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I’ve been blogging for nearly six years. I’m part of the class of 2009 when it was about sharing common interests with girlfriends but on a much larger scale. Everyone was nice and supportive to each other – genuinely, none of that two-face back-stabbing malarkey and there were no such thing as press samples and PRs in our lives.

Over the years, some of these wonderful bloggers have gone onto becoming hugely successful, through sheer slogging-their-guts-out-round-the-clock dedicated blogging.

Meanwhile I’ve had my own personal accomplishments that I am very proud of. I’m not in a big league and I never will be, not when I am committed to my day job but I have certainly grown as a writer and I consider my achievements on the grounds of my words doing the talking. It’s one thing I am not prepared to compromise over, which is why I will spend weeks (if not months) trialling products. It gives me personal satisfaction that I’ve done a job to the best of my ability and it reminds me to stay true to my blogging roots.

Unfortunately I have noticed a worrying trend (yes, not again!) and it irks me write about it but I can’t contain my frustrations and feelings any longer. There is a very ugly side of beauty blogging and the crimes committed is paying off for the perpetrators while genuine bloggers like many that I know are falling behind, some even getting pushed out of the way and forgotten about.

Basically it grates me to see beauty bloggers spring up from nowhere and frog leap ahead of you through dirty tactics without one moral fibre in their bodies over the ethics of beauty blogging. Work hard and be true to yourself, don’t effing use others to get what you want. I don’t like to see beauty blogging become corrupted but sadly it is happening and now I am going to tell you how.

  1. Protect your little black book
    Those who have no shame whatsoever in asking for PR contacts when they get wind of a press event that will be lucrative to them. By ‘lucrative’ I mean a generous goody bag of samples. Any kind of relationship whether it’s personal or professional is a two-way street except in this case, some just take, take, take and never return the favour.Take a moment and consider it from a PR’s point of view: not everyone has a bottomless budget to cater for the whole of London and PRs make their selections carefully depending on who fits the profile of their brand or product. There are so many brands I would love to work with but I respect they have restrictions (lipsticks don’t grow on trees), also they examine carefully which blogs give them a return in traffic and sales. What do I do? What any sane person would – I buy a product if I want it so much. Leanne will frown at me for admitting this but I really want Terry de Gunzburg’s Terryfic Oud eau de parfum, which costs £135 for a bottle. And I will buy it. I am a consumer and the origins of blogging stemmed from buying. Why is that so difficult to comprehend?
  2. The ones who just won’t take no for an answer.
    Linked to number one, if a PR doesn’t respond to you, they are just not that into you. Get over it. I’ve heard bloggers complain that they didn’t get hear back from a PR for an event that was ‘by invitation only’. Duh! That is why! You weren’t invited FFS. Why do you think you are entitled? Sometimes PRs will handpick a selected few that they feel fit in with their brand and to whom they can trust to deliver on. PRs aren’t stupid – they too can spot a ligger. However, if something constantly yaps and bites at your ankles, one day a PR will give in.
  3. The Samples Stalker
    One who follows your blog or social media channel and automatically assumes the product reviewed or captured on camera is a press sample. It may not be de rigeur but some old fashioned bloggers will buy beauty products and write about them because it’s fun, yeah?
  4. Calling in products
    ‘Calling in’ is a term used to describe press requesting samples/images though a few bloggers have latched onto it and decided they are entitled to doing the same. I’d hate to state the obvious but ‘calling in samples’ is with the intention that you will feature the requested product on your blog, not restock existing ranges for your bathroom cabinet. Sadly this is happening and those who do it don’t see anything wrong with it. Here’s a suggestion to the tight-fisted ones, take that credit card out of your purse and use it when your favourite powder runs out, don’t shamelessly ask a PR. Like I said, lipsticks don’t grow on trees and they have to pay for these products.
  5. Diary Directory
    Diary Directory is something I came across recently. Honestly, I had never heard of it. It’s the beauty, fashion and lifestyle industry’s bible of contacts, press events and it comes at a subscription price of a few hundred pounds. I don’t remember exactly how much but I do know it’s A LOT. *googles it quickly* Oh! It’s £880 PLUS 20% VAT. That’s over one grand!Now there are rumours about login details being passed around to newbie bloggers who have infiltrated the list of events, found out what’s happening and showed up to launches. Newbies who have only been blogging for 5 days or something. It makes you think…when it costs a rather large sum of money to access this site, how on earth would a blogger who has only been around for a short while afford it or even consider making that investment?Thankfully sources have told me they are cracking down on multiple logins by checking IP addresses but by then the damage can’t be reversed for those who have abused it by fraud.
  6. In and out
    This is usually the blogger who shows up to an event and leaves 5 minutes later, armed with their goody bag. Every single time. Seriously? That is plain rude. When a PR company has hired a venue, paid for some kind of activity or entertainment and informed you what an event will involve, you jolly well have no excuses to bail out early. The rest of us stick around, and we’ve come straight from working a full day’s work. If you can’t commit, then don’t accept.
  7. Heavy weight or feather weight?
    Can you believe there are some bloggers who judge an event by how heavy a goody bag is?
  8. Anything and everything
    Bloggers who will go to the opening of an envelope in other words. If you’re a beauty blogger, what are you doing at a techy press event – looking for Christmas presents?
  9.  “Look at my stats!”
    Here’s a reality check: sometimes, just sometimes, stats aren’t everything. Occasionally content prevails (thank the Lord). But I’ve heard some whinge their stats are so good that they don’t understand why a PR doesn’t want to work with them.My stats are chicken feed compared to the big bloggers but I do take pride in the fact that a few people will come back to me and tell me they purchased the Tria after reading my review for example. If stats were the end and be all every time then I would have bowed out of blogging a long time ago.  Any way, who’s to say half a squillion stats aren’t courtesy of a spambot?
  10. The arrogance of self-entitlement
    Where the hell do bloggers get off on this sense of self-entitlement and self-importance? If X, Y and Z have been invited to an event, it doesn’t mean W should be there too. Get off your effing high horse and write a decent blog post. That does not mean regurgitate a press release and crow on about the ‘gorgeousness’ that’s splattered on your desk.

