Product reviews are a beauty blogger’s bread and butter. They are the cornerstone of our content and it’s usually how people discover our blogs in the first place via Google or Pinterest. In my beauty detox post I briefly touched on a subject of trying to keep up, where I talked about spending money on products I don’t really need, just because I thought you guys wanted me to review them. I know some of my friends don’t mind this, but to me that’s the bad side of blogging, and it was weighing down on me emotionally and financially.
Ever since that post went live, I have cut down my beauty purchases to a bare minimum, relying solely on PR samples and brand collaborations. In fact, products I purchased recently were either necessities, or something I really-really wanted for ages, and then spotted it on a good sale [hello, Memebox closeout sale!].
I also discovered Octoly, a free platform for vloggers and Instagrammers, that provides premium products for honest reviews. Here’s how it works.
1 // If you sign up with this link, you will receive 5 credits to use toward any products you want in the Octoly store.
2 // Request any products from the free store by using those credits. One request = one credit.
3 // Brands will review your request and either approve or decline it. If the request is declined, you get your credit back immediately to request something else.
4 // Try the product and post your honest review on Youtube or Instagram within 21 days of receipt, using the required hashtags. I have posted negative reviews before, and the brand still continued working with me afterward, so don’t be afraid to say what you really think.
5 // When you have good standing and always post on time, Octoly will extend the deadline by a few days without any penalties, if you are unable to publish within the allotted time frame because of some freak accident.
6 // The penalty for not posting on time is a permanent loss of your Octoly credit. This means you won’t be able to request as many products at once. When all of your credits are gone, your account will be suspended.
7 // And repeat! Keep requesting new products as often as you want, and have fun with it! 🙂
I personally love trying products through Octoly. It’s so much easier to post a mini-review on Instagram than a full one on the blog, and it’s always fun to discover new brands. So far I had the opportunity to work with big brands like Clarins, Kevyn Aucoin, Estee Lauder, Lancome, OPI, Real Techniques, and amazing indies, such as by Terry, 100% Pure, Silk Therapeutics, IDUN Minerals, and Wander Beauty.
There’s a catch though. In order to become an Octoly influencer, you need to have over 5k followers on Instagram, or 1k views on average per video on Youtube. Those numbers are hard to reach unless you have a blog or a popular Youtube channel, but the good thing is you can still apply if you are a bit short, and the platform will automatically approve you once the threshold is met.
For those of you who already meet the requirements, I highly recommend giving Octoly a try. This is seriously one of the easiest ways way to try new things without the obligation to write a blog post.
Have you heard of Octoly? Do you utilize any similar platforms to get products to feature on your blog, Instagram, or Youtube channel? Let me know in the comments below!
I really appreciate this post. As a blogger it can be difficult to keep content fresh without spending a ton of money on products to review. I unfortunately don’t meet the 10k Instagram requirement, but I will definitely tuck away that info for the future.
Best of luck Courtney! I am sure you will reach the magic number soon!
Great post! I signed up using your link. I hit the Instagram limit, but unsure if they would reach out to someone who does primarily nail related posts. 🙂 We’ll see. I’ve also had to cut down on spending. Did a purge of polish and donated a ton.
You’ll be fine! They only care about the numbers, and your content generally falls into beauty category. There are plenty of nail brands to choose from too. Like, I recently got the entire OPI Iceland collection that I will be posting about soon.
I’ve heard of Octoly and am very interested in the program, but alas, my numbers aren’t high enough for them and they aren’t willing to give me the time of day in spite of my multiple years of blogging.
Yikes, sorry to hear that! Unfortunately Octoly is strictly an Instagram/Youtube program, there’s no way to request products to review on the blog. When I try to validate my review by any other means, it says the link is incorrect. That’s probably why they only care about your numbers just on those two platforms.
Im actually taking a break from PR, but I’ll have to keep this in mind when I’m back.
I’d love to try Octoly but I’m not close enough on Instagram. 🙂
I not quite there yet on Instagram, but I think they emailed me and I did apply for later.
I heard of Octoly recently and I’d love to try it but unfortunately I’m not even close on IG. Maybe one day!
If I ever make it to 10K, I’ll keep this in mind.
My Instagram is growing but I’d still have a way to go. It definitely is a goal now.
Since FB acquired IG, my number of followers has ground to a halt pretty much, grrrr
Unfortunately, I don’t have the IG – or YouTube – numbers to get in 🙁
Sounds legit! I was so close to 10K at one point but my IG number have just been plummeting. I have no idea why. 🙁
Unfortunately this company is all about numbers on IG so it’s useless to me. The algorithm screwed me and my followers are too low. Wish companies would look at engagement instead.
I love Octoly! I’ve gotten some great products from there!
This would be fantastic! Wish I could apply.
I use Octoly on occasion but I hate that you can’t list blog reviews.
I just discovered Octoly as well! Hoping to utilize it in the future 🙂
I swear your pictures are perfection! One of my goals is to reach 10k just so that I can apply to Octoly! LOL!