Peter Thomas Roth Skin Care Review
9.07/10
Quick Overview
- Difficulty
Moderate
- Cost
High
- Trial Period
30 Days
Peter Thomas Roth is a premium skin and beauty product manufacturer named after its founder, who created the company in 1993. Roth's health and beauty heritage dates back almost a 100 years, to when his family operated multiple spas in Hungary. As a young man, Roth struggled with acne, and as he grew older, the broader topic of skin aging became a chief concern.
These interests set Roth on a quest to learn everything he could about the science of skincare, a passion that eventually led to the creation of the Peter Thomas Roth skincare company.
Since those humble beginnings, Roth's company has transformed into one of the largest and most successful skin and beauty manufacturers in the country, with 100+ products and hundreds of positive reviews from both average consumers and expert skincare publications alike. The Peter Thomas Roth product line is neatly divided into several categories, including Cleansers, Scrubs, Tonics, Moisturizers, Hydrators, Masques, Peels, Treatment Serums, Wrinkle Creams, Brighteners and Sun. Assorted other categories include Lips, Eyes, Hair, Body, Shave and Acne. The company has even introduced its own line of quality fragrances for both men and women.
Peter Thomas Roth has partnered with Beauty.com, a major online skin and beauty product retailer that also offers products from other brands, to handle a large portion of their online distribution. This partnership allows consumers to receive Peter Thomas Roth products at discounted prices with a number of perks that are exclusive to Beauty.com. This begins with the company's Dollars Program, in which you'll receive 5% store credit for every purchase made. The store credit accumulates and can be applied towards a future purchase, similar to a gift card. Other perks include free shipping on orders over $25, as well as free gifts and product samples for qualifying orders.
Over the years, Peter Thomas Roth as proven its ability to deliver high quality skin and beauty products by winning numerous awards from major beauty publications across the world. These accolades can be seen by clicking the Awards link found in the top navigation menu of the Peter Thomas Roth website. Each award is neatly displayed with the name of the award, the magazine or online publication in which the award appeared, and the year in which the award was given. Organizations and institutions including Allure, Star, QVC, Men's Health, Esquire, Prevention Magazine and even the Skin Cancer Foundation have awarded recognition to various Peter Thomas Roth products including Anti-Aging Buffing Beads, Un-Wrinkle Concealer and Brightener, Instant Mineral SPF 45, Radiance Oxygenating Masque and many more.
Peter Thomas Roth manufacturers 100% of its product line in-house in a factory located in New Jersey. The company sources ingredients from as far away as Switzerland, while most ingredients come from premium manufacturers located in New York. Every aspect of the skin care product process, ranging from product development to production and distribution, is handled under the same roof. Peter Thomas Roth himself works with a resident chemist to parse the latest scientific breakthroughs and incorporate them into the development of the company's products. Even the company's art department, which designs product labels and the Peter Thomas Roth website, is maintained in-house. All of these provisions allow Peter Thomas Roth to personally control the quality of every aspect of the company's products.
Peter Thomas Roth takes a transparent approach to revealing the composition of their skin and beauty formulations by displaying full ingredient lists for all of their products. You can find these lists by navigating to any of the Peter Thomas Roth product pages on Beauty.com and clicking the Ingredients tab. If you find yourself on the Peter Thomas Roth website, you'll also be able to see ingredient lists by viewing the product pages and clicking both the Key Ingredients and Ingredients tabs. The company deserves acclaim for revealing its ingredients online instead of forcing consumers to purchase products first and read the ingredients label later.
Another useful feature on the Peter Thomas Roth website is the Ingredient Glossary. Found at the bottom of the left navigation menu, this area includes a complete alphabetical listing of all of the ingredients found in Peter Thomas Roth skincare products. Each ingredient name is followed by a brief definition describing how the ingredient is used, and what benefits it provides to the skin or the product in which it's included.
With all of that said, it should be made clear that Peter Thomas Roth is not an all-natural skincare product manufacturer, nor does it claim to be. Although many of the products consist largely of natural ingredients such as herbal extracts, essential oils, vitamins and minerals, the products also contain artificial additives such as parabens (potentially harmful preservatives used throughout the non-all-natural skincare industry), chemical fragrances, artificial colorings and more. Still, the company's products have been met with satisfaction and praise from both consumers and mainstream media outlets alike, both of which have described the safety of the Peter Thomas Roth skincare product line.
The areas of clinical testing and research are two of the weakest for Peter Thomas Roth, a company that rarely publishes the results of clinical trials on its website. Although some of the product pages include before and after pictures, and all offer a description of the benefits available with that particular product, this hardly counts as scientific testing. Given the size and popularity of the company, the most likely scenario is that Peter Thomas Roth indeed clinically tests their products, and only incorporates the most effective ones into their line of over 100 products. Still, many consumers would find it useful to read the exact results of these studies on the company's website.
With that said, it's important to note that Peter Thomas Roth himself is actively involved in the research and development of his company's products. Roth is adept at combining old Hungarian skincare philosophies, which largely revolve around the minerals and muds found in natural thermal springs, with modern skincare science. This marriage of old and new has resulted in a product line that consistently generates praise from many corners of the health and beauty industry.
