MakeupAlley
Reviews and Complaints

Easy to navigate! - My favorite part is the reviews about skin care and beauty products. The other make up review site that was listed was too hard to read. Make up sites should not have ugly user interfaces.

I was a contributing member of makeupalley.com since its inception and posted many reviews and participated in discussions. I had a lot of followers there. After nearly 20 years, I was bullied off the site by a pack of vicious political trolls just before the last presidential election. Let me be clear: I was not posting any partisan screeds or promoting any particular candidate. I was just curious as to how people were leaning, as others were posting about, but that was enough for the trolls to pack up and attack. I was mostly on the "Owl" board for members over 40 (we had all known each other for years by member name or sometimes personally), but the mob that appeared out of nowhere and descended on me included people none of us there had ever heard of. There were a couple dozen of them at least. The moderators did nothing.

So I left the site without any great feeling of loss, because I'd been noticing that most of the new reviews sounded like marketing shills, and that some members who posted multi-episodic stories about their lives on the Owl board sounded kind of alike: one woman had a mentally challenged daughter, another had an incontinent elderly mother, another flew to Scotland to marry an internet boyfriend in a kilt, and more, which I now realize were all transparently written by the same person with the goal of attracting more clicks. By now, I'm sure there are fresh narratives, and the "reviews" are nearly all bought and paid for. So, sadly (a word used ad nauseum in the Reviews section), Makeupalley.com is not what it once was. It's almost totally monetized now, for both commercial and political purposes.

I looooved this site when I first joined (the VERY beginning of time!). People were friendly and swaps were great! I never knew so many products existed and I was introduced to "etailers". Then for reasons unknown they did away with swaps (boo!). I had so much more to try/swap. HOW dare they! Then all of a sudden the ladies and gents started acting above everyone and it was their opinion or the highway! Gang-up mentality ensued and heaven forbid you have a question! You got chastised! The new format is CRAP! So long MUA! You will be a period of my life when I looked to you for excitement.

makeupalley.com ain't worth it, ya know? It's mostly just a place for people to gossip and talk about their lives. I used to be all about it, but then I realized that I was just wasting my precious time. Ain't nobody got time for that!

MakeupAlley is a website where you can find reviews on all sorts of makeup products. It's a great place to go if you're looking for honest opinions from real people. However, I have to say that I've noticed a lot of negativity on the site lately. It seems like some people just want to tear others down instead of being helpful.

I've seen some really mean comments on reviews that didn't deserve it. It's not fair to the person who took the time to write the review and share their experience. Everyone has different skin types and preferences, so it's important to respect that.

I think people need to remember that there's a real person behind every review. It's not just a computer screen. We should all try to be kinder to each other and lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. After all, we're all just trying to look and feel our best.

Despite the negativity, I still find MakeupAlley to be a valuable resource. I've discovered some amazing products thanks to the reviews on the site. I just wish people would be a little more respectful and considerate of others. It would make the site a much more pleasant place to be.