March 26, 2025 • 52 mins
This episode takes a nostalgic dive into the golden age of beauty blogging with special guest Arielle. Together, she and Kristen reflect on their experiences in the beauty blogging world of the early 2010s, a time when written blogs and YouTube tutorials dominated the scene. They discuss how they got started, the lessons they learned, and how the industry has evolved. From the early days of Pinterest to Sunday Twitter chats and a much kinder internet, this conversation is a fun throwback for anyone who loves makeup, blogging, social media nostalgia, and the evolution of online beauty communities.
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Episode Transcript
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Kristen (00:01):
Hey everybody, welcome back.
I am so excited for today'sepisode.
I know I say that about a lot ofthem, but I am really excited
about this one because I have myfriend Ariel with me today.
Hi, Ariel.
Hi, it's good to be here.
Ariel and I met years and yearsago back when we were beauty
blogging, and that's what we'regoing to be talking about today
(00:23):
is a little bit about whatbeauty blogging was like back in
the day, how we got into it,what we learned and kind of some
of those lessons we took awayfrom it or what's stuck with us
now.
It's I think the direction it'sgoing to go, so we'll see.
So Ariel, before we start, canyou give us a quick little
introduction of who you are?
Arielle (00:44):
Sure, so I'm Ariel, and back in the day, my blog was
Beauty by Ariel, and I had aactual blog, as well as a
YouTube channel, and thenFacebook and Instagram, Twitter,
all of the things back then butnow I don't have anything to do
with the beauty space anymore,Work as a mental health
(01:07):
counselor.
Kristen (01:08):
I love it.
So yeah, so I never did theYouTube thing.
I had my blog, which wasGlitter, Gloss, and Glaze.
And yes, I remember.
And then I
Arielle (01:19):
actually have, I actually had you saved in my
phone for a very long time.
It's Kristen Glitter, Gloss,
Kristen (01:24):
and Glaze.
That's true.
So funny.
I love that.
But yeah, you're right.
We like at the time it was you'dput yourself everywhere.
There was the blog.
It was Twitter.
It was Instagram was new backthen.
So there wasn't a whole lot ofthat.
And then all the differentgroups and everything to it was
a lot.
So we'll break it all down.
So when did you start?
Do you remember when youactually started your blog?
Arielle (01:49):
Oh man, I'm thinking it had to have been around fall
2011.
Okay.
Because I was in graduate schooland that time frame lines up, so
I'm pretty sure it was them.
Kristen (02:03):
Yeah, I think mine was around 2011 too.
I can't remember the exact date.
But I think we were very similararound the same time, coming up
about all of it.
Now, let's set the stage for thelisteners.
What do you remember most aboutthat time period?
What was it like back then inthat, 2010 2011 time frame?
(02:25):
What do you remember most?
Arielle (02:28):
I remember that it was mostly blogging, just written
blogs.
It didn't really matter if youwere doing beauty, fashion,
hair, makeup, whatever.
Most things were blogs.
It wasn't like today with shortform content.
Oh yeah.
Most people were writing thingsand we would go to each other's
(02:49):
blogs and follow and comment oneach other's posts.
Posts and you would subscribeand everyone was using blogger
and then some of us would startdabbling in learning how to
write code and use wordpress Butthere was so much blogger going
on back then.
But that was the big thing Iremember.
(03:10):
And like Pinterest, that waslike the birth of Pinterest.
I don't know exactly what yourPinterest started, but I feel
like it was born out of all ofthese blogs.
But it had to have been sometimearound that time, like the early
2010s.
Kristen (03:26):
I forgot about that because yeah, you incorporated a
lot of your Pinterest I thinkbecause I remember you would do
like different outfit ones too.
Like you would have these cutelittle pictures and these are
these outfits I put together andthis is where you can buy them.
And yeah, your stuff was sogood.
Arielle (03:41):
Yeah, I'm not really sure why I figured out how some
or how I figured out how thiswas evolving.
Because like today now we haveBike, what is that one website
where all the influencers linktheir entire post and
Kristen (03:58):
stuff?
It has something to do withbasically, yeah, you can like
shop directly from the post too.
I can't remember the name.
Arielle (04:06):
Yeah.
So it's evolved to that, butsome of that stuff was like
barely budding because therewasn't really a lot of affiliate
marketing at that point in time.
It was It was hardly anyaffiliate.
I think really the only way Iwas making money was through
brand deals and through Googleads on my website and YouTube.
(04:29):
Those were, yeah, AdSense.
I remember I would get AdSensechecks where now, There's tons
of affiliate marketing, butokay.
It looks like that.
Pinterest, the conception was2008 to 2009, and it really
launched in like 2010, see early2010.
So yeah, that.
Kristen (04:50):
Yeah, and that's what back then it was so much more
organic and it was really likewhat I love so before I started
blogging I what there were someyoutubers out there.
I don't remember what her fullname was, but she was Haley
something I followed this girlHaley and she was like in Texas
and miss budget beauty who Istill follow She's changed her
name now and she's gone adifferent direction, but I loved
(05:11):
Miss Budget Beauty, so I wouldwatch some of the YouTube videos
and it was like hauls andtutorials, but it was so basic.
It would be like a girl in herbedroom, like on her floor with
a little camera in front of her.
Here's how I do this smoky eye.
And it was so fun.
You felt like you were friendswith these girls and you're
like, yeah, I could do that.
And I didn't do the YouTuberoute, but I love blog because
(05:33):
at the time I was like, I need anew hobby.
I love writing and I lovemakeup.
Maybe I can do a makeup blog andthat's what I thought it was
going to be.
And I'm like, ah, and the wholething was like, I love glitter
and sparkly things.
And the gloss was supposed to bewith like lip gloss and glaze
was supposed to be like nailpolish.
Cause it's like a glaze.
Like I So much thought into whatI was going to be and then like
(05:56):
building the brand.
But there was, I
Arielle (05:58):
appreciate that.
Cause I,
Kristen (05:59):
I put no thought and everybody was by someone.
So there were so many, I know itwas so fun, but I feel like we
were all.
Kind of friends, even thoughwe'd never really known each
other.
Did you ever do?
I remember on Sunday nights onTwitter, they would use the
hashtag.
It was hashtag be bloggers andit would be beauty bloggers and
(06:21):
maybe it wasn't Sunday nightSunday afternoon.
There was something like I.
I forgot about that.
I forgot about that.
Yes.
It was so fun.
Like we would use that hashtagthroughout the time too but it
was used like a chat function onSundays.
So you'd be keeping up with thethreads and it was so much like
I would be like at the time Iwasn't married but I was living
(06:41):
with my boyfriend then and I'dbe like, no, it's Sunday
afternoon, night, whatever.
I was like, I have my beautybloggers chat and I probably
seem so dumb but I loved thatstuff.
Arielle (06:52):
That is a memory I forgot I had.
Yeah.
100%.
But, yeah, I actually was moreof the YouTube watching variety
probably more than blogs.
And so I, that's how I wasinspired to get started because
I would watch other people and Ithought, oh, I can do this.
(07:12):
I know I can teach people thingslike I, I know how to do this.
And plus I just likeexperimenting and trying new
things and sharing my opinion onstuff.
And I actually watched a Milenawell, 83 and she still exists
today.
And she is.
And I still watch her and she islegitimately the only influencer
I've watched over the years thathas not changed at all.
(07:34):
She is exactly the same person,presents things the same way she
was not.
She did not become beige.
I love it.
Like the influencers do.
She's still like in her home inSouthern Illinois.
And has her three kids and herhusband, and it has a very
normal life.
And I love that because it's soreminiscent of the start of all
(07:56):
of this.
That she was, her channel waswhat inspired me.
And I've been watching her nowfor 15 years,
Kristen (08:02):
which
Arielle (08:03):
is crazy to
Kristen (08:03):
think about.
Yeah, I do feel like I remember,she's got dark hair, right?
And was she in the news?
Was she in broadcast?
Yeah.
I did watch her.
Arielle (08:15):
She's still on.
Go watch for some nostalgia andyou'll be like, oh, this is so
warm and fuzzy.
She hasn't changed a bit exceptquitting the news,
Kristen (08:26):
I watched her religiously for a while.
I can't believe I forgot abouther.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Arielle (08:32):
Yes, but I think the other thing, so when we were
going into this, what I hadthought about was just like the
evolution of, Makeup and howbeauty blogging really opened
all of us up to makeup because,so I grew up in a pretty mid
(08:53):
sized town in Illinois.
We had malls, but our malls didnot have that.
And the only makeup you weregetting was at the Walgreens or
at the Wet n Wild and it wasjunk.
And then the beauty counter andwe didn't have a lot of money.
So I was not going to thedepartment store or beauty
(09:14):
counter to buy things.
And so I didn't even know whatMac was, or I would read in.
Like Cosmo about Bobby Brown,but I wasn't getting Bobby Brown
anywhere.
And there was no Sephora.
There was no Ulta.
But then in the early 2010s,people start talking about, oh,
this urban decay, naked pallet.
Yes.
And this, and all the sudden wegot exposed to stuff.
(09:37):
We could also start, it was thebeginning of online ordering.
Where you could actually getthese things that you couldn't
before.
Yeah.
And it was actually affordableto order things online.
And then Ulta's and Sephora'sdid start popping up, but I
think because people wereposting about these things and
had influence on the market, itreally made the drugstore market
(10:01):
actually start producing reallygood product.
Because I would say up until the2010s, drugstore makeup was
junk, absolute garbage.
It was garbage.
Started dabbling in high endbecause I moved and then all of
a sudden I had access to an Ultaand a Sephora and it really
(10:26):
opened up everything for me.
And then people were talkingabout this product and that
product.
It's oh my gosh, I have to trythis because now I finally can
actually get a foundation thatmatches my face and isn't
orange.
Kristen (10:36):
And the texture is good.
Like it's not too cakey orpowdery or anything else.
Arielle (10:40):
all I was going to say is that is then it really made
the drugstore actually startcatching up and we could go to
the drugstore and actually getgood product.
Kristen (10:47):
Yes.
And I do.
I agree that I think the beautyblogging community had a lot to
do with that because yeah, whenI started to make same thing, I
grew up in a small town outsidePittsburgh and it was the same
thing.
Like I was getting my stuff atthe drugstore or like a Claire's
or something like I get somefancy lip gloss or whatever, but
yeah, it was like NYC, wet andwild, all the real like cheap
(11:09):
brands.
I had I think a Maybellineeyeshadow thing one time.
And I did use one of my favoriteproducts though, was a Bonnie
Bell the people that make lipsmackers, but she'd made some
eyeshadow for a while.
And I had a pink eyeshadowpalette, which I loved.
Which is funny, 20, 30, howevermany years later it was since I
started doing makeup.
I still like lean towards pinkson my eyes.
(11:31):
I feel like it's a throwback butanyway, so yeah, So I had used
drugstore mostly, and then, likeyou said, Urban Decay was like
my gateway drug into high endmakeup.
I'd never heard of it, and then,and I was always buying cheap
stuff, because I was just acheap person.
And I'm like makeup's makeup.
It's not really a difference,right?
Oh my gosh, is there adifference?
(11:53):
Huge difference.
I think Naked 2 was the firstone I bought.
Back then it was a hugedifference.
Now I would argue that you canmix and match.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Like nowadays I use mostlyColourPop.
My eyeshadows are almost allColourPop, which is still like a
brand, but I think, a cheaperbrand, more inexpensive, maybe I
shouldn't say cheaper, midrange.
(12:13):
Yes.
And even like e.
l.
f.
There's still, there's stuffthat's so good.
And I will still pick some highend stuff.
stuff.
But I'm not like, I feel like Iwent through this, like I only
did cheap stuff, whatever.
Then for a while I was onlydoing like name brand expensive
stuff.
And now I've come back down tothe other side where it's not
about brand name anymore.
It's about do I like it?
How well is it for me?
(12:34):
Yes, exactly.