I think that’s everything covered. Are you a PR? I would like to know how it looks from where you are sitting and if you’re a blogger, can you relate to this or am I blowing smoke out of the proverbial?

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Sheenie
sheenie@just-nice-things.co.uk

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14 thoughts on “The Ugly Side of Beauty Blogging

  1. The fact that some bloggers ask for repeat PR samples of certain products actually makes me fill a bit sick. If you like it, go and buy it yourself. Yes, receiving PR samples may allow you to trial products you might not have thought of before, but if you fall in love with them, then you re-buy it yourself. you DON’T email and ask for more, that’s just a p**s-take. I’ve been lucky enough to receive samples of some amazing products which I’ve then added to my staple list of things I use (and yes, I re-purchase them every single time!).

  2. I’m in Canada and these things ring true. But it’s better to just rise above and keep having fun. All the PR people I have ever worked with are smart and savvy and won’t be fooled. These types of bloggers get tired fast and won’t be around next year. Keep doing what you’re doing 🙂

  3. Amazing post Sheenie….
    You have completely nailed it – the things you have mentioned give ALL bloggers a bad name and it makes me cringe to the max. I dont want to be associated with beauty blogging when this ugly behaviour rears its head, and unfortunately we are seeing it more and more. People need to wind their neck in and get a reality check!!

  4. This sums up (minus a few other personal grievances against blogging) exactly why I don’t really blog anymore. Blogging isn’t what it used to be and I don’t particularly like what it has become.
    JNT is one of a few blogs I can still trust to provide an honest, unbiased opinion that hasn’t been influenced by £££ or sponsorship. Don’t get me wrong I have absolutely nothing against blogs making money – far from it. What bothers me is like you say- the anything and everything bloggers who regurgitate meaningless reviews on products that they usually wouldn’t look twice at.
    The amount of bloggers these days who rave about a press sample and don’t even feature swatches/photographs of the actual product in action is staggering. I wonder how many of those end up on eBay! I remember a few years back discovering ebay listings from a fairly popular blogger- everything was a press sample. The things she had claimed to adore and had trialled for X amount of time were being sold on ebay as new & unused!
    It was around then I started to fall out of love with blogging and bloggers.
    It all got a bit too much of a popularity contest with only the self entitled, self important bloggers (usually with poor content!) reaping the rewards. You only have to look at the current Gleam-era bloggers to see that this is the norm in blogging now, sadly.
    I miss blogging/reading blogs and these days I stick to a few trusted blogs – the ones that usually don’t receive nearly as much recognition as they deserve.
    Take pride in what you have created here and the fact that you haven’t sold yourself out for a bottle of perfume 😉 xx

  5. I have stumbled upon your post (and blog) by a retweet (Caroline Hirons), and I am glad I did.
    My love for beautyblogs (and YT) dates back to the end of 2009, and I have been meaning to start myself for quite some time.
    Due to several reasons, but mainly my day time job, I just recently started writing and really enjoy it. But getting in contact with many other new (and mostly very young) bloggers has opened my eyes to the things you describe above.
    Just reading #prrequest on twitter makes me sick. There are 15 year old girls, blogging for 3 months, that feel entitled to asking for a LV-handbag as prrequest? That is not what blogging should be about.

