Beauty blogger things you like / don' like?

vibrantblue · 21-01-2015 1:29pm #1

Hey!

I don't have a blog myself but I was wondering: What makes you a regular of a blog?

I love a clean simple lay out. I rarely like super colourful designs. I feel like it just hurts my eyes. In depth reviews with good photos are always a plus. I also like if they do comparative reviews.

What I don't like is actually the reason why I opened this thread. Beauty bloggers are arguably one of the most important influencers of beauty sales. We all do a search of reviews before we buy anything. Or we check something out because one of our favourite bloggers recommends it. They do try and discover new stuff so we don't have to. And that's a big part of why they exist (especially the professional ones, not so much the hobby ones).

Anyway, I'm coming to my point. Sometimes they take recommendations from their followers, subscribers, etc. And if they like it, most then acknowledge that it was a recommendation from a follower. It is absolutely fine if they can't remember the name of the recommender. Some has hundreds of thousands of followers - of course they can't remember it! I certainly wouldn't. What I appreciate is that they acknowledge it. And something related to this really irked me recently.

I try to follow this particular blog. I check it probably weekly. She got a recommendation from a follower and it was obvious that she never used that product before. Fast forward to 3-4 weeks later and bam: She just discovered this new product from this not-so-famous brand, she can't live without it, etc. I don't know. I think what really annoys me is that she does this consistently. She acts as she discovers that thing or brand, and brings it into the scene, which is not always the case. I guess all bloggers do this, except most do it more discreetly. What I don't know can't annoy me. But if even a casual reader like me can spot it, it is too obvious.

I'll still read her blog though. She has nice photos and a simple and elegant layout. And I like her posts when she's not doing this.

So, what do you like about your favourite blogs? And what sets you off?

Dark Phoenix · 21-01-2015 5:42pm

I hate this crap of 'reviewing a product' by only swatching it on your hand / arm and not applying it or showing it on your face. if you want to swatch on your arm to show the colours and the formula thats fine but when reviewing a make up product I expect to see photos of it on your face.

Likewise if you are reviewing nailvarnish i expect to see it on your nails after you applied it.

I would think this is a no brainer, can't understand people not doing it!? I love the beaut website but while some reviews are brilliant and contain lots of photos of the products being used, others are just glorified press releases with photos of the products in their packaging and an arm or hand swatch if we are lucky

vibrantblue · 21-01-2015 5:56pm

Dark Phoenix wrote: »

I love the beaut website but while some reviews are brilliant and contain lots of photos of the products being used, others are just glorified press releases with photos of the products in their packaging and an arm or hand swatch if we are lucky

I stopped reading beaut.ie when it was bought by, I think, entertainment.ie. It now has no difference from women's magazines and their websites: Everything feels like a press release or an advertisement. It feels too corporate. Blogs feel more sincere, thus gain readership, because they are less corporate. And that completely changed it for me. It is a shame because I loved it. I was there every day. I was actively commenting every day. Now, I get my beauty fix elsewhere

Little Lion Woman · 21-01-2015 7:20pm

I miss the old days of beaut.ie. Laura is good and I love reading her reviews but as said above, a lot of the other reviews are just glorified press releases. There was even a review of something that said "we got this today in beaut.ie HQ" so they didn't even test it out properly before writing about it. I also dislike how there's a heavy element of celebrity articles.

A blog I love is buy now blog later. Her reviews are well written and she shows loads of pictures of the products on her face as opposes to arm swatches. She clearly gets sent a lot of products but the quality of the reviews is never compromised.

cookiecakes · 21-01-2015 7:47pm

I used to ❤️❤️❤️ Beaut.ie..I loved Kirstie's writing and always found stuff to buy based on their recs. Now I can't abide it. There's so much nonsense on it and I find very little interesting beauty content. There are too many 'do you do this' polls and stuff like that.

I love Viva Adonis because I feel like they actually use the products and always show a rake of different swatches. I've bought loads of stuff on their recommendations and have been happy with them so far!

Little Lion Woman · 21-01-2015 8:43pm

cookiecakes wrote: »

I used to ❤️❤️❤️ Beaut.ie..I loved Kirstie's writing and always found stuff to buy based on their recs. Now I can't abide it. There's so much nonsense on it and I find very little interesting beauty content. There are too many 'do you do this' polls and stuff like that.

I love Viva Adonis because I feel like they actually use the products and always show a rake of different swatches. I've bought loads of stuff on their recommendations and have been happy with them so far!

Another vote for Viva Adonis!

bscm · 21-01-2015 8:59pm

I really love Viva Adonis, Amelia Liana, Lily Pebbles and ViviannaDoesMakeup for beauty. All have great, in-depth reviews and lovely sites.

