Irish Beauty Bloggers. Mod note in Post 7

gingernut125

Lux23 wrote: »

I like Beaut.ie, but the vast majority of beauty blogs are too unprofessional for me. Although wish I had thought of it sooner, as I would love to get loads of free product for taking ugly pics of myself pouting with chanel on.

Most bloggers aren't professional and nobody's forcing you to read their blogs. If you don't like it don't read it, not really appropriate to make nasty comments.

I don't blog because it looks like a lot of work and criticism but I applaud anyone that's disciplined and brave enough to

Novella

Lux23 wrote: »

I like Beaut.ie, but the vast majority of beauty blogs are too unprofessional for me. Although wish I had thought of it sooner, as I would love to get loads of free product for taking ugly pics of myself pouting with chanel on.

What is stopping you now? You seem to think it's pretty easy.

SmokeyEyes

That's a very insulting comment to all the hard work beauty bloggers do. Try it for a week and then come back to us!:)

vibrantblue

Loving this thread!!

Blogging is such a hard work. I tried it in the past but quit after 3 posts. So, kudos to all bloggers for their efforts.

Although I don't blog myself, I'm addicted to blogs as a beauty addict. I might have just one suggestion. Keep your blog design/posts simple. It can be exhausting for the eyes, if that makes sense.

SmokeyEyes

vibrantblue wrote: »

Loving this thread!!

Blogging is such a hard work. I tried it in the past but quit after 3 posts. So, kudos to all bloggers for their efforts.

Although I don't blog myself, I'm addicted to blogs as a beauty addict. I might have just one suggestion. Keep your blog design/posts simple. It can be exhausting for the eyes, if that makes sense.

I totally agree I prefer a sleeker fresh look. I do try that with my design and pictures but if anyone thought differently I'd actually appreciate knowing!

stargirl.gra

SmokeyEyes wrote: »

I totally agree I prefer a sleeker fresh look. I do try that with my design and pictures but if anyone thought differently I'd actually appreciate knowing!

I think your blog is a treat for the eyes. Very lux looking if that makes sense. I love it.

SmokeyEyes

stargirl.gra wrote: »

I think your blog is a treat for the eyes. Very lux looking if that makes sense. I love it.

Ah thank you, I kinda view it like a magazine, so the layout and pictures are super important as often readers scan the pictures more than the post itself!:)

Ziegfeldgirl27

I think the layout and overall look of my blog could be better, but i am so used to it now, I sort of don't want to change it!

http://ziegfeldgirlbeauty.blogspot.com

I appreciate all comments, good and bad!

musical.x

Ziegfeldgirl27 wrote: »

I think the layout and overall look of my blog could be better, but i am so used to it now, I sort of don't want to change it!

http://ziegfeldgirlbeauty.blogspot.com

I appreciate all comments, good and bad!

Your pictures are a teeny bit too small but other than that I like it. I'm really glad you posted an actual face swatch of the essence blush and the eye-shadow. That makes a huge difference in my decision to follow a blog or not.

gillapino

SmokeyEyes wrote: »

I totally agree I prefer a sleeker fresh look. I do try that with my design and pictures but if anyone thought differently I'd actually appreciate knowing!

I love the look of your blog, I'm studying Graphic Design in college, and yeah design of a website is really important to whether or not a reader will stay on it for longer than 30 seconds. Usually i find the simpler the better. A clean easy to read font ( no comic sans or joint writing) unless for a heading or blog logo., good contrast with colours between text and background, not for example yellow text on white or purple on pinky purple. Also make navigation as easy as possible.

Lux23

Novella wrote: »

What is stopping you now? You seem to think it's pretty easy.

I am not that interested in make up really, I do blog about other things.

The problem is the unprofessionalism, so many of them don't even understand what an embargoed release is. One of them nearly got a PR person sacked recently because she was so bloody clueless, they took lots of photos of embargoed products and posted it all over twitter.

Fair enough it's a hobby, but they have to recognise that other people do make their living from beauty writing and that their little hobby can actually harm other people's livelihood. Many really don't.

Don't get me wrong, some are very good, but that there are others who are woeful. Much the same with traditional press.

gingernut125

Lux23 wrote: »

I am not that interested in make up really, I do blog about other things.

The problem is the unprofessionalism, so many of them don't even understand what an embargoed release is. One of them nearly got a PR person sacked recently because she was so bloody clueless, they took lots of photos of embargoed products and posted it all over twitter.

