Hi again, beauties! Thank you SO much for your amazing feedback on my blogger chat series! It was my goal this year to expand my topics, and so far I’m loving it. A lot of you reached out after reading Controversial Blogging Tactics, and chatted with me about your frustrations and concerns. It got me thinking a lot about today’s topic, so grab some coffee, and join me while I dive back into the world of blogging!
THE WAY THINGS USED TO BE
I’m going to start with a little nostalgia for the way things used to be. Back in the day, circa 2009, blogging was a lot different than it is today. There wasn’t as much saturation, and the focus was on makeup, not on fancy backdrops or professional set ups. Photos were mediocre at best, but that didn’t matter, because we flocked to blogs to get real reviews from real women.
On one hand, I love that blogging has evolved. It challenges me to improve, and learn new skills. Plus, I love shopping for faux flowers, cute trinket trays, and sparkly props. On the other hand, things were a lot simpler back then, and there wasn’t as much pressure to be perfect. Blogging today is mainly different, because the pressure to be airbrushed, photoshopped, and unrealistically beautiful is at an all time high.
IS OUR INDUSTRY GOING BACKWARDS?
As a comm major in college, I did a lot research into the impacts print media has on teens. Magazines are notorious for featuring one size fits all models, who are photoshopped to perfection, and marketed as being “natural.” Their blemishes, fly aways, and unwanted weight are magically removed, creating an unattainable standard of beauty.
Blogs and YouTube channels were a breath of fresh air, in an industry so dead set on creating insecurity. Beauty “gurus” were everyday women, women you could relate to, and trust for unbiased reviews. There weren’t any studio lights, professional cameras, or intricate editing. It was like watching our best friends talk about the latest MAC release. The low quality videos are cringe worthy to watch today, but it was relatable, and there wasn’t a need to be perfect.
Ironically, an industry that built itself on real women and everyday beauty, has now gone the way of print media. All I have to do is open Instagram, and I’m met with a slew of super airbrushed images. We are once again chasing unachievable beauty, and skin so retouched it doesn’t even have pores. When a brand shares an image of a woman not edited to death, there’s backlash, rude comments, and tons of negativity. Why are we so accepting of fake images, and so turned off by real ones?
IS THERE REALLY ROOM FOR US ALL?
All of this brings me to the title of today’s post, is there really room for us all? Are us real gals a thing of the past?
There’s no denying the fact, that there’s a definite “look” to the top influencers right now. They are stunningly gorgeous, but there isn’t much variety in terms of age or style. While insta brows, intense contour, and lip fillers have become the norm, more natural influencers aren’t getting as much representation – which is really the entire reason we started blogging, right?
TAKE A STANCE
It was a heartbreaking defeat for us natural babes, when the creator of one of the worlds most iconic and classic makeup brands stepped down. Earlier this year, Bobbi Brown left her namesake company, for reasons that had been festering for years. She was tired of the pressure, and of the constant badgering to make products that went against her views.
Bobbi Brown stated that contour palettes weren’t in her lineup, because she was tired of brands telling women there was something wrong with their face. That’s what contouring is, right? It’s mimicking features we don’t have. Sharper lines, pronounced cheek bones, thinner noses. Bobbi was all about confidence, and feeling pretty, without over-doing it.
When I came into the industry, it was a time when everyone was doing contoured faces and overdrawn lips. I was amazed at how good the girls looked when they washed their faces. A makeup artist told me, “If you don’t do the contour, you’ll never work in this town.” And I just couldn’t do it.” Bobbi Brown (read more here)
THE FUTURE OF BLOGGING
Are us everyday babes a thing of the past, or should we continue pressing on? I’ve heard of bloggers throwing in the towel, and walking away because they didn’t feel like they measured up looks wise. It’s all so sad. I started this blog, not because I’m a pro, but because I love makeup and wanted to feature easy to achieve looks, and honest reviews. If I can create a smokey eye, and apply falsies, so can you! I’m over 30, a mama, and I often look like I should have a mop in my hands – but I’m relatable. I don’t pretend to be perfect, and neither should you!
My images aren’t photoshopped, my brows aren’t perfect, and my skin has redness, texture, and pores. Bloggers chat about makeup, because we love it, not because we’re trying to be vain or fake. I say hell yeah there’s room for us all, and if you’re feeling pressured to be perfect, remember you’re beautiful the way you are! Here’s hoping Bobbi Brown comes back to the beauty industry, because we need more champions like her!
What do you think about the direction blogging/makeup is going? I’d love to know!
So much yes to all of this! I didn’t start blogging as early as you did, but it’s even changed since I started. I think being a Beauty Blogger brings about so many more insecurities and such when you’re constantly being compared to the “big names” that are out there. No, I will NEVER ever look like most of the instafamous bloggers/yt’ers out there, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a right to have my own style and I don’t want to not be proud of my own work and my own skills. It seems like every day there are fifty bloggers (ha, way more I know) talking about a certain product and it happens day after day. So I’m often left wondering where I fit in?!? It’s that trying to be authentic and different that keeps me going!
