Irish Beauty Bloggers. Mod note in Post 7

aliciaaddams

As a beauty blogger myself I would love to read more blog from fellow Irish writers so please leave your links below. Also I was wondering what you all think of the beauty blogging world here in Ireland? Would I be worth while for more to join, or impossible to even get noticed?

Ziegfeldgirl27

I just started my blog, it's http://ziegfeldgirlbeauty.blogspot.com

So far I love doing it, I will be doing a new post tomorrow Plus reviewing stuff doesn't make me feel guilty about how much cosmetics I buy! lol

SmokeyEyes

Hey there I have one which you can see in my signature or if you click on my username! Just celebrated the blog's first birthday, love blogging so much:)
There are loads of Irish blogs out there now but definitely room for more if you're really into it. I started a year ago and had no readers and now I'm really happy with the blog and how it's doing, it's great fun and can open doors for you!

Belle Morte

I was actually just thinking of starting a thread like this the other day! I'd love to find more Irish blogs, I'm only addicted to them!

My top three favs are actually from fellow Boardsies too

Ones which I love and have to check every day are:

www.makeupmonster.ie
Fantastic for getting info on the latest product launches, swatches and reviews

Www.cuti-clue-les.blogspot.ie
Such a clever name and I'm in awe of her nail art skills!

Www.miss-greeneyes.blogspot.ie
Fantastic swatches and such a lovely lady to boot also!

I've also got an aul beauty blog too, I'm still learning the ropes and a bit of a n00b to it all though so go easy on me!

[url]Http://BelleMorteBeauty.blogspot.ie[/url]

I'm really looking forward to come across lots of lovely new Irish Beauty Blogs.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on yours Ziegfeldgirl27 now that I know about it

SmokeyEyes

Belle Morte wrote: »

I was actually just thinking of starting a thread like this the other day! I'd love to find more Irish blogs, I'm only addicted to them!

My top three favs are actually from fellow Boardsies too

Ones which I love and have to check every day are:

www.makeupmonster.ie
Fantastic for getting info on the latest product launches, swatches and reviews

Www.cuti-clue-les.blogspot.ie
Such a clever name and I'm in awe of her nail art skills!

Www.miss-greeneyes.blogspot.ie
Fantastic swatches and such a lovely lady to boot also!

I've also got an aul beauty blog too, I'm still learning the ropes and a bit of a n00b to it all though so go easy on me!

[url]Http://BelleMorteBeauty.blogspot.ie[/url]

I'm really looking forward to come across lots of lovely new Irish Beauty Blogs.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on yours Ziegfeldgirl27 now that I know about it

Ah thank you for including me you're very sweet!!:D:D:D

I love all the ones you've listed including your own which I've stuck on my Bloglovin feed so I can keep up to date!

aliciaaddams

Awesome I'll be sure to check them all out. I'll link my blog when im done editing it up. In the mean time here are some of my favourite bloggers.

http://www.makeupmonster.ie/
http://thunderandthreads.blogspot.ie/
http://tarmartales.com/
http://maggiemunster.blogspot.ie/
http://beaut.ie/blog/
http://www.annasaccone.com/
http://elliejayden.com/

Twee.

Mod Notice

This thread can be a great source for the forum especially with the rise in popularity in blogging, it's mentioned in the Blogs sticky, so we feel some ground rules can make it a smooth operation. This is the designated thread for letting us know about your blog.

This is a discussion thread, not a place for one-post-wonders to advertise. We expect posters to contribute to this thread & forum and create discussion, there's lots of questions in the OP. Please don't just post your own blog and go. We welcome you to let us know about your blog, and also become part of our community! The mods reserve the right to remove posts that are suspected to be a post-and-dash.

CBFi

Love this thread idea! I'm not a blogger...but I'm a blog addict! I've been tempted to start one so I'll be interested in opinions on the viability of more coming on the scene. Also perhaps bloggers could include their top tips/likes for blogs?

Maybe Vlogs could also been included? I'd love to find the Irish version of Missglamorazzi!

nursemar88

aliciaaddams wrote: »

As a beauty blogger myself I would love to read more blog from fellow Irish writers so please leave your links below. Also I was wondering what you all think of the beauty blogging world here in Ireland? Would I be worth while for more to join, or impossible to even get noticed?

