Sunday Riley Good Genes Review: Final grade A+
What They Say: Er, just read any random five-star Sephora review made up by Sunday Riley staff pretending to be customers.
What We Say: It is super gross, and pathetic, and messed up, that Sunday Riley faked reviews. Especially given that Good Genes is a best-in-class serum. (They should make them up for their Juno oil, which, again, sucks.)
The Review: I’m writing this review a couple days after news broke that Sunday Riley forced its employees to write fake reviews — and not just, like, haphazardly. VPNs were involved. Bullet points delivered in a company memo. I’m sure most every other beauty company is doing the same, but it’s bullshit. It’s an unwelcome reminder that everything is corruptible, including user-generated reviews on the Internet. Half the magazines I’ve written for have gone out of business because people trust reviews on Amazon or Goodreads or Sephora more than they trust whoever was writing the recommendations at InStyle. Too bad half the reviewers on Amazon or Goodreads or Sephora are employed by the companies making the products they’re fake-reviewing.
It’s double bullshit in this case because Sunday Riley should be above all this crap. I’m sure there’s no shortage of rival beauty brands dumping bad reviews of Sunday Riley’s products, and I don’t have a solution for that. But I wish they could find a different way — like, I don’t know, hire a private investigator or something, and substantiate that some of their fake reviews were written by competitors. It’s better than what they did.
In short: Everybody lies. And don’t believe a word of what you read on the Internet (er, except for the reviews on Super Jolie.)
This is all extra-dumb because Sunday Riley makes great products. (Except, again, for Juno, which I hate.) Good Genes is the best of all of them. When I was just getting by on a sample, I would save it for special occasions. I rarely wear foundation, but I will wear a primer, and I don’t need to with Good Genes — it evens tones quite impressively. Even more impressive, though, is its ability to brighten while keeping everything rather matte, instead of shiny.
On the negative side, it smells bizarre. It’s the kind of smell that if it were coming out of your oven, you’d open your windows. And there is a slightly strange sensation on applying it: a tingle. Let’s just say that between the smell and the tingle, there’s no forgetting that you’re rubbing a bunch of chemicals* into your face. But both dissipate, and the result — smooth, even, un-shiny skin — is worth the short-lived unpleasantness.
Buy It Again? Yes, even though it costs a fortune.
Further Reading: “Sunday Riley Responds to Allegations of Fake, Employee-Written Sephora Reviews” (Allure)
Get it here: Sunday Riley Good Genes
* Ingredient list: Purified Grade Lactic Acid, Licorice (Glycyrrhiza Glabra), Lemongrass, Aloe, Opuntia Tuna Fruit (Prickly Pear) Extract, Agave Tequilana Leaf (Blue Agave) Extract, Cypripedium Pubescens (Lady’s Slipper Orchid) Extract, Opuntia Vulgaris (Cactus) Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract & Saccharomyses Cerevisiae (Yeast) Extract, Lactic Acid, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Squalane, Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone, Ppg-12/Smdi Copolymer, Stearic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol And Ceteareth20, Glyceryl Stearate And Peg-100 Stearate, Arnica Montana (Flower) Extract, Peg-75 Meadowfoam Oil, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil, Triethanolamine, Xantham Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Steareth-20, Dmdm Hydantoin.
