Jacob

Instagram

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 11:26pm  ideas  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

pstarrrgoodInstagram has dramatically changed the beauty world as I know it. In fact, it’s a major piece of how I started to discover makeup. It’s so easy to find yourself lost in its depths by clicking between hashtag and user, discovering new products, brands and techniques. PatrickStarrr is the first beauty blogger that I ever followed and I was like, “woah, boys can wear makeup?” And as you can see, he wears makeup.

After that, I would frequently consult Instagram and YouTube before ever buying a cosmetic product. Bloggers often list “product details” on their Instagram accounts where the list all of the products that they used in the featured look. I always read them to see what they’ve used and this is one of the ways that products blow up on Instagram. It’s clear to see what products are used by who and how frequently. This drives the sales of brands and boosts the popularity of bloggers that are supporting a trending brand or product. The product details are also where discount codes can be found, which is just another way the sales are boosted through Instagram.

Instagram is also very trendy. Bloggers use various products and then everyone is buying them. First it was contouring, then it went to highlighting. Brands have to either stay on top of the trends or be left behind. Anastasia Beverly Hills has been on the top of the highlighting game. The first came out with single highlighting compacts and then releases “Glow Kits,” a pallet of multiple highlighters. They’re basically what everyone is wearing and are frequently sold out. Speaking of which, I need to get their new glow kit before it does sell out. But why do I need it, I already have four. And that is the power of Instagram. It’s gotten me to buy four glow kits and it’s the reason that I’m going to buy a fifth one. There’s absolutely no reason that I need to have that many highlighters, but I need them. I can’t really tell you why I need them. Maybe it’s the satisfaction of people asking me what highlighter I’m wearing and having that half a second bond with the person who asked as we internally orgasm over the ABH glow. But why? Instagram has allowed brands to create such an online reputation and everyone has accepted the fact that their products are bomb.

The power of the gram

 Posted by on Sun, 10/2 at 9:39pm  reading  No Responses »
Oct 022016
 

Social Media in the Beauty Landscape

The article that I read this week discussed the power that Instagram has in the beauty market. Consumers refer to Instagram to see how products and applied and to read reviews of the products. This has caused brands to not only use the app, but also to promote themselves on it. Instagram has become so powerful that there are “insta-famous” brands; brands that were created on Instagram or, in other words, online brands. A small, new brand posts on Instagram, gets discovered, gains a following and turns into a million dollar brand in a matter of months. The article sites brands such as Sigma Beauty, ColourPop and Dose of Colors, all of which were thrown into the beauty world through the power of Instagram. It also states that Instagram plays an important role in the decision making of young cosmetic shoppers. It was found that the more time that is spent viewing the brand’s Instagram page, the more time is spent on the company’s selling website. This has direct correlation with sales because obviously the more time that is spent viewing the site equals more products view which leads to more items being purchased. This has lead to more online marketing campaigns rather than print ads, which has positive environmental impacts due to the decline of print.

Instagram has also allowed for the creation of trends throughout the beauty community. One of the more recent and popular is that of facial masks. Specifically, the explosion of the brand named GlamGlow. Their peal off tightening mask has taken Instagram by storm and caused for a slew of other peal off masks (which are pretty cool if you ever have the chance to try one). Skin care was once something that only wrinkly old ladies participated in, but thanks to Instagram, it’s everywhere. Brands are incorporating their skin care into Instagram demo videos as part of the makeup application process. For example, in stead of starting a tutorial at the application of makeup, they start at the bare-faced skin preping stage. The person giving the tutorial applies any serums and moisturizers before applying primers and then goes in with their color application. It’s all about the visual. If people see the products being used, they’re going to buy them. If everyone is using it, it has to be good, right?

The disadvantages of ordering online as told from a Beauty Advisor

 Posted by on Sun, 9/25 at 8:48pm  ideas  No Responses »
Sep 252016
 

Social media is a way for brands to directly contact their customers. Brands were able to do this before by sending out mail ads, which they still do, but it’s now overwhelmingly via email. This saves them major coins because they don’t have to pay for paper and mailing costs, and it’s a lot better for the environment. Although, working at a cosmetics counter, I really hate when people pull out their phones and they’re like, “but I got an email saying…”. And then 10 times out of 1o it’s for an offer that is online only and they want it in stores. Well look, Susie Q, I can’t do an damn thing about it; you’ll have to order online. For me, this is one of the disadvantages of brands using online marketing to generate business. If you’re going to offer promotions online that aren’t honored in stores, you’re driving your business to your website. That’s fine for the brand because they’re making their profit one way or another, but it hurts the people that they’ve employed to work their counters. I work off of commission so I need to sell as much as a possible can to make ends meet, but not only that, brand executives put a lot of pressure on beauty advisors (people working the counter) to make as many and as high sales as we can. Which we would love to, because we benefit from it as well, but when brands push customers online, there’s no way for us to make our sales. The most common thing that I see is free “gifts” offered for online orders. They’re not really gifts, they’re just samples but people go crazy for them because they think they’re getting something. So, people would rather order online than come into the store to buy their products. But what people don’t realize is that in stores, we sell our service. That’s what we’re trained to do; we sell services before we sell products. You’re looking for a foundation? I’m going to give you luxury service because I work for a luxury brand. You’ll get basically a mini facial and makeover just because you came in for a foundation. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t buy the other products that I used, I’m just showing you what else you could use in conjunction with the foundation. But, most importantly, you get to see and feel the texture of the foundation. I seriously don’t understand how people buy foundation online. You have to try it on to see what colour you should wear and to see if you even like the formula. But going back to services: people don’t realize that that’s what they’re buying when they purchase luxury brand cosmetics. Services aren’t offered online which is why most brands offer free samples (which you can get at any cosmetic counter anyway) but people think they’re getting a great deal. Brands just need to realize that they’re not making any more than the would because they’re taking sales from their counters and moving them online. This only causes frustration from BAs and ends up costing them more than the profit they think it generates.

