Hola bloggers! 😀
I’ve gotten a few emails recently about setting up a beauty blog or how to start one (I’ve given you the headstart here if you missed it) but I’ve also gotten some queries about what one must do, or mustn’t do when it comes to blogging or blogging about beauty. Really, there are no rules, so if you want to blog about beauty or already do, just do what makes you comfortable!
So, I thought I’d share instead some questions or myths about blogging, with a focus on beauty blogging, and hopefully dispel them. If you have a myth or perceived truth about blogging you’d like dispelled, please feel free to ask or email me and I’ll include them in another set of Beauty Blogging Mythbusters, complete with more cartoons of Thor 😀
Do note that these would be most applicable for those who may have doubts about the perceived “norm” of beauty blogging. Do what makes you comfortable but if you have a niggling doubt then these might help you 🙂
Myth: You must take lots of photos of yourself and post them all on your blog to be successful
FALSE
Fact: If showing your face or taking photographs of yourself doesn’t make you feel comfortable, you don’t have to. For the first 4 years of my blog life, I never showed my face. When/If I did, it was just parts of it – lips mostly, or eyes. I’ve only done full face shots fairly recently, and even then only when necessary i.e. usually in a post about makeup, to show what it looks like overall. I don’t deem it necessary to plaster your face all over your blog. I don’t even deem it necessary to show your face when writing about skincare, because it’s absolutely unnecessary. Do it if you want to, but it’s unnecessary. Successful bloggers like The Beauty Lookbook or Cafe Makeup don’t plaster their blogs with their faces and they are as successful as you get because they do very good swatches and write well. Hone your other skills if you don’t feel comfortable with selfies.
Myth: You must have a top end DSLR or latest camera to take good photographs
FALSE
Fact: Even your phone camera will do if you don’t have a camera. All you really need is a good eye and some basic photo editing skills. It is important to get clear, sharp photographs and that does not necessitate the use of the latest top end camera in the market.
Myth: You must edit or photoshop your photographs to make them look better
TRUE
Fact: Photoshop or photo-editing has been given a bad rap by people who go overboard with them, distorting how they really look – enlarging eyes, slimming the face, smoothing the skin etc. Yet, I deem some photo editing necessary. Not all of us have access to good lighting and quite often, images that come straight out of the camera do not look their best. Generally, I find them too dark. A bit of tweaking to brighten a picture, and increase contrast makes a photo look better. Dark dull photos are just as bad for your blog as having no photos at all.
Myth: You must blog everyday to be successful
FALSE
Fact: You risk burn out if you do. There’s no need to blog daily but the key is to be consistent. Blog according to your own schedule. Most of us have a life outside our blogs – work and families always take precedence, so pace yourself. I find an editorial calendar helps me stay on track and on schedule so try that.
Myth: You must only blog about expensive products because no one is interested in cheap products
FALSE
Fact: There’s no point going to the poor house or getting into debt amassing tons of expensive or luxury brands. If you have the budget for them and are already buying/using them, then yes, go ahead. But don’t feel bad or inferior writing about a drugstore/pharmacy brand. I love it when I discover a gem at the pharmacy and I have noticed that it gets more attention too. People love an affordable bargain and I love sharing my budget beauty finds! 😀
Do you have a question or myth about blogging or beauty blogging you’d like dispelled?
Feel free to ask in the comment box below or email me if you’d prefer that. If you like, I’d compile them and bust more blogging myths in another session to come 🙂 As a few people have pointed out, these are mostly perceived norms but I do know people sometimes feel uncomfortable or in doubt so hopefully this sets your mind at ease that you can buck the norm if you want to!
Paris B
Simple Blogging Tips are some simple tips I have for fellow bloggers, based on my own experiences. I’m no ‘guru’ but I hope they will help you. You may read up on previous Simple Blogging Tips here or please feel free to ask your question in the comment box or in email.
“Beauty bloggers get all the freebies and invitations to all the cool events! I must blog to get all the freebies!”
I’m not sure if you’ve debunked that in your previous post but it sure is one of my favourites.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch 😛 /end cynic mode
HAHAHA! Yes, False! But I’ll pick it up for a future post 😀
Great post! Definitely agree with LeGeeque’s comment above too!
When I started blogging I was taking photos and doing youtube videos using my iphone camera. Simpler times to be honest lol
Yes! I hear ya on the camera thing. I did rediscover my love for photography through blogging so that’s been a positive development. But yes, I fully concur with making do until it warrants making a big purchase like a camera and even then, learning to use it!
so much thoughts for #1!
another of my favorite is: Must I be beautiful to be a beauty blogger?
Oh yes! Thanks I’ll pick up that myth for next round 😀
Love this post!
Thanks Nicole! 😀
Being quite a blog hopper myself, I have come across all sorts and so many blogs with faces everywhere, some even went to the mile of just posting faces and nothing else! Worse is when some have no idea that their faces/photos are making others uncomfortable, I dislikes photos that leave room for imagination. Not classy. Not classy.
