The Guide To Getting A Good Review - Chapter One

As a beauty blogger I've received my fair share of review requests, written those reviews, and then gotten complaints when said reviews aren't all sunshine and bunnies. It's bound to happen though, especially for newer, start-up indie companies. No matter what you do, you can't please everyone all of the time, inevitably someone will dislike something you do, or something you make, and mistakes always happen. Unfortunately, the internet-court of public opinion can be a pretty unforgiving place.

Just because it's impossible to be perfect, however, doesn't mean you shouldn't try. It's important to know what's expected from you as an indie business, what you should be doing and equally, what you shouldn't, and how to recover if you make a mistake.

This guide will be split into chapters, with a new chapter appearing each week. It is aimed at explaining the criteria most reviews consider and what your customers may expect, the best practices for indie businesses, and what to do if you're caught doing something you shouldn't.

Promising the world may increase your sales, but they'll soon be flatlining if you never live up to them. Never promise what you aren't absolutely sure you can deliver. Don't claim your products, or your business, is something unless you've done research and know first-hand that it's true. Whilst this rule applies to all aspects of your business, there are a few worth outlining specifically.

i. Vegan/Vegetarian
Don't claim your store is vegan if you have even one product which isn't. Don't claim something is "nearly" vegan - that's an utterly worthless statement. If it contains even a tiny dab of an animal-derived ingredient, it's not vegan, and that's the end of it.
Know what is and is not vegan and make sure your customers will, too, by making this clear on product listings.

ii. Animal Testing/Cruelty
Small businesses cannot afford to test on animals. You can exalt this as a selling point if you wish, but we will know that it's nothing special and it's not an indicator of your virtue. If you want to claim that you're against animal cruelty, you should do more than simply not test on animals, since it's not a viable option for an indie business anyway. For example, be a vegan store, or donate a portion of your proceeds to an animal charity.
For the love of god, do not steal the cruelty-free bunny logo from PETA. You actually have to pay PETA to use that, and we can search their database and see if you did or not.

iii. All Natural
This is a tired, hokey sales technique. Chances are your product isn't all natural and that you wouldn't even know if it was. Mineral make-up isn't inherently untouched and natural, it's usually processed and treated in various ways, sometimes *gasp* with chemicals. Sometimes, chemicals make things better. Unless you have the detailed knowledge of the raw ingredients you're using and how they're processed, don't make this claim.

iv. Health Benefits
There's a right way and a wrong way to do this. The wrong way is to claim your product is healthier than something else without clinical trials to back it up. Certainly don't claim it's healthier just because it's 'natural'; this is complete and utter bollocks and we will know you don't know what you're talking about.
The right way is to explain if products are formulated without certain ingredients which are known to cause allergy/sensitivity problems in some individuals. For example, bismuth oxychloride or stevia. Do not claim that these ingredients are dangerous to health, cause cancer, or anything else equally stupid. Leaving them out for sensitive customers' comfort is fine, and should be mentioned. Leaving them out because you think they cause cancer just shows you're uninformed and fear-mongering.

v. Sun Protection
You cannot claim an SPF value on a product unless you've had it tested by the FDA. That's expensive, so you probably haven't. You can claim a product contains an ingredient which is known to offer some sun protection, for example zinc oxide. You can't claim it's SPF-anything without having done the tests to know exactly what the level of protection is.

vi. Going Green
If you want to claim your store is eco-friendly, green, or anything similar, make sure it actually is. There's more to being green than using recycled paper. Make sure your products, packaging, invoicing, suppliers, and distribution chain are in-keeping with the promises you make. Remember that customers will still expect a printed invoice and secure packaging that keeps their purchases safe.

vii. Timeframes
It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice-versa. Your TAT (turn-around-time) should include a longest, worst-case scenario time. Pad it accordingly. Customers should be prepared to wait that long in order to get their purchases, and hopefully get them sooner. This way, if delays do happen, the customer was prepared and agreed to this possibility before ordering. A shorter TAT might look inviting, but repeated poor feedback complaining of delays will definitely put people off.

viii. Ingredients
Full-size products should include an ingredients list on (or with) the product. I don't care what excuses you make, this can be fit onto the packaging, it just leaves less room for pretty logos. Use two labels if you must. I don't care if this is a one-of-a-kind mix, you made it, you should fucking know what went into it, and you need to make sure the customer does, too. Ingredients lists ought to be included on the product listing as well, because it saves customers asking for it, and lets us know you know what you're doing.
All ingredients lists must be accurate, and correctly written. An eyeshadow ingredient list should not simply say "mica". For example, an eyeshadow made using TKB Trading's CSmax base and Antique Gold mica would have to include on its ingredient list: Mica, Carnauba Wax, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide.
Ingredients should be listed in descending order by the amount present in the finished product.

ix. Successful Sales
If you have a sale, make sure you're prepared for it. Make sure your website can cope with the demand, your codes work, and that you have all the stock included available. Decide how much you can sell and how much stock you can create to satisfy orders within a reasonable timeframe, so customers aren't left disappointed or with unexpected delays. Ensure you will have supplies leftover to continue business as normal when the sale ends, and carefully consider what type of discount you can afford to offer without harming your business.

x. Safety First
If you sell an eyeshadow, all the ingredients in it should be safe for use around the eye area. Do not sell a product which you call an eyeshadow if ingredients aren't eye-safe - even if you use a disclaimer telling people they aren't. It's just lying, if it's not safe for use around your eyes, it's not a fucking eyeshadow. If you want to use non eye-safe ingredients, list the product as multipurpose and make sure it's clear where the product is and is not safe to use, be it lips, eyes, cheeks, in nail polish, etc.
Sanitation should also be of paramount concern. It isn't explicitly promised, but customers expect their products to be created and handled in sanitary conditions and be free from bacteria. Of course they do. You don't expect someone to have sneezed in your brand-new lipgloss, do you?
Have a dedicated working area, wear gloves, remove jewellery, wash your hands and sterilise tools, do not smoke, or eat, or allow children or pets in the working area, and be careful to keep products from becoming cross-contaminated so your ingredient lists are always accurate.

Although most of these things are the law, and all of them should be common sense, you'd be amazed at the number of companies that fall down on some, or all of these points. Doing so is a pretty sure-fire way to earn one bad review after another.