Arielle (12:36):
And I've also evolved to a place where I don't really
do a full face.
I like, I don't wear nearly themakeup that I used to.
It used to be that I had thelashes.
I had the full glam, we call it,I don't do that anymore.
So I just need a differentproduct these days.
But circling back to theproducts you remember having, I
remember as a teenager and evenlike younger than that.
(12:59):
Like preteen years, I would gothrough magazines and I would
see these ads.
I'm like, oh, I want to try thisso bad And I would save up
change and I remember there wasa palette I think it was called
walking on eggshells was the Idon't remember what brand it was
walking on eggshells and thatwas like My go to palette.
It might have been a cover girl,but it had a pink, a pearl, and
(13:21):
like a brown color.
Yes.
And I think it's still madetoday, but oh my god, I love
that thing.
And I remember I specificallysaw it in an ad and I ripped the
ad out.
That's so funny.
You're like, this is gonna bemine
Kristen (13:32):
someday.
Arielle (13:33):
So I was like always destined to do something with
beauty vlogging, clearly.
Kristen (13:40):
Even though we didn't have words for it at the time.
We didn't know what it was.
It was just, and blogging hascome such a far way.
There's still, Are there stillbeauty blogs?
I don't even know actually.
I don't
Arielle (13:51):
know.
Kristen (13:52):
I don't even read
Arielle (13:53):
blogs at all.
Kristen (13:54):
I
Arielle (13:54):
don't know.
I don't really think people doanymore.
Kristen (13:56):
I don't care about people, whatever.
Like food blogs and there's thejokes about the people, but if I
want your recipe, I am justclicking jump to recipe.
I don't care that yourgrandmother's uncle's dog loves
this food.
Like just get me to the point.
Arielle (14:11):
But that really shows how like now.
Short form content.
We're demanding that.
Whereas back then, we lovedreading all of that and getting
to know the person on thatdeeper level where now we think
we know people, but reallythey're giving us bite sized
amount of information where backthen we got a lot of information
about people in their lives.
Kristen (14:29):
And it was so much more Raw to like, nobody was curating
these perfect aesthetics, likewe had, like you said, the
coding.
I was so excited when I got intoI got some CSS stuff or
whatever, like my actual coding.
And I was building my own,widgets and buttons.
And I felt like I was aprogrammer.
And I'm like, Yes, I am a webdeveloper.
(14:50):
And I can do all of thesethings, which really a lot of it
was still Because I would go andread what a code could do and
then I'd use my HTML for whichcolors I wanted or changing the
font or putting in an image andI thought I was like pretty hot
shit back then.
Arielle (15:06):
Quite honestly, I'm really glad that I did learn
that because now I have aprofessional business that is my
full time income and because Iknew how to do that.
I built a really good website,knew how to do SEO and now I
write, I rank very nicely onGoogle and it's awesome.
All because of learning that atthat time, I wouldn't have known
how to do that.
Otherwise, or even like what toresearch and how to make that
(15:28):
happen.
But I already had thatfoundation.
Yeah.
And so it was really easy forme.
Kristen (15:32):
So we talked about how we learned to be great website
developers, but what kind ofbeauty techniques did you learn?
Are there specific things thatyou're like, if I hadn't been
beauty blogging, maybe Iwouldn't have done this or
certain things that you tookaway from it on the beauty side?
Arielle (15:51):
Honestly, everything.
That's why the girls today areso lucky because it's easy to
have on YouTube.
Yeah, because you can literallylook up how to do anything where
we were guessing.
And I feel like I really learnedhow to do everything properly
from beauty blogs, because evenlike in magazines, it was
(16:15):
difficult sometimes to read andfollow what these professional
makeup artists.
We're saying to do because theywould use makeup, artisty words,
like cut crease and me from theMidwest, I don't know what a cut
crease is.
And so it was hard to followthose types of things.
Plus we just didn't have theproduct availability.
(16:37):
So then once people startedposting tutorials, like I
learned how to do a proper smokyeye.
That 2010 smoky eye or how to.
Properly do a winged liner, howto actually blend my foundation
so that it matches my skin, likeeverything.
Or remember when like highlightand contour, like when the Kim
(16:58):
Kardashian thing like hit thewaves and everybody was doing
the Kim Kardashian.
Highlight and contour and welearned how to play with light
and shadow to sculpt our faces.
That was revolutionary at thetime, whereas now it's like, Oh,
duh.
Kristen (17:15):
I know.
Yeah.
But back then I didn't even knowwhat highlight was like
highlight to me is a marker youwould use in your book for
school.
Like you put highlighter on yourface.
What is that even?
But then I became obsessed withit and I would use I remember I
got I think it was AnastasiaBeverly Hills.
It was a collab they did withNicole Guerrero.
I'm probably pronouncing hername wrong.
(17:36):
Another beauty YouTuber that Iloved.
And I loved her glow palette andit had like whites and pinks and
bronzes, and they were allshimmers.
And I would use All over myface.
Like I wanted my face to justsparkle like Guy Diamond in the
trolls movie.
Like I want it to be a sparklingthing.
Oh my gosh.
I was obsessed, but yeah, that'show I learned to do all of that
(17:57):
because magazines, you're right.
It was hard to follow.
And even if they did have acouple of pictures along with
the words, it still wouldn'tmake sense.
And like my mom wasn't intomakeup, so I didn't have anybody
growing up teaching me how to doit.
I didn't either.
I really grew up.
Into my makeup on because ofwatching YouTube and reading
blogs Agree.
Arielle (18:17):
Totally agree.
And even, I would even say likemy sense of fashion, too.
And seeing what other peoplewere doing.
Yeah.
And and I just feel like people,the way that they would teach
things to was very accessible.
They did, because it was normalpeople creating this content.
They talked about it in normalpeople ways.
Kristen (18:39):
Yeah.
And there were no rules about iteither too.
Like it wasn't like it had to beprofessionally done.
Like it was just like, Hey, Igot this palette.
Let me show you the swatches.
Let me show you some of thelooks I'm doing with it.
Because that's the thing youwould get a palette of the naked
ones have what, like 12 shadowsor something in them.
And you're what do I even dowith these?
Where do I put that?
Yeah, exactly.
And we all know, like ingeneral, like You want lighter
(19:01):
on your brow bone.
You want to highlight that youwant darker in the middle to
give it some definition, but tosee the looks girls would come
up with, you're like, Oh mygosh, that's really nice.
Arielle (19:10):
It was great.
And the other part that wasreally great back then too.
Because now the internet is avery mean place.
Back then you didn't have abunch of people going around
trolling.
Most of the people who werecommenting on your stuff were
other creators.
Yes! And we were very supportiveof each other.
You, I very rarely got some sortof trolling type comment.
(19:30):
Even on YouTube.
And YouTube is completelyunhinged these days.
But you would like never getthat.
Like one of my highest I thinkit had like 50k views and I did
not have any nasty comments atall.
And so that's pretty amazing forlike how things have evolved
(19:50):
now.
And there also wasn't influencerfighting and all of this.
in between influencer dramathere is today like now there's
whole channels devoted toinfluencer
Kristen (20:01):
drama.
Yes I watched a really good onyoutube.
There was a girl.
I think she did a two partepisode on the jacklyn hill
situation So that's a good oneto watch if you're looking For
some documentary typeinformation and I never got like
I think I don't remember exactlywhen Jaclyn Hill started getting
big on YouTube I feel like I wasalready moving out or out Yeah
(20:26):
But there was a lot but yeah,everybody was super supportive
and we'd have do you remember?
Okay, so there would be likedifferent days people would host
certain things where you'd visita bunch of different blogs and
comment on them Follow do allthis stuff.
Do you remember?
Yeah, we I do.
Arielle (20:42):
I do.
I remember the little icon thingwe made too and it was my shoes.
Kristen (20:49):
It was Walkabout Wednesday because I was all
about alliteration and I'm like,it's got to be something that
like makes sense and we're I, Iremember looking it up cause we
were doing a Wednesdays and Iwas looking for like words, W's,
I think I could be wrong, but Iremember Walkabout was like
something like some Aboriginalterm in Australia or something
like Walkabout is when you goand visit.
I don't remember I shouldprobably fact check myself
(21:10):
before I say these things.
But yeah, we hosted WalkaboutWednesdays.
Arielle (21:14):
Yes, we did.
Yes, we did.
And now people don't do thatstuff either.
It's like not a thing anymore.
Kristen (21:20):
I know.
And it was so fun.
And I don't know did I just havemore free time on my hands then?
Because I would go in, I wouldread like every post and I would
comment on stuff I was all aboutit.
It was so fun.
Arielle (21:32):
Yeah.
No, it was fun.
I think these days we're justlike less interested in getting
to know things at a deep levellike we did then.
Yeah.
We want, give me the informationquick and let's move on.
Kristen (21:46):
It's definitely a society and culture thing too
that we're not willing to takethe time to dig in deep.
It's, like you said, it's giveit to me now and let me move on.
Which has its pros and cons.
People could probably debatethat one.
So we've talked a little bitabout the community.
So how did blogging feed intoyour creation or development of
(22:09):
friendships across the way?
Arielle (22:13):
There were several girls I would talk to regularly
and we knew about each other'slives.
But the only one that I've keptin touch with over the years is
you.
A lot of people, I don't knowwhat's happened with them.
I think our lives evolved andchanged.
We weren't doing blogging andYeah, we didn't really talk
anymore, but that's what'sinteresting with online
(22:35):
relationships is you can go fromtalking all the time doing a ton
about people's lives and thenyou don't even know where they
are 10 years later.
Kristen (22:43):
Yeah, it's almost like they just fell off the planet.
Because there's some girls whohave kept there was a girl,
Tracy, and her username wasdrink citra.
So it was like Tracy backwards.
Remember?
I remember! She did nail stuff.
Hers was like all nails.
So she is still on Instagram.
Every once in a while, I willsee a post from her.
Shut up! Yeah, I'll send her toyou.
When we hang up, I'll send itover to you.
(23:05):
I think she's got a couple kidsnow.
Yeah, so loved her.
Her nail art was so beautiful.
Yeah, I did too.
So it was so good.
So there was her, and then therewere a couple other girls.
There was a girl named Jana.
She was from Canada, and herusername was similar to mine.
It was gloss something, I can'tremember.
I don't know what happened toher.
She and I got pregnant aroundthe same time.
(23:26):
And then, like I said, I don'tknow what happened to her, but
I'd be curious what she's up to,but But I do, I love how we've
stuck together because it'sbeen, so we're looking at.
15, almost 15, 14, 15 years offriendship on story we've never
met in real life.
But while our lives have gonedifferent ways we're in a book
(23:46):
club now, so that's fun.
So it is cool how we've made,because I still remember, and I
don't know if this is somethingyou're okay with me sharing, but
I'm going to, because Ispecifically remember when you
got married, The first time youhad documented your wedding
makeup and everything and yourwedding in Paris or wherever and
(24:09):
you got married the same dayPrince William did.
Am I right?
I did.
Yes.
That's so true.
I don't know why this stuck withme.
I was talking to my husband theother day.
I'm like, I can't wait to talkto Ariel because I remember she
got married.
I told him the whole thing.
He's like, why do you rememberthat?
I'm like, I have no idea why Iremember that.
But I remember her makeup wasreally pretty and she posted all
about it and her veil.
Like I loved all of it.
So that had a huge impact on mylife.
Arielle (24:32):
Ah, I love it.
That's the thing is when you dothis, you feel like you're doing
nothing and then someone willtell you, oh my gosh, this thing
you posted really resonated withme or stuck with me or whatever.
So yeah, yes I did my own hairand makeup.
I made my own veil.
Yeah, it was perfect.
I did.
(24:52):
And I enjoyed posting aboutthose types of things.
And I still do.
I still think that's such a funto share about the things that
you're doing in your life andhow you're doing it.
So yeah.
So yes, I do remember sharing.
I do in my makeup and all ofthat.
Kristen (25:09):
I love that.
