Friday 30 January 2015

Guest Post: Why Bloggers Love Our Network

The lovely Laura from November Girl x tells you why she loves the etailPR Blogger Network.

Why I love the etailPR blogger network. 

I first heard about the blogger network a few months ago and was instantly intrigued. I'm personally quite a shy person and don't like to tell people about my love of blogging, i'm always worried that people will think I'm crazy. This network has given me the opportunity to communicate with other bloggers and talk to people who love the same things that I do. 

Below are a few reasons why I love it! 

1. Connecting - This network is perfect to help bloggers connect with other bloggers and brands. If you are new to blogging this would be perfect. 

2. Review - They give you the chance to contact brands and review product samples, you can apply to work with brands in an easy step. 

3. Competitions - Who doesn’t love competitions? etailPR hold monthly competitions and their prizes are pretty impressive. 

4. Blogger Events - If you are a part of the network it means you may be invited to exclusive blogger events, for me this was a great reason to sign up. Events are a great way of meeting bloggers.

5. Discount Codes - Who doesn’t love discounts!! We all love shopping but all wish we could get our hands of some discount codes. If you are a member of the network you can access exclusive discount codes! 

For anyone that isn't already a member of the blogger network I urge you to sign up, its FREE too (who doesn't love free things). The blogger network is also great for blogging and can potentially help you grow your blog and find more readers. 

As a side note etailPR are also amazing at connecting with bloggers, they are great on twitter and always tweeting about interesting things and they always reply! I personally hate it when you tweet a company/brand/person and they ignore you (I know i’m not the only one). They have a pretty impressive blog too. 

I hope to see some of you on the network soon! 

Laura 

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Guest Post: Clueless Inspired A/W OOTD

Ok i'm still not over the "clueless" inspired look trend that was happening, i posted a few outfit looks with it over the summer/AW on my blog but i am loving this look purely for my new knee high boots... finally i have got my hands on a pair that i love as the last pair were so long on my little legs they looked like trousers. 
I am loving these because they are real leather and have fur inside of them, the ultimate winter boot with the chunky heel, i will not have these beauties off! So this look is another for winter, im already seeing brands bringing out their spring range.. hello i live in Scotland its winter all year round, so im not over the faux/fur/layers thing we all had going on for a while.

I have styled this Glamorous skirt with a polo neck and my favourite gillet from Blue Vanilla - thanks to the guys at etailPR. An effortless outfit perfect for shoving on for going shopping or doing whatever, a fedora/floppy hat would look so good with this outfit. I hope you love this simple AW look and if you recreate a "Clueless" inspired outfit i would love to see it! 

Jill @ I wear my wages

www.i-wear-my-wages.com
Twitter @iwearmywages

Instagram @Jillgourlayx

Monday 26 January 2015

etail Intern Insight - Online Avenue

Hello everyone, it's Charlotte from Style & Splurging and if you follow my blog, you'll know i'm currently interning with the etailPR team!

Being a blogger myself, I too use The Blogger Network to request samples from the amazing variety of brands that etail offer to us and this month I received some lovely boots from the lovely team at Online Avenue, so I thought i'd do a little guest post before my own blog post goes live!


I've been loving the over the knee boot trend that i've seen every blogger on the planet rocking recently, but i've always been a little skeptical as to whether they would actually suit me. When I saw these Ivy Faux Leather Buckle Long Boots (£22.49) I instantly fell in love with them, as they looked like an ideal height where they'd actually suit me and i'd be able to style them so easily - i'm all about that minimal effort look!

As i'd usually go for a black boots, I like that I went for the tan colour as they just add something different to an outfit and they look great with any pair of jeans! They're also really comfortable and they aren't too tight on the leg, which is a huge plus as I find a lot of high boots can get quite tight around the calf/ankle area. I went with my usual size of a 7 and they fit like a dream, so they're true to size if any of you were wondering on their sizing.

