Pinned ponytail | Mod 60s Colour Blocking at NYFW | Liu Wen at Estee Lauder/Derek Lam Fall 2012 | Aveda at the Tibi Show
A couple of weeks ago, a group of beauty and fashion bloggers gathered for an intimate brunch at the city. We had a good time, up till the point when some of the organisers wanted to do a little video interview with some fashion and beauty bloggers on the current and upcoming trends that you see during Fashion Week (LMFF, and all the other Fashion Weeks in different countries).
I’ll be honest. I was stumped. I’m not a trend blogger, nor do I follow them. Neither were some of the rest. Phones were immediately whipped out to, of all things, Google what the trends are. Tangerine lips? No hang on, wasn’t that for spring/summer? Now it’s plum lips? What about hair? Big and poofy? Or sleek with some thingamabob ponytail? Mel and Beauty Chattette did a great job in their mini interview, as I sat back and thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have to do it.
It got me thinking. Trend blogging. Do you have to do it in order to be a good beauty blogger? Is it a must to know what the latest beauty trends are if you’re going to be a good beauty blogger? Does it matter and should I be very embarrassed  if I’m quite clueless to all these?
REDKEN Nina Ricci Fashionweek 2012 | Pantone Tangerine Tango by Mayela Vazquez
I receive press releases on the latest trends from time to time, and while it’s interesting to see what the latest looks are, I do not blog about them. Or at least, I very seldom do.
Personally, I find it exhausting to blog about latest fashion and beauty trends. It’s a constant race to write about the latest colours, latest styles, who’s the latest model for brand X, who’s doing whose hair for Fashion Week, etc, and you really have to keep up in order to be one of the first to announce that trend. Depending on how it’s written, it can sometimes be quite bland too, unless you have heaps of pictures to show (usually, for trend blogging, you have to have lots of pictures anyway).
Having said that, I highly admire the ones who manages to keep up and blog about trends well. These are the bloggers who do not only blog about the latest trends, but who also mix them up with reviews, personal anecdotes, etc. They keep it fresh, light-hearted, and make their blogs a fun read.
At the end of the day, trend blogging isn’t for me, and will never be. It’s a choice and direction I’ve taken for my blog. Sometimes I may not know what the latest lip colours to wear are (although for this season, it really is plum. I think :P), but it doesn’t faze me. I don’t think it makes me a lousy beauty blogger if I’m not “up there, keeping up with the latest Joneses”. It should not bother you either, if you’re not a trend blogger. I’m sure you have other things to bring to the table 🙂
Are you a trend blogger? Do you blog about the latest beauty and/or fashion trends, what’s new on the runway, etc? Do you think knowing the latest trends and/or blogging about them will make us better beauty bloggers?
Wow that’s interesting! I’ve always consider a lot of bloggers a bit ahead of so-called trends. By the time I see someone say “XYZ is a trend” I’ve already read about it online months ago before it was that popular.
I like it when bloggers write about products or looks they ENJOY, trend or not. These overlap sometimes, but I’ve never read a blog that says “Check out this list of trends you should emulate!” like I do in magazines, for example. That is why I prefer reading blogs to printed material. Just my personal preference. (Did this comment make any sense? Haha.)
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Peta: That makes perfect sense, Peta, and that’s exactly how I feel too. When a blogger actually likes the trend, blogging about it makes sense, especially if he/she injects her personality into the trend articles. But when it’s just a regurgitation of press releases, then there’s no difference from what I read on magazines where you see heaps of models on one page, and the article is yawn-inducing.
Trend? I’m so behind on trends I’m ahead! 😛 So my answer is no. I don’t keep up with trends because I cannot understand some of them and besides, trends come and go so quickly, I could never keep up! I’d rather stick to tried and true classics that stand the test of time 😀
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Paris B: Hahahaha I like that! “I’m so behind trends I’m ahead!” Spot on, my dear, spot on, because that’s so me. There are a lot I don’t understand either. There are some that are just so horrific, they’re funny. I don’t want to poke fun at them on the blog because I know there’ll be people who like the trends, and that’s fair for them to do so. But really, some are just …. EHHH?! *scratch head*
My answer is no! There are so many products that arrive MONTHS later than the rest of the world so it is difficult to be on the trend considering my location! But it is funny how at times I was “lucky” enough to blog something on trend and I didn’t even know! :))))) 😀
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Nikki: Well there you go! That’s awesome. It means your sharp eye picked up on trends that are going to be popular before the world even thinks so! 😀
I can’t follow trends – too hard! I’m never ever trendy plus I think it’s silly. Shouldn’t you be following what looks best on you, not what silly trend is on the runway right now? Some of those runway looks are CRAZY, are you going to go to work or go shopping looking like that?
Celeste: I think that some trends that are seen on the runway should just belong on the runway. Just like those crazy arty-farty-wear-and-you-will-fall-to-your-death shoes you see on the runway – yeah they look good, but they’ll never be worn outside by regular people like you and I. Same goes for certain beauty trends I think. Take plum lips for example. Looks amazing in the right lighting, with the right clothing, but dark plum lips would almost never see the light of day in the corporate world.
