Akin to that of Eurogamer and Joystiq, I will not be attributing a numerical score to products I review. Simply put, it's misleading and does not provide a full perspective of a product.
When reading review scores for products, I find myself being turned off by the 1 and 2 star reviews which are a small minority of a much larger picture. Often, those reviews are completely misjudged, which really trivialises the entire purpose of a review.
Review scores are too negative. There is usually no indication of the reviewer's skin type, how long they tried the product for and how they used it. In partocular, negative review scores are often a reflex-reaction to one bad experience with a product. I am not referring to those who have a genuinely negative skin reaction to particular products/ingredients.
Review scores are too positive. There are a small percentage of review scores based on samples or 1-2 uses of a product. These reviews are often overly positive and often misleadingly false. Samples and trail products do not offer a full indication of how a product may help or change your skin. While people can fully experience a product through samples - understanding its texture, how it's applied, whether it is suitable for their skin tone or type, and any negative reactions - they cannot fully see the impact of any changes to their skin, whether they are temporary or permanent, how effective it is, and how effective it can only ever be, and most importantly, the impact the product will take on your purse each month.
Review scores just cannot be trusted. Unfortunately, without background profiling or before-and-after evidence, I simply cannot trust the opinions of anyone. There is no threshold for me to judge the value or quality of a review. This is especially true when a product has less than a handful reviews or less than 100 subjects in a clinical trail. I really just cannot trust a word of it.
Review scores are the fastest indication of a products effectiveness. As much as I don't want to admit it, volumes of positive reviews really does ring true. There will always be negative reviews thrown into the mix. The same products just don't work in the same way for everybody [more often than not, that's usually me]. It's a democratic approach to skin care products.
With that in mind, an arbitrary number out of 5/10/100, is not even a small piece of a larger picture. It's a lie. It's a way for consumers to quickly visualise the merit of a product without the need for thorough investigation.
This is why I devised my own system.
This system has no scale and cannot be converted into a numerical value. Products will fit onto one of the following categories (categories may be amended/added as required):
Essential
Effective, repurchase
Effective, don't repurchase
Not Suitable
Ineffective
Avoid
Essential. This product is an necessity to my beauty/skin care regime. It is a product I will continue to use as it yields super successful results!
Effective, repurchase. This product showed effective results and I will continue to use it. However, I am not full satisfied with the product so will continue to hunt for others in the meantime.
Effective, don't repurchase. This product did show effective results but there was an element to the product which I am dissatisfied with. This could be the level of effectiveness, price, texture or any additional reason which will be specified in the full review.
Not Suitable. This product is not suitable or conflicts with my skin concerns. This will generally be products targeted at other skin concerns (anti-aging, dullness) or use particular ingredients (vitamin A, vitamin E), but are ineffective or worsen other skin concerns
Ineffective. This product has shown no visible results. This is aimed at targeted treatments which claim to improve a specific skin concerns, both temporary and permanent.
Avoid. This product had negative effects on my skin, whether worsening a condition or incurring a reaction. This product will be avoided.
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