The rise of TikTok in 2019 has given companies an additional marketing tactic to steal the funds of young teens and their parents. They pay influencers to advertise their supposedly life-changing product and suddenly thousands of dollars come rolling in. I personally have also succumbed to the deception of these businesses. In this list, I will describe each hoax and why they do not live up to their reputation.
1. The Dior Lip Oil
Starting at a whopping $38.00 for a small 0.2
oz vessel of lip gloss. When looking at the hashtag on TikTok #diorlipglow there are 115 million views overall. Of course, this does not account for the views other, related hashtags received. But how did this fad start? When “dior lip oil” is searched on TikTok the most liked video belongs to Olivia Dejarnett. Posted back in December of 2021, the video has now amassed over 2.6 million likes. The short clip is simply her unboxing the luxurious beauty product with the caption “this is your sign to get the dior lip oil”. After the video took off at the beginning of 2022, the oil is constantly out of stock online and at most Sephora stores. In fact, I myself visited Sephora almost weekly during my junior year just to check if they had restocked. After finally getting my hands on the mahogany colorway during the summer – I was thoroughly disappointed. The applicator was nice and large, which was a refreshing contrast to other lip glosses. However, the claim that TikTokers made about the formula being “long-lasting” and “ultra-hydrating” were false. After fifteen minutes I felt the need to reapply and before I knew it I was applying the last, thirty-eight-dollar swipe on my lips. With the same money, I could have bought 8 Burt’s Bees tinted lip balms and slapped a clear gloss over it to have the same effect. Not to mention the moisture would last significantly longer. Overall, the dior lip oil is a bust – just another cash grab.
2. Caudalie Instant Detox Clay Mask
Immediately, the term “instant” should be a red flag for all consumers. Any beauty product that claims to be instantaneous is a marketing stunt. Historically, no beauty product has been able to make long-term effects in such a short period of time. The company claims that one only needs to “Leave [it] on for 10 minutes” to see results in their advertisements (Caudalie.com). However, when reading the fine print on their Amazon and Sephora descriptions, one needs to apply the mask twice a week over a long period of time to see results. On top of the deceitful advertising, the product is $39.00! This translates to roughly $14.82 per fluid ounce. Just to remind you, a fluid ounce is equivalent to about 0.0078 gallons of fluid. The trending hashtags, #caudaliedetox and #cadaliedetoxmask, have a combined viewing of roughly 43.5 million views on TikTok. Going viral on TikTok is the goal for many businesses since it gets them immediate hype across the country and fast income. Clearly, Caudalie succeeded in their swindling.
3. The Rare Success: Revlon Oil-Absorbing Roller
I do not want to paint with a broad brush and claim that all trending beauty products on TikTok are flops. In fact, one of the products I found through this platform I use almost daily. This product has about 22 million views on TikTok, and rightfully so. The Revlon oil-absorbing roller is a one-of-a-kind product. The product is made up of volcanic stone which has the unique characteristic of small porous holes that trap oil from the skin. This product is replacing the famous blotting papers from companies like Clean and Clear. Blotting papers are one-time use and are not environmentally friendly. The oil-absorbing roller, on the other hand, can be is reusable and Revlon recommends replacing the stone every 6 months. Six months of daily use for $12.00 sounds like a good deal to me. That is only 7 cents a day!
TikTok has been popular since 2019 and it does not seem to be going away anytime soon. Companies are taking advantage of this lighthearted and fun-filled app to make a profit on overpriced products. Although many of the products on TikTok are not worth their price, there are some hidden gems. Next time you are persuaded by an influencer to buy a product, do your research and search for the red flags.
Celina,
The fact that I knew every trend you were referencing shows that I am in fact one of the teens being scammed. Just the other day I remember being jealous of one of my friends for having the dior lip oil and I so badly wanted to purchase one. I think I even googled it once to see if I could make the quick purchase. There are a bunch of beauty trends on Tik Tok that cause products to fly off the shelf. Many advertisements I see start off with “Run to X store now before they are out of stock”. We have succumbed to a culture of quick and fast trends (which is terrible financially for us). Many things are overhyped and I see people changing their minds just as quickly. Things that were so in fashion last week are obsolete this week and I see the comment section has completely flipped their opinions. Your blog is literally such an overdue reality check for everyone. You did a great job of having an informative yet engaging blog. It was fun to read because you have a fun voice! I will definitely start to be more self aware when I am scrolling on Tik Tok and do research outside of the app when buying new products.
Hi Celina. It’s interesting to me that you chose to write about Tik Tok trends and how some trends tend to scam teenagers into purchasing their disappointingly fake products. You would think that products that have been bought and reviewed by millions of people would be verified and more trustworthy in terms of their legitimacy, just like how Amazon has its own review system, yet people keep continuing to believe in these fads even after purchase. It’s this delusion that forms where the buyer thinks the product is actually performing as promised, thereby demonstrating a placebo effect. These pre-pubescent minded individuals probably go on to further promote the product on Tik Tok as they believe entirely in the manufacturer’s magical claims at that point. Some probably advertise just for the clout alone since they want to keep on hopping onto the next trend as they’re just looking for attention. The entire business model in itself is deceiving and immoral in my opinion. Normally, a good business would focus on offering a good quality product for a competitive price and then strive to consistently produce that product in good quality in the hopes of having repeat customers and building trust and credibility within the brand. These low-tier companies, on the other hand, make cheap-low quality products and invest heavily in market manipulation and having millions of single customers rather than a few repeat customers. It’s almost evil how those businesses practically prey on kids.