Fair enough it's a hobby, but they have to recognise that other people do make their living from beauty writing and that their little hobby can actually harm other people's livelihood. Many really don't.

That makes it okay to call them all ugly and unprofessional ?

MissFlitworth

Lux23 wrote: »

Fair enough it's a hobby, but they have to recognise that other people do make their living from beauty writing and that their little hobby can actually harm other people's livelihood. Many really don't.

Why so? Cosmetic companies push product onto beauty bloggers specifically because they aren't professionals and it's an amazing way of getting their product out in front of an audience who will buy based on a 'recommendation from a friend' type feeling. It's a super cheap (compared to paying for print advertising or to get an article in a magazine) and effective thing for them to do. If the cosmetic companies or PR people aren't copped on enough to know that a person who writes a beauty blog as a way to make themselves feel better about buying rakes of nailpolish isn't likely to be familiar with industry terms such as 'embargoed release' then they have a problem & should look at how they communicate with bloggers. It ain't up to the blogger to protect the livelihood of giant cosmetic companies and PR agencies.

SmokeyEyes

Lux23 wrote: »

I am not that interested in make up really, I do blog about other things.

The problem is the unprofessionalism, so many of them don't even understand what an embargoed release is. One of them nearly got a PR person sacked recently because she was so bloody clueless, they took lots of photos of embargoed products and posted it all over twitter.

Fair enough it's a hobby, but they have to recognise that other people do make their living from beauty writing and that their little hobby can actually harm other people's livelihood. Many really don't.

Don't get me wrong, some are very good, but that there are others who are woeful. Much the same with traditional press.

Trying to think if I could recall anyone doing this but I can't!

Well luckily PR companies and brands get to decide who they send their products too, it's not a given. I'm sure the person in question probably wasn't familiar with the terms of use and it sounds like it was a bad accident rather than a deliberate outing to break an embargo. I'm sure when it was explained to her she was mortified?

I agree some blogs are better than others and some are to a higher standard than others but everyone's human and trying their best, if you don't like a blog don't send them products to review or don't visit it, simple!:)

And it's more than a hobby to me and a lot of people! PR companies do recognise the importance of bloggers as the previous poster said very well and I don't think you'd get sent products if PR companies and brands didn't believe it had some positive effect for the product! I think blogging is a great idea and I think the net is the best place to get together a set of reviews and get an overall view on a product!

rannerap

Here is a linky to my blog http://revolverfashion.blogspot.ie/

RebelScorned

Hi everybody, if you're interested you can find my blog at http://totalmakeupaddict.blogspot.ie/.

Any feedback always appreciated Thanks

Lux23

gingernut125 wrote: »

That makes it okay to call them all ugly and unprofessional ?

Did I call them all ugly and unprofessional? I just think that if I took photos of myself pouting, they would look really ugly.

Lux23

SmokeyEyes wrote: »

And it's more than a hobby to me and a lot of people! PR companies do recognise the importance of bloggers as the previous poster said very well and I don't think you'd get sent products if PR companies and brands didn't believe it had some positive effect for the product! I think blogging is a great idea and I think the net is the best place to get together a set of reviews and get an overall view on a product!

They are great, but I don't believe a beauty blogger who had a few hundred followers should get the same treatment as a publication with a circulation about 25,000 plus. Granted I don't think many expect, but there are some that come on quite strong if they don't get everything they ask for.

And in reference to the story about the blogger who nearly got the PR person sacked, they didn't understand what embargo meant but they could easily have asked? It was a genuine mistake, but a worrying one for people who are trying to make a living promoting beauty brands.

Lyaiera

Lux23 wrote: »

And in reference to the story about the blogger who nearly got the PR person sacked, they didn't understand what embargo meant but they could easily have asked? It was a genuine mistake, but a worrying one for people who are trying to make a living promoting beauty brands.

Why is it worrying? The PR person should be doing their job and making sure people know what the embargo means, they shouldn't be sending something that would result in them being fired to someone untrusted and they should know that a blacklist means very little to an amateur blogger. If someone is in a position to damage a launch that much they shouldn't be part of the launch. And if they weren't in a position to damage the launch then the client was being melodramatic and the PR agent isn't handling them very well.