It's easy to determine the effectiveness of the Peter Thomas Roth products sold by Beauty.com by visiting the company's individual product pages and viewing testimonials located within the Reviews tab. The testimonials feature a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5, a list of suggested uses and a brief summary of the customer's experience with the product. Each review also includes a standardized list of pros and cons, such as "absorbs quickly," "smells great" and "long lasting." Finally, the testimonials conclude with a "yes" or "no" answer as to whether the reviewer would purchase the product again. The most trustworthy testimonials are those that include the Verified Buyer tag, which guarantees that the customer has purchased that exact Peter Thomas Roth product from Beauty.com. You can gauge product effectiveness at a glance by viewing the average testimonial score found at the top of each review section.
The vast majority of the testimonials for Peter Thomas Roth products on Beauty.com are very positive, though it's inevitable to find a few negative reviews from dissatisfied customers. It's crucial to read the reviews carefully to determine exactly what a particular individual liked or didn't like about a given product, and whether the product will still fit your needs.
Some consumers put more faith in mainstream press reviews than user testimonials, and fortunately, the former can be found away from Beauty.com at the actual Peter Thomas Roth website. Each product description page includes a Press tab, under which you'll find mentions and reviews of Peter Thomas Roth products in print magazines and online skin and beauty lifestyle sites.
As one of the largest online skin and beauty product retailers in existence, Beauty.com is capable of offering some of the best customer support possible. Direct support is available through phone, email and live chat. Customers can contact Beauty.com by calling 1-800-278-4786, or by sending a message through the company's embedded email web form. Live chat support, which allows you to seek skincare advice and product recommendations from a team of experts, if offered from 7:00am through 4:00pm PST, Monday through Friday.
Before contacting customer support directly, it's advisable to first consult the Beauty.com FAQ section. Here, you'll find answers to the most common questions regarding products from Peter Thomas Roth and others, neatly separated into categories such as Product Information, Order Status, Shipping, Returns, Billing, Promotional Offers and Accounts. The FAQ is very thorough, greatly mitigating the need for a direct support call.
Beauty.com also offers customer support features that go beyond their actual direct service department, such as their automatic delivery program. Auto Delivery allows customers to receive products from Peter Thomas Roth and/or other skincare product manufacturers on an ongoing, regularly-scheduled basis. Available shipping periods include 30, 45, 60, 90 and 180 days. Although most orders ship for free thanks to the company's free shipping promotion, those that don't benefit from a 66% shipping discount as a result of Auto Delivery.
If you're ever dissatisfied with a Peter Thomas Roth product sold by Beauty.com, you can return it for a full refund minus the cost of shipping and handling within 30 days of your purchase receipt. However, Beauty.com only accepts sealed merchandise, preventing customers from trying products before they commit to purchasing them. However, the company will accept returns on used items that are deemed defective or damaged. The company's policies do not clearly define how a product is determined to be damaged or defective, so it's best to contact customer service if you're considering a return. If Beauty.com decides that the product is indeed defective, you'll receive a complete refund including the original shipping cost.
Since Beauty.com is not responsible for any products that are damaged during return shipment, it's important to securely pack the items in a sturdy box instead of an envelope. It's also advisable to purchase shipping insurance and use a trackable shipping method such as UPS or FedEx. You'll need to contact Beauty.com in order to obtain a return shipping label. Return orders worth $200 or more are subject to a 10% restocking fee.
Beauty.com offers skincare products from Peter Thomas Roth for reasonable prices, though some of the products may be slightly more expensive than those of the competition. However, a number of sales, discounts and promotions from Beauty.com allow customers to receive Peter Thomas Roth products for a much better value. The company offers a membership service known as the Dollars Program, in which customers receive store credit equal to 5% of the purchase price of each order. This credit accumulates over the course of three month periods, and can be spent during the fourth month. In order to be eligible for the Dollars Program, you must first create a Drugstore.com account. Drugstore.com is a sister organization to Beauty.com, sharing many of the same policies while carrying different product lines.
Other cost-saving measures offered by Beauty.com include free gift offers and free samples. All orders qualify for free samples, which consist of trial-size versions of premium skincare products from Peter Thomas Roth and other manufacturers. Beauty.com also offers free gifts, such as tote bags and cosmetics cases, to customers who place orders of various minimum qualifying values.
Although all of these promotional offers add value to a purchase of Peter Thomas Roth products from Beauty.com, the company's biggest selling point is perhaps its free shipping offer. Everyday Free Shipping allows you to receive free shipping on all orders that weigh less than 20 pounds and cost more than $25. Many of Beauty.com's competitors also offer free shipping, but most require an order of at least $50 or $75 for eligibility.
Summary
Peter Thomas Roth has established itself as one of the premiere skin and beauty product manufacturers on the planet. The company's dedication to in-house product development and manufacturing has led to a line of over 100 products that are consistently recognized for their effectiveness and consistency. This recognition comes in the form of positive consumer testimonials and reviews and awards from major skin and beauty publications, including Allure and Esquire. While the company's product prices are reasonable to begin with, a number of discounts and promotions from Beauty.com make them even more affordable.
Peter Thomas Roth does have a few shortcomings, most notably a lack of published clinical research and the inclusion of some artificial ingredients. If you insist on products that are free of chemical preservatives and synthetic fragrances, you'll need to read the provided ingredient lists carefully or look elsewhere. However, the company makes up for these shortcomings with provisions such as an easily navigable website, free shipping on qualifying orders, exceptionally effective products and a commitment to constant new product development.
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