Karen Constantine on what it takes to be a successful beauty influencer

Karen Constantine is the very talented woman behind the popular beauty blog Lovely Girlie Bits. The beauty haven is relatable, fun and feels like you’re talking to a friend. From skincare to cosmetics, Karen will try and test products for weeks before deciding on her final opinion; ensuring her reviews are genuine.

Related: IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards 2019…
the shortlist is here

We sat down with Karen following her recent nomination in the IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards 2019 to chat all things beauty and discover what characteristics she thinks are needed to be a successful beauty influencer in today’s industry.

What five skills/characteristics does it take to be a successful beauty influencer?

1. “I think the number one thing when it comes to being a successful beauty influencer, is to understand that this isn’t about us. This is about the audience who’s looking to us for honest, balanced and informed reviews so that if they have €20 and want to treat themselves to something, that we’ve given them the information they need so they don’t waste their money.

It’s up to us to learn as much as we can about the products so we can pass on the information to those who follow us. With every blog post, video, social media post I upload, I always think, if I was reading this as a viewer, would I have all of the information I needed?

Related: Lucy McPhail shares her three must-have
beauty treatments for 2019

Filtering make-up photos doesn’t help the person standing in a pharmacy wondering what a certain foundation will look like, and speeding up Instagram videos to the point that people can’t learn about the product or properly see what you’re doing isn’t helpful. We should be doing this for them.”

2. “As cringe as it sounds, the main thing is to be honest and be yourself. People can smell inauthenticity a mile away. When you find your voice online, it’s the best because the rest comes easy.

“One of the best things people say to me when I meet them out and about is that I’m the same in real life as I am online. I can’t imagine the effort it would take to have an online persona and then have a real life one too. Be yourself and it’ll be grand!”

 

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Happy new year bridies ??? I spent all of last year saying “Jesus the time is flying, how is it the end of the month already” and in a flash it’s 2019. It freaked me out how quickly the year went by, but makes me all the more focused to be present in real life, spend less time on the phone and enjoy the little things. If 2018 was crap for you, I hope 2019 is better and I’ll be doing my best to distract you from any shite going on in your life. My mission here is to entertain and educate, not to influence you into buying something you don’t need. I want to give you all the info to decide for yizzerselves. I want you to be able to watch my stories at the end of a crappy day and have a laugh. And because of you bridies, this 42 year old dirty looking eejit is doing mad stuff. There’s not a week that goes by where I think to myself “How is this my life?” It’s all mad! Here’s to a whopper year lads. #lovelygirliebits #happynewyear2019

A post shared by Karen Constantine (@lovelygirlybits) on Jan 1, 2019 at 2:35am PST

3. “To be doing this as long as I have, I’ve constantly evolved over the years and that’s so important as a beauty influencer, or any kind of influencer. I’ve gone from just blogging back in 2010 to filming, editing, doing social media, and I’m always trying new things. It’s such a saturated industry and the audience’s interest is always changing, so it’s important to keep up with that and be where the people are.

“So I’m always upskilling, and whether it be learning how to write with sparklers, or how to do cinemagraphs, I love adding new skills to my repertoire so I can give a bit of extra value to those scrolling through their Instagram feeds. Don’t be afraid to try new things on the blog or your social media to see what works and what doesn’t.”

 

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I’m kicking off this week’s blog posts with a long overdue review of this duo from @ellaandjocosmetics ? I’ve been using both products for months now and it’s love! Click the link in my bio for the full review. Have you tried them yet? #lovelygirliebits #productreview #productreviews #ellaandjocosmetics #ellaandjo #irishbeautyblog

A post shared by Karen Constantine (@lovelygirlybits) on Jan 13, 2019 at 11:53pm PST

4. “You might be sick of the word ‘engagement’ when it comes to all things influencer, but it’s so important! One of my favourite things to do is to have the chats with those who DM me, email me or leave comments on my posts. Reaching milestones when it comes to following is always nice, but it’s not the be-all of it because there’s no point having thousands of followers who don’t care about what you have to say.

“I always say I’d rather have a smaller number who want to see my posts than a larger number, a vanity number, just for my ego. I do my best to reply to as many messages as possible and when I don’t know the answer to something, I send them in the direction of someone who does. Engagement really is key, not numbers, so if you want in on the beauty influencer world, get ready to have the chats with some fabulous people!”

5. “The final characteristic is that you have to love it. When you love what you’re writing about, filming, chatting about online, it exudes out of your guts and your face and that’s where people see the real passion and authenticity. I still get that buzz when I read about a new makeup launch and I hope that never goes away!”

Karen Constantine is nominated for Best Beauty Influencer in this year’s IMAGE Business of Beauty Awards. To vote for Karen (or any of our nominees), click the link below…