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Recently I've read a few reviews, got to the last line and realised that nowhere does it say how much the item costs or where it is available from. This really aggravates me - to me, it's just lazy. Yes, the review could be the most entertaining, awe inspiring, tears of wonderment inducing piece of writing I've ever come across but if you don't include the vitals - it's a waste of time! Ok, so maybe that foundation costs £50 and you don't want to seem like you have money to burn or that you're rubbing it in the face (excuse the pun) of your readers but you know what - chances are your readers will already know the amount you tend to spend on things! Why should they have to google around to find out more about something a blogger should have given them the entire details on? Surely a review is so that we, as readers and consumers can decide on whether or not an item is worth our money? If the review doesn't state the price anywhere, how are we to know?
Another thing I like to see are photos and swatches - the more the merrier! Indulge me visually and I'm yours. I'll be all over your blog like a beauty obsessed rash and recommending it left, right and centre. Give me a blurry, badly lit photo, grainy quality and the tell tale blue or orange tint of a dodgy white balance and I'm not interested. The photos are entirely pointless. I can't tell a damn thing from them! I wont even click the link to read the review. That red-orange, smeared grainy thing on the back of your seemingly mustard yellow hand is a hot pink lipstick swatch? Really?! I understand that not everyone is good with a camera, but surely it's just common sense not to post pictures which aren't true to how a product looks.
Third and final pet review hate isn't actually to do with the way they are written or presented but this - the PR sample hungry bloggers. I realised last week that one of the first blogs I started following hasn't reviewed anything they bought themselves in about four months. It's all been sent to them by PR teams. That is ridiculous! Fair enough, if you get the offer to review something interesting your readers will be interested in then go for it! But if you haven't found a single thing you're interested in enough to buy yourself to review...maybe you need to wonder if it's time to stop blogging. And don't give be that 'Maybe they can't afford anything' bullshit either, because everyone has a bit of spare cash every now and then, even me, an unemployed student. Harsh, maybe - honest, definitely. If you're looking for a sugar coating then go elsewhere, you wont find it on this blog.
Now I'm not saying I post the best reviews in existence, I don't, but I can post them knowing I've told my readers everything they need to know. Perhaps I'm reading far too deeply into it - after all, it is only makeup, it's only blogging, it's only the Internet. . But to me, good photos, a price, where to buy and mix of PR/ self bought items is like putting underwear on in the morning - not something you would casually forget about/ question the purpose of!
What do you think? What are your review/ blog post pet hates?
(P.S) Check out Miss Tat's post on the subject here.
(P.P.S) For all the 'if you don't like it, don't read it' comments - I don't read it. I unfollow. Not saying there's a right/ wrong way to do things, just some common sense ideas and my thoughts on the matter.
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