Advice to all the Youtube reviewers

[MikeinMichigan]

I have watched a LOT of perfume reviewers online, and I have a top ten list of advice I want to share with them. I would enjoy getting feedback from other members of this community on my list. Do you agree? Is there anything that should be added to this list?
1. Consider where you are video taping. Put that dog, cat or rhinoceros in another room, turn off your phone so it doesn’t ring. If you are outside, make it a nice area without distractions or noise.
2. Research the fragrance. Don’t review an unpopular fragrance, telling your audience “EVERYBODY loves this!”, when they don’t. Look the fragrance up on Fragrantica. If it doesn’t at least hit the 3.5 mark, then there is a lot of dislike out there. It might be the outrageous cost, or it only lasts 5 minutes on someone’s skin, or a lot of people just do not like the smell. I don’t care if you love it, if most people dislike it, you shouldn’t be trying to promote it to me. If you are trying to talk me into an unpopular fragrance, you must be getting a kickback from the manufacturer. 3.5 is the benchmark for a fragrance on Fragrantica. That translates to about 60 % of the reviews are positive on Fragrantica. This makes the fragrance worth sampling. If Fragrantica rated it at 4.0 or greater, most people (about 75%) really like it. Every decimal point above 4.0, means more people like it. You will never see a rating of 5.0, unless the fragrance just came out, unless only one person has voted. Perfume is the most subjective thing in the world!
3. Make sure samples are available. Talk about fragrances that I can TRY. Blind Buys are Stupid. I don’t want to blind buy a $600 bottle, or even a $30 bottle, and find out I hate it. If a sample is not available at a major department store, online at LuckyScent, Frag.net, fragx.net, or another reputable online perfume seller, do not tell me how wonderful it is. So many times a fragrance reviewer will make a fragrance sound like it is a aphrodisiac, and that it is a surefire panty dropper. Then I can’t find a sample anywhere, so I am being coerced into buying a full bottle. I am not going to buy it, if I can’t sample it on my skin first.
4. Display the product, while you are talking about it. Show the bottle if you have one, or get a screenshot from on-line. Put the name of the perfume, and the company on the video screen. Make it easy to know what perfume you are recommending. I should not have to dig through the comments below your video, looking for the name, or the link. Some reviewers will show the name and perfumer on the screen for two seconds, and then it’s gone. WHY? I shouldn’t have to replay your video multiple times, or click on multiple links, to figure out what fragrance you are talking about.
5. Check the volume on your video, before you post it. Make sure your audience can HEAR you. If you have a soft voice, get closer to the microphone. Buy a decent microphone.
6. Promote Available fragrances. If it has been discontinued, (or it is going to be) why would you try and sell me on it? It may be wonderful, but when you have wonderful, and its going away, why bother with it? There are too many great fragrances out there. Don’t send me looking for a unicorn.
7. Don’t include your husband/wife/partner in the video, if they don’t know anything about fragrances. I don’t want to hear “Its nice” its ok, I like it, I don’t like it or a rating of 3.7 from them. If that is your partner’s full description of the fragrance, keep them out of the video. They may look smoking Hot, but that’s not why I watch reviews. Its only the second reason.
8. Be classy. It turns a lot of people off when the F-bomb is dropped. Sexy and risque’ is nice. You want to be vulgar, go make a porn video, and leave the video reviews, to the intelligent people, that know their audience. Your video might appeal to illiterate teenagers, unemployed 30 year olds living in their parent’s basement, people in prison, or people that never leave their trailer. Those people don’t buy or wear a fragrance, they think their body odor is perfume.
9. Keep your personal life out of the review. Talking about past relationships, the car you drive, and lawsuits isn’t why I watch fragrance reviews. I stopped watching one reviewer, because they did that a lot.
10 Dress the part. If you want to be casual, because that is your audience, that’s ok. But look at what you are wearing, before you make that video. Wearing a t-shirt that is five sizes too big, has holes in it, or it’s so faded you can barely make out the rock band you saw 30 years ago, makes me think you don’t really care about yourself. Why would I take advice from that person? Comb your hair. Dress nice. Some reviewers wear a dress, or a suit and a tie. A reviewer doesn’t have to go that far, but I prefer Classy over Trashy every time.
Thoughts?