So are there any parts of itthat you miss?
Arielle (25:17):
That's a good question.
Oh, okay.
I do know.
I used to get a lot of freeproducts.
Oh, yes.
Since I had been in the allurebeauty blogging awards.
I was on all the PR lists and Iwould get so much, yes, and so I
would get so much product Icouldn't even keep up and we're
(25:38):
talking like makeup forever toRevlon, like it was all over.
It was great.
I used to get the PR boxes forit Cosmetics, but it was so
nice.
It was great.
I missed the product.
Kristen (25:53):
I didn't have to buy anything.
I hadn't realized you weregetting that much.
Now, can we rewind for a minutethough?
And can you tell us how you gotinto that Allure thing?
Because you made it pretty highin that too.
Like you made it into themagazine, right?
Or their website or something.
Arielle (26:10):
Yeah, so I was in the top 10.
I was a finalist, and I reallydo not remember how I applied.
I truly don't.
It probably was some sort ofwebsite thing at the time, and
this would have been Man, whatyear was that?
20, it feels like 2013.
(26:31):
Okay.
I was in my, I was in my firstJob, it was either 2012 or 2013
because it was my first like biggirl job And I remember they
called me to do an interview AndI did it on my lunch break.
And yes, and then if you gotpicked as a finalist, they
wanted you to send themheadshots.
(26:51):
And I had no good headshots.
And so I went to A lady in townto do some headshots because I
knew it was going to be onAllure's website and in their
freaking magazine and stuff.
So I was like, Oh my gosh I haveto have a good photo and it
can't just be me snapping it onlike an iPhone.
Yes.
(27:13):
Yay.
And so then they so then eachweek we had to compete against
each other.
Yeah.
And we were given all of theprompts of week to week, what
the challenge was going to be.
And we were sent a camera thatwe were supposed to use to
record it.
And we were sent all Revlonproducts and we had to use the
Revlon products and we weresupposed to use that camera.
(27:38):
And what's crazy is, so twopeople who were in that top 10
with me, one of them is Taffy.
Really?
It was Tati, and then the girlwho, man, now she has an MLM
makeup company, like she owns itand her blog used to be Mascara.
(27:58):
Okay.
But I, and now her MLM companyis something like Scents Makeup
or something like that.
But those two were in it withme.
And I think Cara was the one whowon.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, that is how I have aconnection to Tati.
Ah, claim to fame.
(28:20):
And she's still going today, butyeah, so we had challenges each
week and then people voted andthen you got booted off I think
I got booted like week two orthree
Kristen (28:29):
But still to make it really cool.
I remember I don't remember allthe details but I remember when
you made it and i'm like Oh mygosh I know ariel because I
think it was either towards theend of my blogging or I was
slowly getting out because AfterI got like super pregnant.
I tried to take my hand at mommyblogging for a while because
mommy blogging was big.
I wasn't good at that.
I didn't fit into that scene.
(28:49):
But so and then I tried a couplemore times to get back to beauty
blogging, but it just was neverthe same.
And I didn't have the sameamount of time.
So I think it was towards theend, but I saw you.
I was like, Oh my gosh, Ariel.
I know her.
That's so exciting.
Arielle (28:59):
Oh, yeah, it was really fun.
Like I said, we all got put onthose major PR things and that
was also how I started branddeals and getting paid too so
Yeah, back then brands werepaying.
They're there.
We're not paying like the waythey do today for giant
influencers But people alsodidn't have these million
(29:22):
follower situations either.
It wasn't like that But theywere paying back then and they
did send a lot of products,which I know they still do But
man, was that fun.
Kristen (29:35):
That was so fun.
Yeah, that's, that is so cool.
I didn't realize you made it tothat PR level status.
Cause I never got that.
So I didn't get paid.
I did get companies reach outfor me.
They were always like ones likeI'd never heard of.
There was this one.
Yeah.
Weird stuff.
Yes.
But I always said yes.
And I'd be like, sure you cansend it over.
But I had like disclaimers aboutwhat I would review.
(29:57):
I remember having the wholerules about like sponsorships, I
wasn't doing sponsorships but Iwould take product for review
but I would post my honestreview and there was some stuff
I actually got that I really didenjoy so I did, I loved getting
the free product but mine wasnever fancy stuff, mine was I
remember one was like sulfatefree shampoo, which was
(30:17):
fantastic.
Like I'm all about that.
And I remember it really was avery good product, but still, it
was like, never heard of thisbrand.
I can't even buy this here if Iwant it.
Cause I think they were a smallcompany out in California or
something but still I used itand reviewed it.
Thought it was lovely.
Arielle (30:32):
Yeah, and back then it was, this was all so new.
I remember the FTC rules startedsomewhere in the middle of that
where you started having todisclose for before that.
Oh you didn't.
That's right.
No one knew what to charge andwhat to do.
Whereas now people make wholevideos of how to set your
pricing and so people know whatto do that are getting into
(30:55):
influencing.
We didn't have that.
And so it was completelyguesswork on.
What to do.
Kristen (31:02):
Yeah, it was like the Wild West.
It was like you just make yourown rules, do your own thing, go
out, have fun.
But at the same time, in someaspects, it was simpler and
other aspects, it was harderbecause like we said, there
weren't any rules of how to doany of it.
But it was just so fun.
Like it was just such a goodtime.
Arielle (31:23):
I agree.
I agree.
It was Harder in the aspect ofwe had to teach ourselves
everything and there was verylittle resources to help you
learn how to do things.
But it was easier in the sensethat it wasn't about perfection
and filtering and ring lights.
And, Having a PR sheet where youhave to hit certain bullet
(31:47):
points.
It wasn't like that.
Kristen (31:48):
I even look back in some of the pictures I was
using, which again, were justlike my iPhone pictures with an
Instagram filter on it orwhatever.
Or when I figured out how towatermark stuff, which was me
really just putting text acrossit with my username on it so
people wouldn't steal mypictures.
That seemed pretty high tech tome too, but there's some
pictures that I'm back and I'mlike, the lighting here was
terrible.
(32:09):
What was I doing?
Or like nail art, we were reallybig into nail art.
I had a whole nail challenge.
Like every week there was adifferent, yeah, I think it was
every week.
There was like different thingsI was doing to my nails,
whatever my nails were in suchterrible shape for a while.
They'd be like yellow when youtake off the polish because
they've had so many polish onthem.
So unhealthy, but.
(32:29):
I see pictures of my nails.
I'm like, it's crooked.
Like I didn't clean up aroundthere's like polish didn't care.
I was like, Oh, look at mynails.
And I didn't care about whatpeople thought about it either.
Because we were again, like yousaid earlier, we were all so
supportive of each other.
It's that's so cool.
I love it.
Like I got into nail stamping.
Nail stamping was super fun.
I love that I did watermarbling.
(32:50):
Like any nail trend that cameout.
I was like, Yeah, I can do that.
Yeah.
Like I was basically a webdeveloper and a nail technician.
Like I could do all these jobs.
Arielle (33:01):
Yep.
Yep.
I felt the same way.
And that's exactly what made itfun was just that figuring it
out and growing.
And it wasn't all this perfect,perfectly curated content like
there is today.
And there was no influencers inthe wild doing weird stuff.
Kristen (33:19):
I think there were a few people that would do vlogs a
little bit, but it wasn't, Idon't remember them being so
like out in public.
It'd be like, here's me at myhouse.
Here's, I'm doing my nails now.
And oh, look, I'm getting mymail.
And oh, I'm going to read abook.
I don't know.
It was just everyday life.
It wasn't such a production asit is now.
(33:41):
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
And I think that's what Imissed.
Just that simplicity part of it.
So if you could go back, isthere anything you would change?
Or do you do anythingdifferently?
Arielle (34:00):
I don't think so.
I feel like I got a lot out ofit.
I had fun.
I made a little bit of money.
I got a bunch of free products.
I met people.
I forgot too that I even got togo.
It was like the makeup show,Chicago.
And I got to cover that.
And so I had really fun.
I had really cool opportunities,and I had a good time, and like
(34:22):
I said, people were nice.
It was really pleasant, and bythe time I stopped doing it, I
just had a lot going on in mypersonal life a lot going on in
my career, and I just didn'treally have time for it, and I
just wasn't as into it anymoreeither, like makeup wise.
I wasn't into full glam, andnow, As I've evolved, I just, I
(34:44):
don't, I still love makeup.
I still love trying differentthings, but I'm not nearly where
I was with it.
Like I will use the same palettefor a long time.
And now I have products I lovein our stands and I'm just not
going to do, I'm not going todeviate from them because it
works for my skin.
Kristen (35:04):
Yep.
No I agree with all of that.
And I think.
I go through phases of, I stilllove makeup and I have so much I
have shelves and shelves of justall these palettes and they're
so pretty.
And I'm not even using them.
There's a few palettes that I'lluse that I keep in my bathroom
drawer, like my go to ones.
And I have all these other ones.
(35:25):
So sometimes if I'm going outwith friends or for a special
occasion, I will do a full facejust to be able to use all the
stuff I have and experiment andplay.
And there are times where I domiss that.
But at the same time, it's I'vegot down to a five minute face.
Like I'm putting on some CCcream, a little bit of shadow,
mascara, quick run through mybrows, a little bronzer.
And of course still myhighlight.
(35:46):
And I'm out the door.
I don't make the time to sit andbe like, all right.
And now let's perfectly contourmy face.
All right.
So it's just, I don't really, Idon't,
Arielle (35:57):
I rarely go to events where I would be doing that
whole face thing.
I have this, the rock.
Lorac palette that it was sobeautiful and I was like, I'm
definitely going to use this.
I've probably used it like fivetimes because it's all dark
smoky shades But I love Loracand it's there's such beautiful
colors and I can't bring myselfto toss it Even though i've
probably had it for five yearsand used it Once a year.
Kristen (36:19):
I really just need to have a makeup museum and I need
to put my set stuff on displaybecause I mean I have so many
Urban Decay special palettes.
Like I've got like an Alice inWonderland one when that movie
came out or whatever the moviewas.
I've got so many like specificones that they don't even make
anymore that you can't get.
I could have a really prettymuseum display.
Arielle (36:43):
Totally.
No, last fall, when theyrelaunched the original Naked, I
cannot tell you how quick I ranto Ulta for that thing.
I saw one video and was like,done, I'm getting that thing
again, because that is onepalette I was so mad at myself
for getting rid of over theyears.
(37:03):
I was so excited when theylaunched it again.
I got it like that weekend.
Kristen (37:08):
Wow.
Yeah, I still have my originalone.
I, because I started with Naked2, I hardly even used my Naked 1
one.
I got it just to have it in mycollection.
And Naked 3 was my favorite.
I've hit pan on multiple colorson that one.
Arielle (37:24):
Yeah, nope.
Naked one was my favorite andI'm so glad I have it again.
Yay!
Kristen (37:30):
Yes, I love it so much.
I will not get rid of that.
I do think there is one thingthat you and I have both stuck
with even though we've been outof it for so long.
It is the nail stuff.
We are, maybe I shouldn't saywe, but I think it's we are
still obsessed with having nicenails all the time.
Arielle (37:45):
Yes, I do having a nice nail.
Kristen (37:47):
I like
Arielle (37:48):
the way it feels better than a
Kristen (37:50):
And I just feel like I'm prettier.
Like when I, if I'm in a meetingand I'm holding my pen, yes,
look at me.
That's right.
My nails are done.
And it just, it's something thatI remember my Nana used to
always say that she wouldn'tleave the house without her face
on.
And even if that was just herlipstick, right?
But for me, that's so funny.
Is your Nana also from Texas?
Arielle (38:13):
No, she's from Alabama, though.
Oh, close enough.
So maybe it's a southern thing.
Kristen (38:19):
But I feel that way with my nails.
Now, I will go out without mynails, but there's something
about just, I feel more done andput together when my nails are
done.
Arielle (38:26):
Agreed.
I totally agree.