Glossybox’s advancements

 Posted by on Sun, 9/25 at 8:25pm  reading  No Responses »
Sep 252016
 

This article seemed fairly straight forward: 7 ways social media is shaping the beauty industry. I thought, “oh, just a cute little list.” But it got me thinking about things I haven’t really paid attention to. It first mentions Glossybox, a website I hadn’t heard of before. Subscribing gets you 5-6 samples of products delivered to you once a month. The article says it’s gained a lot of popularity by word of mouth. This means that they’ve created so much buzz online that people are actually talking about it in person. That’s a brand’s ultimate goal, like, their stuff is so good that you want to tell your friends about it.

The article also discusses Benefit Cosmetics’s use of Facebook Live, and I thought, “yeah.. and?” But it’s actually a really good marking strategy. Facebook users get notified when people go live and they can ask questions in real time. Brands sometimes invite beauty bloggers to go live with them which draws in an even larger audience. The platform is the most direct way that they can reach their audience. Their video isn’t being broadcast into the abyss of the internet but rather into the eyes of their consumers via notifications.

The article discusses trolling online which is a huge part of the online market. Twitter is a major trolling platform for brands and most have backed away from using Twitter as a way to communicate with their customers. I think this is a really great idea because people will abuse the brand’s online services and it’s really not an effective means of communication with the brand because you’re limited to the number of characters. Using platforms like Facebook Live, mentioned above, is much more effective for users and the brand. They also use tactics like email newsletters to inform their followers about the latest trends and products. This again goes back to the direct notification instead of just blasting into the depths of the internet. They’re letting the people that care know what’s best in hopes that they’ll at least click and be temped to buy.

Patrick, Manny and Benefit

 Posted by on Fri, 9/23 at 10:07am  mini analysis  No Responses »
Sep 232016
 

enc-3321-benefit-pstarrr-mannymuaThis image is of a gondola (“gondola” is what Sehora calls their displays as their are no traditional cosmetic counters) at Sephora. It features Patrick Starrr, Manny MUA and Kathleen Lights. All three are YouTube beauty bloggers. Firstly, the image conveys to the shopper that all three of them endorse the brand and they they like the products that are featured. This would make a follower of one of the bloggers more likely to buy the featured cosmetics. This is definitely true for me because I will often watch reviews of new products before going to Sephora to try them out. This shows that Benefit (the name of the brand whose gondola is shown) knows how their customers shop. Brands often give beauty bloggers discount codes or affiliate codes to give to their followers. This means that not only are the brands making a profit, but the bloggers are as well. So, not only is Benefit sending the beauty bloggers free products to feature on their YouTube channels (free advertising virtually), they’re also featuring the beauty bloggers physically in stores to sell out products even faster. You missed Patrick Starrr’s latest video? It’s cool, Benefit has him right here so you know this product has to be good. I don’t mean for all of this to sound negative because my point isn’t to denote the power that beauty bloggers have. I just find it interesting how brands try to sell their products with the power of the blogger. So, onto the positive!

Well, the obvious: there’s two boys featured on a makeup advertisement in a nation cosmetics ad. That’s huge! And this isn’t PStarrr’s first time in Sephora. He was featured by Formula X earlier this year, which made him the first boy ever to be featured in Sephora. This ad is important because it exposes shoppers to male makeup artists and boys wearing makeup. It helps to normalize the fact that makeup has no gender, or as Patrick says, “makeup is one size fits all.”

Soical media’s influence on the beauty industry

 Posted by on Wed, 9/14 at 10:21am  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Sep 142016
 

My topic will discuss how social media has influenced the beauty industry. YouTube, Instagram and Twitter users use the platforms to gain knowledge from beauty bloggers on what makeup to buy and how to apply it. This has turned the beauty industry on its head and it directly influences how brands market and design their products. Social media has also influenced trends in beauty and allowed viewers to go from amateur to artist.