I can't stand "busy" blogs. I want to see the product, not a million banners and tiled background pictures.

I also hate when every "review" is clearly a positive spin for a sponsored post. There are bound to be loads of products beauty bloggers get sent, or buy, and hate. All of us want to know what to avoid as well as what to buy.

I love it when beauty bloggers show "update" pictures throughout a day in a post, or a video, of a product's wear, so you can see when foundation starts to fade or get shiny, or if an eye product creases.

ratmouse · 21-01-2015 10:00pm

I love blogs where the blogger is 100% true to themselves. This might sound pie in the sky but it's good to see a blogger define what they are about and what their style in the 'about me' section and for this to then be reflected in their actual style and tastes as shown on the blog. I regularly see one of Ireland's well known beauty bloggers go against the grain of how she describes herself and what/who she bases her style on (supposedly a laid back styled celebrity blogger). All that we readers see is a non-laid back style, with an uncomfortable amount of daily make up, 6 inch heels all day,nearly everyday and not an ounce of a natural strand of hair in sight! This is the kind of blogger that grinds my gears! Also, unlike Buy Now Blog Later who, as someone described above, never compromises their product reviews and gives honest reviews, I hate when a blogger (again referring back to Ireland's leading one) gives every single product/item a glowing review. Is is pure coincidence that they have never ever (ever!) come across an item worthy of anything less than a five star review? Or is it all in the name of endorsing as many products that come their way all in the name of making some substantial bucks?

What I particularly like in a blogger, believe it or not, is an ability to write properly, with a strong grasp of the English language!

Sittingpretty · 21-01-2015 10:24pm

cookiecakes wrote: »

I used to ❤️❤️❤️ Beaut.ie..I loved Kirstie's writing and always found stuff to buy based on their recs. Now I can't abide it. There's so much nonsense on it and I find very little interesting beauty content. There are too many 'do you do this' polls and stuff like that.

I love Viva Adonis because I feel like they actually use the products and always show a rake of different swatches. I've bought loads of stuff on their recommendations and have been happy with them so far!

Kirstie has her own blog now - frill seeker.ie

Twee. · 21-01-2015 11:29pm

She is also now editor of Stellar magazine

retro:electro · 22-01-2015 12:12am

I could be reading about a great product that I'm really interested in but if the grammar and spelling are all wrong I just stop reading! It hurts my eyes! Some of them are soooo bad

ratmouse · 22-01-2015 12:21am

anna080 wrote: »

I could be reading about a great product that I'm really interested in but of the grammar and spelling are all wrong I just stop reading! It hurts my eyes! Some of them are soooo bad

You'd wonder Anna080 do they not bother to read back over what they've written!

Ilyana 2.0 · 22-01-2015 12:43am

For me, great photography, a clean layout and a decent grasp of spelling and grammar are key elements of a good blog. I prefer bloggers who are slightly off the radar, as their content tends to be more varied according to the products they buy themselves. The bigger bloggers often tend to write about the same products they've been sent, which gets pretty boring after a while.

My favourite bloggers include Buy Now/Blog Later, Viva Adonis, Lovely Girly Bits, From Roses, Vivianna Does Make-Up and That Grace Girl. Their content is consistently good and feels very honest. They're the kind of thing I aspire to with my own blog.

Dark Phoenix · 22-01-2015 1:28pm

vibrantblue wrote: »

I stopped reading beaut.ie when it was bought by, I think, entertainment.ie. It now has no difference from women's magazines and their websites: Everything feels like a press release or an advertisement. It feels too corporate. Blogs feel more sincere, thus gain readership, because they are less corporate. And that completely changed it for me. It is a shame because I loved it. I was there every day. I was actively commenting every day. Now, I get my beauty fix elsewhere

which blogs or websites would you recomemnd instead? Will definately check out viva adonis as theres a lot of recommendations for it.

I love the polishaholic I love nail varnish and her blog is like nail porn for me

vibrantblue · 22-01-2015 2:23pm

Dark Phoenix wrote: »

which blogs or websites would you recomemnd instead? Will definately check out viva adonis as theres a lot of recommendations for it.

I love the polishaholic I love nail varnish and her blog is like nail porn for me

I've been unfollowing/unsubscribing from so many lately. I think I'm finally only left with the ones I'll never stop following like Lisa Eldridge and Caroline Hirons. You got both make up and skin care covered from the very best.

But I still follow a few more. I like Vivianna Does Makeup and Lily Pebbles. I've quite recently unsubscribed from both Essie Button and Amelia Liana. I couldn't stand the fakeness anymore, which is very ironic as I subscribed to them as they were (or seemed to be) genuine back in the day.