Kristen (38:29):
Yeah, but now I'm all about nail wraps and press on
and not as much polish.
And if I do use polish, it's gelbecause polish chips so bad and
it takes so long to dry.
And now since I've switched togel, it's wait, I can just put
this under my UV lamp and then Ican get a shower and I can go to
the bathroom and I can tie myshoes and I can do all of these
things.
Really?
Yes, exactly.
Arielle (38:49):
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I'll go through stints.
where I don't do anything to mynails and give them a break.
And then it's, it only takesabout two weeks of me being
like, Nope, I got to putsomething on my nails.
And I keep thinking, Oh, I'm sotired of the process of putting
on the wraps.
I'm going to take a break.
It doesn't take long before Ithrow something back on.
Kristen (39:10):
I know.
And that's what, so I'm in thenaked phase right now because I
had been picking off my gelpolish last week.
And then my nails just lookedrough when I took that off
completely.
And I'm like, they've got tobreathe.
I just need to let them breathe.
And I can't tell you like allweek I've been looking at them
and I know they're healthier andthey look healthy, but I'm like,
they're so naked.
I look so unfinished.
I look so unkempt ah.
(39:32):
I'm going to try to finish thisweek, but this weekend, we're
doing something to my nails.
I don't know what yet, but Ican't go on another week without
it.
Arielle (39:40):
I totally understand.
Yeah, I can leave the housewithout makeup.
That's not a huge deal, but Idon't want to have janky hands.
Kristen (39:49):
It's just, it shows that you care about yourself,
that you're taking care ofyourself.
I think it's like that.
Arielle (39:55):
The whole thing with beauty, that's how I feel about
it overall, is I like to besomeone who takes care of
myself, and whether it be that Iput on makeup that day or not I
like to take care of me, and nowI would say mid thirties, I'm
definitely more into it.
skin care at this point and likejust taking care of my skin and
(40:16):
anti aging and sunscreen andjust making sure I take care of
the skin and the body I have.
Kristen (40:23):
And I wish I had been doing that more earlier cause
same as you.
I'm a little bit.
Past my mid thirties, but it'smore about the skincare regimen
than the makeup.
Like I am more about a goodmoisturizer.
I am more about cleansingproperly.
Let me do a mask once a week.
Let me replenish the nutrientsin my face.
(40:43):
And I, if we'd been doing thisback then, just think of how
much better the makeup wouldhave looked on our perfectly
moisturized faces too.
Arielle (40:53):
Yeah, I
Kristen (40:53):
was not,
Arielle (40:55):
and I
Kristen (40:55):
definitely was not using sunscreen.
And that's what I tell people.
Don't just put it on your face,put it on your neck, put it on
your hands because I look at myhands and I'm like, Oh, my old
lady hands.
I don't have sunspots yet, but Ijust feel like my hands just
look older.
I'm like, Oh, I should havebeen.
I, yeah, when
Arielle (41:12):
I put my treadmill in on, I have started doing my neck
in the back of my hands now too,because yeah, it's.
Definitely really important.
And like you said, the sunscreentoo, it's so important, but I
definitely focus more on that orlike my hair health and my scalp
health.
I've been really into thatlately is trying to make sure my
hair is healthy.
(41:33):
Cause as I've gotten older, myhair has gotten drier.
Kristen (41:35):
Yes.
What are you using to keep yourscalp healthy?
Do you have recommendations?
Arielle (41:41):
I started following you, you may have seen her on
Instagram or TikTok, it's likeAbby young or something like
that.
She has really long, shinyblonde hair.
And so I started following someof her recommendations and I
realized that my scalp reallybenefits from more washing than
less washing.
(42:01):
Yeah, I do not do well with lesswashed scalp and my, I like was
having a lot of shedding and assoon as I started washing my
hair more, the shedding quit.
Really?
Huh.
Yes, it did.
I had to start washing with morefrequency, but one of the things
that she recommends that Ireally do think has made a big
(42:23):
difference, and my hair is somuch shinier too, I would, my
hair was like dull, I was usingsulfate free, high end products,
and my, I was shedding And myhair was so dull and I switched
back to like drugstore withsulfates And washing more and my
hair is healthy again.
It's crazy but one of the thingsthat I do Pre wash is I use a
(42:45):
coconut oil.
Spray And I put like coat myhair with that before washing
and whenever I forget to dothat, my hair is a little bit
more dull.
So I really think there'ssomething to that.
Oh! And that was one of thethings that she recommended was
to, whenever you're gonna washcoat the hair with the coconut
oil serums and such.
Kristen (43:05):
Alright, I'm gonna need a link for that because I think
that would benefit me because Ithink my hair is getting that
way too.
It's not necessarily, it doesn'tlook dry but I think dull is the
right word for it.
Like it just doesn't have thevibrancy that it had before.
Arielle (43:20):
Nope, mine didn't either and I was using living
proof and no, I, and now I uselike Dove shampoo and
conditioner and my hair is somuch healthier.
I can't even believe like nightand day difference and it didn't
take very long, like within twoweeks I noticed a huge
difference and that my sheddingwas like in half once I switched
(43:42):
back to sulfates and like easyand washing with more frequency.
Kristen (43:47):
All right I will try that then I'll get that coconut
oil stuff because that soundsfantastic.
Arielle (43:51):
I'll send you her channel.
Kristen (43:53):
You got
Arielle (43:53):
a lot of
Kristen (43:53):
stuff on
Arielle (43:54):
there.
Yeah, and then I watched likesome dermatologists too that
that's another thing is now wehave more doctors who are on the
social medias and sharing actualinformation that's helpful
because that's how I got myskincare routine down and also
how I've gotten some of my scalpissues under control is just
watching a dermatologist.
Kristen (44:13):
Yeah, because I feel like there's so much we didn't
know back in the day, becauseeven growing up, it was like,
All right, here's your Noxzema,here's your St.
Ives apricot scrub just here'syour clear cell just use these
products, you'll be fine.
I don't even think we weretaught.
I don't think I was taught tomoisturize.
It was basically just wash yourface and dry your face, and
you're good to go.
Arielle (44:33):
I had to, I had combination skin, and I would
get really dry.
So I would have to alwaysmoisturize.
Yeah.
Kristen (44:43):
But I didn't use it either.
Yeah.
I remember, I think it might'vebeen in college.
I started using ponds and Idon't even know, cause that's
such like an old lady thing touse.
But but I use ponds for years asmy moisturizer and it's still,
there's a reason it's stuckaround.
Yes.
With the blue cap on it.
There's a reason that stuff hasbeen around forever.
Cause it is good.
Arielle (45:04):
Yes, it is.
I totally agree.
Yeah I actually still use it toremove makeup at times because
it's really good at removing,especially like stubborn eye
makeup.
It's really good for that.
It's so gentle too.
Yeah, and yeah, now I'm usinganother like cheaper drugstore
Banacream.
Banacream is great if you havedry skin.
(45:25):
Really?
So I still am combination, butas I've gotten older, I'm
meaning more dry.
I've been noticing I'm startingto get more dry than
combination.
Kristen (45:35):
Especially in the winter months.
I feel like my cheeks,especially, my cheeks will dry
out or down the part, like,where your cheek.
meets your chin like right downthere like my skin will get a
little drier there too.
Arielle (45:47):
Yeah, I love the Vanna cream.
I just switched that my, my skinwas super dry this winter
probably because we're havingsuch a.
cold snowy winter.
But I switched to the Vanicreamand I use their, I got like the
really thick one that's not forbody and I use that on my really
dry spots and then use theirlike lightweight base lotion all
(46:09):
over.
But on those spots that havebeen really dry or like my under
eyes really need moisture thesedays.
I've just been using a touch ofthat really thick one and it has
made a big difference.
Kristen (46:19):
I love that.
Arielle (46:21):
that's what it's about.
It's about
Kristen (46:22):
finding what's good for you and not necessarily going
the trendy way anymore.
It's about what works.
Yes, agreed.
And I love that.
Ariel, thanks for coming andtalk to me about the good old
days of beauty blogging.
Before we end, do you have anyfinal thoughts or any other
memories you wanted to share?
Arielle (46:43):
Not that I can think of, but this was definitely
really fun to reminisce
Kristen (46:46):
on.
I know, right?
I want to go back and read myblog and be like, because I'm
sure there was so many crazythings on there.
Arielle (46:53):
Okay, it, going back to regret, I deleted all of my
stuff and I don't have the, I,my YouTube videos are all
hidden, so I could watch those,but my blog is completely gone.
You deleted it?
I
Kristen (47:04):
thought
Arielle (47:05):
maybe you just unpublished it or something.
Why did you delete it?
I have no idea.
I don't know and I don't evenremember when I did it or why.
Kristen (47:15):
Isn't there a way, they say when something's on the
internet, it's there forever.
Can't we get some hackers orsomething?
Or find some cached version ofit somewhere?
Arielle (47:24):
Maybe the way back machine.
That's what we find it
Kristen (47:27):
there?
Yeah, we might have to try thatbecause I did.
I googled yours and I couldn'tfind anything.
And I'm like, that's so crazy.
It's not here anymore becausemine is there.
But all the comments are gonebecause towards the end, I had
some issue with the Commentplugin I was using and I don't
know.
I don't remember exactly whathappened, but I was like, oh,
I'll just uninstall it andreinstall it and I uninstalled
(47:51):
it and all the comments weregone.
I can never get them back.
And I was so upset because Ilike, I built a lot of comments
on so many of my posts.
I'm like, now it looks like myposts have zero comments and I'm
a terrible blogger.
And this is so dumb.
It's probably it was
Arielle (48:05):
probably
Kristen (48:05):
just, it was just screwed me over.
So pissed.
I'm still pissed.
But no, my blog is still there.
And it is.
It's, there's other parts of ittoo that don't work.
Like some of the buttons I don'tthink show up anymore.
I don't know.
There's it's like it's a brokenblog now.
(48:25):
But it's still there.
The posts are still there.
I do still have, cause you were,you did have some guest posts
for me a couple times.
So the guest posts you wrote forme are still there.
Arielle (48:37):
Oh my gosh, okay, I went on the way back machine and
I clicked a random Hold on,you're gonna love this.
I clicked a random day from2012.
And guess what it is?
What?
The Walkabout Wednesday bloghop.
Kristen (48:52):
Does it describe what it is?
Can you read, to read to thelisteners what Walkabout
Wednesday was?
Arielle (49:00):
Yes.
Here we go.
What is a blog hop?
A blog hop is a linking thatmultiple bloggers add their URL
to then participants visit blogsand follow if they wish.
The benefits of blog hops arethey are a great way to network,
discover new blogs, and buildfollowers.
Why Walkabout Wednesday?
We love the definition sincethis is what our bloghouse is
all about.
(49:20):
From Dictionary.
com, Chiefly British, a walkingtour, an informal public stroll
taken for the purpose ofgreeting and being seen.
Yeah, I told you, I looked up aWalkabout Man, that's what I
said! Oh, picture! Yay! It hasyour okay.
(49:46):
I forgot about this too.
We used to put other people'slittle icons on the side of our
blog.
Yes! And yours is on here! Yay!
Kristen (49:57):
Oh my
Arielle (49:58):
gosh.
Kristen (50:00):
Okay.
Arielle (50:01):
Ah! This is so great.
Okay.
It's like we just opened a timecapsule.
I'm so excited.
I'm so glad that the WaybackMachine exists.
And that's so funny
Kristen (50:14):
that you randomly picked one and it was a
walkabout Wednesday.
That's the most perfect thingever.
Arielle (50:21):
It truly is.
I'll take a picture of this.
Yes.
Screenshot it.
Great.
I remember making this reallyterrible header too, but hey, we
were all learning.
Yes.
Oh, ear.
I found ears too.
(50:41):
Oh, this is so good.
I'm so glad I looked.
Yes! Yes, I'm so glad.
Kristen (50:49):
This has been super fun.
See, I told you this was goingto be so fun.