Overall I absolutely love these boots, as I don't own any like these and they are such a winter staples, that i'll be getting plenty of wear out of them.

If you want to get your hands on your own pair of Online Avenue boots, make sure you've applied for the etail Online Avenue campaign and you can request your own sample this Wednesday 28th Jan through The Blogger Network!

xx

Guest Post: Lewis- Duncan Weedon Reviews etailPR Gifting Lounge

So who isn't a fan of shopping? Even more so when the items are so kindly gifted too you. 
Such a fabulous perk of being "known" or an amazing writer /blogger. 

I've been invited to two of the etailPR gifting lounges now, which I'm incredibly blessed to have been invited to. On both occasions I’ve attended with my very good friend Lydia Lucy (Former x-factor) who I do style and do make up for (when needed), we had such a giggle and were extremely looked after.


Held at of the chicest destinations, The Hospital Club in the heart of Covent Garden, which is known for fashion week and is the perfect backdrop to the collections/products on display. 

Well known brands and a few new ones (well to me at least) is the reason I love these events as I get to come across some cool/quirky brands and more often than not, meet the people behind the brand. Many other celebs have attended the events: such as good friend and I have styled /makeup  Olivia Cox, former MIC and presenter,  I stopped a few TOWIE folk and a good mix of socials and some very well loved Bloggers.

Now on to the brands and products on offer. Now most people know I'm not a faux tanner, but many of my clients do love good bronzing. So Vicky From Fake Bake, is a must chat too. A total sweetheart with the best Scottish accent and sense of humor, offered to get me in the booth and tan me up, I kindly passed as paper knickers don’t appeal,  but Fake Bake ,is one of the best and well known tanning brands, with  a large  range of effects /shades, you  can't go wrong. 

Clothing is my love, and any excess to shop for me or clients is fabulous. 
A brand I'm now fully obsessed with is BlueVanilla and they were at both of the gifting lounge events,  now I wasn't aware of the range  before but the second I saw it, I know id be hooked, a slight gothic twist to the collection (at the time ) with  burnt out velvets and great textures. I got some what over excited and practically cleared the rail, for Lydia.

Blue Vanilla are a cool cutting edge fashion forward brand with great quality pieces at really affordable prices, a really  well laid out website,  showing how to create looks, into  tongue in cheek sections  IE "check please" and " you've got to wrap it up”. A must in my wardrobe! 

Firetrap, a brand I was heavily into when I was in my  teens, so it was amazing  to see what their up too now. With the weather turning,  I spotted a Camel toned oversized coat, a fashion blogger must have it seems, which Lydia said it was a must have for me and I’ve worn it a LOT.

Beauty brands were in full force too. Boots No7 had a gorgeous shadow palette for all attendees, and we all were introduced to the new Magnitone X Pixi Lott Lucid Cleansing Brush. This is a great travel sized brush that offers brighter and smoother skin in 7 days,  now who doesn't want that?! I’ve loved using this brush, keeps the skin nice and clear, and with your cosmetics removes makeup gently. 

Look Fantastic were also at the event, a fantastic (pun intended) site for all beauty needs, they also happened to be at the event,  with a great gift bag of yummy beauty items,  which included Lord and Berry,  who I’ve been dying to try.

You can signup / register with etailPR, to become part of the blogging network and may even get invited to their next gifting event. They are helpful and email some great offers and details of amazing brands to check out. The girls in the team, look after myself and my celeb clients so well. So I want to thank them for that, and to all the brands whom gifted us. Thank you so much, now into the new year, I'm  excited to try out new things. 


Saturday 24 January 2015

Time for another brand, time for Another8...




