especially used cosmetics) is very odd. It is none of my business what others do, I'm just making an observation! I do have many thoughts on the subject, though, and am wondering if I should so a more lengthy post!
ReplyDeleteLMAO* Yeah I think it's kind of wierd too, and makes me question the intention of the guru if they are accepting gifts like that. I mean I'm all for free products from cosmetic companies, to me there is no difference in accepting something like that than going online and requesting a free sample. But used makeup kind of skeeves me out especially from a total stranger! Lol* You could get mouth herpes that way! Lol* I dunno in the end it's the internet and there is basically no regulation of it so you kind of have to use common sense and take what you read or view with a grain of salt. I just try to have fun and not take it too seriously. ;)
ReplyDeleteI just hate "hauls" in their entirety. I enjoy seeing reviews of products, regardless of how those products came to be, and I really like to know what's new and hot but "haul" posts really smack of "look at me and all the stuff I can buy!" Okay, I'm happy you got the ENTIRE special edition collection on the day it came out but we've all seen much better photographed images of the products - TELL US HOW THEY ARE!
ReplyDeleteI recently ordered some products from a company and I'm really pleased with the products and the service I received from the company, but I'm not sure how to really talk about it. I don't wanna be like "woo, here's my 30 bucks worth of one dollar nail art supplies", but I'm pretty pleased with the quality.