This is a traditional problem with any consumer industry with a press following relying on hand outs and samplers ending up at the mercy of a small group of PR companies who can destroy a commercial site for a single mistake, and even for simple bad reviews. Blogs are in the perfect place to counter this, there are even former "journalists" going to the blogging system independently. And this is part of the death of traditional media. Where once the press were the only people with access, blogging meant anyone had access. Traditional press then decided the way they would beat the bloggers was by having total coverage of the industry, and that hasn't worked out either because their total coverage means that any gaps in their reporting (from one company blacklisting then) results in their strategy failing. An even better thing from blogging has meant that people can start small. They only need to cover what the want and can afford to buy for themselves. Internet revenues are now getting to a point that they can support someone blogging at least part-time, and buying a quite substantial amount of product.

Bloggers have stopped businesses from having total control over the product, people are now willing to wait for their favourite blogger to buy something from a store. And there are plenty of bloggers who maintain they don't accept free products, say they'll always indicate when they have been given something and a lot of them take the view that they can send all the free stuff they want but if it's crap they simply won't mention it.

Blogging has freed up coverage of pretty much every consumer industry in the western world. And with fashion and makeup the likes of independent and home manufacturers are becoming increasingly more viable as blogging erodes at the controls the big names have. This has been a huge threat to the big names and some haven't kept pace with what's happening. And I would imagine part of that would be a brand threatening to fire a PR agent because a blogger (and a blogger who didn't know what an embargo was) broke an embargo. If that's the type of person they're sending things to the business is going to suffer a lot.

SmokeyEyes

Lux23 wrote: »

They are great, but I don't believe a beauty blogger who had a few hundred followers should get the same treatment as a publication with a circulation about 25,000 plus. Granted I don't think many expect, but there are some that come on quite strong if they don't get everything they ask for.

And in reference to the story about the blogger who nearly got the PR person sacked, they didn't understand what embargo meant but they could easily have asked? It was a genuine mistake, but a worrying one for people who are trying to make a living promoting beauty brands.

I agree that getting products should never be a given and that's for the PR company to decide whether or not to send products to certain blogs and why many PR companies ask on a regular basis for your stats.

If they sent the product, they obviously thought it was worth the blog coverage? That's all I'm saying, it sounds like a mix-up and one that both parties will have learnt from.

Lyaiera wrote: »

Why is it worrying? The PR person should be doing their job and making sure people know what the embargo means, they shouldn't be sending something that would result in them being fired to someone untrusted and they should know that a blacklist means very little to an amateur blogger. If someone is in a position to damage a launch that much they shouldn't be part of the launch. And if they weren't in a position to damage the launch then the client was being melodramatic and the PR agent isn't handling them very well.

This is a traditional problem with any consumer industry with a press following relying on hand outs and samplers ending up at the mercy of a small group of PR companies who can destroy a commercial site for a single mistake, and even for simple bad reviews. Blogs are in the perfect place to counter this, there are even former "journalists" going to the blogging system independently. And this is part of the death of traditional media. Where once the press were the only people with access, blogging meant anyone had access. Traditional press then decided the way they would beat the bloggers was by having total coverage of the industry, and that hasn't worked out either because their total coverage means that any gaps in their reporting (from one company blacklisting then) results in their strategy failing. An even better thing from blogging has meant that people can start small. They only need to cover what the want and can afford to buy for themselves. Internet revenues are now getting to a point that they can support someone blogging at least part-time, and buying a quite substantial amount of product.

Bloggers have stopped businesses from having total control over the product, people are now willing to wait for their favourite blogger to buy something from a store. And there are plenty of bloggers who maintain they don't accept free products, say they'll always indicate when they have been given something and a lot of them take the view that they can send all the free stuff they want but if it's crap they simply won't mention it.

Blogging has freed up coverage of pretty much every consumer industry in the western world. And with fashion and makeup the likes of independent and home manufacturers are becoming increasingly more viable as blogging erodes at the controls the big names have. This has been a huge threat to the big names and some haven't kept pace with what's happening. And I would imagine part of that would be a brand threatening to fire a PR agent because a blogger (and a blogger who didn't know what an embargo was) broke an embargo. If that's the type of person they're sending things to the business is going to suffer a lot.

Very well said!

dancingqueen

wow great to find so many Irish blogs to read...
I am a HUGE nail polish addict, so happy to see some Irish blogs with their opinions, there aren't enough.

I have tried to get my blog going and I'm just so insecure about it, and how ****ty my pictures are but I'll keep trying and possibly get there, eventually

I love some UK nail blogs:

www.lucysstash.com
www.holographic-hussy.com

And some US ones:
www.thepolishaholic.com
www.polishaddict.com
www.vampyvarnish.com

I could go on.... lol

mine is irishnailaddict.blogspot.ie (go easy on me!)