I am a beauty blogger here in Ireland and I love it! I think the community is great and you can meet some great people and friends through it. I think the more the merrier. Its always good when I see a new blogger and I'll always support them. It is hard to get noticed but to be honest that's not really why I do it. I just do it coz I love it

CBFi wrote: »

Love this thread idea! I'm not a blogger...but I'm a blog addict! I've been tempted to start one so I'll be interested in opinions on the viability of more coming on the scene. Also perhaps bloggers could include their top tips/likes for blogs?

Maybe Vlogs could also been included? I'd love to find the Irish version of Missglamorazzi!

My top tips are just go for it! If you want to blog then do. Try have a good-ish camera and take good quality photos if you can. Doesn't have to be expensive but just natural daylight and a white piece of paper backing. Also if you are reviewing a product, always include swatches when possible. I hate to see someone reviewing like a palette but with no swatches! Thats just my preference.

if anyone wants to check it out, my blog is http://highlifeofmars.blogspot.ie/

SmokeyEyes

Totally agree, I use my mobile to take some of the photos on my blog and you wouldn't know the difference! Light is your biggest friend for clear photos and then use some of the fantastic free sites out there to edit the photos such as Pixlr and PicMonkey. These will make them look more polished and professional.

Swatches are really important, I'm obsessed with them:)

Make sure you read over your posts for mistakes and take your time finding your blog voice. Remember at the start it'll be quiet but keep at it and you never know how far you can go!

I'm actually going to post up my blogging tips so I'll paste the article in here if that's ok! I've posted up about it, it's a little long so not sure if it's ok to post up here!

Twee.

I love swatches that are actually on the corresponding face part! A line of lipstick on someone's forearm doesn't really do it for me unfortunately. Or when a post (I'm looking at you, Beaut.ie!) gushes about a foundation and all its merits, but then the swatch is just a bit on the back of their hand. I wanna see the results!


I really like Viva Adonis http://www.vivaadonis.com/

The more Irish blogs the better, stuff prices in euro and that we can actually pick up for have shipped here.

gillapino

Twee. wrote: »

I love swatches that are actually on the corresponding face part! A line of lipstick on someone's forearm doesn't really do it for me unfortunately. Or when a post (I'm looking at you, Beaut.ie!) gushes about a foundation and all its merits, but then the swatch is just a bit on the back of their hand. I wanna see the results!

I agree, Nothing worse, so hard to get an idea of what something looks like when its just on the back of hand, Good photography is also a must. I also like http://thunderandthreads.blogspot.ie and http://tarmartales.com both a combination of beauty and fashion.

SmokeyEyes

I try and do both when at all possible, I actually find swatches of products next to one another helpful so I try to include the products on and on my arm to give a better idea of the colour!

Agree Viva Adonis is a great blog and love the layout, a lot of hard work goes into it!

gingernut125

Twee. wrote: »

I love swatches that are actually on the corresponding face part! A line of lipstick on someone's forearm doesn't really do it for me unfortunately. Or when a post (I'm looking at you, Beaut.ie!) gushes about a foundation and all its merits, but then the swatch is just a bit on the back of their hand. I wanna see the results!

I agree, I much prefer pictures of the product on the area it's meant to be worn.

I also love when you get pics of how well it lasts on, for those products that claim to last forever.

ams

agreed re the swatches Twee -

http://www.lovelygirliebits.com/ are really good for lip swatches. i also like Emerald Eyeliner and Make up Over Mind - she does some stunning looks.

Not an Irish blog but for lip colour I love the Sunday Girl - she always makes me want the lipsticks so bad

musical.x

Ahh thanks for the mention Belle Morte!

I cannot agree enough with the whole swatching on the relevant area thing. It bugs me when people talk about a gorgeous nail polish/lip product and then swatch it on their hand or on a bit of paper Clearly not the same thing! It takes two seconds to do a proper swatch.

Blogging is hard work and it can be really frustrating when you don't get the response you would like (or any response at all!) on a post. It's hard to compete with people who can throw big lavish giveaways even if their blog is not up to scratch.

SmokeyEyes

Agree blogging is serious work I dedicate a lot of time to keep it up to a certain standard and have spent the morning trying on different lippies and photographing them in crap light for tomorrow and then trying to edit them into something pretty while writing up the post about them! It's not just about the basic blog work, you are the editor of your blog, the photographer, the writer and your own PR, but it's a huge amount of fun and a year has absolutely flown by with the fun I've had. But it is work!!