 

[Shadowartisttxl]

2, 4 and 5 are all I really care about in a review/reviewer.
The rest don't matter to me at all.

 

[lair77]

Buy a decent microphone.

Recording technique is far more important than which mic you buy.

• Have a pop filter or wind screen
• Have some form of acoustic treatment to limit reflections (i.e. panels, foam or blankets/pillows)
• Record in a quiet area
• Speak at an appropriate distance (i.e. 2-12 inches).
• Keep the mic still. Don't handle the mic with your hands or sway around
• Speak directly into the capsule

A cheap mic used correctly sounds better than a $1000 mic used incorrectly.

 

[lair77]

My main tip is to be time efficient.

Don't spend too long on the intro. Get straight to the point of the video within the first minute.

Don't repeat the same points over and over. A quick summary of your points toward the end of the video is fine. Don't make a 15-20 minute video that only 5-10 minutes worth of unique content.

 

[Salumbre]

My personal favorite would be 11: STOP EXISTING. JUST. STOP.

 

[hednic]

My personal favorite would be 11: STOP EXISTING. JUST. STOP.

I'm for this also.

 

[lair77]

toxic.....

hednic villain arc 😄

 

[Varanis Ridari]

I have watched a LOT of perfume reviewers online, and I have a top ten list of advice I want to share with them. I would enjoy getting feedback from other members of this community on my list. Do you agree? Is there anything that should be added to this list?
1. Consider where you are video taping. Put that dog, cat or rhinoceros in another room, turn off your phone so it doesn’t ring. If you are outside, make it a nice area without distractions or noise.
2. Research the fragrance. Don’t review an unpopular fragrance, telling your audience “EVERYBODY loves this!”, when they don’t. Look the fragrance up on Fragrantica. If it doesn’t at least hit the 3.5 mark, then there is a lot of dislike out there. It might be the outrageous cost, or it only lasts 5 minutes on someone’s skin, or a lot of people just do not like the smell. I don’t care if you love it, if most people dislike it, you shouldn’t be trying to promote it to me. If you are trying to talk me into an unpopular fragrance, you must be getting a kickback from the manufacturer. 3.5 is the benchmark for a fragrance on Fragrantica. That translates to about 60 % of the reviews are positive on Fragrantica. This makes the fragrance worth sampling. If Fragrantica rated it at 4.0 or greater, most people (about 75%) really like it. Every decimal point above 4.0, means more people like it. You will never see a rating of 5.0, unless the fragrance just came out, unless only one person has voted. Perfume is the most subjective thing in the world!
3. Make sure samples are available. Talk about fragrances that I can TRY. Blind Buys are Stupid. I don’t want to blind buy a $600 bottle, or even a $30 bottle, and find out I hate it. If a sample is not available at a major department store, online at LuckyScent, Frag.net, fragx.net, or another reputable online perfume seller, do not tell me how wonderful it is. So many times a fragrance reviewer will make a fragrance sound like it is a aphrodisiac, and that it is a surefire panty dropper. Then I can’t find a sample anywhere, so I am being coerced into buying a full bottle. I am not going to buy it, if I can’t sample it on my skin first.
4. Display the product, while you are talking about it. Show the bottle if you have one, or get a screenshot from on-line. Put the name of the perfume, and the company on the video screen. Make it easy to know what perfume you are recommending. I should not have to dig through the comments below your video, looking for the name, or the link. Some reviewers will show the name and perfumer on the screen for two seconds, and then it’s gone. WHY? I shouldn’t have to replay your video multiple times, or click on multiple links, to figure out what fragrance you are talking about.
5. Check the volume on your video, before you post it. Make sure your audience can HEAR you. If you have a soft voice, get closer to the microphone. Buy a decent microphone.
6. Promote Available fragrances. If it has been discontinued, (or it is going to be) why would you try and sell me on it? It may be wonderful, but when you have wonderful, and its going away, why bother with it? There are too many great fragrances out there. Don’t send me looking for a unicorn.
7. Don’t include your husband/wife/partner in the video, if they don’t know anything about fragrances. I don’t want to hear “Its nice” its ok, I like it, I don’t like it or a rating of 3.7 from them. If that is your partner’s full description of the fragrance, keep them out of the video. They may look smoking Hot, but that’s not why I watch reviews. Its only the second reason.
8. Be classy. It turns a lot of people off when the F-bomb is dropped. Sexy and risque’ is nice. You want to be vulgar, go make a porn video, and leave the video reviews, to the intelligent people, that know their audience. Your video might appeal to illiterate teenagers, unemployed 30 year olds living in their parent’s basement, people in prison, or people that never leave their trailer. Those people don’t buy or wear a fragrance, they think their body odor is perfume.
9. Keep your personal life out of the review. Talking about past relationships, the car you drive, and lawsuits isn’t why I watch fragrance reviews. I stopped watching one reviewer, because they did that a lot.
10 Dress the part. If you want to be casual, because that is your audience, that’s ok. But look at what you are wearing, before you make that video. Wearing a t-shirt that is five sizes too big, has holes in it, or it’s so faded you can barely make out the rock band you saw 30 years ago, makes me think you don’t really care about yourself. Why would I take advice from that person? Comb your hair. Dress nice. Some reviewers wear a dress, or a suit and a tie. A reviewer doesn’t have to go that far, but I prefer Classy over Trashy every time.
Thoughts?