PS Losing Bobbi Brown was a HUGE loss for the Beauty Industry. That broke my heart and it’s a shame that a woman of that much talent felt the need to step away from her own brand because of the constant pressure she felt to produce products she didn’t feel women needed!!!!!
I know!! SO SO sad! She claims there were other factors as well, but who builds an international makeup brand from nothing, then walks away not even 20 years later?! 🙁 🙁 Meanwhile, huge brands (that I won’t name) are posting images on insta that are so beyond retouched, they don’t even look real anymore. Sigh, such a shame that the blogging industry has gone this way – and makeup in general.
SO glad you liked it!! We talked a lot after my last post, and our convo was one of my inspirations for this. I talked to a lot of others, and it’s just so sad how many bloggers feel left out and irrelevant because they aren’t perfect looking. There’s so much pressure from all directions. If only blogging went back to the good old days, instead of this need to get fillers, injections, and have “insta” worthy makeup 100% of the time.
Julie, I cannot agree more with your post! “On the other hand, things were a lot simpler back then, and there wasn’t as much pressure to be perfect. Blogging today is mainly different, because the pressure to be airbrushed, photoshopped, and unrealistically beautiful is at an all time high.” I feel like this came out of my own brain! People started beauty blogs because the mag editors weren’t giving us an unbiased opinion because they had been schmoozed and boozed by brands and lost their voice. Sadly, a lot of us are watching our favorite bloggers and YTers fall into the exact same trap! It’s beyond disappointing. I am happy that there are still so many great bloggers out there like you, Christine/Temptalia, and Karen/Makeup & Beauty Blog who consistently put out amazing content and haven’t been corrupted by the bright lights of brand bamboozling. I am glad there are other people out there who are seeing these insane free getaways to private islands and music festivals and Paris, and thinking “wait a minute here…”
Aside from that, I too am fatiguing on the heavily made up looks that are always bombarding me. Getting full glam drag is fun from time to time but is that the only thing that’s in style? I personally love seeing people with minimal makeup occasionally; I think seeing someone’s imperfections is totally normal–and honestly preferred!
Thank YOU for staying true to yourself, always having integrity and being a REAL GIRL. Your love for makeup shines through in every post and insta photo, and your personality is sincere, funny and 100% relatable. Much love!
Thank you SO much for your sweet words, Kristen! It’s definitely disheartening to see the bigger YTers wined and dined – because you know they’ll never mumble a bad thing about that brands products ever again. I love that brands recognize influencers, we are definitely changing the game in terms of marketing. I also think it’s amazing for those select few who have had such great success But, sometimes it does feel as though we are going back to the way it was when print media ruled all. I am so lucky to have great readers, and although I’d LOVEEE to be taken to Fiji with Tarte (in my dreams, right?! lol), I do appreciate being smaller and therefore able to stay more genuine. And yes, can we please stop with the supppppper caked on insta looks. I’m so over it lol
I’m fairly new to your blog, I only discovered it last week, (can’t remember how) and I spent the entire day reading many of your older posts. I enjoyed your make up looks (even though I am of African descent). But one of the things that stood out to me, which I mentioned to someone just this week, is that your make up is still natural and I like your style. The eye looks are great and your face is simple, not six million layers, like you see so many YouTubers doing. It’s a style that mirrors my own. Emphasis on the eyes, good skin care and keep the rest basic. Even down to your signature “nude” lips.
I think that there is still room for bloggers like you out here because, trust me, not everyone needs or wants to have a full face of all the hoopla. And there are more of us who like make up but don’t need the ridiculous looks and I dare say, we’re of the more mature set who can’t go to work with bright eyeshadow up to our brows and Istagram eyebrows in our every day, or even weekend trips to run errands. It’s not real life. Nor is it sustainable. I have even heard some of the YouTubers say that they don’t wear make-up everyday and their everyday looks are very simple. Irony.
I agree with you fully. But one of the sad things lately, is that all of the newfangled beauty “influencers” are just that. Marketing machines, driven by company PR to push products on us. And if we aren’t smart and discerning consumers, we get easily caught up in the hype. Of course we’d never look like the “influencers” but by golly, they have made this next product a “must-have” and by all means, we must have it. It’s sad really and I see the young girls being the ones most likely to be negatively impacted by it, because none of these brands that are being pushed so heavily are cheap or affordable brands.
I encourage you to keep doing what you do. Keep being who you are. Authentic people are the ones who usually weather life’s storms because they stand on a firm foundation. I feel that the wind will eventually blow many of these “influencers” away.
Thank you so much! I am happy that you found my blog, and appreciate your sweet words! My goal is to create looks that everyone can recreate, without looking too heavy or caked on. Plus, I think we’re all a little tired of the over done insta looks. I so agree with you on the PR front with the larger influencers. They are wined and dined, and at times it feels as though they recommend any product that comes their way. There are some that have stayed true to self, and as you said, here’s hoping we can concur on 🙂