Suspicious about a brand. Looking for actual experiences with Byroe.

Hey y’all! So I posted this earlier to skincareaddiction and thought I would cross-post it here to hopefully get more input. Let me know what y’all think.

Original Post

I get a monthly beauty box from Ipsy, and Byroe products are frequently included. I’m really careful about what I put on my face (sensitive skin), so I try to look up reviews before trying new products.

Byroe seems to be a fairly well regarded brand within the Ipsy community. That said, when I search for reviews or more details about the brand, all I get is some positive comments from Ipsy users or Byroe’s own website. Something smells fishy to me.

The products are also overpriced IMO outside of the deals Ipsy offers. If this is some premium luxury brand, wouldn’t there be more science or reviews for it outside of Ipsy users? Fragrance is also very high in their list of ingredients for a luxury brand, but I know other real luxury brands like Elemis have fragrance, so maybe that’s not a good point.

The brand is also apparently “award-winning.” Their products have allegedly won awards from the following organizations: Glamour, InStyle, SheFinds, Self, Clean Beauty Awards, Elle, and more. They were also included in a Grammy’s gift bag? If they’re so prestigious, wouldn’t there be more reviews for the products outside of a beauty box that gives it away regularly?

Everything seems to check out, but I’m still suspicious for some reason? Maybe it really is just that great of a brand? Would love to hear from y’all if you have any personal experiences with Byroe!

P.S. I noted this in a comment on the OP, but after looking into some of Byroe’s “awards” I’m even more suspicious. One of their awards is clearly from a content mill (I say this as a professional copy writer), and one of the “panelists” that reviewed the product has a paid partnership with Ipsy. Wasn’t there a big controversy in the past about Ipsy and DLS brands? Could this be something similar? Or is this just normal brand shenanigans?