Seems like your angle here is that YouTubers aren't really reviewing product, they're promoting it.

I agree with that. There really isn't much of a need for a platform like YouTube if you're doing actual opinion pieces on fragrances since folks don't look for that from YouTubers anymore, if they ever did.

This is because YouTube rewards promotion and interaction, which you can either do by being informative and entertaining (hard mode) or playing the angles and shilling (easy mode).

A necessary evil to drive platform growth to unlock monetization is pandering and tailoring content for a well-known audience, which is the reason people don't just use Twitch to stream themselves sitting on their deck; folks go there for gaming, riff tracks on movies, etc; Picarto for art streams, so on.

As for the rest, I feel like you're putting so much focus on what Fragrantica and it's users want or need that you forget where you are. This is Basenotes, and since 2000, folks have prided themselves for being wet shaving hobbyists, fragrance nerds, DIY perfumers, all outside the mainstream "norm" and what have you.

So saying what Fragrantica requires for a scent to be popular (and by insinuation valid) here is like going to a meet-up of Dodge Charger enthusiasts to brag about your Ford Mustang. If you don't get knuckle-dusted, you'll at least get dirty looks and groans! 🤣

That said, I know a lot of folks use more than one forum database site, and some friends have accounts here, Fragrantica, and Parfumo; but what happens on one site, generally should stay there. I've never heard anyone here put much stock in how folks on Parfumo rate fragrances either, now that I think about it.

I don't have any tips for YouTubers as I don't watch any from the FragComm.

 

[Salumbre]

So saying what Fragrantica requires for a scent to be popular here is like going to a meet-up of Dodge enthusiasts to brag about your Ford Mustang.

 

[GoldWineMemories]

The only sort of reviewers I am interested in are people who offer information that exceeds my own: Luca Turin; or people who are captivating, and don't make nonsense videos that follow the "influencer" trend: Persolaise.

Also, if you mention reformulations in anything but passing I'm out.

 

[lair77]

Youtube becoming more about promo is unfortunately another example of a market being solved. Sort of like what I said in the dark state of mens fragrances thread.

Except now, there's a formula for success on youtube. That trial and error aspect is gone. No more do people have to just make videos for the sake of curiosity and knowledge. There's always a way to optimize them for more profit.

 

[cheapimitation]

The best thing you can do when you see a problem with the way others are doing things is do it yourself. Channel your energy into making what you see lacking. Everyone has a platform to be a critic now, heck we are critiquing the critics here! But when I am tempted to write a nasty comment on a video that pops into my feed that I hate I try to remind myself that channeling my energies into creation rather than critique is a more satisfying route.