Another8 is an edgy, urban luxe label that launched last year and has quickly established itself.
Led by a team of London creatives, Another8 bridges the gap between the attainable high-street brands and the aspirational designer label. They already have a loyal following from British style icons such as Ellie Goulding and Cara Delevingne, who are fans of their combination of street style and current designs. Another8’s collections are urban but contemporary, including statement pieces, premium leather, key accessories and playful unisex Tees.
Where luxe meets urban and retro meets modern, Another8’s autumnal wear offers a twist of current designs. For example, their AW14 lookbook offered an array of cosy outfits to ease you into the autumn winter season. From soft tones, contrasted with an industrial leather finish to heavy textured wools, smock dresses in casual checks to oversized vintage sheepskins. They take a more minimal style, emphasizing the importance of layering and contrasting.




This refreshing approach to higher-end high-street is what has got them noticed in the fashion magazines including Grazia, Company, Look, You, Reveal and The Observer. Now the Blogger Network is featuring Another8 exclusively for sample campaigns so that YOU can have the chance to apply for some on trend, uber stylish, uber cool pieces!

Join the A-list following now and apply for your chance to work with the next big fashion brand...

Friday 23 January 2015

Guest Post: Degree + Blog + Internship = Fashion Crisis or Fashion Miracle?

As a student, I often get asked how I balance so many things on my plate so I thought I’d let you take a glimpse into my world…  
7am. I wake up yelling curse words to the world in my mind. Why would someone invent early starts? It’s horrible, unfair and bad for beauty sleep! 

I panic as I’ve forgotten to co-ordinate an outfit the night before. I browse through my wardrobe for a good fifteen minutes and I finally pick out an outfit that can take me from uni to press events. I just about make it to King’s College London on time and I sit through lecture after lecture until it’s time for a quick coffee break and a round of press days. Leaving the university doors, I feel a major sense of adulthood come over me as I head to PR agencies and talk collaborations. That’s what I love. 

7pm. I slouch on the sofa for a while until I grab my laptop and begin writing the next blog post for The Rebirth of Fashion, ensuring I promote it on all the social media platforms utilising the skills I’ve learnt from the training session the previous day. After that’s done, I write one for my internship, using witty language and inviting images. ‘Targeting the right demographic is vital’, I think to myself. 

9pm. Finally, a break!

So as you may have guessed, my mind is constantly juggling around thoughts… ‘How am I going to increase my blog views? When am I going to actually train myself in Search Engine Optimization? What about the coursework that’s due in next week?’

That mind of mine is a real-life jungle, but so is the world. Just because I’m 19 doesn’t mean I have to do what most 19-year-olds do. Instead of partying all the time, I work and I work really damn hard but I wouldn’t change anything because in the last year I have learnt so much within the fashion industry. I do worry about my academic success but as long as I organise myself on a day-to-day basis, I believe it’s possible to do it all and I’m going to continue pushing until I stop seeing the benefits. 

Written by Manita Rughwani.

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Guest Post: How To Speak Your Mind On Your Blog

So you love to talk about new beauty products and that meal you had on your blog, but you’ve come across a subject that not know everyone agrees with.   How do you know when you should be politically correct?  How do you present your views without offending anyone?

Here are some topics that people often have trouble posting about:
  Feminism
Animal Cruelty
Abuse
Political Views
Anxiety

I’m Jacky and my blog is Do It For The Irony, a life+style blog.  I have talked about my views on touchy subjects like the objectification of women in advertisements and how we can actually fix it.  I’ve included some images from my most popular posts!  I have also been involved in some blogger chats, discussing this issue.

                 The answer to the previous question is, “Don’t worry about it.”  There will always be someone who is offended.   Chances are though, someone will identify with you and relate.  The biggest and most caring responses I have ever received on my blog is on posts where I go out on a limb and express my views.  So go for it.  If you’re not comfortable with it just yet, talk with a blogger friend or on a twitter chat and ask if they think it would be appropriate!  The blogger community is extremely supportive of writers and can help.

                 My number one tip for these posts is to communicate your idea clearly.  Use examples, lists, whatever you need.  I, personally, like to use bullet points for my most powerful and relatable points.  That makes sure that your views are translated easily and transparently to your audience.  You don’t want your readers to misread you and think you meant something totally different!  So double-check your phrasing.  

