On Being Transparent with Gifted Skincare Products (Am I being too harsh?)

So when I posted my skincare review video weeks ago, my sister told me that I was a little bit too harsh with my comments on the products. I don't know... was I? I don't think so. Maybe I was (lol)? I was just trying to be as transparent as I could. Maybe even too much. I base my reviews and recommendations on my own experience and online research. I like doing reviews but sometimes I feel a little bit pressured when recommending skincare products in particular because I am not a skincare expert/professional and I don't want to ruin anyone's skin because of my recommendations (even though skincare products should be used at your own risk and you should always do a patch test). It is indeed a privilege to receive skincare products in exchange for a review but I also want to be as honest as possible. If something doesn't work for my skin, I won't pretend that it does or that I like it BUT I try not to eliminate the possibility that it may work for other people. Some of the stuff that were sent to me cost quite a bit of money, especially for broke college students like me. So if anyone has read or watched any of my reviews, I want them to at least be satisfied with their purchase if they paid a lot of money for it.

The Fig Boosting Essence by I'm from is an example of a product that was just okay for me but worked well for someone else. I ended up giving it to my mother and she absolutely LOVES it and still uses it every single night. I really wanted to love it but it didn't really target my skin concerns (besides dryness) and it shouldn't be mixed with a high concentration of niacinamide due to its betaine salicylate content (which I learned the hard way...). I use The Ordinary's Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% almost every night except on nights when I exfoliate. So I couldn't really find a way to incorporate the Fig Boosting Essence in my current skincare routine.

So yeah, I just wanted to share my thoughts because I felt super bad about being way too critical about products that I personally didn't like. I haven't received an incredibly horrible product yet; only ones that didn't quite work for me. The video that I'm referring to at the beginning of this post is down below. I still don't think I was being too harsh in the video (lol) but maybe next time, I'll tone it down just a bit or choose my words more carefully!