There are a lot of bad YouTubers out there but it's so easy to simply ignore them! They don't owe us anything, we are consuming their content for free and they have no obligation to cater us.

 

[Ahimsa]

The best thing you can do when you see a problem with the way others are doing things is do it yourself. Channel your energy into making what you see lacking. Everyone has a platform to be a critic now, heck we are critiquing the critics here! But when I am tempted to write a nasty comment on a video that pops into my feed that I hate I try to remind myself that channeling my energies into creation rather than critique is a more satisfying route.

There are a lot of bad YouTubers out there but it's so easy to simply ignore them! They don't owe us anything, we are consuming their content for free and they have no obligation to cater us.

may I just say, you're completely wonderful. and I agree.
I've been seeing so much disdain for you tubers and it seems so unnecessary & unwarranted, to me.
As with so many things, take what you need/enjoy and leave the rest.

Put that dog, cat or rhinoceros in another room

Surely not! The rhinos are everything!

 

[Schnitter]

My suggestion would be to not be a shill, but ever since they all decided to release their own fragrance... money is the only motivation they see.

 

[Emanuel76]

1. Buy the samples/decants/perfumes.
If they were supplied to you by the manufacturing company, you're instantly disqualified. Zero credibility.

2. "Longevity." "But the longevity." "I would have love it, if it had better longevity." "Longevity longevity longeeeeeevity."
Permanently ignored.

3. To not be able to detect the wall o scent drone bullshit aroma chemicals.

4. Brief description based exclusively on the notes from the olfactory pyramid, with almost nothing relevant added from you, is not a review, no matter what you fill the time with to lengthen the size of the videos.

 

[metanoia]

4. Brief description based exclusively on the notes from the olfactory pyramid, with almost nothing relevant added from you, is not a review, no matter what you fill the time with to lengthen the size of the videos.

Honestly, this bothers me so much. When I find no written reviews, I sometimes look at YouTube (otherwise I hardly ever bother, because it’s just not a genre or a format I am interested in) and it irritates me so much when someone basically reads back to me what notes they found listed on Fragrantica. Especially since everyone knows how unreliable their notes lists are. At least have the decency to look up the og brand release info.

 

[Melbourne Man]

may I just say, you're completely wonderful. and I agree.
I've been seeing so much disdain for you tubers and it seems so unnecessary & unwarranted, to me.
As with so many things, take what you need/enjoy and leave the rest.

Surely not! The rhinos are everything!

I can definitely understand the disdain, given that many of the larger channels do not actually review perfume. Problem i have with some of the posts on threads like these, is that ALL youtube fragrance channels are dismissed by virtue of simply being on youtube.

 

[cheapimitation]

I can definitely understand the disdain, given that many of the larger channels do not actually review perfume. Problem i have with some of the posts on threads like these, is that ALL youtube fragrance channels are dismissed by virtue of simply being on youtube.

I must admit, as pointless as I find those channels that simply recite various lists, I often let them play as background noise when I'm doing something else. Maybe this is what everyone is using them for? lol

 

[SubUmbra]

1. Consider where you are video taping. Put that dog, cat or rhinoceros in another room, turn off your phone so it doesn’t ring. If you are outside, make it a nice area without distractions or noise.

I rather like the opportunity to see pets. Keep 'em in the room! But yes, make sure noise-related distractions are minimal/nonexistent.

2. Research the fragrance. Don’t review an unpopular fragrance, telling your audience “EVERYBODY loves this!”, when they don’t. Look the fragrance up on Fragrantica. If it doesn’t at least hit the 3.5 mark, then there is a lot of dislike out there. It might be the outrageous cost, or it only lasts 5 minutes on someone’s skin, or a lot of people just do not like the smell. I don’t care if you love it, if most people dislike it, you shouldn’t be trying to promote it to me. If you are trying to talk me into an unpopular fragrance, you must be getting a kickback from the manufacturer. 3.5 is the benchmark for a fragrance on Fragrantica. That translates to about 60 % of the reviews are positive on Fragrantica. This makes the fragrance worth sampling. If Fragrantica rated it at 4.0 or greater, most people (about 75%) really like it. Every decimal point above 4.0, means more people like it. You will never see a rating of 5.0, unless the fragrance just came out, unless only one person has voted. Perfume is the most subjective thing in the world!