On the point of blur photos, I don’t understand why some have no sense of focus at all! Can’t they tell that they can’t see shit on their photos? This is puzzling as most cameras/phones now have auto focus function. Goodness!
Haha oh dear Sometimes I do wonder if people check their photos before they post them up, like those bloopers we see on ebay sometimes of reflections of naked people in the mirror? 😛 And I also agree that there is really no excuse for blur photos unless intentional one way or another. Even camera phones are so sophisticated now!
Very out of topic here… I saw Thor in your picture. Just watched Thor the Dark World. Couldn’t help but sent loads of THOR meme and jokes to my poor husband. One of them is Thor holding his hammer in strawberry shape and it reads “See-THOR-beh-lei”. 🙂 Another one is “Aji-nomo-THOR”… HAHA. It’s addictive.
OK, back to the topic. Beauty blogger shouldn’t sing praises to each and every products every time a post is written? Truly, some are just a waste of money and everyone should know that. :p
LOL! I saw those Thor Memes and they were so funny! 😀 I haven’t seen any of the Thor movies (I know I know so out of it!) but I love Scandinavian mythology so I’m no stranger to Thor and Loki, except in the myths, it wasn’t half as exciting haha! 😀 Good point about singing praises, Ting! Picking that up for next time too! We should be honest!
oohh good one Paris! I blog almost everyday, and sometimes it does tire me out. But I’ve learned to just take a break and let the blog be once in a while. And I really like the point on taking pics of yourself. I don’t get some bloggers who post up reviews with 8371617467 of themselves, lol!
Another myth most people seem to believe is that beauty bloggers get free stuff, free invites and all the free things in the world! Like Le Geeque said, nothing is free and everything comes with strings attached 🙂
Oh I hear ya Shasha! It takes a lot to be able to let go but I’m also learning to do that. Don’t need to be on call all the time eh? 😀 I don’t get the point of some selfies either. One or two to illustrate a point is fine. 20 of them holding a product is a bit of overkill eh? 😛 Oh and thanks for bringing up the freebie culture! I think only those with a conscience realise there are strings. Those who don’t won’t! 😀
Interesting topic as usual. For me, good pictures of the products and swatches are essential to a beauty blog. Showing selfies on how the product looks on the blogger does help as well. Some bloggers unfortunately have really poor photos and I do wonder how their blogs survive. I appreciate detailed reviews of products but get really put off by bad grammar.
The other beef is that some bloggers rely solely on sponsored products as their blog posts and although they put the usual disclaimers on how their opinions are not affected by these freebies, I do tend to wonder whether there is any truth in that statement especially after you have seen one too many of sponsored posts on their blogs.
Off topic, due to reading beauty blogs and having a good memory of faces, I have bumped into beauty bloggers at malls and restaurants. It becomes hilarious when I start describing how ‘I know’ these bloggers to my husband and friends although in reality, I do not actually know them and they do not know me either. LOL.
!!! Don’t get me started on grammar >.< As for sponsored products, you know I'm sometimes guilty of it myself haha! But I think I know what you mean. It's all the rah-rahing that really gets to you no matter how "honest" they may be. It's hard to tell the difference anymore right? Which is also why I tell people to read a wide cross section of reviews, never just base your purchase on one person saying it's great stuff. Ooh you have bumped into bloggers around town? Do you stop them to say hi? 😀 I don't think I've ever bumped into you but if you do, please say hi (and we still need to do tea some time!)
I am on the fence over the last Myth. People seem to love it when I suddenly blog about something hard to reach but really popular, like Tom Ford and YSL.
And the reads for $5 products are very low… Maybe that’s because I normally blog about drugstore products, so the occasional super luxury brands always garner more hits??
Good point Jyoan. I think it’s partly to do with readership but also to do with the type of product. For a more expensive product, people do tend to do more research about it before dropping money on it. For cheap ones, people may not bother with research. For me, I don’t necessarily get more views when writing about affordable products vs expensive ones but I certainly get more feedback 🙂
I would love to add some that I have recently gathered from my circle of friends and colleague.
1. You must look good 24/7.
2. You would love loads and tonnes of PR sample products.
3. You must have made lotsa money from blogging.
All of these are false too! Ahahaha!
Too true especially the one about looking good 24/7. Half the time I’m a slob LOL
Hey Paris! So I’ve been thinking… about attending events.
I used to go to as many of them as possible, but lately I have realized I really have to choose. All the time I spend on attending events is the time I can’t spend on working on my blog, which really is the thing that deserves more attention. Of course the aspect of networking, be it with fellow bloggers or PR, is an integral part of blogging. Still, at the end of the day, you want to be able to create good content.
Yikes! You and I both, Sunny! 😀 I have been cutting back on attending events myself as well, partly out of choice and partly because of other life commitments and priorities. I do agree the networking element is helpful but it does take up a lot of time. For us especially, sometimes traffic can be very bad so getting to and from an event can take up half the day and that isn’t productive at all!