Ariel, thank you for coming.
You are welcome to come backanytime.
We can talk about beauty, we cantalk about blogging, we can talk
about books, we can talk aboutliterally anything.
Thanks for coming.
All right.
We'll talk to you later.
All right.
Bye
Arielle (51:07):
bye.
Hey everybody, welcome back.
I am so excited for today'sepisode.
I know I say that about a lot ofthem, but I am really excited
about this one because I have myfriend Ariel with me today.
Hi, Ariel.
Hi, it's good to be here.
Ariel and I met years and yearsago back when we were beauty
blogging, and that's what we'regoing to be talking about today
(00:23):
is a little bit about whatbeauty blogging was like back in
the day, how we got into it,what we learned and kind of some
of those lessons we took awayfrom it or what's stuck with us
now.
It's I think the direction it'sgoing to go, so we'll see.
So Ariel, before we start, canyou give us a quick little
introduction of who you are?
Arielle (00:44):
Sure, so I'm Ariel, and back in the day, my blog was
Beauty by Ariel, and I had aactual blog, as well as a
YouTube channel, and thenFacebook and Instagram, Twitter,
all of the things back then butnow I don't have anything to do
with the beauty space anymore,Work as a mental health
(01:07):
counselor.
Kristen (01:08):
I love it.
So yeah, so I never did theYouTube thing.
I had my blog, which wasGlitter, Gloss, and Glaze.
And yes, I remember.
And then I
Arielle (01:19):
actually have, I actually had you saved in my
phone for a very long time.
It's Kristen Glitter, Gloss,
Kristen (01:24):
and Glaze.
That's true.
So funny.
I love that.
But yeah, you're right.
We like at the time it was you'dput yourself everywhere.
There was the blog.
It was Twitter.
It was Instagram was new backthen.
So there wasn't a whole lot ofthat.
And then all the differentgroups and everything to it was
a lot.
So we'll break it all down.
So when did you start?
Do you remember when youactually started your blog?
Arielle (01:49):
Oh man, I'm thinking it had to have been around fall
2011.
Okay.
Because I was in graduate schooland that time frame lines up, so
I'm pretty sure it was them.
Kristen (02:03):
Yeah, I think mine was around 2011 too.
I can't remember the exact date.
But I think we were very similararound the same time, coming up
about all of it.
Now, let's set the stage for thelisteners.
What do you remember most aboutthat time period?
What was it like back then inthat, 2010 2011 time frame?
(02:25):
What do you remember most?
Arielle (02:28):
I remember that it was mostly blogging, just written
blogs.
It didn't really matter if youwere doing beauty, fashion,
hair, makeup, whatever.
Most things were blogs.
It wasn't like today with shortform content.
Oh yeah.
Most people were writing thingsand we would go to each other's
(02:49):
blogs and follow and comment oneach other's posts.
Posts and you would subscribeand everyone was using blogger
and then some of us would startdabbling in learning how to
write code and use wordpress Butthere was so much blogger going
on back then.
But that was the big thing Iremember.
(03:10):
And like Pinterest, that waslike the birth of Pinterest.
I don't know exactly what yourPinterest started, but I feel
like it was born out of all ofthese blogs.
But it had to have been sometimearound that time, like the early
2010s.
Kristen (03:26):
I forgot about that because yeah, you incorporated a
lot of your Pinterest I thinkbecause I remember you would do
like different outfit ones too.
Like you would have these cutelittle pictures and these are
these outfits I put together andthis is where you can buy them.
And yeah, your stuff was sogood.
Arielle (03:41):
Yeah, I'm not really sure why I figured out how some
or how I figured out how thiswas evolving.
Because like today now we haveBike, what is that one website
where all the influencers linktheir entire post and
Kristen (03:58):
stuff?
It has something to do withbasically, yeah, you can like
shop directly from the post too.
I can't remember the name.
Arielle (04:06):
Yeah.
So it's evolved to that, butsome of that stuff was like
barely budding because therewasn't really a lot of affiliate
marketing at that point in time.
It was It was hardly anyaffiliate.
I think really the only way Iwas making money was through
brand deals and through Googleads on my website and YouTube.
(04:29):
Those were, yeah, AdSense.
I remember I would get AdSensechecks where now, There's tons
of affiliate marketing, butokay.
It looks like that.
Pinterest, the conception was2008 to 2009, and it really
launched in like 2010, see early2010.
So yeah, that.
Kristen (04:50):
Yeah, and that's what back then it was so much more
organic and it was really likewhat I love so before I started
blogging I what there were someyoutubers out there.
I don't remember what her fullname was, but she was Haley
something I followed this girlHaley and she was like in Texas
and miss budget beauty who Istill follow She's changed her
name now and she's gone adifferent direction, but I loved
(05:11):
Miss Budget Beauty, so I wouldwatch some of the YouTube videos
and it was like hauls andtutorials, but it was so basic.
It would be like a girl in herbedroom, like on her floor with
a little camera in front of her.
Here's how I do this smoky eye.
And it was so fun.
You felt like you were friendswith these girls and you're
like, yeah, I could do that.
And I didn't do the YouTuberoute, but I love blog because
(05:33):
at the time I was like, I need anew hobby.
I love writing and I lovemakeup.
Maybe I can do a makeup blog andthat's what I thought it was
going to be.
And I'm like, ah, and the wholething was like, I love glitter
and sparkly things.
And the gloss was supposed to bewith like lip gloss and glaze
was supposed to be like nailpolish.
Cause it's like a glaze.
Like I So much thought into whatI was going to be and then like
(05:56):
building the brand.
But there was, I
Arielle (05:58):
appreciate that.
Cause I,
Kristen (05:59):
I put no thought and everybody was by someone.
So there were so many, I know itwas so fun, but I feel like we
were all.
Kind of friends, even thoughwe'd never really known each
other.
Did you ever do?
I remember on Sunday nights onTwitter, they would use the
hashtag.
It was hashtag be bloggers andit would be beauty bloggers and
(06:21):
maybe it wasn't Sunday nightSunday afternoon.
There was something like I.
I forgot about that.
I forgot about that.
Yes.
It was so fun.
Like we would use that hashtagthroughout the time too but it
was used like a chat function onSundays.
So you'd be keeping up with thethreads and it was so much like
I would be like at the time Iwasn't married but I was living
(06:41):
with my boyfriend then and I'dbe like, no, it's Sunday
afternoon, night, whatever.
I was like, I have my beautybloggers chat and I probably
seem so dumb but I loved thatstuff.
Arielle (06:52):
That is a memory I forgot I had.
Yeah.
100%.
But, yeah, I actually was moreof the YouTube watching variety
probably more than blogs.
And so I, that's how I wasinspired to get started because
I would watch other people and Ithought, oh, I can do this.
(07:12):
I know I can teach people thingslike I, I know how to do this.
And plus I just likeexperimenting and trying new
things and sharing my opinion onstuff.
And I actually watched a Milenawell, 83 and she still exists
today.
And she is.
And I still watch her and she islegitimately the only influencer
I've watched over the years thathas not changed at all.
(07:34):
She is exactly the same person,presents things the same way she
was not.
She did not become beige.
I love it.
Like the influencers do.
She's still like in her home inSouthern Illinois.
And has her three kids and herhusband, and it has a very
normal life.
And I love that because it's soreminiscent of the start of all
(07:56):
of this.
That she was, her channel waswhat inspired me.
And I've been watching her nowfor 15 years,
Kristen (08:02):
which
Arielle (08:03):
is crazy to
Kristen (08:03):
think about.
Yeah, I do feel like I remember,she's got dark hair, right?
And was she in the news?
Was she in broadcast?
Yeah.
I did watch her.
Arielle (08:15):
She's still on.
Go watch for some nostalgia andyou'll be like, oh, this is so
warm and fuzzy.
She hasn't changed a bit exceptquitting the news,
Kristen (08:26):
I watched her religiously for a while.
I can't believe I forgot abouther.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Arielle (08:32):
Yes, but I think the other thing, so when we were
going into this, what I hadthought about was just like the
evolution of, Makeup and howbeauty blogging really opened
all of us up to makeup because,so I grew up in a pretty mid
(08:53):
sized town in Illinois.
We had malls, but our malls didnot have that.
And the only makeup you weregetting was at the Walgreens or
at the Wet n Wild and it wasjunk.
And then the beauty counter andwe didn't have a lot of money.
So I was not going to thedepartment store or beauty
(09:14):
counter to buy things.
And so I didn't even know whatMac was, or I would read in.
Like Cosmo about Bobby Brown,but I wasn't getting Bobby Brown
anywhere.
And there was no Sephora.
There was no Ulta.
But then in the early 2010s,people start talking about, oh,
this urban decay, naked pallet.
Yes.
And this, and all the sudden wegot exposed to stuff.
(09:37):
We could also start, it was thebeginning of online ordering.
Where you could actually getthese things that you couldn't
before.
Yeah.
And it was actually affordableto order things online.
And then Ulta's and Sephora'sdid start popping up, but I
think because people wereposting about these things and
had influence on the market, itreally made the drugstore market
(10:01):
actually start producing reallygood product.
Because I would say up until the2010s, drugstore makeup was
junk, absolute garbage.
It was garbage.
Started dabbling in high endbecause I moved and then all of
a sudden I had access to an Ultaand a Sephora and it really
(10:26):
opened up everything for me.
And then people were talkingabout this product and that
product.
It's oh my gosh, I have to trythis because now I finally can
actually get a foundation thatmatches my face and isn't
orange.
Kristen (10:36):
And the texture is good.
Like it's not too cakey orpowdery or anything else.
Arielle (10:40):
all I was going to say is that is then it really made
the drugstore actually startcatching up and we could go to
the drugstore and actually getgood product.
Kristen (10:47):
Yes.
And I do.
I agree that I think the beautyblogging community had a lot to
do with that because yeah, whenI started to make same thing, I
grew up in a small town outsidePittsburgh and it was the same
thing.
Like I was getting my stuff atthe drugstore or like a Claire's
or something like I get somefancy lip gloss or whatever, but
yeah, it was like NYC, wet andwild, all the real like cheap
(11:09):
brands.
I had I think a Maybellineeyeshadow thing one time.
And I did use one of my favoriteproducts though, was a Bonnie
Bell the people that make lipsmackers, but she'd made some
eyeshadow for a while.
And I had a pink eyeshadowpalette, which I loved.
Which is funny, 20, 30, howevermany years later it was since I
started doing makeup.
I still like lean towards pinkson my eyes.
(11:31):
I feel like it's a throwback butanyway, so yeah, So I had used
drugstore mostly, and then, likeyou said, Urban Decay was like
my gateway drug into high endmakeup.
I'd never heard of it, and then,and I was always buying cheap
stuff, because I was just acheap person.
And I'm like makeup's makeup.
It's not really a difference,right?
Oh my gosh, is there adifference?
(11:53):
Huge difference.
I think Naked 2 was the firstone I bought.
Back then it was a hugedifference.
Now I would argue that you canmix and match.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Like nowadays I use mostlyColourPop.
My eyeshadows are almost allColourPop, which is still like a
brand, but I think, a cheaperbrand, more inexpensive, maybe I
shouldn't say cheaper, midrange.
(12:13):
Yes.
And even like e.
l.
f.
There's still, there's stuffthat's so good.
And I will still pick some highend stuff.
stuff.
But I'm not like, I feel like Iwent through this, like I only
did cheap stuff, whatever.
Then for a while I was onlydoing like name brand expensive
stuff.
And now I've come back down tothe other side where it's not
about brand name anymore.
It's about do I like it?
How well is it for me?
(12:34):
Yes, exactly.
Arielle (12:36):
And I've also evolved to a place where I don't really
do a full face.
I like, I don't wear nearly themakeup that I used to.
It used to be that I had thelashes.
I had the full glam, we call it,I don't do that anymore.
So I just need a differentproduct these days.
But circling back to theproducts you remember having, I
remember as a teenager and evenlike younger than that.