I argue that paying absolutely no attention to relative popularity is better. Who cares whether it's popular or unpopular on Fragrantica? Your last sentence in this point is in direct opposition to the rest of it: perfume appreciation is subjective, so what should it matter if something is popular or not? There are many great perfumes which are popular for a reason. There are also many horrid ones popular for very specific reasons, many of those reasons are in direct opposition to potential viewers' tastes. There are many reasons why people may like or dislike a perfume which shouldn't automatically bestow praise or condemnation on it.

If this point was carried out, YouTube reviews would be boring, predictable, non-diverse, and way too similar (more than they are already!). I really hope YouTubers ignore this advice (no offense meant to OP).

6. Promote Available fragrances. If it has been discontinued, (or it is going to be) why would you try and sell me on it? It may be wonderful, but when you have wonderful, and its going away, why bother with it? There are too many great fragrances out there. Don’t send me looking for a unicorn.

While I respect the intention behind this point, I also think there is a time and a place to talk about perfumes which are difficult to source or discontinued. Your presumption seems to be that any YouTube video must be trying to sell you on something. While this may be true for many reviewers, I've had luck finding others who just like to talk about fragrances and don't seem keen on convincing you to buy something. If we only ever talked about perfumes which were, for example, readily available in malls, then again, reviews would become boring and we would risk forgetting about monumental points in perfume history. There are plenty of YouTubers who do a great job separating their discussions of "current/available perfumes" versus "discontinued gems." Viewers have every ability to ignore the latter if it doesn't suit them.

8. Be classy. It turns a lot of people off when the F-bomb is dropped. Sexy and risque’ is nice. You want to be vulgar, go make a porn video, and leave the video reviews, to the intelligent people, that know their audience. Your video might appeal to illiterate teenagers, unemployed 30 year olds living in their parent’s basement, people in prison, or people that never leave their trailer. Those people don’t buy or wear a fragrance, they think their body odor is perfume.

You have every right to prefer content without cussing, but other people have every right to speak in the way which is true to them, too. It may not be your intention, but this point reads as classist and pretentious. Again, I'm not calling OP those things, I'm saying the way they've phrased this point comes off that way. For every person who matches OP's idea of "classy and intelligent," I'm sure there are five people who are incredibly intelligent yet curse like sailors, live with their parents, and read more books than the average person (some of them smutty!). Most of the time, I think I'd rather hear the latter person's opinion.

9. Keep your personal life out of the review. Talking about past relationships, the car you drive, and lawsuits isn’t why I watch fragrance reviews. I stopped watching one reviewer, because they did that a lot.

There are times when personal stories can be interesting and help to draw interesting parallels to fragrance. They can humanize the review if used judiciously.

10 Dress the part. If you want to be casual, because that is your audience, that’s ok. But look at what you are wearing, before you make that video. Wearing a t-shirt that is five sizes too big, has holes in it, or it’s so faded you can barely make out the rock band you saw 30 years ago, makes me think you don’t really care about yourself. Why would I take advice from that person? Comb your hair. Dress nice. Some reviewers wear a dress, or a suit and a tie. A reviewer doesn’t have to go that far, but I prefer Classy over Trashy every time.

Your preference shouldn't be phrased as a general bit of advice. We all have our dispositions; the assumptions we make about a person based on their appearance. I get that. But what's classy to you is subjective and bears no real insight into the people who fail to meet your standard. Many millionaires -- people it seems you would expect to dress "classy" -- actually wear the same tired pair of jeans and basic t-shirts every day. Someone's appearance shouldn't matter much if your only expectation is to learn about perfume. It's ok for you to have more expectations than that, but I would avoid giving this as general advice. There's a place for everyone in perfume, or at least there should be.

The best thing you can do when you see a problem with the way others are doing things is do it yourself.
Everyone has a platform to be a critic now, heck we are critiquing the critics here!
They don't owe us anything, we are consuming their content for free and they have no obligation to cater us.