Great write-up as usual!
I find all those myths are just an expectation set by what we have all seen in blogsphere. People thinks that you put pretty selfie you will be famous – that’s a benchmark created by certain famous blogger which I don’t need to mention who. 🙂 You forgot one big myth, bloggers review are all given free by PR/companies. Honestly speaking, I’m not sure when and why people perceived that. Not all products are given, we will too blogs about some stuff that we purchased and like.
Thanks Cynthia and yes, these are most certainly what people expect or think blogger or beauty bloggers do/should do. Hmm not sure which famous blogger you’re talking about but many famous bloggers make their living taking lots of pictures of themselves LOL That’s probably what makes them so famous! 😀 Oh and you are right about the myth I missed – thanks for bringing it up! I the myth about working only with free products is rather perpetuated by many bloggers who do only blog about free products or primarily blog about free products. It sort of sets the benchmark that a) you can get lots of freebies from blogging and b) that you should praise them sky high or you’ll never get another freebie again 😛
Oops! I’m guilty of taking photos of myself and plastering them all over my blog (blush). I do it so that my readers can see the entire look. I used to shy away from showing my face too but I’ve grown a thick skin lol.
Haha hey, if you feel comfortable doing it, keep right on doing it Jacqueline! 😀 I’m just saying that for those who may be on the fence about whether they have to pose with the products (and you thankfully do not, just show and tell it as it is/looks) then there’s no necessity to do so 🙂 But yes, the minute you decide to show your face, then an elephant hide is very necessary!
Totally agreed on all of these points. And I do think it’s helpful to blog about cheaper products… I get tons of search hits off Google for reviews of ELF products, which are basically as cheap as you can get. People who are on a tight budget are going to look up reviews too, because every dollar counts!
See, you are absolutely right Rebecca! I find that there is a very large band of blog posts about the latest (usually) high end/expensive product but fewer about the drugstore gems that we may be able to find out there. It’s nice to sigh and lust after something pricey, but it’s even nicer to know there’s something good that you can pick up along with your groceries or as a pick me up that doesn’t hurt your wallet, and I think people tend to forget that!
If one wants to plaster a lot of selfies, use Instagram! lol. My vain self is all over Instagram compared to my blog, I am more shy and reserved on blog apparently. Hahah.
And point #2, I’m happy with my phone hehehe. Phone camera these days has better megapixels so DSLRs won’t be necessary for me – I almost jumped into the bandwagon into having something I won’t probably use a lot 😀
LOL!! Good point about using Instagram for selfies, Syaza! 😀 I think it’s what made selfies so popular anyway 😀 You are also very right about phone photos. These days, the quality of photos coming out of phone cameras is amazing in quality and detail. I sometimes use pictures I take on my phone too for the blog (it’s also heck of a lot easier to carry around than a heavy clunky DSLR! 😀 )
Haha yes. There will be no “Let Me Take A Selfie” video if it wasn’t for Instagram. Haha. Yup, plus there are also tons of photo editing apps downloadable for the phone 🙂 I have seen multiple accounts using only phone and their apps to produce a gorgeous photo, no need to go through the hassle of downloading from the DSLR to the PC and editing in Photoshop etc hehe 😀
There is a “Let Me Take A Selfie” Video?! Oh my I have to go and look for it LOL! 😀 I agree, there are so many apps available I can’t keep up! I think the phone camera actually allows us a lot of flexibility because most of the time, the phone is always on us so there’s always a photo op! 😉
Haha yes. I am sure you are going to laugh loud when you’d seen it 😀 Yup, but out of all the apps available I only usually prefer ones that are meant for selfies :p
Thanks for debunking these beauty blogging myths Paris. I have read that you need to not only blog everyday, but multiple times a day to increase readership.
Gosh! Unless you don’t work then by all means update as often as necessary! I know many big international bloggers do this full time so it is almost quite expected that they will post a few times a day but for the rest of us with families and a job it’s practically impossible!
Great post! I still don’t get the part about photographing yourself holding the product. Unless you’re paid to exclusively to endorse the product, what are you, another advertisement on TV or magazine? I’ve seen bloggers posing with products in, what, 10 pictures in a post and all I’m thinking is, “am I supposed to be looking at you or the product? Because if the focus is on the product, you sure are a lot bigger than the product!”. Ahem. Okay, getting off high horse now. 😛
That is my point exactly, Tine! If you’re being paid to endorse a product, by all means pose with it – it’s expected. But if you’re a blogger and not being paid to be a brand ambassador, then why are you giving them that for free? 😛
Hi Paris! I’ve just started blogging seriously and this post resonates with me… What puts me off certain blogs is the absolute confidence and authority (plus the atrocious grammar) with which even average products are recommended as “MUST HAVES” purely because of the brand. Do we all seem so stupid? *end of rant* 🙂
Haha thanks for sharing your thoughts Rashi! I so get what you mean though. It’s so easy to come across these raving blogs right? Everything is love.