How Our Product Recommendations Work, An FAQ

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that A) you’re familiar with The Infatuation and B) you mostly know us from our restaurant and bar recommendations. Maybe you’ve even used one of our guides to choose a place for a first date with someone who you married six months later. If so, we really should’ve been invited to that wedding.

But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Right now, we want to answer any questions you might have about another (exciting) part of our site: Products Recommendations. How do they work? What products do we cover? Are the reviews honest? No one knows for sure. Except for us. We know. And, if you read this FAQ, you’ll know as well.

What Sort of Products Do You Write About?

At the moment, anything related to food, drink, and entertaining. Which is a pretty large umbrella. Expect us to talk about everything from our favorite steak knives and wine glasses to the best bar carts and candles that smell like peach soju.

Why Are All of Your Product Reviews Positive?

It’s true, all of our reviews are positive. And that’s no coincidence. We only write about products that we like and endorse. If we ever try something that we aren’t wild about or doesn’t work very well, we simply aren’t going to cover it. In part, because no one needs a guide to wine glasses that will shatter in two seconds or less.

But Your Reviews Are Honest, Right?

Hurtful question, but yes. Our enthusiasm is never feigned.

Do You Test All the Products You Write About?

If the situation calls for it, 100%. (You can usually tell when we test things, because we’ll say something like, “We tested these things.”) Full product reviews always require hands-on testing, but we do ocassionally rely on expert suggestions and extensive research for certain roundups. That’s more the exception than the rule, and we try to be as transparent as possible whenever that’s the case.

Do You Get Free Things? And, if So, How Do You Stay Unbiased?

That’s a bit nosy, but we respect it. We do, occasionally, get free things from companies (or their PR agencies) to test out - but it always comes with the caveat that coverage is not guaranteed. As we mentioned, if something isn’t good, we just won’t write about it. As for staying unbiased, well, that’s a fool’s errand. Bias is everywhere, and it watches you while you sleep. But we do our best to keep ours in check.

If We Buy Something We See on Your Site, Do You Make Money?

Sometimes! Other times, not so much. E-commerce stuff like this is commision-based, but not everything results in a commission on our end. Mostly, we try to concentrate on talking about products we’re actually excited about and hope everything works out for the best. If it doesn’t, please hire us at your company. It is very nice to meet you.

What if I Know About a Good Product You Should Check Out?

Tell us about it! Reply to one of our Product Newsletters, or send us an email.