© ilco

I haven’t been writing a lot of sponsored posts on the blog but as a reader, I have read a lot of sponsored posts on blogs. It’s part of a full-time blogger’s bread and butter these days. Not only professional bloggers do it, many bloggers who have day jobs do it too.

There’s nothing wrong with writing sponsored content. It can be good money. It can mean being able to treat yourself to a nice bag. It can also mean paying your rent. I’m not against sponsored posts at all. If I get an opportunity to be able to have some of my content paid for within reason, why not? If a company wants to pay you $500 to write an article for them on a topic that is more than relevant on your blog, wouldn’t you do it? Would you do it?

Having said that, there’s always a caveat in writing sponsored posts. Your readers. Some will be okay with them, some won’t. It’s just natural, I guess. They’re not stupid. I’m an avid blog reader myself and I can spot sponsored posts from a mile away. I’m sure you can too. A good way to gauge if your readers are okay with your introduction of sponsored content is to run a short survey. Just ask them. Most of your loyal readers will be fine with it as long as you keep your content relevant.

Every now and then, I receive sponsored content offers. Some are good money, most are not. Many third-party companies still think it’s absolutely all right to pay bloggers $50 to write a 500-word post. Frankly, I think it’s a slap on the face to bloggers, and I always tell fellow bloggers that their blogs are worth more than 10-cents/word. I turn down about 90% of them because of that, and mainly because they’re usually topics that I don’t cover on the blog.

So, going back to the question of the day, what makes and breaks a sponsored post?

Read More »

When the new Australis Curve Ink Eyeliner landed on my desk for review a couple of months ago, I was intrigued. I’ve been practising and using liquid eyeliner pens for 2 years now, and while I don’t have any problems with liquid eyeliner anymore, this one was different. It sure looked different. I’ve never seen a curvy eyeliner pen before. This was one of those things you want to rip out of its packaging and use it right away. I mean, it’s ergonomically contoured, which means this one should be a doozy to use, right?

Boy was I right and wrong at the same time.

Read More »

It’s no secret on the blog that my go-to foundation for the past few years have been Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation. It’s lightweight and looks good on my combination skin. I’ve been trying foundations and BB creams (y’know, because it’s all for the blog ;)) since then but I always go back to the Healthy Mix Serum foundie when I need my skin to look extra perky.

This was up till a few months ago when the new Rimmel Match Perfection Light Perfecting Radiance foundation landed on my desk for review. I used it a few times and decided to fully test its capabilities for the 7 days of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival (LMFF). In case you were wondering, nope, I didn’t only just use L’Oreal makeup that whole week. I cheated on L’Oreal A LOT. 😛

Oh Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, I think you’ve definitely met your match. Pun intended.

Read More »