Beauty bloggers & Social influencers

Ireland’s beauty bloggers float regally across a sparkling, happening world, dropping pearls of wisdom and waves of expensive perfume as they go.  Their enviable position is coveted by teenage beauty fans, glamorous grannies and trendy hipsters alike. Well, they sample all the newest make up trends for free and can be wonderfully opinionated about everything. Thumbs up for the new on-fleek primer. Thumbs down for your fancy new café.  Oh the power of the internet!  Being seen in the hippest places is awesome, and commanding personal appearance fees while you go, it’s positively incredible.

Fame that is based on how your react to beauty products and make up trends is a strange concept, when you think about it. No experience and no qualifications are necessary. Just the ability to be fabulous dahling!!  But how opinionated and independent can a blogger be when all of their blog/vlog content may be sponsored by brands?   Are we at saturation point when it comes to advice by online self-proclaimed beauty experts?    We look at some of Ireland’s most popular beauty blogs and assess the buzz, the advice and the general expertise of today’s social influencer.

The most well-known Irish beauty/lifestyle bloggers are SoSueme (Susan Jackson), Makeup Fairy, Melanie Martin and Itsrachmartin, to name but a few of the many.  A quick look at any of their online pages reveals links to checkout carts and the option to purchase the brands they so highly recommend. Slick polished websites abound. These sites are more associated with established glossy brands, than with eager YouTubers, posting eagerly from their bedrooms.

The concept of beauty blogs emerged when the public became disillusioned with magazines. It was a particular complaint of expensive glamour/beauty magazines that they were full of advertisements and paid content.  We like to think that the first refreshing blogs and vlogs (video blogs) were from enthusiasts, sharing their honest wonder at new and exciting things. And indeed, it was like that.  However, now that blogs have come of age, they have evolved into finding many ways of making money for the author.  Bloggers make a few cents for each video view. Sometimes, this can amount to more than a few cent! Kim Kardahshian West makes an estimated 50 thousand dollars a year from her video views. The estimated earning of all social media gurus is published here: Social Blade

And if that doesn’t have you rushing to your phone camera to start your own broadcasting, consider the revenue from advertisements which appear in the sidebar of the text.  Bloggers may also be sponsored by a particular brand, or approached by a company and asked to review or feature particular items for certain sums of money.  The cost for featuring a product varies depending on the bloggers notoriety, but there are rumors of thousands of euros changing hands to push new must-have products.  Bloggers must be seen at all the beautiful events, with all the beautiful people.  Along with the PR attention comes trips and gifts.  Travel to foreign countries, social gathering and anywhere that the brand label want to create a buzz.  We cannot blame Bloggers.  It seems that we, the consumer, are so fickle that a featured handbag will sell out within hours. Some Irish bloggers have almost 500,000 subscribers enjoying them on website, twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Blogs may have evolved into upmarket catalogues, fancy tutorial videos and online shops, but we love them.

And why wouldn’t we!  Beauty blogs are fun. They are free. They offer the newest trends in make-up techniques, fashion must haves and a glimpse into a world of glamour and elegance.  But, we must not think that the advice and recommendations are free. We are in fact, looking at magazines on line. The pay-per-view is there in the sponsored content, the ads on the side and the pushing of selected products. It seems awe can tolerate, or even ignore that, for the chance to view red carpet glamour up close. Of course, we always know that our own beauty experts are where they always were, at your local pharmacist, make up outlet and beauty salon. Trained professionals who regularly update on the latest in dermatological advances and who appreciate the holistic beauty of natural health and tried and tested brands and products.  The hottest blog spots have their place in our lifestyle trends, but we should enjoy them with a generous pinch of salt.

Magee’s would like to say that no monies changed hands in the making of this blog. No sponsorship, no branding and no free trips.  But, if any cruise liner company  is reading, any fancy hotels or spa weekends…we are open to offers….   Just saying… !