Lux23

Lyaiera wrote: »

Why is it worrying? The PR person should be doing their job and making sure people know what the embargo means, they shouldn't be sending something that would result in them being fired to someone untrusted and they should know that a blacklist means very little to an amateur blogger. If someone is in a position to damage a launch that much they shouldn't be part of the launch. And if they weren't in a position to damage the launch then the client was being melodramatic and the PR agent isn't handling them very well.

This is a traditional problem with any consumer industry with a press following relying on hand outs and samplers ending up at the mercy of a small group of PR companies who can destroy a commercial site for a single mistake, and even for simple bad reviews. Blogs are in the perfect place to counter this, there are even former "journalists" going to the blogging system independently. And this is part of the death of traditional media. Where once the press were the only people with access, blogging meant anyone had access. Traditional press then decided the way they would beat the bloggers was by having total coverage of the industry, and that hasn't worked out either because their total coverage means that any gaps in their reporting (from one company blacklisting then) results in their strategy failing. An even better thing from blogging has meant that people can start small. They only need to cover what the want and can afford to buy for themselves. Internet revenues are now getting to a point that they can support someone blogging at least part-time, and buying a quite substantial amount of product.

Bloggers have stopped businesses from having total control over the product, people are now willing to wait for their favourite blogger to buy something from a store. And there are plenty of bloggers who maintain they don't accept free products, say they'll always indicate when they have been given something and a lot of them take the view that they can send all the free stuff they want but if it's crap they simply won't mention it.

Blogging has freed up coverage of pretty much every consumer industry in the western world. And with fashion and makeup the likes of independent and home manufacturers are becoming increasingly more viable as blogging erodes at the controls the big names have. This has been a huge threat to the big names and some haven't kept pace with what's happening. And I would imagine part of that would be a brand threatening to fire a PR agent because a blogger (and a blogger who didn't know what an embargo was) broke an embargo. If that's the type of person they're sending things to the business is going to suffer a lot.

That's all very true, it's just very tricky. I would like to send some product to anyone who is willing to invest the time and review it, but I could get flack from traditional media for giving the same to a blogger as I would to them. I have heard that print journalists are blacklisting anyone who is perceived to giving too much to online outlets. And then the client is questioning why a blogger with a few hundred followers has received the same as someone with a massive readership?

But after that mistake, I am extremely wary of sending new products to bloggers unless the bigger names have already covered it.

Ziegfeldgirl27

dancingqueen wrote: »

wow great to find so many Irish blogs to read...
I am a HUGE nail polish addict, so happy to see some Irish blogs with their opinions, there aren't enough.

I have tried to get my blog going and I'm just so insecure about it, and how ****ty my pictures are but I'll keep trying and possibly get there, eventually

I love some UK nail blogs:

www.lucysstash.com
www.holographic-hussy.com

And some US ones:
www.thepolishaholic.com
www.polishaddict.com
www.vampyvarnish.com

I could go on.... lol

mine is irishnailaddict.blogspot.ie (go easy on me!)

I love your blog dancing queen! It's amazing, i love nail polishes too and I am so jealous of all yours! Your NOTD's are fantastic!!

VanillaLime

dancingqueen wrote: »

wow great to find so many Irish blogs to read...
I am a HUGE nail polish addict, so happy to see some Irish blogs with their opinions, there aren't enough.

I have tried to get my blog going and I'm just so insecure about it, and how ****ty my pictures are but I'll keep trying and possibly get there, eventually

I love some UK nail blogs:

www.lucysstash.com
www.holographic-hussy.com

And some US ones:
www.thepolishaholic.com
www.polishaddict.com
www.vampyvarnish.com

I could go on.... lol

mine is irishnailaddict.blogspot.ie (go easy on me!)

Yay, delighted to find a new Irish nail blog, I love nails!
Love beauty blogs as well so it's good to have some new ones to check out!

kimannabella

I must admit that I am loving this thread-it has forced my hand from lurking boards to actually posting on it!

I am a student makeup artist (mature-30 this year, ha!), my blog isn't product based- I am just posting my looks and how I created them. I used to work in Archaeology before the boom, and have a degree in Art History so I'l try to find out as much as I can about an era before I attempt a make up of it.

Did around 45 looks since september, hopefully reading other people's blogs will spur me on to actually posting them.

http://kimannabellamua.blogspot.com/

P.S. I hope you all don't think I'm creepy or something, am systematically adding all the blogs posted on here. Wasn't too gone on blogging before but I love the idea of having local-ish hobbyists/mua's to converse with.

bananabuster

Hi girls! (and guys if theres any lurking around!)

