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!