(12:59):
Like preteen years, I would gothrough magazines and I would
see these ads.
I'm like, oh, I want to try thisso bad And I would save up
change and I remember there wasa palette I think it was called
walking on eggshells was the Idon't remember what brand it was
walking on eggshells and thatwas like My go to palette.
It might have been a cover girl,but it had a pink, a pearl, and
(13:21):
like a brown color.
Yes.
And I think it's still madetoday, but oh my god, I love
that thing.
And I remember I specificallysaw it in an ad and I ripped the
ad out.
That's so funny.
You're like, this is gonna bemine
Kristen (13:32):
someday.
Arielle (13:33):
So I was like always destined to do something with
beauty vlogging, clearly.
Kristen (13:40):
Even though we didn't have words for it at the time.
We didn't know what it was.
It was just, and blogging hascome such a far way.
There's still, Are there stillbeauty blogs?
I don't even know actually.
I don't
Arielle (13:51):
know.
Kristen (13:52):
I don't even read
Arielle (13:53):
blogs at all.
Kristen (13:54):
I
Arielle (13:54):
don't know.
I don't really think people doanymore.
Kristen (13:56):
I don't care about people, whatever.
Like food blogs and there's thejokes about the people, but if I
want your recipe, I am justclicking jump to recipe.
I don't care that yourgrandmother's uncle's dog loves
this food.
Like just get me to the point.
Arielle (14:11):
But that really shows how like now.
Short form content.
We're demanding that.
Whereas back then, we lovedreading all of that and getting
to know the person on thatdeeper level where now we think
we know people, but reallythey're giving us bite sized
amount of information where backthen we got a lot of information
about people in their lives.
Kristen (14:29):
And it was so much more Raw to like, nobody was curating
these perfect aesthetics, likewe had, like you said, the
coding.
I was so excited when I got intoI got some CSS stuff or
whatever, like my actual coding.
And I was building my own,widgets and buttons.
And I felt like I was aprogrammer.
And I'm like, Yes, I am a webdeveloper.
(14:50):
And I can do all of thesethings, which really a lot of it
was still Because I would go andread what a code could do and
then I'd use my HTML for whichcolors I wanted or changing the
font or putting in an image andI thought I was like pretty hot
shit back then.
Arielle (15:06):
Quite honestly, I'm really glad that I did learn
that because now I have aprofessional business that is my
full time income and because Iknew how to do that.
I built a really good website,knew how to do SEO and now I
write, I rank very nicely onGoogle and it's awesome.
All because of learning that atthat time, I wouldn't have known
how to do that.
Otherwise, or even like what toresearch and how to make that
(15:28):
happen.
But I already had thatfoundation.
Yeah.
And so it was really easy forme.
Kristen (15:32):
So we talked about how we learned to be great website
developers, but what kind ofbeauty techniques did you learn?
Are there specific things thatyou're like, if I hadn't been
beauty blogging, maybe Iwouldn't have done this or
certain things that you tookaway from it on the beauty side?
Arielle (15:51):
Honestly, everything.
That's why the girls today areso lucky because it's easy to
have on YouTube.
Yeah, because you can literallylook up how to do anything where
we were guessing.
And I feel like I really learnedhow to do everything properly
from beauty blogs, because evenlike in magazines, it was
(16:15):
difficult sometimes to read andfollow what these professional
makeup artists.
We're saying to do because theywould use makeup, artisty words,
like cut crease and me from theMidwest, I don't know what a cut
crease is.
And so it was hard to followthose types of things.
Plus we just didn't have theproduct availability.
(16:37):
So then once people startedposting tutorials, like I
learned how to do a proper smokyeye.
That 2010 smoky eye or how to.
Properly do a winged liner, howto actually blend my foundation
so that it matches my skin, likeeverything.
Or remember when like highlightand contour, like when the Kim
(16:58):
Kardashian thing like hit thewaves and everybody was doing
the Kim Kardashian.
Highlight and contour and welearned how to play with light
and shadow to sculpt our faces.
That was revolutionary at thetime, whereas now it's like, Oh,
duh.
Kristen (17:15):
I know.
Yeah.
But back then I didn't even knowwhat highlight was like
highlight to me is a marker youwould use in your book for
school.
Like you put highlighter on yourface.
What is that even?
But then I became obsessed withit and I would use I remember I
got I think it was AnastasiaBeverly Hills.
It was a collab they did withNicole Guerrero.
I'm probably pronouncing hername wrong.
(17:36):
Another beauty YouTuber that Iloved.
And I loved her glow palette andit had like whites and pinks and
bronzes, and they were allshimmers.
And I would use All over myface.
Like I wanted my face to justsparkle like Guy Diamond in the
trolls movie.
Like I want it to be a sparklingthing.
Oh my gosh.
I was obsessed, but yeah, that'show I learned to do all of that
(17:57):
because magazines, you're right.
It was hard to follow.
And even if they did have acouple of pictures along with
the words, it still wouldn'tmake sense.
And like my mom wasn't intomakeup, so I didn't have anybody
growing up teaching me how to doit.
I didn't either.
I really grew up.
Into my makeup on because ofwatching YouTube and reading
blogs Agree.
Arielle (18:17):
Totally agree.
And even, I would even say likemy sense of fashion, too.
And seeing what other peoplewere doing.
Yeah.
And and I just feel like people,the way that they would teach
things to was very accessible.
They did, because it was normalpeople creating this content.
They talked about it in normalpeople ways.
Kristen (18:39):
Yeah.
And there were no rules about iteither too.
Like it wasn't like it had to beprofessionally done.
Like it was just like, Hey, Igot this palette.
Let me show you the swatches.
Let me show you some of thelooks I'm doing with it.
Because that's the thing youwould get a palette of the naked
ones have what, like 12 shadowsor something in them.
And you're what do I even dowith these?
Where do I put that?
Yeah, exactly.
And we all know, like ingeneral, like You want lighter
(19:01):
on your brow bone.
You want to highlight that youwant darker in the middle to
give it some definition, but tosee the looks girls would come
up with, you're like, Oh mygosh, that's really nice.
Arielle (19:10):
It was great.
And the other part that wasreally great back then too.
Because now the internet is avery mean place.
Back then you didn't have abunch of people going around
trolling.
Most of the people who werecommenting on your stuff were
other creators.
Yes! And we were very supportiveof each other.
You, I very rarely got some sortof trolling type comment.
(19:30):
Even on YouTube.
And YouTube is completelyunhinged these days.
But you would like never getthat.
Like one of my highest I thinkit had like 50k views and I did
not have any nasty comments atall.
And so that's pretty amazing forlike how things have evolved
(19:50):
now.
And there also wasn't influencerfighting and all of this.
in between influencer dramathere is today like now there's
whole channels devoted toinfluencer
Kristen (20:01):
drama.
Yes I watched a really good onyoutube.
There was a girl.
I think she did a two partepisode on the jacklyn hill
situation So that's a good oneto watch if you're looking For
some documentary typeinformation and I never got like
I think I don't remember exactlywhen Jaclyn Hill started getting
big on YouTube I feel like I wasalready moving out or out Yeah
(20:26):
But there was a lot but yeah,everybody was super supportive
and we'd have do you remember?
Okay, so there would be likedifferent days people would host
certain things where you'd visita bunch of different blogs and
comment on them Follow do allthis stuff.
Do you remember?
Yeah, we I do.
Arielle (20:42):
I do.
I remember the little icon thingwe made too and it was my shoes.
Kristen (20:49):
It was Walkabout Wednesday because I was all
about alliteration and I'm like,it's got to be something that
like makes sense and we're I, Iremember looking it up cause we
were doing a Wednesdays and Iwas looking for like words, W's,
I think I could be wrong, but Iremember Walkabout was like
something like some Aboriginalterm in Australia or something
like Walkabout is when you goand visit.
I don't remember I shouldprobably fact check myself
(21:10):
before I say these things.
But yeah, we hosted WalkaboutWednesdays.
Arielle (21:14):
Yes, we did.
Yes, we did.
And now people don't do thatstuff either.
It's like not a thing anymore.
Kristen (21:20):
I know.
And it was so fun.
And I don't know did I just havemore free time on my hands then?
Because I would go in, I wouldread like every post and I would
comment on stuff I was all aboutit.
It was so fun.
Arielle (21:32):
Yeah.
No, it was fun.
I think these days we're justlike less interested in getting
to know things at a deep levellike we did then.
Yeah.
We want, give me the informationquick and let's move on.
Kristen (21:46):
It's definitely a society and culture thing too
that we're not willing to takethe time to dig in deep.
It's, like you said, it's giveit to me now and let me move on.
Which has its pros and cons.
People could probably debatethat one.
So we've talked a little bitabout the community.
So how did blogging feed intoyour creation or development of
(22:09):
friendships across the way?
Arielle (22:13):
There were several girls I would talk to regularly
and we knew about each other'slives.
But the only one that I've keptin touch with over the years is
you.
A lot of people, I don't knowwhat's happened with them.
I think our lives evolved andchanged.
We weren't doing blogging andYeah, we didn't really talk
anymore, but that's what'sinteresting with online
(22:35):
relationships is you can go fromtalking all the time doing a ton
about people's lives and thenyou don't even know where they
are 10 years later.
Kristen (22:43):
Yeah, it's almost like they just fell off the planet.
Because there's some girls whohave kept there was a girl,
Tracy, and her username wasdrink citra.
So it was like Tracy backwards.
Remember?
I remember! She did nail stuff.
Hers was like all nails.
So she is still on Instagram.
Every once in a while, I willsee a post from her.
Shut up! Yeah, I'll send her toyou.
When we hang up, I'll send itover to you.
(23:05):
I think she's got a couple kidsnow.
Yeah, so loved her.
Her nail art was so beautiful.
Yeah, I did too.
So it was so good.
So there was her, and then therewere a couple other girls.
There was a girl named Jana.
She was from Canada, and herusername was similar to mine.
It was gloss something, I can'tremember.
I don't know what happened toher.
She and I got pregnant aroundthe same time.
(23:26):
And then, like I said, I don'tknow what happened to her, but
I'd be curious what she's up to,but But I do, I love how we've
stuck together because it'sbeen, so we're looking at.
15, almost 15, 14, 15 years offriendship on story we've never
met in real life.
But while our lives have gonedifferent ways we're in a book
(23:46):
club now, so that's fun.
So it is cool how we've made,because I still remember, and I
don't know if this is somethingyou're okay with me sharing, but
I'm going to, because Ispecifically remember when you
got married, The first time youhad documented your wedding
makeup and everything and yourwedding in Paris or wherever and
(24:09):
you got married the same dayPrince William did.
Am I right?
I did.
Yes.
That's so true.
I don't know why this stuck withme.
I was talking to my husband theother day.
I'm like, I can't wait to talkto Ariel because I remember she
got married.
I told him the whole thing.
He's like, why do you rememberthat?
I'm like, I have no idea why Iremember that.
But I remember her makeup wasreally pretty and she posted all
about it and her veil.
Like I loved all of it.
So that had a huge impact on mylife.
Arielle (24:32):
Ah, I love it.
That's the thing is when you dothis, you feel like you're doing
nothing and then someone willtell you, oh my gosh, this thing
you posted really resonated withme or stuck with me or whatever.
So yeah, yes I did my own hairand makeup.
I made my own veil.
Yeah, it was perfect.
I did.
(24:52):
And I enjoyed posting aboutthose types of things.
And I still do.
I still think that's such a funto share about the things that
you're doing in your life andhow you're doing it.
So yeah.
So yes, I do remember sharing.
I do in my makeup and all ofthat.
Kristen (25:09):
I love that.
So are there any parts of itthat you miss?
Arielle (25:17):
That's a good question.
Oh, okay.
I do know.
I used to get a lot of freeproducts.
Oh, yes.
Since I had been in the allurebeauty blogging awards.