This is such a great thread-I have been looking into starting up a beauty/lifestyle blog for months now but I just need a good kick up the you- know-what to dedicate some time aside and get writing!

I am a total newbie to all of this tho so was hoping (if its allowed) if maybe you could answer afew of my questions either here or pm either?? They may be completely obvious answers and I know a blog is about writing about anything and everything you want but im just worried I suppose of the power of the web and putting myself out there i guess!

1. When reviewing products: Do you have to get permission from the particular company to write about their product and similarly for a service say for example you were writing about a new type of facial do you have to ask before go in and then you write about your experience at said location?

2. Would you get in any trouble if you posted a negative review about something or should it all be fairly unbiased? I understand that a blog is generally based on personal opinion but at the same time you dont want to be getting involved in anything messy if you badmouthed something based on your view?

I think they are my main two questions so far anyway! I hope i dont sound like a total numpty but im just always so wary of the internet! If anyone has any other tips/advice you think i should know or would like to share i would appreciate it so much! By the way i have been trawling through all of your blogs and the amount of hard work and creativity that clearly goes into them is so inspiring-so proud that they are all good home-grown Irish blogs too-keep up the good work everyone!
Thanks in advance!!

SmokeyEyes

bananabuster wrote: »

Hi girls! (and guys if theres any lurking around!)

This is such a great thread-I have been looking into starting up a beauty/lifestyle blog for months now but I just need a good kick up the you- know-what to dedicate some time aside and get writing!

I am a total newbie to all of this tho so was hoping (if its allowed) if maybe you could answer afew of my questions either here or pm either?? They may be completely obvious answers and I know a blog is about writing about anything and everything you want but im just worried I suppose of the power of the web and putting myself out there i guess!

1. When reviewing products: Do you have to get permission from the particular company to write about their product and similarly for a service say for example you were writing about a new type of facial do you have to ask before go in and then you write about your experience at said location?

2. Would you get in any trouble if you posted a negative review about something or should it all be fairly unbiased? I understand that a blog is generally based on personal opinion but at the same time you dont want to be getting involved in anything messy if you badmouthed something based on your view?

I think they are my main two questions so far anyway! I hope i dont sound like a total numpty but im just always so wary of the internet! If anyone has any other tips/advice you think i should know or would like to share i would appreciate it so much! By the way i have been trawling through all of your blogs and the amount of hard work and creativity that clearly goes into them is so inspiring-so proud that they are all good home-grown Irish blogs too-keep up the good work everyone!
Thanks in advance!!

Always give your honest opinion is the short answer! I buy products to review and am lucky enough to get sent a lot of products to review and they're all treated the same, if they're good great, if not then they'll fall into one of 3 categories:

a - They're not great and therefore not really worth the review so I won't write about them at all as I prefer writing about products I like

b - They're bad enough that I really do need to write about it and tell people what I think

c - They have good points and bad points so I'll write a review that weighs up the pros and cons. For example, foundations are very tricky on my skin so I'll say it wasn't the best on me but may work far better on skin that isn't so dry etc.

Different bloggers have different approaches so it's all about what suits you. Please feel free to PM me with any other questions though, always happy to help!

dancingqueen

Ziegfeldgirl27 wrote: »

I love your blog dancing queen! It's amazing, i love nail polishes too and I am so jealous of all yours! Your NOTD's are fantastic!!

Oh wow - that is so super sweet, thank you!
I am very not 100% in love with it but I can only try!!

cathug10

I think that you should start a blog if you're really passionate about something. So if any of you are really into something (not necessarily beauty) then give it a go. It can't hurt.

I am seriously loving all these blogs. They're all so pretty.

I started a blog not 24 hours ago and would love some advice on how to make it better.

http://asleepingpersonbeauty.tumblr.com/

redappple

This is such a fantastic thread! I have found some great Irish blogs here. I have also recently started a fashion and beauty (and sometime lifestyle!) blog! I LOVE it! But it does take a lot of work! My blog is:
www.glamourandgo.com

I have been reading and following bloggers for years. Here are my favourite Irish blogs:
www.annasaccone.com
www.vivaadonis.com
www.makeupmonster.ie (amazing SmokeyEyes it looks so professional!)
www.anouskaproettabrandon.com
www.fitznbitz.com
www.littlekivasblog.blogspot.ie