I do watch I Covet Thee videos while getting ready. Her voice is so calming

Her videos are well-made but usually not that inspiring. She is very nice though, so I kind of feel bad now

I like Shameless Fripperies. She uses high end products 95% of the time. But she is very good at make up. She is one of my absolute favourites for tutorials. Same with Sharon Farrell. I LOVE her tutorials. And she is an actual make up artist.

I remember about Buy Now Blog Later every 3-4 months, binge-read on a lazy Sunday for 2 hours, then forget about it again. I don't know why. But I remember her from years and years back from Youtube. She was lollipop something (?). In short, I like her. Her reviews always comes off honest.

Finally, I adore Front Row Beauty blog. It is very high end. So for me, it is mostly just for looking at the pretties

But her photos are very good. And she buys ALL the products she reviews. None of them are PR samples o whatever. So, if I'm to make a high end purchase, I definitely check her blog.

ratmouse · 22-01-2015 4:37pm

I notice how Ireland's top blogger hasn't got one mention despite her colossal following of over a hundred thousand. What does that really say? That those of us on here have a bit of class when it comes to the bloggers we follow?! ;-)

Sunny Dayz · 22-01-2015 5:18pm

Aahh don't want this to decend into a thread against a particular blogger!!

A few blogs mentioned above which I had never heard of before so I will add them to my reading list.

Echoes of sentiment for Buy Now / Blog Later. I love reading her posts - she has a great way of writing, the words just flow and you can nearly hear her talking. She could be talking about the weather and it would still be a great read. You end up feeling like she's actually a friend of yours.

Others I like reading are Pippa O'Connor (pure style crush!), The Beautiful Truth, Lipstick & Louboutins, Makeup by Ruby Sue and Vanity Baby.
Edit: I also like The Make Up Fairy - I'm not mad on her make up or her style tbh but I like reading her posts as she comes across as such a nice person. Also like Curvy Style.

retro:electro · 22-01-2015 5:29pm

I'm actually afraid to mention Ireland's leading bloggers name in case chaos ensues and the thread gets closed again! Lol

Anyway I wouldn't look at her for information on a product anyway because her reviews are so obviously fake so I wouldn't trust a word she says.
I'm not gone on her make up anyway so I wouldn't be too interested in what she uses anyway.

My favs are buy now blog later and Pippa. Both seem like lovely classy girls and the kind of girls I would befriend in real life. I trust them when they give good reviews and Pippa always says she wouldn't give good reviews for the sake of it as she doesn't want her readers to waste their money.

Sittingpretty · 22-01-2015 6:19pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Aahh don't want this to decend into a thread against a particular blogger!!

A few blogs mentioned above which I had never heard of before so I will add them to my reading list.

Echoes of sentiment for Buy Now / Blog Later. I love reading her posts - she has a great way of writing, the words just flow and you can nearly hear her talking. She could be talking about the weather and it would still be a great read. You end up feeling like she's actually a friend of yours.

Others I like reading are Pippa O'Connor (pure style crush!), The Beautiful Truth, Lipstick & Louboutins, Makeup by Ruby Sue and Vanity Baby.
Edit: I also like The Make Up Fairy - I'm not mad on her make up or her style tbh but I like reading her posts as she comes across as such a nice person. Also like Curvy Style.

I love the make up fairy too, I went to a class she gave and she does seem lovely and genuine and a very warm person.

I'm not too gone on how she always overdraws her lips but I do love her make up otherwise. She does tend to post waaaay too many selfies too

Also like lovely girlie bits, down to earth and honest product reviews from what I've seen. LOVE Sharon Farrell also

ratmouse · 22-01-2015 6:37pm

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Aahh don't want this to decend into a thread against a particular blogger!!

A few blogs mentioned above which I had never heard of before so I will add them to my reading list.

Echoes of sentiment for Buy Now / Blog Later. I love reading her posts - she has a great way of writing, the words just flow and you can nearly hear her talking. She could be talking about the weather and it would still be a great read. You end up feeling like she's actually a friend of yours.

Others I like reading are Pippa O'Connor (pure style crush!), The Beautiful Truth, Lipstick & Louboutins, Makeup by Ruby Sue and Vanity Baby.
Edit: I also like The Make Up Fairy - I'm not mad on her make up or her style tbh but I like reading her posts as she comes across as such a nice person. Also like Curvy Style.

The thread is meant to be about blogs you like and don't like though so don't see why blog of certain blogger can't be fully discussed and dissected for what it is. It's nothing personal.

Donald73 · 23-01-2015 12:20am

I love Cherry Sue Doing The Do - she seems really honest in her reviews and is also really really funny. Love lovelygirliebits too.