I was on all the PR lists and Iwould get so much, yes, and so I
would get so much product Icouldn't even keep up and we're
(25:38):
talking like makeup forever toRevlon, like it was all over.
It was great.
I used to get the PR boxes forit Cosmetics, but it was so
nice.
It was great.
I missed the product.
Kristen (25:53):
I didn't have to buy anything.
I hadn't realized you weregetting that much.
Now, can we rewind for a minutethough?
And can you tell us how you gotinto that Allure thing?
Because you made it pretty highin that too.
Like you made it into themagazine, right?
Or their website or something.
Arielle (26:10):
Yeah, so I was in the top 10.
I was a finalist, and I reallydo not remember how I applied.
I truly don't.
It probably was some sort ofwebsite thing at the time, and
this would have been Man, whatyear was that?
20, it feels like 2013.
(26:31):
Okay.
I was in my, I was in my firstJob, it was either 2012 or 2013
because it was my first like biggirl job And I remember they
called me to do an interview AndI did it on my lunch break.
And yes, and then if you gotpicked as a finalist, they
wanted you to send themheadshots.
(26:51):
And I had no good headshots.
And so I went to A lady in townto do some headshots because I
knew it was going to be onAllure's website and in their
freaking magazine and stuff.
So I was like, Oh my gosh I haveto have a good photo and it
can't just be me snapping it onlike an iPhone.
Yes.
(27:13):
Yay.
And so then they so then eachweek we had to compete against
each other.
Yeah.
And we were given all of theprompts of week to week, what
the challenge was going to be.
And we were sent a camera thatwe were supposed to use to
record it.
And we were sent all Revlonproducts and we had to use the
Revlon products and we weresupposed to use that camera.
(27:38):
And what's crazy is, so twopeople who were in that top 10
with me, one of them is Taffy.
Really?
It was Tati, and then the girlwho, man, now she has an MLM
makeup company, like she owns itand her blog used to be Mascara.
(27:58):
Okay.
But I, and now her MLM companyis something like Scents Makeup
or something like that.
But those two were in it withme.
And I think Cara was the one whowon.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, that is how I have aconnection to Tati.
Ah, claim to fame.
(28:20):
And she's still going today, butyeah, so we had challenges each
week and then people voted andthen you got booted off I think
I got booted like week two orthree
Kristen (28:29):
But still to make it really cool.
I remember I don't remember allthe details but I remember when
you made it and i'm like Oh mygosh I know ariel because I
think it was either towards theend of my blogging or I was
slowly getting out because AfterI got like super pregnant.
I tried to take my hand at mommyblogging for a while because
mommy blogging was big.
I wasn't good at that.
I didn't fit into that scene.
(28:49):
But so and then I tried a couplemore times to get back to beauty
blogging, but it just was neverthe same.
And I didn't have the sameamount of time.
So I think it was towards theend, but I saw you.
I was like, Oh my gosh, Ariel.
I know her.
That's so exciting.
Arielle (28:59):
Oh, yeah, it was really fun.
Like I said, we all got put onthose major PR things and that
was also how I started branddeals and getting paid too so
Yeah, back then brands werepaying.
They're there.
We're not paying like the waythey do today for giant
influencers But people alsodidn't have these million
(29:22):
follower situations either.
It wasn't like that But theywere paying back then and they
did send a lot of products,which I know they still do But
man, was that fun.
Kristen (29:35):
That was so fun.
Yeah, that's, that is so cool.
I didn't realize you made it tothat PR level status.
Cause I never got that.
So I didn't get paid.
I did get companies reach outfor me.
They were always like ones likeI'd never heard of.
There was this one.
Yeah.
Weird stuff.
Yes.
But I always said yes.
And I'd be like, sure you cansend it over.
But I had like disclaimers aboutwhat I would review.
(29:57):
I remember having the wholerules about like sponsorships, I
wasn't doing sponsorships but Iwould take product for review
but I would post my honestreview and there was some stuff
I actually got that I really didenjoy so I did, I loved getting
the free product but mine wasnever fancy stuff, mine was I
remember one was like sulfatefree shampoo, which was
(30:17):
fantastic.
Like I'm all about that.
And I remember it really was avery good product, but still, it
was like, never heard of thisbrand.
I can't even buy this here if Iwant it.
Cause I think they were a smallcompany out in California or
something but still I used itand reviewed it.
Thought it was lovely.
Arielle (30:32):
Yeah, and back then it was, this was all so new.
I remember the FTC rules startedsomewhere in the middle of that
where you started having todisclose for before that.
Oh you didn't.
That's right.
No one knew what to charge andwhat to do.
Whereas now people make wholevideos of how to set your
pricing and so people know whatto do that are getting into
(30:55):
influencing.
We didn't have that.
And so it was completelyguesswork on.
What to do.
Kristen (31:02):
Yeah, it was like the Wild West.
It was like you just make yourown rules, do your own thing, go
out, have fun.
But at the same time, in someaspects, it was simpler and
other aspects, it was harderbecause like we said, there
weren't any rules of how to doany of it.
But it was just so fun.
Like it was just such a goodtime.
Arielle (31:23):
I agree.
I agree.
It was Harder in the aspect ofwe had to teach ourselves
everything and there was verylittle resources to help you
learn how to do things.
But it was easier in the sensethat it wasn't about perfection
and filtering and ring lights.
And, Having a PR sheet where youhave to hit certain bullet
(31:47):
points.
It wasn't like that.
Kristen (31:48):
I even look back in some of the pictures I was
using, which again, were justlike my iPhone pictures with an
Instagram filter on it orwhatever.
Or when I figured out how towatermark stuff, which was me
really just putting text acrossit with my username on it so
people wouldn't steal mypictures.
That seemed pretty high tech tome too, but there's some
pictures that I'm back and I'mlike, the lighting here was
terrible.
(32:09):
What was I doing?
Or like nail art, we were reallybig into nail art.
I had a whole nail challenge.
Like every week there was adifferent, yeah, I think it was
every week.
There was like different thingsI was doing to my nails,
whatever my nails were in suchterrible shape for a while.
They'd be like yellow when youtake off the polish because
they've had so many polish onthem.
So unhealthy, but.
(32:29):
I see pictures of my nails.
I'm like, it's crooked.
Like I didn't clean up aroundthere's like polish didn't care.
I was like, Oh, look at mynails.
And I didn't care about whatpeople thought about it either.
Because we were again, like yousaid earlier, we were all so
supportive of each other.
It's that's so cool.
I love it.
Like I got into nail stamping.
Nail stamping was super fun.
I love that I did watermarbling.
(32:50):
Like any nail trend that cameout.
I was like, Yeah, I can do that.
Yeah.
Like I was basically a webdeveloper and a nail technician.
Like I could do all these jobs.
Arielle (33:01):
Yep.
Yep.
I felt the same way.
And that's exactly what made itfun was just that figuring it
out and growing.
And it wasn't all this perfect,perfectly curated content like
there is today.
And there was no influencers inthe wild doing weird stuff.
Kristen (33:19):
I think there were a few people that would do vlogs a
little bit, but it wasn't, Idon't remember them being so
like out in public.
It'd be like, here's me at myhouse.
Here's, I'm doing my nails now.
And oh, look, I'm getting mymail.
And oh, I'm going to read abook.
I don't know.
It was just everyday life.
It wasn't such a production asit is now.
(33:41):
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
And I think that's what Imissed.
Just that simplicity part of it.
So if you could go back, isthere anything you would change?
Or do you do anythingdifferently?
Arielle (34:00):
I don't think so.
I feel like I got a lot out ofit.
I had fun.
I made a little bit of money.
I got a bunch of free products.
I met people.
I forgot too that I even got togo.
It was like the makeup show,Chicago.
And I got to cover that.
And so I had really fun.
I had really cool opportunities,and I had a good time, and like
(34:22):
I said, people were nice.
It was really pleasant, and bythe time I stopped doing it, I
just had a lot going on in mypersonal life a lot going on in
my career, and I just didn'treally have time for it, and I
just wasn't as into it anymoreeither, like makeup wise.
I wasn't into full glam, andnow, As I've evolved, I just, I
(34:44):
don't, I still love makeup.
I still love trying differentthings, but I'm not nearly where
I was with it.
Like I will use the same palettefor a long time.
And now I have products I lovein our stands and I'm just not
going to do, I'm not going todeviate from them because it
works for my skin.
Kristen (35:04):
Yep.
No I agree with all of that.
And I think.
I go through phases of, I stilllove makeup and I have so much I
have shelves and shelves of justall these palettes and they're
so pretty.
And I'm not even using them.
There's a few palettes that I'lluse that I keep in my bathroom
drawer, like my go to ones.
And I have all these other ones.
(35:25):
So sometimes if I'm going outwith friends or for a special
occasion, I will do a full facejust to be able to use all the
stuff I have and experiment andplay.
And there are times where I domiss that.
But at the same time, it's I'vegot down to a five minute face.
Like I'm putting on some CCcream, a little bit of shadow,
mascara, quick run through mybrows, a little bronzer.
And of course still myhighlight.
(35:46):
And I'm out the door.
I don't make the time to sit andbe like, all right.
And now let's perfectly contourmy face.
All right.
So it's just, I don't really, Idon't,
Arielle (35:57):
I rarely go to events where I would be doing that
whole face thing.
I have this, the rock.
Lorac palette that it was sobeautiful and I was like, I'm
definitely going to use this.
I've probably used it like fivetimes because it's all dark
smoky shades But I love Loracand it's there's such beautiful
colors and I can't bring myselfto toss it Even though i've
probably had it for five yearsand used it Once a year.
Kristen (36:19):
I really just need to have a makeup museum and I need
to put my set stuff on displaybecause I mean I have so many
Urban Decay special palettes.
Like I've got like an Alice inWonderland one when that movie
came out or whatever the moviewas.
I've got so many like specificones that they don't even make
anymore that you can't get.
I could have a really prettymuseum display.
Arielle (36:43):
Totally.
No, last fall, when theyrelaunched the original Naked, I
cannot tell you how quick I ranto Ulta for that thing.
I saw one video and was like,done, I'm getting that thing
again, because that is onepalette I was so mad at myself
for getting rid of over theyears.
(37:03):
I was so excited when theylaunched it again.
I got it like that weekend.
Kristen (37:08):
Wow.
Yeah, I still have my originalone.
I, because I started with Naked2, I hardly even used my Naked 1
one.
I got it just to have it in mycollection.
And Naked 3 was my favorite.
I've hit pan on multiple colorson that one.
Arielle (37:24):
Yeah, nope.
Naked one was my favorite andI'm so glad I have it again.
Yay!
Kristen (37:30):
Yes, I love it so much.
I will not get rid of that.
I do think there is one thingthat you and I have both stuck
with even though we've been outof it for so long.
It is the nail stuff.
We are, maybe I shouldn't saywe, but I think it's we are
still obsessed with having nicenails all the time.
Arielle (37:45):
Yes, I do having a nice nail.
Kristen (37:47):
I like
Arielle (37:48):
the way it feels better than a
Kristen (37:50):
And I just feel like I'm prettier.
Like when I, if I'm in a meetingand I'm holding my pen, yes,
look at me.
That's right.
My nails are done.
And it just, it's something thatI remember my Nana used to
always say that she wouldn'tleave the house without her face
on.
And even if that was just herlipstick, right?
But for me, that's so funny.
Is your Nana also from Texas?
Arielle (38:13):
No, she's from Alabama, though.
Oh, close enough.
So maybe it's a southern thing.
Kristen (38:19):
But I feel that way with my nails.
Now, I will go out without mynails, but there's something
about just, I feel more done andput together when my nails are
done.
Arielle (38:26):
Agreed.
I totally agree.
Kristen (38:29):
Yeah, but now I'm all about nail wraps and press on
and not as much polish.
And if I do use polish, it's gelbecause polish chips so bad and
it takes so long to dry.
And now since I've switched togel, it's wait, I can just put
this under my UV lamp and then Ican get a shower and I can go to
the bathroom and I can tie myshoes and I can do all of these
things.
