I’m going to do a bit of a non-beauty related post today. Sorry ladies, no makeup talk today :p

If you’re a beauty blogger and/or reader, and are interested in reaching out to other beauty bloggers and readers, a great way to do so is by social networking. I discovered lots of great beauty sites and blogs through beauty networks and communities such as Beauty Heaven (for Australian readers), Bella Sugar, Splendicity and Total Beauty. If you’re a beauty blogger who isn’t part of a beauty community yet, do check those communities out. Give ’em a shout if you’d like to be a part of the communities.

A good way to gain readership to your site is to actively participate in beauty networks and blogs. You get to meet people who loves makeup just as much as you do, if not more. Participate in their blogs by comments, and you’ll see a good return in comments and readership as well. There is no shortcut in quick page rank increase though. All these take time. But trust me, at the end of the day, it’s a worthy wait.

Have a web statistics meter running on your blog to know who visited your site, if you haven’t already. You’d be surprised at the actual number of silent readers you have. It’s a great way in keeping in touch with your readers when you know who they are (especially the silent ones who visit your site regularly but do not comment – haha, I know who you are! :p)

Anyways, on my part to network, network and network with all you beauty bloggers and readers out there, do check me out on Twitter and Myspace. I’ve also added the links to my sidebar.

The Myspace page is mainly set up for my beauty blog, but I tweet personal stuff. I’m quite a Twitter-holic :p

Let’s see … what else is there?

Oh oh, have you heard of Woopra?

It’s a website tracker and analyser, which, I think, is absolutely fantastic. I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while now. It features real-time web-tracking and analysis. You get to view exactly how many people visited your website, where they were from, which of your pages are more popular and other important information. It’s like Statcounter, but on a whole new level. I’m really excited about this one, and I highly recommend this site for web tracking.

Unfortunately, this isn’t readily available to all. After signing up for an account, your website will be checked before approval. I got mine approved after a couple of weeks. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem though. Doesn’t hurt to sign up for one, so do give it a go. I can tell you’re going to like it once you get it set up. I had such a blast finding out who my readers were and all that. Call it healthy voyeurism :p

This is a blogging community service by Beautyholics Anonymous. We shall now return to our regularly scheduled program.

PS: By the way, this is not a sponsored post. Just some information which I thought you might be interested in.

I’ve never been into makeup by Estee Lauder as they’ve never been all that interesting. Sorry, but I always thought Estee Lauder makeup was a little “auntie” for me :p But the Chocolate Decadence for the fall 2008 line is looking mighty fine and tempting.

Description:

This fall, Estee Lauder brings you an array of sugary-rich confections to tempt your color palette. From Berry Chocolate Truffles and Caramel Pralines to swirls of marbled fondant dusted with golden spun sugar, Estee Lauder has captured the essence of a luxurious chocolate boutique filled with rich chocolate works of art.

Introducing the new Estee Lauder Chocolate Decadence Collection – a delightful and truly delectable new color collection for fall, full of warm chocolate hues enhanced by luxurious caramel gold and sugared berry tones. The look features intensified lined eyes and softly glowing skin complemented by lightly sculpted lips and perfectly polished nails. To create a complete impression, pair the look with fall’s vintage-inspired suits in wools, jacquard and tweed and sensual satin blouses in warm golden tones and accessorize with sculpted boots and gloves in luxury leathers.

Doesn’t all that chocolate look absolutely delicious?

This will be available for a limited time only beginning in July at the Estee Lauder website. I don’t know when this will reach Australia, but I’m definitely going to check it out once it’s here.

Pardon me, but looking at all that chocolate is giving me serious cravings for chocolate right now. Kit Kat anyone? :p

Fashion designers are seriously lacking in inspiration the past five to ten years. First we brought back the sixties, where classic slimline pencil skirts came back in fashion. Not that I’m complaining as I find those more flattering on me than the A-line ones anyway. Oh, and Twiggy bobs. Next, these fashion designers brought back the seventies. Peasant tops and billowy skirts came into play. Peace out, bro.

Then they brought back the eighties and early nineties. Now this, this is one era of fashion trend which I never thought would be resurrected. I wanted it to burn, die and never come back. Over-bright neon, retro colours and patterns swirling around. Legwarmers. Shoulder pads. Plastic jewelry. Euuww.

And, very recently, this.

I remembered wearing these sneakers when I was 12 years old. I remembered begging my mum to get me LA Gear high-top sneakers. All my friends at church wore ’em. Or cool Reeboks. Nike was very high-end to us young ‘uns back then, so if you even owned a pair of Reeboks, you’d have all your friends wowing over your sparkly new colourful shoes. My mum never gotten me LA Gear, of course, ‘cos they were expensive. She got me a pair of cheaper Power sneakers, which looked just as good as the LA Gears and Reeboks.

After a while, the trend wore off. Truth be told, I got really tired of the crazy mismatched colours which could never go with any piece of clothing I owned. I was absolutely relieved that simple trainers came into fashion. Being a slave to fashion had given me many ugly photos of my younger self. Never again, I said. Those shoes should just burn in hell.

So please, please tell me why these horrendous shoes are back?!

And at AUD200 a pair? Believe me when I say that people actually paid good money for these shoes. Sigh.

I reckon in a couple of years, year 2000’s fashion’s going to be back. Which was basically sixties’ fashion. So tell me, oh designers. Are you guys ever going to come up with something a little more original?

Please, for all our sakes?