super woman Today my super-friend Bionic Beauty posted her response to a news article from the NY Times about a subject near and dear to both our hearts, beauty blogging.

I would love to have you read the NY Times article, BB’s post, Letter from Lancôme, my 2 cents, and then comment.  Interesting times Beauty Bloggers, interesting times!

The NY Times article that started all this commotion: 

“Beauty Blogs Come of Age: Swag, Please!“

 An email that was sent today from Lancôme:

Dear Beauty Bloggers,

By now, most of you have read today’s story in The New York Times. As you can imagine, we’re very upset by the story. We agreed to participate because the writer told us this would be a story about the growing influence of beauty blogs. We are very disappointed that this story was misrepresented to us. But we are even more disappointed at how Kayleen Schaefer chose to portray the beauty blogs. Most of you know that Lancôme has been working with the best blogs for a few years now and we very much respect the work that you do. Ms. Schaefer did a major disservice to everyone with her article.

We have never expected any quid pro quo for sending product or samples. We appreciate not only your honesty, but that of the readers who post on your sites. As many of you might remember, last year The New York Times wrote about how the beauty bloggers were posting candid comments about the Proenza Pink lipstick (which sold out in record time.) “…Proenza Pink has been inciting an unexpected backlash among bloggers, who alternately complain that the color is unwearable and unobtainable,” read the story dated April 12, 2007. We understand that when we send out product, we open ourselves up to honest reviews. This is something we made very clear to Ms. Schaefer and even gave her examples of honest critiques we’ve received from bloggers and their readers.

We look forward to continuing to work with you and keeping you updated on our latest news and products.

Sincerely,

Kerry Diamond

Vice President, Public Relations & Communications, Lancôme

P.S. And just for the record, as most of you already know, we did not send out “dozens” of the Behnaz lipsticks. We sent out one!!  

And my 2 cents: 

I started my beauty blog because I am passionate about identifying great, effective beauty products.  I am constantly reading and gathering information about cosmetics, naturally curly hair care, organics, and skin care.  It is just what I love to do. Mythbuster Beauty was created because I saw a need, and wanted to bring to the Internet table something unique.

Beauty bloggers, like all bloggers pose a threat to professionally paid media sources. Because we accept free samples of beauty products, we are accused of being biased.  Clearly, the “swag” was flowing freely to the professional journalists long before we came along, and maybe those journalists aren’t very happy about spreading the wealth.  Perhaps they are resisting the shift of power, a shift of focus from their once monopolized audience.

Readers aren’t stupid. If a beauty blogger is transparently positive in all her reviews, readers will lose interest.  If she praises a product, and the reader purchases it and hates it, the blog will lose its credibility. 

Active participation by the readers via comments is one way to ensure honest reviewing. 

Any reader who disagrees or is disgruntled can come back to challenge a beauty blogger’s review. That is one very valuable asset that professional sources cannot provide, a genuine human being on the other side of the review.

Beauty Bloggers will continue to work for nothing, merely because we have a honest interest in the subject matter.  Kudos to the lucky few that can profit for their hard work.   Beauty Bloggers do what they do not because they were hired to write reviews, but because they love how blogging provides a way to share and gain valuable information. 

Viva Beauty Bloggers everywhere!

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