Valentina · 23-01-2015 10:49am

Things I like:
- Clean layout/design
- Easy to search for posts
- Honest reviews
- Good quality photos
- Product swatched on body part it is meant for
- Responds to questions in the comments
- Posts stay on point

Things I dislike:
- Busy design/lots of ads/pop ups
- Biased reviews/giving everything 5 stars
- Poorly written posts or bad grammar etc.
- Everything swatched on forearm - I want to see lip products on actual lips

- 30 photos of one product from lots of different angles but none of the photos actually show anything different and very little text/commentary
- If you're marketing yourself as a beauty blog then please write about beauty. I don't want to read "celeb gossip" or badly written "satire."

silvervixen84 · 23-01-2015 3:21pm

I agree wholeheartedly with Valentina's post.

I like a clean layout with clear photos of swatches and the products themselves. The arty 'partial & blurry' pictures do nothing for me. (this goes for fashion mags too though).

I'm not a big fan of bloggers who depend on videos as posts. I'd rather read a description/review of a new product than sit through a nine minute video that gets to the point in the last thirty seconds. Videos are fine for makeup demos and list-type posts (e.g. top five red lipsticks/2014 favourites etc).

I don't see how you can review a product without using it for a while. Scrawling it on your arm and saying you like the colour/texture is not a review.

Bloggers should mark sponsored posts clearly. It's misleading otherwise.

I follow a good few beauty bloggers and a trend has emerged recently of offering lots of blogging advice. I know it can be quite helpful to new bloggers, but I follow these blogs for beauty reviews and advice, and seeing heaps of posts about 'how to blog' is wearing a bit thin with me.

Yikes, I sound quite harsh!

Some of my favourite bloggers are Makeup Monster (I think I found her on here), Vivianna Does Makeup, From Roses, London Beauty Queen and Zoe London.

Pinkycharm · 24-01-2015 1:04am

I love Cherry Sue, Fluff and Fripperies, Fitz and Bitz, BeautywithJulez and Ninas Bargain Beauty. Would love to start my own but not quite confident yet!

oh they are all on blogger.ie i think

24-01-2015 1:15am

I checked out one blog mentioned in this thread and on the first page I read I saw 'alot' four times.

I can't follow anyone who thinks 'alot' is a word.

retro:electro · 25-01-2015 2:46pm

They all must have been sent these new "freddy jeans" because I've seen them on four bloggers pages already this morning!

Euphoria Intensifies · 26-01-2015 5:18pm

Most of the bloggers that I have followed since I first became interested in beauty have either quit blogging altogether or now post very rarely so definitely will check out a few of the blogs mentioned here! Viva Adonis is one that I really like and thankfully still going strong.

Out of all the prerequisites for a good beauty blog, I think honesty is the most important. So many of the most well-known bloggers/vloggers don't indicate when a post is sponsored or if they have gotten an item for free and it annoys me so much. Their readers aren't stupid - if every blog going has a review of product XYZ all at the same time, there's a likelihood that it's a PR sample. I don't see the point in not letting people know so they can make an informed decision about whether product XYZ is really as good as all the blogs are saying. or whether their PR company is just really good at giving out lots of freebies.

Meangadh · 26-01-2015 5:45pm

I find a huge amount of beauty blogs really irritating due to layout, bad grammar/spelling and as mentioned here, an over-reliance on swatches. And I won't even get into those bloggers who clearly have other motivations for giving good reviews to products!

As mentioned also, if I want celebrity gossip then I'll go read Heat magazine. And if I want recipes I'll buy a cookbook. I know "you are what you eat" and all that but seriously, I just want to know about products and techniques, not about chia-chai-quinoa-muffins or whatever.

But I'll be honest and say it genuinely is the bad spelling and grammar that turns me off most. If you're that careless then I won't take what you have to say seriously. And I don't want that to be a slight on anyone who has literacy problems- there are plenty of spell check programmes or people you can ask to give it a once over. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's just painful to read.

Little Lion Woman · 26-01-2015 8:49pm

Just had another look at beaut.ie Today's beauty content was a review of a spot cream, a poll on whether people use pore strips and another poll on desert island make up.

I'm definitely not going to check it again, it has become absolutely horrible

Sittingpretty · 26-01-2015 8:58pm

Little Lion Woman wrote: »

Just had another look at beaut.ie Today's beauty content was a review of a spot cream, a poll on whether people use pore strips and another poll on desert island make up.

I'm definitely not going to check it again, it's become absolutely horrible

Agreed. I used to read and comment daily at the very start of this blog but in my opinion it's demise started when Kirstie left and it's just gone way down hill ever since.

cookiecakes · 26-01-2015 9:01pm

Is Aisling still there? I always wondered why Kirstie left and set up frillseeker as she was the real heart of the website. It has become so blah since she left..

Beauty blogger things you like / don' like?

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