It all started with Michelle Phan. She is the first beauty blogger (someone who makes tutorials/ runs a beauty account) that made a career off of a beauty blog account. Three years after uploading her first video to YouTube, she was brought on by Lancôme to be the first video makeup artist. This is extremely important because now anyone can get advice from a professional makeup artist without having to go to a cosmetics counter. This information comes from: http://www.refinery29.com/2015/12/99728/beauty-industry-social-media-effect

Along with this explosion of knowledge, there are also “Insta-famous” products. A beauty blogger uses a product that they think is amazing, so another beauty blogger tries it and loves it, so then someone else tries it. Then, their followers try it and love it, causing a frenzy to get the must have product. Brands pay every close attention to this, so they often send PR packages to the well known bloggers in hopes that they’ll love the product and generate sales. So for the brands, it’s free advertisement. This also lead to brand collaborating with YouTubers to create limited edition products. They then show off their collab on their social media (free advertising again) and the product sells out within hours. Some bloggers become so successful that they’re able to launch their own cosmetics line, like Jeffree Star. He’s responsible for the liquid lipstick craze. His brand is sold entirely online and sells out within hours of product being launched and his social media presence is entirely responsible.

So, who is talking? Everyone. Well, everyone in the beauty industry. It’s impossible, I think, to be involved in the beauty industry without knowing at lease something about what’s happening within the beauty community online. Even if you don’t follow what’s happening, just imagine going to the cosmetics counter one day and suddenly your bronzer is now called “contour” all because Kim K starting wearing it on the daily (because no she didn’t discover nor create it). Surely you would ask questions as to why you need to use contour and not bronzer and you would definitely need to ask how to contour. Or imagine the heart break of going to buy the lipstick you’ve used for 20 years only to discover that it was discontinued because that shade isn’t what’s treading online. It is virtually impossible to buy a cosmetic product that hasn’t been reviewed or used in a tutorial somewhere online. And, overall, the conversations that people are having about this influence are seeming to be pretty positive. The one major negative that I have discovered is that people are saying it creates unrealistic beauty standards. Now, I’m not saying that it doesn’t nor am I saying that this isn’t an issue or problematic BUT creating unrealistic beauty standards isn’t new. Print magazines and television have been doing this since their conception. The argument that I have to combat this is that the tutorials that are creating these unrealistic standards are designed to teach the viewer how to do whatever it is that the tutorial aims to teach. So, in theory, the standards are only unrealistic if the viewer does not have the skill set to use the tips and tricks they are being taught. I know that this is problematic because one can go around in circles attacking both sides of the argument. None the less I do not think that the bloggers ever aim to create unrealistic standards; rather they want to share their artistry with the world.

Reid, Ballenger and Trixie Mattel.

 Posted by on Fri, 9/9 at 10:41am  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Sep 092016
 

I feel that the questions that Reid provides are a good starting place to start thinking about writing. One can’t just begin to write without thinking something. For instance, before I began writing this post, I knew where it would go and who would read it, and that influenced how this post is written. I am writing more formally than I would if I were texting someone because this more formal form of writing is what is expected of writers writing in academia. If someone is just writing for fun and does not intend for anyone to read what they are writing, then the author is the audience and this directly effects the way the author is writing. This leads into Reid’s second question: the purpose for writing. To me, the purpose and the audience are directly related. It wouldn’t make sense for someone to write an argumentative paper that is pro choice for an audience that is pro choice. Sure, the paper may present new research or statistics or something of use to the audience, but the goal of an argumentative paper is change someone’s perspective. It is impossible to change someone’s perspective to a perspective that they already possess. So, there is a link between the audience and the purpose of one’s writing. This ties into the third question Reid gives: what is the genre and its conventions? One has to know the genre that they are writing in and how the genre is written. Returning to the example of someone who is writing for fun, their genre could be considered freestyle or informal writing or what ever they want to consider it. This reminds me of a YouTube series entitled “UNHhhh,” where RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Trixie Mattel and Katya start out every episode by saying, “… the show were we talk about whatever we want because its our show and not yours.” If you’re writing for fun, it’s your writing and you can write how ever you want and you can write about whatever you want. However, going back to the example of writing an argumentative paper that is pro choice, the author must know the conventions of the argumentative genre. If they do not, they might not be able to create as strong an argument as someone who does know the conventions of the genre.

Ballenger presents the concept of creating an “interest inventory” which I find to be an interesting concept. It seems to me that it can be very useful in drafting a paper or deciding on a topic. It seems promising but I do see flaws in using this. The main one is that it will probably generate garbage. Although there might be a hidden gem somewhere in the list, there’s more than likely not. Just spewing out random stuff may lead to an interesting and colorful train of thought, but there needs to be some bounds of thought to create a viable topic. For me, the fault is exemplified in the example given: teeth whiting. I can agree that research on teeth whiting is perfectly valid, but I don’t see it becoming a thing unless the author is taking dental courses or a course that call for such a topic. In my writing experience, I do not think this is a concept that I would have ever applied when trying to decide on a topic. Creating lists and asking questions for research is definitely something I have done, just not in the way that Ballenger is suggesting.

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