How Much Does It Cost To Be A Beauty Blogger?

Over the weekend, I read an article published by the Independent Fahion Bloggers  entitled ‘How Much Does It Cost To Be A Fashion Blogger?’ and while it was an interesting read, I thought the author would probably be a naked blogger because she really only touched on the initial start-up cost of blogging and not the running costs, so I thought that I should follow the theme of this article but share how much it personally costs  me to be a beauty blogger.

Camera: Fujifilm HS20 EXR = £299

While some bloggers prefer to use a point and shoot camera or a DSLR to take their photos, I’ve decided to use a bridge camera. I felt that it was the best option for me as I didn’t want to part with £500 odd pounds to buy a camera I had no clue how to use.

I originally bought my camera for about £250 off Amazon and I absolutely love it (even though I am thinking of buying an upgrade by Christmas). With my HS20 I’ve learnt a lot about aperture, shutter speed, lighting, depth of field, etc and honestly I love it and it works really well for what I use it for.

Rechargeable Batteries = £30

I own 8 rechargeable batteries with 2 chargers . . well I'm meant to have 2 chargers but I can't seem to find one of them. My camera runs on batteries, some people might have some that don't but if you do I would recommend you shell out on a set of rechargeable batteries as they will save you time and money in the future.

Memory Cards= £30

I go through Memory cards like crazy as I am always losing them or they break!!! I just broke my 16gb, lost my 8gb and now on a silly 4gb that I have offload my pictures from every week . .  very stressful!!.

SmartPhone: Iphone 4 - £35 a month

I agree with the point made in the original article that life as a blogger is made SIGNIFICANTLY easier if you have a smartphone. Apps like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram adds to your blog presence and also helps keeps you connected and interactions fairly neat.

I have had my iPhone 4 for about a year now, as I got it as a mini present for myself for my 21^st birthday and love it!!! There are other phones out there but my iPhone is my baby.

Moo Mini Cards: £20

When you go to a few events, you will notice sooner than later than you need a business card for your blog. Scribbling out your blog and contact details on a piece of paper can be very time consuming when networking.

I got my business card for Moo.com and I just love how cute their mini-cards are, plus I bought their mini-card holder (in a pretty pink) and attached this to my camera strap so I don’t ever forget to take my cards with me.

Travel:  £10 for a return journey

This cost really applies regardless of where you live, if you are going to a brand event or blogger social you will have to travel from your house to the event location and that my loves will cost  you.

Before I started by job and bought myself a year’s travel pass (which I use 7 days out of 7), I had to get around on either a London weekly travelcard which cost £40 (yh that much for a week) or use the pay–as-you-go option which I think cost anything between £2.60 to £10 for a return journey which quickly starts to add up if you have to leave your house more than once in a week.

iPad Connector:- £7

Some might ask why the hell to do you have this? It makes viewing the pictures I take on my camera a lot easier as I get to blow up the pics, check their sharpness, send it to my various apps, email it around, upload it to my dropbox etc etc etc without ever having to go onto my computer.

It just is my little middle man of blogging.

Dropbox Account: Free

I would recommend dropbox to ANYONE!!! It’s somewhere you can save all your pictures and data and receive it anyway. With the dropbox app I upload my pictures and can instantly download on my phone, iPad. Netbook, Work computer, my Aunt’s computer in Nigeria. . . . I just do it as it saves me having to panic looking for a USB

Experimenting: £70

This is probably a cost that is very much dependent on the blogger but over the last year I have bought and experimented with using studio lights, light boxes and wallpapers/stones/mirrors as backgrounds just to get my pictures to look clearer and visually appeasing. Blogging is a learning process and you ARE going to experiment with props and equipment to find out what works for you and your picture/video taking style.

The first post I made over a year ago and a post I made last week on my blog look nothing alike. You probably can’t even tell that the same person took these photos because I keep learning, experimenting and adjusting and I can tell you right now I will keep experimenting and I doubt my blog will look like this in a years time.

Makeup Budget:- £150

I generally have a large budget for beauty (which I always go over) because I buy what I know or think will work for me, and honestly the majority of what I use is not that cheap.

My budget might seem a tad bit excessive to some people but the fact of the matter is that I blog because I like beauty AND the added fact that I am dark skinned living in the UK means that I generally have to spend between £20-£30 just for a foundation as my shade is not generally stocked in Highstreet/Drugstores so if I don’t want a foundation that makes me look orange or ashy, I have to part with the cash.

WOC in the UK don’t really have the luxury of stepping into any random Boots or Superdrug and knowing that your skin shade will be there, half the time it is sold out with a manky tester bottle showing you where your shade should (but never is) be.

Time: Fricking PRICELESS!!!!

Blogging is like a job.

I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of time I have stayed up til 2-3am editing pictures just so I can post it the next day when I know I have to be up at 6am to go to work or  trying to compose the opening paragraph to a sentence on my lunch break or (my favourite) waking up at 5/6am on a Saturday to do housework so I can have the freedom to spend hours taking 30 pictures of a single product only to put 3 pictures on a blog post.

Blogging takes up a lot of your time, and honestly you could be doing something else. Any blogger who has done this long enough will tell you that blogging sucks into your personal time but I do it because I love it (and a good concealer will hide the lack of sleep.)

Total Cost (Give or Take):-  £621 with an estimated monthly running cost of £185

I am aware that a lot of people think that beauty bloggers get a lot of stuff free but generally what you can receive are not products that you would necessarily go out of your way to buy and might not even be great for your skin shade or skin type, so if you want to be a beauty blogger and you think you are going to be showered with free stuff every week for you to try out . . . re-examine this.