Wonderfully put, cheapimitation!

 

[Salumbre]

As it stands nowadays, YouTube is a doomed platform.

It started in a very different way, but the monetization changed the rules of the game, and now it's nothing but shameless, classless hawking.

 

[thrilledchilled]

I just enjoy some of the YouTubers. Ramsey is great. Rich Mitch is entertaining. I enjoy the Wafts guys of couse. Eugen. Persolaise. I find them enjoyable.

 

[Ahimsa]

As it stands nowadays, YouTube is a doomed platform.

I certainly hope not as there is a lot of critical content on youtube. and I'm not talking about perfume content, which matters little.
I'm talking about truthful information, much of which you won't hear a peep about on mainstream media.
Also, the amazing animal content that should be helping to teach us all! ... a subject more important to me than anything.
on & on & on.

I consistently see things that are interesting and crucial to understanding this strange, amazing Universe, of which we are a part.
Everything Is Connected. and if we can not learn this by ANY means necessary, things we watch being a huge part of the education in this Technological Age, everything is also ... done.
(might be anyway, but that's another discussion.)

 

[Emanuel76]

As it stands nowadays, YouTube is a doomed platform.

It started in a very different way, but the monetization changed the rules of the game, and now it's nothing but shameless, classless hawking.

Really?!
I love it.
I mean, how would I have known about "The Bi-Oceanic Corridor to revolutionize South America" if I hadn't watched CaspianReport channel right now? Or about "Belarus builds its first amino acid plant in cooperation with China" if I hadn't watched CGTN?
OMFG!

I almost never search on YouTube for reviews. I'm googling. Even when Google recommends YouTube reviews, I ignore them. But in rare cases I'm desperate that I cannot find anywhere a review of a perfume, or not enough reviews to find out what I'm particularly interested in.

 

[Salumbre]

I certainly hope not as there is a lot of critical content on youtube. and I'm not talking about perfume content, which matters little.
I'm talking about truthful information, much of which you won't hear a peep about on mainstream media.
Also, the amazing animal content that should be helping to teach us all! ... a subject more important to me than anything.
on & on & on.

I consistently see things that are interesting and crucial to understanding this strange, amazing Universe, of which we are a part.
Everything Is Connected. and if we can not learn this by ANY means necessary, things we watch being a huge part of the education in this Technological Age, everything is also ... done.
(might be anyway, but that's another discussion.)

Really?!
I love it.
I mean, how would I have known about "The Bi-Oceanic Corridor to revolutionize South America" if I hadn't watched CaspianReport channel right now? Or about "Belarus builds its first amino acid plant in cooperation with China" if I hadn't watched CGTN?
OMFG!

I almost never search on YouTube for reviews. I'm googling. Even when Google recommends YouTube reviews, I ignore them. But in rare cases I'm desperate that I cannot find anywhere a review of a perfume, or not enough reviews to find out what I'm particularly interested in.

My bad. Perhaps I should have qualified my comment better.

I watch YouTube for all that content, plus movie previews, clips and reviews, interesting interviews, plus A LOT of music --opera is my latest obsession, and thanks to YouTube I have been able to listen to a lot of Maria Callas recordings I didn't even know existed. And comedians, old and new, and TED Talks, and movies you can't find anywhere else (Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Pharaoh, for example), and, and, and...

I was specifically talking about the YouTube of fragrance reviewers and other content that has suffered because of monetization (furniture artists, for example). So I should have made that clear from the beginning, instead of just doing the blanket pronouncement thing.

 

[Emanuel76]

I was specifically talking about the YouTube of fragrance reviewers

Short, concise and to the point.
Watch and learn!

 

[Ahimsa]

My bad. Perhaps I should have qualified my comment better.

I watch YouTube for all that content, plus movie previews, clips and reviews, interesting interviews, plus A LOT of music --opera is my latest obsession, and thanks to YouTube I have been able to listen to a lot of Maria Callas recordings I didn't even know existed. And comedians, old and new, and TED Talks, and movies you can't find anywhere else (Jerzy Kawalerowicz's Pharaoh, for example), and, and, and...