As for swatches, I try and get both, on my hand and on the relevant part of my face, for the reason that they always look slightly different on both so if I do a few different types of swatches I feel you get a better idea of the real colour!

There's a huge amount of blogs out there, all at various stages so it takes people time to find the right look for their blog, I'm always messing around with mine! Best thing is to just visit the blogs you like and avoid the ones you don't:)

MakeupOverMind

Cheers for that!

MakeupOverMind

I think blogging is definitely a lot of hard work, but if you're writing about something you're passionate about you'll have no problems! I felt the same way when I was wondering whether to get into it or not, but the community is such a welcoming one and you can never have two many perspectives in my opinion! Takes a while to work out what works for you, and I'm still learning and playing around with formatting etc, but I love it!

pinkypinky

I think Fluff & Fripperies is great.

http://www.fluffandfripperies.com/

musical.x

pinkypinky wrote: »

I think Fluff & Fripperies is great.

http://www.fluffandfripperies.com/

She's such a lovely person too! So down to earth.

MakeupOverMind

musical.x wrote: »

She's such a lovely person too! So down to earth.

She's the nicest girl!

Ziegfeldgirl27

Well I am new to blogging and I have to say it is going great so far. I have nearly 900 views and 9 followers I have discovered so many blogs through twitter, and I have been posting my own link too. It's brilliant! I did not expect such a good response so soon.

ChloeElla

I agree that blogging is hard work - Last year I was posting when i had the chance & recently I've been trying to post regularly, a few times a week because I have so much stuff to review or share. But when I'm struck down with work, blogging is always the easy thing to let slip! It's always a mad dash to get the right light for photos too.
As well as the blogs already mentioned, thought I'd throw in:
http://nail-affair.blogspot.ie/ (More beautiful nail art!)
http://www.vivaadonis.com/ (Varied & easy to read)
http://www.cherrysuedointhedo.com/ (Not solely beauty, but has lots of product reviews/info)

& my one is http://verylovelystuff.blogspot.ie/ (Mostly beauty!)

I hope I get a few new blogs to read from the thread

stargirl.gra

Love this thread. Totally opened me up to some new blogs I hadnt seen. I tend to watch youtube vlogs but have seriously been getting into reading blogs lately too and I love that Irish blogs have products that can more than likely be gotten here and in euros.
I totally agree with everyone re: swatching the product on the place it's meant for and since I have addiction to nail polish I always rather see it on the hand rather than fake nails on a stick.
I started a blog last year but got really busy working the end of October but for therapys sake I'm getting back to it so there will be a lot of updating on that tonight
Oh and might I also add to everyone on here Keep up the good work! Yay for Irish bloggers.
If anyone wants to check out it out, my blog is
http://simply-stargirl.blogspot.ie/ (I promise I'm going to put more effort into this )

2rkehij30qtza5

Great thread. I've toyed around with the idea of writing a fashion and beauty blog for some time now. I am very active on pinterest and it's kind of like my blog but this thread might just have given me the kick up the booty to actually start a proper blog. Maybe I'll be adding my link to this thread in a few days time!! Some of the blogs here are excellent. Would be great if some of you could get featured on the likes of Stumbleupon to get your blogs more of an audience.

Bellissima Beauty

I've just started my blog a couple of months ago, would love it if you guys checked it out http://bellissimabeauty18.blogspot.com

Really enjoying reading through your blogs

Bellissima Beauty

Twee. wrote: »

I love swatches that are actually on the corresponding face part! A line of lipstick on someone's forearm doesn't really do it for me unfortunately. Or when a post (I'm looking at you, Beaut.ie!) gushes about a foundation and all its merits, but then the swatch is just a bit on the back of their hand. I wanna see the results!


I really like Viva Adonis http://www.vivaadonis.com/

The more Irish blogs the better, stuff prices in euro and that we can actually pick up for have shipped here.

Looove Viva Adonis

Lux23

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.

musical.x

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.

That's a bit harsh now.

ChloeElla

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 people blog as a hobby, not a profession. And the vast majority of bloggers don't start writing to get free stuff, and don't get it.

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!