  6. It really depresses me when I see bloggers show off their freebies on instagram every day, it makes others feel jealous and low. Another pet hate is when they plead poverty , yet the next day they are jetting off to some exotic location for free.I say this from a frequent blog readers perspective. 🙂

  7. I agree with you, Roseanna. I don’t see the point of ‘what’s landed on my desk’. Unless it features in a review or is going to be, it immediately triggers off a bad feeling amongst and others, and dare I say, probably encourages some to chase PRs for samples. …and don’t get me started on press trips! x

  8. Hello, LindaLibraLoca! Thank you for stopping by – always a pleasure to welcome new visitors. 🙂 Caroline is one of the few I’ve grown to know since I started blogging and one of the few whose efforts are paying off – and deservedly so.

    That’s such a good (and frightening) point about the PR request hashtags! I also worry that the older, established bloggers are being pushed out as new ones come through with some who have the wrong intentions. There are still a few old-school bloggers who refuse to do sponsored posts like Gemma from London Beauty Review but have sadly disappeared off mailing lists for PRs because she doesn’t hound for samples yet will review products completely impartially, even if the truth isn’t nice. PRs are definitely savvy but some bloggers can turn on the charm!

  9. Aw Georgia! Thank you for your sweet words and for sticking by for so long! I wish you still blogged. You are a bad influence on the beautiful things bought that you post on your Instagram. I don’t think I know anyone who likes Tom Ford as much as you!

    Yes, I am not keen on blogs or Youtubers who are simply informercials (or QVC presenters for the YouTube generation). Tell me about the product and be honest! If I want to be sold something I can just visit a department beauty hall!

    You talk about blogs who don’t feature photos of swatches, I wonder about those few who never wear the damn products! One reason why I fall behind in posting reviews or am late in doing so is because I try the products – wear them, play with them, etc. I was lusting after Urban Decay’s Electric Palette and bought it on the day it was released but it took me a few months to break it open and use it. The wait was worth it for me – it’s probably one of the posts I’m proud of as the results speak for themselves.

    Any way, I’m not going to change! I still like to feature reviews of products I’ve bought. A blog based on PR samples entirely is a turn-off. Thank you for your support! xx

  10. Grace, this is so true! We don’t want to be tarnished with the same brush! I’m really glad you enjoyed the post. I was hesitating about publishing it but the support from it has been phenomenal. xx

  11. Hi Julie, thank you and you’re right – plenty of PRs are very smart and savvy. Since writing this post a few have come forward to give me their side of the story. Some find it difficult when their clients are pushing for exposure and traffic, which then makes me think if they are just interested in those two factors only, not whether a consumer should invest. If that’s the case then this kind of blogging is no different to advertising – it’s just on a less costly scale than taking out a page in a glossy magazine.

    I hope your prediction will become true…unfortunately the blaggers I know are still going strong and are doing better than me in clocking up big branded products and press trips!

  12. Urgh! That’s disgusting, Kat! I didn’t even know such an immoral etiquette exists. More so I am amazed PRs honour these requests. I LOVE By Terry’s foundation (the one that costs £75!) and will buy that when my sample runs out. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever tried before so I can justify spending that much but if it weren’t for being offered the chance to review it, I would not have been able to experience the benefit and results of it. Also like yourself, I’ve got a list of favourites I’ve discovered thanks to blogging. Some PRs are very generous and considerate, and will offer to send you anything you ask for (AND THEY INSIST ON IT) but I am not going to abuse my position (as won’t you and plenty of other bloggers like us). If I can’t commit to reviewing it, I’ve no right to demand it.

  13. Very interesting post. I’ve never read you before, I just came across this link on twitter. One of my pet hates is swatches not being shown or if they are actually reviewing the product rather than ‘showing’ us it then how long does such and such last before it comes off etc?

    I’ve also read posts from the other side, about PRs taking the mickey with bloggers. Do you have any experience or views on that side?

    Amy

  14. Hi Amy, thanks for stopping by and commenting. My experience with PRs is fortunately very good. I do come across some outrageous requests but I never accept or agree to those. My pet hate is being asked to enter a competition and publicise a product or service with the ‘chance’ of winning something. Clearly a PR has found me and wants my services but I draw the line at such a cheeky request!

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