I was specifically talking about the YouTube of fragrance reviewers and other content that has suffered because of monetization (furniture artists, for example). So I should have made that clear from the beginning, instead of just doing the blanket pronouncement thing.

Understood. 😊 ✌️ Sometimes I get so frustrated with computer-speak. If I had a dollar for every time I was misunderstood online or in emails, I could afford a bottle of Bois Des Iles.

 

[leffleur]

I’m old school. I like the type of videos of genuine enthusiasts just sharing their collections/wardrobes/things they are trying- like YT once was. Even discontinued fragrances.

Maybe because I’m not looking to be sold on something. I think I’m a hard sell- always. IRL, everything, regardless of the charm and of the salesperson.
That is the channel I tried to make and those are the ones I watch- or am subbed to anyway. (My channel is irrelevant …haven’t bothered in years. I don’t necessarily want to review things I’m trying or loving right now. Only to enjoy them. But, when I love something…I want all the other fragrance lovers to know about it, in case they don’t.)
I do however enjoy the challenge of describing something well enough, that the viewer/reader can really “smell” what I smell. It’s satisfying when you can do that. It’s not like makeup that you can swatch or a watch you can show. You have to really use your words, and they all count. My preference is something like an article or short story, not a novel.

I have to admit, I don’t watch for entertainment or engagement so much. Even when a personality tickles me, I don’t really stick around if their tastes vary greatly from mine.

Usually tho, as a viewer, I’m searching for particular fragrances, or notes, not personalities. (Similar to how I hunt for things to test. So yes, I lurve note or fragrance family list videos.)
Clearly, I’m in a minority.

I do like some industry peep chanels- as mentioned, I love Persolaise, especially because he speaks with noses. That interests me greatly.

 

[Sloth]

Fragheads are a minuscule % of the consumer base and therefore to suggest that a good rating on any frag forum means it’s generally popular (or not) is both egotistical and delusional.

 

[Hugh V.]

My thoughts, which have been posted in other threads:

YouTube fragrance reviews are as others have said, just about promo. You get a charismatic, and/or moderately attractive person speaking positively about a fragrance you're interested in, and the viewer is pretty much sold on the product. Previously, fragrance houses had to rely on models and celebrities to sell their perfumes. Now, they can rely on aspiring influencers doing it for them for free on YouTube.

Kind of like how Yelp and other review sites work. We write reviews for free, when previously, pre-social media/pre-internet, you could actually get paid to write reviews. Some people even could make a career out of it.

I'm pretty much off of YouTube fragrance reviews. They either serve the purpose of being an unofficial spokesperson for the fragrance, or a virtual friend. The inarticulate, unattractive, uncharismatic YouTuber fragrance reviewer is likely to make you reconsider that fragrance they're speaking positively about, even if you really like it yourself. The funny, attractive, charismatic reviewer, telling you how much this fragrance conveys a sense of confidence and quiet pride? That's going to make you feel confident to pull the trigger.

Then there's the one's that talk to you as if you're one of their close friends, wishing you a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening, and sharing their private thoughts with you over a cup of coffee.

We're mostly fragrance nerds, but I dislike how mainstream and overly monetized any fandom has become these days. I enjoy chatting it up with most of you about fragrances, because it feels like this is the perfume equivalent of a 1977 Star Trek convention. But in situations where it feels like it's just about networking, monetizing, or trying to clout chase, I'm off that.

 

[Gilturko]

8. Be classy. It turns a lot of people off when the F-bomb is dropped. Sexy and risque’ is nice. You want to be vulgar, go make a porn video, and leave the video reviews, to the intelligent people, that know their audience. Your video might appeal to illiterate teenagers, unemployed 30 year olds living in their parent’s basement, people in prison, or people that never leave their trailer. Those people don’t buy or wear a fragrance, they think their body odor is perfume.

This is classist and biased.

 

[SubUmbra]

YouTube fragrance reviews are as others have said, just about promo. You get a charismatic, and/or moderately attractive person speaking positively about a fragrance you're interested in, and the viewer is pretty much sold on the product.

Just my own observation but I'm not so sure about this being the totality of reviewers on YouTube, even if it is the majority.

