RealSelf blog posts and news

Defending Our Community's Right To Share Real Experiences

Today we responded to a Complaint made against RealSelf.com by Lifestyle Lift Holdings, a firm that markets the Lifestyle Lift.  The Lifestyle Lift is marketed as a "minor one hour" facial firming procedure.  Some patients who've had this procedure have shared on RealSelf.com both positive and negative experiences by writing Lifestyle lift reviews and adding over 1,000 comments to the RealSelf.com beauty forum.

Complaint against RealSelf.com

In January, Lifestyle Lift Holdings filed a Complaint against RealSelf in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan asserting trademark infringement. We believe that their allegations are false and that their Complaint is a misuse of trademark protection law. It's our opinion that this lawsuit in an attempt to silence critics within our community.  Lifestyle Lift does not have the right to do so.

Our response

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Permanent Makeup Round Two

This is the first day the swelling is down on my lips, but the color isn't even, the shape isn't even, and they haven't flaked and peeled yet, so I don't know how they will look at the end. Consider this an intermediate step, as it takes the lips a month to heal and I'm not even one week out yet. This does, however, look like it is going to take better than the first session, which gave me hugely swollen lips, cold sores,and two weeks of dryness, flaking, and peeling -- resulting in hardly noticeable color.

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RealSelf.com Launches, So You Don't Have To

I’m excited to break the news that RealSelf.com announces its official launch today. Here’s the press release that went out this morning.

Gone are the days in which you need to embark blindly into the unknown for the sake of beauty. Now your investment in yourself may no longer require guesswork, as the RealSelf.com community does the footwork. You can discover personal insights shared in reviews, expert answers and invaluable information on everything from Lipodissolve and laser treatments  to natural skincare and acne treatment.

There are copious amounts of information about anti-aging and cosmetic treatments floating around cyberspace and the media, some which is downright deceptive. RealSelf.com is the first place where a community generates the content. It’s authentic and honest, and I find it reveals insights that are relevant to me such as, Which skin care product ingredients should I avoid?

I have been a blogger for RealSelf.com for over a year, and this experience has introduced me to amazing people with fascinating stories. For me, going through the pages of RealSelf.com is like finding a village of people in my make-up bag who have been there, done that, and are waiting to clue me in on the latest beauty news.

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RealSelf Reviews Tell A Powerful Story In Allure Magazine

“Fat Chance,” a feature article in the latest issue of Allure Magazine about Lipodissolve and other “fat melters,” has a connection to the RealSelf.com community.  Authors of lipodissolve reviews on RealSelf.com agreed to be interviewed for the story and recount their emotional experiences with an audience that extends beyond the web.

But the story goes much deeper.  Hundreds of real people have stepped-up and shared their honest assessment of their cosmetic treatment experiences that get posted under our reviews section.  The fact is, we're much more than a Lipodissolve review site; consumer reviews cover treatments ranging from Radiesse injections to Laser hair removal to teeth whitening.

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Pro-Consumer Pros

There's a new professional contributor on RealSelf...and wow!  Boys and girls, she has been busy! 

   Beauty industry consumer advocate Marie Czenko Kuechel joined RealSelf less than a week ago, and already you can find her straight-up, no-bull comments offered up to RealSelfers site-wide.  

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Reputation Management Spam

Consumers love consumer-generated product reviews.  According to the latest Deloitte study, over 60 percent of consumers read them, 82 percent say the reviews affected their purchasing decisions.

Pat Conroy from Deloitte & Touche explains the impact of greater transparency 

“In the past, clever marketers and advertisers shaped brands, but now consumers are increasingly empowered, everyone has a voice, and information and opinions are instantly dispersed. Consumer product companies need to determine how best to capitalize on this new landscape. Clearly, there will be consequences for those who don’t.”

An important choice of words here: capitalize.  Some firms get this very wrong and think it's about exploiting or abusing review driven sites.  At RealSelf we've encountered those who think exploitation is the path to success, generating fake comments or reviews.