                 Also, what is the point of your post?  Are you promoting your beliefs or are you sharing a piece of yourself?  I ask that because provoking people may get you views in the short run, but it may not help you in the long run.  Just a thought!

                 I hope you enjoyed this post and that it helps you to exercise the loveliest thing about the internet – freedom of speech.  It means a lot to me!  Email me your post if this inspired you to talk about that one thing you can’t bring yourself to hit publish on!  I’d love to see it.  If you’d like some more wild thoughts of a funny creator/style person, find me at http://doitfortheirony.blogspot.com/
or on any of my social media!  I’m always on twitter omg.

Friday 16 January 2015

Guest Post: Do I Need Studio Lights?

Firstly, thank you so much to the amazing team at etailPR for giving me the opportunity to write this guest post for you all. It’s a really great network, and if you don’t use it already, I’d recommend that you do! Onto the post...

If you’ve ever contemplated the idea of starting a YouTube channel, or a blog, chances are that you’ve thought about lighting and cameras. When I started my blog almost three years ago, I took all my photographs on my phone (iPhone 4S at the time). I didn’t invest in my Canon EOS 600D (the typical ‘blogger’ camera) until I was sure that blogging, and making videos, was something I was serious about. 
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no expert when it comes to YouTube, but I have learnt so much over the last few months, and I hope it might help some of you out. 

Computers and Software. I don’t have final cut pro. It’s on my wish list, but for now, iMovie does everything I need it to do. You don’t need to go out and buy loads of equipment when you’re starting off, if you decide it’s not for you, you’ll be annoyed that you’ve wasted your money. 

So then, do I need studio lights? For me, yes. Again, this is something I didn’t buy until I was sure. They’re expensive, and an investment. I live at home, and our house is quite dark, so for me, without lights makes it difficult for me to get the results that I want. 

The following pictures are taken with:
 two soft box studio lights
 one light
natural light in my bedroom

As you can probably see, they make a huge difference. I use at least one light every time I film, and for most of my blog photos. What you don’t know is, that I have around 5 old videos privated on my channel that didn’t use lighting, and they don’t look horrendous. (I’ve privated them because they’re old, and they’re too cringe!) If you want to see my old blog photos, they’re all still in my blog archives. I know a few Youtubers who are blessed with good natural lighting, and really don’t need lights. I do feel that I need them. 

I’d suggest just playing around with it, try different setups, different backgrounds, filming near a window. If you can’t get it to look how you want it then think about lights. Mine are the Photosel SoftBox studio lights, and I got them from Amazon. 

Now you know my camera and lighting setup and opinions, please come over to my YouTube channel and my blog to see what I actually use them for! The pictures were taken during filming of my new Makeup tutorial video, so be sure to watch it so that you can see the effect better! 

I hope that this post has been useful to some of you, and if you have any more questions, just tweet me at @nellyandnoopy and I’ll be happy to help you out! 

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/nellyandnoopy

Blog: www.nellyandnoopy.wordpress.com 

x

Words and Photographs by Elizabeth Ann 

*None of the photos have been edited, so that you can see the true effects of the lighting.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Showpo Summer Style!

Show ponies! Have you been waiting for the warm weather and sunshine to return? Not long now until you can rock the trends for SS15! From the throwback Seventies style, to soft feminine florals, light denim delights, to a seascape of aquatic prints… there are so many trends and so little time! Get ahead of the trends now and start filling up your SS15 wardrobe…


Summer is right around the corner and with so many amazing styles having been showcased on the catwalks, there is plenty to choose from. 
To set you up for success, we’ve put together some of our fave SS15 pieces from Showpo, which are guaranteed to get you in the summery mood!

If you’ve got 20,000 followers on one platform and are a UK, US or EU fashion blogger, make sure you login and apply for Showpo’s sample campaign NOW! So what are you waiting for?! Head over to the Blogger Network to get your hands on some of this years latest trends.