I'd also like to believe that the majority of people aren't so easily swayed to spend so easily, though that certainly seems to be truer the "deeper" into the hobby one goes.

Previously, fragrance houses had to rely on models and celebrities to sell their perfumes. Now, they can rely on aspiring influencers doing it for them for free on YouTube.

An interesting point. I think it comes with both positivity & negativity. One positive is that there is no more gatekeeping: the fact that anybody can speak about perfume now allows different kinds of people to feel represented in the community, plus the sheer number of different personalities means that we now have an array of people for the observer of said media to relate to. I earnestly think that's a huge positive, because it's helped the industry reframe itself from the same sorts of ideals and standards that it adhered to before.

Of course, this abundance in perspective creates "noise" and often comes with its own toxicities.

The inarticulate, unattractive, uncharismatic YouTuber fragrance reviewer is likely to make you reconsider that fragrance they're speaking positively about, even if you really like it yourself. The funny, attractive, charismatic reviewer, telling you how much this fragrance conveys a sense of confidence and quiet pride? That's going to make you feel confident to pull the trigger.

Then there's the one's that talk to you as if you're one of their close friends, wishing you a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening, and sharing their private thoughts with you over a cup of coffee.

I think the range of perfume reviewers on YouTube extends far beyond this almost-binary scale -- again, even if most are within it. I follow different accounts for different reasons, but I can honestly say that those I follow don't do any of the following: rely on their looks; assign only superficial meanings to perfume; overshare; etc.

But in situations where it feels like it's just about networking, monetizing, or trying to clout chase, I'm off that.

Fair. Awful stuff, really.

 

[Hugh V.]

An interesting point. I think it comes with both positivity & negativity. One positive is that there is no more gatekeeping: the fact that anybody can speak about perfume now allows different kinds of people to feel represented in the community, plus the sheer number of different personalities means that we now have an array of people for the observer of said media to relate to.

This was the bad thing before the internet. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to read "professional" reviews and articles on various subjects, and it was like the writers themselves were uninformed about crucial details, were gaslighting you/acting as shills, or just doing innocuous commentary that didn't really commit to whether it was good or bad. Once regular people were able to give their opinions about things on message boards, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was the feeling of "Okay, I'm not the only one that thinks this," or "Okay, I'm not crazy." People weren't getting paid, and there was no real potential to get paid yet, so you more often than not, got legitimate, honest, and sincere reviews and opinions.

Once people and companies figured out how to monetize this, it went all bad. Even on message boards as recent as the 2010s, I noticed forum users posting behavior and comments being somewhat off, even from long time users. Then I found out that a lot of them do "online marketing", or something like that, where they are paid to promote things on their social media under the guise of being a regular person, forum user, or fan. Even being antagonistic wasn't out the realm for these paid people, as companies caught on quickly to the idea or "outrage engagement."

YouTube is getting bad too. It got to the point where it was in the comments section where you'd get honesty, facts, and corrections. But even that is compromised, as PR firms offer people and companies bot armies to sway public opinion, on Twitter and in comment sections. And people are afraid to speak their honest opinion for fear of downvotes or getting ratioed. Don't wanna hurt their brand.

It's like, holy crap, is everyone's opinions and beliefs part of some hustle/angle/monetized deal?

We've already been conditioned to accept being walking billboards and ad space for companies and corporations. The next thing, people are going to start selling their opinions to the highest bidder, and then perpetuate it amongst their real life friends and acquaintances. Kinda like Amway.

I earnestly think that's a huge positive, because it's helped the industry reframe itself from the same sorts of ideals and standards that it adhered to before.

In what ways exactly?

I think the range of perfume reviewers on YouTube extends far beyond this almost-binary scale -- again, even if most are within it.

True. But considering that most people aren't going to get in front of the camera for millions without getting paid for it, I find it helpful for me to view things like this in more cynical terms.

I follow different accounts for different reasons, but I can honestly say that those I follow don't do any of the following: rely on their looks; assign only superficial meanings to perfume; overshare; etc.

Do you feel comfortable sharing some of the YouTube ones?