There’s been so much talk about budol culture on beauty TikTok and how many influencers allegedly come out with good reviews on certain products, only to do an “anti haul” on these same things a month later. Budol is convincing someone to do/buy/go for something. In the strictest sense, budol means to “dupe.” For context, “anti haul” refers to a video that sort of discourages your followers from buying certain beauty products by pointing out cons.
I am writing this from the POV of someone who’s been into beauty for decades so she is almost budol-proof. I’m not easily swayed by skin-care recommendations because I already know what works for me. However, I do love fresh and new beauty content and follow a lot of young creators because even at my age, I am still enthusiastic about beauty.
There really is nothing wrong with the budol culture that’s very prevalent on beauty TikTok right now. As someone who writes about beauty and also as a person who is a PR and media consultant for an agency, it is only natural for beauty brands to find people to hype their new launches. The more creators, the merrier. I was recently at a big beauty launch and let me tell you that they probably spent millions for it. The guests included members of media, influencers, makeup artists, and even starlets. Obviously, the brand wanted its new products to reach every media platform possible.
Obviously, the whole point of the brand spending a lot of money was for the guests to spread the word that the new products were good. And most of the people who would convey this message are influencers, who are paid. Like, this is literally their job in much the same way that my job is to write my columns and I get paid for doing that.
Knowing that influencers are paid to influence you will make things easier for the consumer. Even when an influencer says “this video is not sponsored,” you have to understand that the products were given for free. These press kits don’t come cheap. So I do understand why some influencers are hesitant to make bad reviews.
I also understand that at a certain point, influencers have become so big that they’re a brand themself so making bad reviews can be challenging. Disclaimer: I also get press kits/gifts/samples and what I do when I don’t like the product is I don’t write about it. I’m not an influencer so I can do that. I sometimes even return products I don’t like and many brands understand that.
The thing is that influencers usually can’t do that. When they take on a job, they need to complete it. Once you understand the nature of what they do, you will have a better understanding of how things work.
Most of these influencers are not trying to fool us. They are trying to balance things so that they please both the brands and their audience. They cannot say, “This foundation makes me look old because it’s so dry.” But they can say, “This foundation is for someone with very oily skin. Unfortunately, that’s not me.” And that’s okay.
What I’m about to say is not pro-influencer nor pro-consumer. As a journalist, I have been trained to balance all sides of the story. I am a consumer myself and even I am sometimes “budol-ed” by beauty TikTok recommendations and not everything has worked on me. But that is the nature of social-media platforms. Influencers are there to influence us.
So what can we as consumers do? We can and should be more discerning. Not everything we see online is real. We should also be more responsible in the way we shop. I am also talking to my younger self when I say this, “You don’t need to buy everything that’s out there.”
There’s been so much “anti haul” content on TikTok and it’s sad to see such a happy place (meaning the local makeup community) being hit by drama, started because of this Reddit thread (https://bit.ly/3hHJHcB).
I think we can all agree that we want better content from creators, and when we make objective comments and observations, the brands are compelled to make improvements on their products and that’s a good thing. So, yes, if there is something good that will come out of this drama, it’s probably that brand owners will improve the quality of their products.