Tuesday 13 January 2015

Earn With Blue Vanilla!

Earn with Blue Vanilla.

There are many ways you can earn through The Blogger Network, promoting brands, lead generation, sponsored posts or in this case by running a click campaign.  A click campaign means you earn commission when you promote a brand on your blog driving your audience to click on a banner or link in your post!


Following on from their sample campaign, Blue Vanilla have now launched their click campaign on the network. You can earn 0.05p each time one of your lovely readers, friends or family clicks through to the Blue Vanilla website from your blog. So for every 20 clicks you would earn £1 and they soon add up.

You just need to make sure that you use your personalised tracking link and banners, that can be found within your account under Promotion > Banners & Links > searching for 'Blue Vanilla' - Click Campaign!

So login now and get promoting.

Terms & Conditions
All clicks generated are subject to approval. Any clicks found to be fraudulent will not be paid out on.
Any blogger found consistently generating fraudulent clicks will be disqualified from the campaign and shall forfeit all commission made.
Any commissions earned from this campaign will be checked and paid on the 28th of the following calendar month once the minimum threshold of £20 is hit.
You may be asked to invoice through paypal for this activity
Only genuine methods of promotions can be used; within a blog post, in your sidebar or on your personal/blog Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages.


Friday 9 January 2015

Guest Post: New Year Makeup Inspiration

Makeup for New Year’s - Now’s the time, to sparkle and shine!

For a New Year’s party, I love to add some sparkle to my appearance; and for this particular occasion, too much will be just about right. On the AW15 catwalks, there were a lot of beautiful metallic beauty features on show, and I find them perfect as inspiration for great party looks to conclude 2014. 
Focus was set on the eyes at Dior SS15. This look was created using liquid latex and loose colour 
pigments, but you can achieve a similar effect by using a primer and then working with two or three 
tone-in-tone metallic or shimmer eye shadows. Create a graphic shape, reflecting the shape of your 
eye, and dare to cover the whole lid, for eyes that speak for themselves. 
Solid silver at Donna Karan, where loose pigment was mixed with MAC Pro Mixing Medium Shine, to give maximum coverage. Pair with black, smoky eyeliner, for a next to ethereal effect. Extend the silvery shadow around the inner corner of your eye, to open up, and let it fade slightly here.
I love statement lips now and then (now rather than then, actually) and what could be better for the Festive Season than a lush glitter pout à la Rodarte SS15? Carefully mix glitter pigment with lipstick until you have the right amount of sparkle. Make sure to prep your lips with a light scrub and loads of lip balm the day before. Use a lip liner to set the contours and apply two coats using a lip makeup brush.

Have fun at those parties!

Words by: Johanna Bergström 

Image via: vogue.co.uk

Tuesday 6 January 2015

We're Back for 2015!

You're probably wondering where our blog has been for the past 5 months, times have been busy here at etailPR but it's back for 2015 with plenty of exciting fresh content, guest posts and some pretty exciting competitions coming up, so stay tuned for those.
As we've been pretty absent, we have enlisted some help from beauty blogger, Charlotte from Style & Splurging who will be getting the etailPR Blog back on track, with regular posts and some more exciting content as i'm sure you've all missed us.

As we kick of 2015, we've got plenty of exciting sample campaigns this month on the etailPR Blogger Network from our regular merchants including: Chi Chi, Sugar Hill Boutique, Hybrid, Hairtrade, Online Avenue, Blue Vanilla, Goldie, Wal-G, Body Jewellery Shop and DressKode.

We've also got some exciting new brands joining the network this month including: T.H.Baker - Swarovski pens , The Jewel Hut - Pandora bracelets and charms, House of WatchesHazel & Kent and big Australian brand Showpo - you've got until the end of this week to apply for these campaigns, so if you haven't already then head over to the etailPR Blogger Network to apply.