The community of cosmetics
From Mod Mania
Most of the women in the world have worn make-up for a long time, which has developed with numerous styles. In addition, recently also men are becoming more interested in it. So, groups of people interested in make-up increased and now it is easy to find make up information in the Internet. They share their makeup skills, own ideas, questions and answers and anyone can write their opinions or problems. This doesn’t end online but they actually meet each other and discuss and learn in more detail. In addition, they show how to divide cosmetics to get different colors.
Above all, a makeup community website called Makeup Geek is most notable. It has much information, skills and events but the menu, Weekly Challenge, is one of the most interesting one. In Weekly Challenge, the owner decides a theme and people regardless of nationalities or anything upload their photos wearing makeup fitting the theme. The owner picks the best and gives a prize. In addition, people share the products which can be referred by others afterwards. For example the topic this week is “to create a look that is inspired by any flower of your choice”. Then people upload pictured after wearing makeup relevant to flowers. It says that prize will be $50 in Make up for ever products. Through Weekly Challenge, people in the whole world can easily share makeup skills and products they use. Rather than just seeing the owners skill and pictures, watching makeup from all over the world gives one more ideas and broaden one thought when putting makeup on oneself or on others. Challenge is something that interests people and since the topics differ by week, it is fresh and interesting.
Second, there is a menu, Tutorial, in which the owner easily explains detailed skills by using video while putting makeup on herself or to models. Here people can select and learn skills from basic to professional level. Also you can see Q&A, where the owner listed some frequently asked questions and gave answers. For example, she gave detailed information regarding questions such as “what is the best foundation to use?”, “what is some make up tips for those over 60?”, “what is the best makeup for oily skin?” As you can see, this menu gives solutions to what people would have frequently wondered. If it is not enough to solve your problem or have another questions, you can go into the menu, Forum and there is a makeup advice which you can write your problem with anything related in makeup. Then, any members of Makeup Geek will be reply to your problem. Also in another menu named Idea Gallery, various versions of makeup photos are uploaded, such as everyday looks, dramatic looks and holiday/special events looks. The people who upload these are the creative directors and owner of Makeup Geek. Makeup Geek not only does online activities but holds seminar meetings. This meeting in divided in 2 parts: beginner and intermediate. It is held not at one site but on 7 locations such as Columbus, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Ft Lauderdale, New York, Pasadena and Vacaville. The fee is about $100 and members of the Makeup Geek community who are like makeup, exchange information, consider the online activities not enough and hope to discuss more gather.
Third, there is a Forum which is very useful as there are10 general discussions – ‘Makeup Geek Community’ which is a small section of the forum to help you get to know community, ‘Makeup Chat’ is talking about something in makeup and any member in makeup geek can discuss about it. , ‘Makeup Advice’, ‘Show Your Face’ post your makeup in any topic and show off your ideas or techniques or face to the others, ‘Reviews and Swatches’ that you can share your thinking about cosmetic or makeup technique, ‘Health and Beauty’ which can discussions on health, hair and skin, ‘Tutorial Requests’ post your ideas and suggestions for tutorial, ‘Sale and Swap’, if you have something to sell, trade or looking for some deals, you can join in it, ‘Site Information/ Help/ Suggestions’, if you have any concerns or ideas for makeup geek, you can share it and ‘Chat About Life’ which can chat about your life in non-makeup related. Any members of makeup geek can share any problems or they can solve the problem for the others and they just chat for anything related in each topic. Final one is cosmetic sharing which is known by everybody interested in cosmetics in Korea. Cosmetic sharing is not well known in other countries except for Korea. I am a member of such community too. Cosmetic sharing enables people to share different color cosmetics with others. In a word, you can have two colors at a price for one. For example, At a forum there is a writing of which title is “Bobbi brown’s pot rouge – Korean girls’ way to buy and use”. It is about how Korean women have six colors with $22 and the writer herself is gathering 5 more people to do it. About 6 people buy different colors of the item and share them after dividing it in 6 or one person buys 6 items, divide them and sell it. Other cosmetics such as shadows and blushers can be shared as well. The owner of the community shares cosmetics and uploads pictures with explanations. People who want to buy it can leave comments or send messages or they can make it themselves. Added to these, there is lots of information to tune cosmetics such as changing lip stick cases or hardening broken shadows, thus people can learn various versions of it. (How to shadow sharing)
In conclusion, cosmetic related communities can be found in various nations. In makeup communities, there are many new and useful events, people can share makeup skills and upload one’s makeup photos. Also it shows various ways of tuning cosmetics which can be easily used by those who like and are interested in makeup.
Reference : Makeup Geek [online website] http://www.makeupgeek.com/ [Accessed 31 march, 2011]
Soompi forum [online website] DaviciousBunny http://www.soompi.com/forums/topic/288947-bobbi-browns-pot-rouge-korean-girls-way-to-buy-and-use/ [Accessed 1 April, 2011]
Rocomari [online website] http://blog.naver.com/rocomari?Redirect=Log&logNo=60088828580 [Accessed 1 April, 2011]