Abusing review sites is a dangerous game, because, like the greedy drug dealer who can't give up the cash flow, the company will eventually get caught.  And social media sites have a lot of authority; so negative commentary about the company is likely to get prominent display on Google. 

The cost of recovering from the sin of fake reviews is hard to quantify.  I recall in my marketing 101 class that it was something like 6 times more costly to turn a negative customer into positive, than a neutral person into positive.  Those customer acquisition metrics simply don't apply to the social media driven online world.  It's a lot worse because faking online reputation leaves prospective customers to conclude the company is unethical and hiding the truth from them.  Then they go blog about it and get this negative sentiment distributed to deep into the internet.

We've been asked, what can a company do about negative product reviews on RealSelf.  My first response is to start by saying what not to do.  First, don't generate fake reviews, and secondly, don't hire a "reputation management" firm to do your dirty work. 

These reputation management firms have cropped up everywhere offering tall promises to repair and protect reputations.  They speak of things like "client education" as in "We improve your company's online reputation by increasing the number of positive reviews through client education" (Luna Vista).  Or promise to "Manage the buzz" (Chatter Guard).  Worse yet, there are firms like Reputation Hawk that portend to manipulate search results in the favor of a client:

"Generate more positive publicity about you or your company on the net.  Build the "authority" of that publicity and convince the search engines that the positive sites are more valid than the negative sites"

Others like defendmyname suggest they can remove, suppress, and replace negative comments with positive ones. 

Another recommendation I offer to the company concerned about comments on RealSelf relates to capitalizing on the fact that consumers are interested in unique insights.  Consumers generally respond positively to a company that's proactive and offers consumers this information.  To this end, we let companies set up accounts that identify their affiliation so that they can respond to comments and join discussions.  We also help companies get visibility to official company responses to reviews.  See an example. In other cases, like a product company, they can build trust with members by answering their questions much like Ava Wilder has done for Earthwise Beauty. 

My hope is that beauty brands, personal care firms, and the aesthetics industry takes the right path here for consumers and keeps it clean, fair, and untainted by reputation management spam.

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Can You Believe What A Cosmetic Treatment Company Will Do To Fake Their Reputation?

If a cosmetic treatment works, why does a treatment provider write fake testimonials? 
 
RealSelf.com exists so consumers can have an honest conversation about elective cosmetic treatments, procedures, and products.  It pains me to see a treatment provider write fake patient testimonials.

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Selling Exercise Free Weight Loss

At RealSelf we're determined to be unbiased about the products and treatments on the market.  The community should make a call on what's worth it, and what's not.

But I have to say, this demo at the at the NYC Spa show this weekend made me realize how hard this position can be...

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The RealSelf Home

This afternoon a RealSelf community member sent a message with feedback about the site (which we love) as well as asking where is RealSelf located other than the web. We're physically based in Seattle, one of the few places you can get an organic, fare traded latte in a fully recyclable container. 

RealSelf offices are smack in middle of one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the United States.  Paul Allen (billionaire co-founder of Microsoft) has acquired significant portions of the South Lake Union neighborhood and is transforming it into a new high rise living and a biotech mecca (See: Remaking South Lake Union: Seattle is on fast track to build biotech hub).  We're the one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood, which sadly means it's slated for bulldozing in the next year or so. 

The neighborhood is quite safe thanks to the careful reminders we get not to steal (this was parked in front of the Bank of America door the other morning)

The actual office space is what I'd call "urban creative." Translation: a loft building that has great bones. Large old growth timber posts, expansive paned windows, exposed beam ceilings.

We're able to function without central air conditioning thanks to the elephant trunks falling from our windows; i.e., exhaust hoses from our portable AC's.  Admittedly not too classy looking but vital to our quality of life.

There isn't a day that we're not buying water, lunch, or snacks at the Whole Foods next door. 

So if you're ever in the neighborhood let us know; I'm happy to spring for a cup of coffee as long as you offer up feedback on RealSelf.com.

--tom

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