Really?
Yes, exactly.
Arielle (38:49):
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I'll go through stints.
where I don't do anything to mynails and give them a break.
And then it's, it only takesabout two weeks of me being
like, Nope, I got to putsomething on my nails.
And I keep thinking, Oh, I'm sotired of the process of putting
on the wraps.
I'm going to take a break.
It doesn't take long before Ithrow something back on.
Kristen (39:10):
I know.
And that's what, so I'm in thenaked phase right now because I
had been picking off my gelpolish last week.
And then my nails just lookedrough when I took that off
completely.
And I'm like, they've got tobreathe.
I just need to let them breathe.
And I can't tell you like allweek I've been looking at them
and I know they're healthier andthey look healthy, but I'm like,
they're so naked.
I look so unfinished.
I look so unkempt ah.
(39:32):
I'm going to try to finish thisweek, but this weekend, we're
doing something to my nails.
I don't know what yet, but Ican't go on another week without
it.
Arielle (39:40):
I totally understand.
Yeah, I can leave the housewithout makeup.
That's not a huge deal, but Idon't want to have janky hands.
Kristen (39:49):
It's just, it shows that you care about yourself,
that you're taking care ofyourself.
I think it's like that.
Arielle (39:55):
The whole thing with beauty, that's how I feel about
it overall, is I like to besomeone who takes care of
myself, and whether it be that Iput on makeup that day or not I
like to take care of me, and nowI would say mid thirties, I'm
definitely more into it.
skin care at this point and likejust taking care of my skin and
(40:16):
anti aging and sunscreen andjust making sure I take care of
the skin and the body I have.
Kristen (40:23):
And I wish I had been doing that more earlier cause
same as you.
I'm a little bit.
Past my mid thirties, but it'smore about the skincare regimen
than the makeup.
Like I am more about a goodmoisturizer.
I am more about cleansingproperly.
Let me do a mask once a week.
Let me replenish the nutrientsin my face.
(40:43):
And I, if we'd been doing thisback then, just think of how
much better the makeup wouldhave looked on our perfectly
moisturized faces too.
Arielle (40:53):
Yeah, I
Kristen (40:53):
was not,
Arielle (40:55):
and I
Kristen (40:55):
definitely was not using sunscreen.
And that's what I tell people.
Don't just put it on your face,put it on your neck, put it on
your hands because I look at myhands and I'm like, Oh, my old
lady hands.
I don't have sunspots yet, but Ijust feel like my hands just
look older.
I'm like, Oh, I should havebeen.
I, yeah, when
Arielle (41:12):
I put my treadmill in on, I have started doing my neck
in the back of my hands now too,because yeah, it's.
Definitely really important.
And like you said, the sunscreentoo, it's so important, but I
definitely focus more on that orlike my hair health and my scalp
health.
I've been really into thatlately is trying to make sure my
hair is healthy.
(41:33):
Cause as I've gotten older, myhair has gotten drier.
Kristen (41:35):
Yes.
What are you using to keep yourscalp healthy?
Do you have recommendations?
Arielle (41:41):
I started following you, you may have seen her on
Instagram or TikTok, it's likeAbby young or something like
that.
She has really long, shinyblonde hair.
And so I started following someof her recommendations and I
realized that my scalp reallybenefits from more washing than
less washing.
(42:01):
Yeah, I do not do well with lesswashed scalp and my, I like was
having a lot of shedding and assoon as I started washing my
hair more, the shedding quit.
Really?
Huh.
Yes, it did.
I had to start washing with morefrequency, but one of the things
that she recommends that Ireally do think has made a big
(42:23):
difference, and my hair is somuch shinier too, I would, my
hair was like dull, I was usingsulfate free, high end products,
and my, I was shedding And myhair was so dull and I switched
back to like drugstore withsulfates And washing more and my
hair is healthy again.
It's crazy but one of the thingsthat I do Pre wash is I use a
(42:45):
coconut oil.
Spray And I put like coat myhair with that before washing
and whenever I forget to dothat, my hair is a little bit
more dull.
So I really think there'ssomething to that.
Oh! And that was one of thethings that she recommended was
to, whenever you're gonna washcoat the hair with the coconut
oil serums and such.
Kristen (43:05):
Alright, I'm gonna need a link for that because I think
that would benefit me because Ithink my hair is getting that
way too.
It's not necessarily, it doesn'tlook dry but I think dull is the
right word for it.
Like it just doesn't have thevibrancy that it had before.
Arielle (43:20):
Nope, mine didn't either and I was using living
proof and no, I, and now I uselike Dove shampoo and
conditioner and my hair is somuch healthier.
I can't even believe like nightand day difference and it didn't
take very long, like within twoweeks I noticed a huge
difference and that my sheddingwas like in half once I switched
(43:42):
back to sulfates and like easyand washing with more frequency.
Kristen (43:47):
All right I will try that then I'll get that coconut
oil stuff because that soundsfantastic.
Arielle (43:51):
I'll send you her channel.
Kristen (43:53):
You got
Arielle (43:53):
a lot of
Kristen (43:53):
stuff on
Arielle (43:54):
there.
Yeah, and then I watched likesome dermatologists too that
that's another thing is now wehave more doctors who are on the
social medias and sharing actualinformation that's helpful
because that's how I got myskincare routine down and also
how I've gotten some of my scalpissues under control is just
watching a dermatologist.
Kristen (44:13):
Yeah, because I feel like there's so much we didn't
know back in the day, becauseeven growing up, it was like,
All right, here's your Noxzema,here's your St.
Ives apricot scrub just here'syour clear cell just use these
products, you'll be fine.
I don't even think we weretaught.
I don't think I was taught tomoisturize.
It was basically just wash yourface and dry your face, and
you're good to go.
Arielle (44:33):
I had to, I had combination skin, and I would
get really dry.
So I would have to alwaysmoisturize.
Yeah.
Kristen (44:43):
But I didn't use it either.
Yeah.
I remember, I think it might'vebeen in college.
I started using ponds and Idon't even know, cause that's
such like an old lady thing touse.
But but I use ponds for years asmy moisturizer and it's still,
there's a reason it's stuckaround.
Yes.
With the blue cap on it.
There's a reason that stuff hasbeen around forever.
Cause it is good.
Arielle (45:04):
Yes, it is.
I totally agree.
Yeah I actually still use it toremove makeup at times because
it's really good at removing,especially like stubborn eye
makeup.
It's really good for that.
It's so gentle too.
Yeah, and yeah, now I'm usinganother like cheaper drugstore
Banacream.
Banacream is great if you havedry skin.
(45:25):
Really?
So I still am combination, butas I've gotten older, I'm
meaning more dry.
I've been noticing I'm startingto get more dry than
combination.
Kristen (45:35):
Especially in the winter months.
I feel like my cheeks,especially, my cheeks will dry
out or down the part, like,where your cheek.
meets your chin like right downthere like my skin will get a
little drier there too.
Arielle (45:47):
Yeah, I love the Vanna cream.
I just switched that my, my skinwas super dry this winter
probably because we're havingsuch a.
cold snowy winter.
But I switched to the Vanicreamand I use their, I got like the
really thick one that's not forbody and I use that on my really
dry spots and then use theirlike lightweight base lotion all
(46:09):
over.
But on those spots that havebeen really dry or like my under
eyes really need moisture thesedays.
I've just been using a touch ofthat really thick one and it has
made a big difference.
Kristen (46:19):
I love that.
Arielle (46:21):
that's what it's about.
It's about
Kristen (46:22):
finding what's good for you and not necessarily going
the trendy way anymore.
It's about what works.
Yes, agreed.
And I love that.
Ariel, thanks for coming andtalk to me about the good old
days of beauty blogging.
Before we end, do you have anyfinal thoughts or any other
memories you wanted to share?
Arielle (46:43):
Not that I can think of, but this was definitely
really fun to reminisce
Kristen (46:46):
on.
I know, right?
I want to go back and read myblog and be like, because I'm
sure there was so many crazythings on there.
Arielle (46:53):
Okay, it, going back to regret, I deleted all of my
stuff and I don't have the, I,my YouTube videos are all
hidden, so I could watch those,but my blog is completely gone.
You deleted it?
I
Kristen (47:04):
thought
Arielle (47:05):
maybe you just unpublished it or something.
Why did you delete it?
I have no idea.
I don't know and I don't evenremember when I did it or why.
Kristen (47:15):
Isn't there a way, they say when something's on the
internet, it's there forever.
Can't we get some hackers orsomething?
Or find some cached version ofit somewhere?
Arielle (47:24):
Maybe the way back machine.
That's what we find it
Kristen (47:27):
there?
Yeah, we might have to try thatbecause I did.
I googled yours and I couldn'tfind anything.
And I'm like, that's so crazy.
It's not here anymore becausemine is there.
But all the comments are gonebecause towards the end, I had
some issue with the Commentplugin I was using and I don't
know.
I don't remember exactly whathappened, but I was like, oh,
I'll just uninstall it andreinstall it and I uninstalled
(47:51):
it and all the comments weregone.
I can never get them back.
And I was so upset because Ilike, I built a lot of comments
on so many of my posts.
I'm like, now it looks like myposts have zero comments and I'm
a terrible blogger.
And this is so dumb.
It's probably it was
Arielle (48:05):
probably
Kristen (48:05):
just, it was just screwed me over.
So pissed.
I'm still pissed.
But no, my blog is still there.
And it is.
It's, there's other parts of ittoo that don't work.
Like some of the buttons I don'tthink show up anymore.
I don't know.
There's it's like it's a brokenblog now.
(48:25):
But it's still there.
The posts are still there.
I do still have, cause you were,you did have some guest posts
for me a couple times.
So the guest posts you wrote forme are still there.
Arielle (48:37):
Oh my gosh, okay, I went on the way back machine and
I clicked a random Hold on,you're gonna love this.
I clicked a random day from2012.
And guess what it is?
What?
The Walkabout Wednesday bloghop.
Kristen (48:52):
Does it describe what it is?
Can you read, to read to thelisteners what Walkabout
Wednesday was?
Arielle (49:00):
Yes.
Here we go.
What is a blog hop?
A blog hop is a linking thatmultiple bloggers add their URL
to then participants visit blogsand follow if they wish.
The benefits of blog hops arethey are a great way to network,
discover new blogs, and buildfollowers.
Why Walkabout Wednesday?
We love the definition sincethis is what our bloghouse is
all about.
(49:20):
From Dictionary.
com, Chiefly British, a walkingtour, an informal public stroll
taken for the purpose ofgreeting and being seen.
Yeah, I told you, I looked up aWalkabout Man, that's what I
said! Oh, picture! Yay! It hasyour okay.
(49:46):
I forgot about this too.
We used to put other people'slittle icons on the side of our
blog.
Yes! And yours is on here! Yay!
Kristen (49:57):
Oh my
Arielle (49:58):
gosh.
Kristen (50:00):
Okay.
Arielle (50:01):
Ah! This is so great.
Okay.
It's like we just opened a timecapsule.
I'm so excited.
I'm so glad that the WaybackMachine exists.
And that's so funny
Kristen (50:14):
that you randomly picked one and it was a
walkabout Wednesday.
That's the most perfect thingever.
Arielle (50:21):
It truly is.
I'll take a picture of this.
Yes.
Screenshot it.
Great.
I remember making this reallyterrible header too, but hey, we
were all learning.
Yes.
Oh, ear.
I found ears too.
(50:41):
Oh, this is so good.
I'm so glad I looked.
Yes! Yes, I'm so glad.
Kristen (50:49):
This has been super fun.
See, I told you this was goingto be so fun.
Ariel, thank you for coming.
You are welcome to come backanytime.
We can talk about beauty, we cantalk about blogging, we can talk
about books, we can talk aboutliterally anything.
Thanks for coming.
All right.
We'll talk to you later.
All right.
Bye
Arielle (51:07):
bye.
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