Trends? Cannot la! I prefer to set my own trend. 😛
1. I don’t have the financial means to follow/keep up
2. It just doesn’t interest me. 🙂 (Read: lazy!)
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LeGeeque: My sentiments exactly. It’s not going to be cheap keeping up with trends, that’s for sure 😉
I so agree with you and the comments (especially Peta’s, it was basically what I was going to say). I even had a conversation about trends today with a friend, because I mentioned I needed to buy new winter clothes and I didn’t have a clue which statement trend piece I should buy so I fit in with everyone. No clue.
I have no idea which trends I should currently be following and writing about, I blog about what ever I feel like. It is more interesting to the readers if not everyone is the same!
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Tegan: Me too! I don’t have a clue about the latest trends either, nor the guts to even try. I think that’s why I can’t do fashion blogging. I’ll be the most boring one around. By the time I even dare to try the trend, it’s on to the next season! E.g. colour blocking. I liked it when it came out, but dare not try it. By the time I did, it has moved on to some other trend 😛
Interesting topic. I used to try to keep up to dated with trends reading magazines, but I find that it’s just he-says-she-says things. Companies and brands ‘predict’ trends because that’s what they’re going to sell. Even with runway makeups, it’s always this brand shows clean face, that brand shows smokey eyes and such brand shows such looks that are always on the runways but just different variations. Nowadays I just follow what I like.
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Coco: Spot on, Coco. That’s exactly what I thought too. Personally, I think trends are dictated by the company’s who’s willing to pay for the fashion show. All the brands under that company come up with designs on a particular theme, e.g animal print, and suddenly, the world needs animal print or else we are not cool.
I’m just like you….even I don’t follow trends and infact I don’t even write about red carpet events though I love looking at the pics and reading on other blogs!!! it just gets too exhausting and doesn’t give the flexibility to the blogger…you literally becomea fashion journalist and it really takes all the time!!!
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Swati: I know, right? It’s not just the time, it’s the money too. If we follow every single trend out there, well pretty soon we’ll have to sell our right kidney because we’ll have no more money left. We’ll be bag ladies. Or at least, very chic, bang-on-trend bag ladies 😛
I don’t keep up with trends, I’m just not interested in them. I prefer to wear what I like and suits me rather than wear something because it’s trendy.
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Gio: My sentiments exactly Gio. Although I am rather partial to animal print …. *ahem* … 😛
Very interesting and yes I can imagine it would be very exhausting and competitive to be a trend blogger. I am in the process of revamping my personal blog and would like do do a mixture of trend and non trend blogging. At the end of the day I like to think I am not just a follower of trends but something a little deeper and more interesting….. and that is obviously what you are, by not just blogging about the trends that others have dictated to us. For me it is good to mix it up and I do enjoy the photos of the latest trends I must say. They are always glam!
Raylene: Ooooooh you have a personal blog too? Link please! 😛
I do enjoy seeing what the latest trends are, every now and then. It’s not something I can follow often due to budget constraints (it’s expensive to be bang-on-trend all the time), plus it’s too competitive, especially when it comes to blogging about them. It’s a race wanting to be the first to write about a particular trend because knowing me, by the time I do write about it, it’s already the next season and it’s time to talk about another trend!
Hehe – i have just started to get into blogging thanks to you and a few others!!
http://1skinsolution.wordpress.com/ xoxo
Ha! Trends! I wouldn’t have a clue what’s trendy at the moment. Everything moves so fast I’m too tired to even think about keeping up with trends. I normally just blog about whatever interests me and if it happens to be ‘on trend’ then fine, otherwise I don’t go out of my way to follow trends. As for reading blogs, my faves are ones that talk about fashion and beauty that suits them and suits normal people rather than if real eyeshadow is in or not.
Lilit: My sentiments exactly. It’s too tiring to follow every single trend. Chances are, I probably wouldn’t like half of them anyway! 😛
Not a trend blogger – actually, I’m not much of a blogger lately but I do like to know what is coming in and out of season…
To me it’s like window shopping, good to know how it can work (or not in many instances) and sit back and have a good laugh at all those people frantically trying to keep up with the pace and then pick out the real stunners and try them on myself once I think I can carry it off on myself 🙂
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Lilpil: Hahaha I love your second paragraph; you’ve hit the nail on the head! That’s me too 😛
PS: Waiting for your blog to relaunch. Looks like it’s going to be quite a stunner 😉
Most definitely not a trend blogger. Like you said, it’s so hard to keep up with the latest news and fashion. I think unless one is in the industry to really soak in the atmosphere about all things new and funky, it’s not so easy to get madly excited about them. I don’t even raise an eyebrow when MAC churns out its 3,520,285th collection – sometimes I even miss a few collections in between. Does that make me a bad beauty blogger? I don’t think so. We all have our niches and being a blogger that feeds on trends is just not my cup of tea.
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Bun Bun: Hehehe nail on the head with that quip about MAC. Frankly, I really don’t give a damn 😛
Yeah, blogs that feeds on trends aren’t my cup of tea either. There’ll be other blogs possibly churning out the same pictures taken from the same source, given to them by the same brand, etc. I think that’s why I dread Fashion Week because a lot of fashion and beauty blogs I do enjoy suddenly stop what they’re doing, and regurgitate what 3421 other similar blogs have too. This year’s fashion weeks, I did begin to enjoy a little, but still not enough to want to blog about any of them.