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BEAUTYMAGAZINE’SCOLUMNISWRITTENBYJOSEPHINEFAIRLEY,
BEAUTYEXPERTANDCO-AUTHOROFTHEBEAUTYBIBLESERIES
Once upon a time, girly gossip and
magazine coverage were the very
best ways to hear about what
was hot ‘n’ happening in the
beauty world. You’d be standing in the
Ladies, see your best friend whip out the
latest and greatest Rimmel mascara or
Revlon gloss – and make a detour to Boots
en route for work next day. Beauty editors
were the other reliable filter for everything
new and interesting: all-seeing, all-slathering,
all-spritzing, communicating what was
actually worth discovering (from the
thousands of products launched each year)
in the pages of glossies and newspapers.
TWEET YOURSELF
But today, any beauty hound who wants to
keep her finger on the pulse-point of the
beauty world is also eyelash-glued to social
media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
(Frankly it’s a miracle anyone ever gets any
work done.) Take Twitter, for example: key
the words ‘Max Factor’ or ‘Lancôme’ into the
search box on Twitter, and you will be almost
deafened by the cacophony of ‘tweets’ being
exchanged about those brands – both good
and bad. (Nobody tweets about anything
they feel indifferent about!)
Cannily, beauty brands are also using
Twitter themselves to spread the word – in
the blink of an iPhone – about new offers,
launches, exclusive-to-Twitter competitions, or
simply alerting ‘followers’ to prizes offered on
their websites. (Including one particularly
hilarious comp from – who else? – Soap &
Glory, inviting fans to ‘Come Clean’ and ’fess
up to something they felt guilty about.
Entries featured one from a Soap & Glory fan
about keeping three men in different
locations waiting for a date on the same
night while the ‘confessor’ made up her
mind who to go out with, and another from
box
Word of mouse:
THE NEW BEAUTY AUTHORITY
a girl who took her sister’s Tiffany & Co.
engagement ring without asking, wore it and
lost it. Hmmm. See what I mean about not
getting any work done...?) Even more
interestingly, talented make-up artists like Lisa
Eldridge are ‘tweeting’ about trends and
products they love. (Although be conscious
that sometimes, they are tweeting about
brands who sponsor them for shoots or
catwalk shows.)
IN YOUR FACE(BOOK)
Meanwhile on Facebook, haircare, skincare,
bodycare and fragrance companies are taking
the opportunity to create ‘fan’ pages – which
basically translate to free advertising – to
which devotees can sign up in order to hear
the latest news about the brand. Avène,
Bioré, Origins, Maybelline, Beauty by
Arbonne, Estée Lauder – you name it, they’re
on there, again updating Facebook fans about
launches or dreaming up clever ways to
recruit new ‘fans’. Neom Luxury Organics, for
instance – creator of organic candles and body
products – recently offered generous random
prizes to anyone on its fan list if the fan total
hit 600 within 72 hours (from around 300 at
the time the competition launched). The tally
far, far exceeded that by the required
deadline. And those new followers are now
alerted to special offers (such as a free candle
with orders over £30 for Valentine’s Day), or
invited to take part in a mini poll that tells the
brand whether fans buy it because it’s
organic/for the fragrances/the treatment
benefits and so on. Very savvy.
On YouTube, too, beauty’s becoming quite
a phenomenon. But frankly, all it takes is a
webcam and a make-up bag and just about
anyone can post a tutorial on there. Some –
like those by Lauren Luke – are worth
watching. Many absolutely aren’t (although I
did snort with hysterical laughter at one
teenager’s Avatar make-up tutorial, which is
an extremely amusing way to spend 3.08
minutes, let me tell you).
‘
These days, any
beauty hound who
wants to keep her finger
on the beauty pulse is
eyelash-glued to social
media like Twitter,
Facebook and YouTube.
‘
(ANTI)SOCIAL MEDIA
Now, I’m all for ‘people power’. I think it’s
great that opinions are being swapped, and
that there’s a veritable dawn chorus of
‘beauty tweets’ out there which enable
thoughts about brands, their products and
their customer service to be expressed. But it’s
also important to remember, at the end of the
day, that not everyone is an expert, and that
in the social media universe there’s also
plenty of bad advice, grudge-driven
comments (often from rival brands) – and
even whispers of celebs being paid by some
brands to mention products in their own
tweets. Which means that, just as in other
media, there are opinions you can really trust
– and some you should take with a pinch of
salt scrub. Just as you might politely ignore an
aunt’s fragrance advice, but instantly fork out
for a girlfriend’s mascara recommendation, or
favourite beauty editor’s best buy bronzer.
And guess what? Some of us beauty editors
are Facebooking and tweeting, too…!
Look out for Jo Fairley’s Beauty Bible fan
page on Facebook, or follow Beauty Bible at
@Beauty_Bible on Twitter.
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