MontyC's Favourite Blogs

For today's Mondays with MontyC, I thought I might share a few of my favourite blogs and bloggers.  From down over the years, I've read/watched a lot of blogs/YouTube videos, I've seen blogs/bloggers come and go, and I've let some of them fall by the wayside too, as I outgrew them, or their standards slipped, or they sold out (sadly, this happens a lot - you see bloggers who start out idealistic, grow, get bigger, and become nothing more than mouthpieces for specific brands).

I shall nail my colours firmly to the mast and tell you that when it comes to beauty blogs or YouTube videos, I have developed zero tolerance for bullsh*t.  I don't mind promotional posts - who doesn't want to know what's coming out in a few months after all! - but only if they're not trying to pass themselves off as reviews.  When I want to do some research and read some reviews, I don't want to know about what the press release says a product does, and neither do I particularly care what celebrity fronts its campaign.  I want details on on how it performs on real people to help me figure out if it will work for me and if it's worth my hard earned cash.


It turns out that some of my favourites have both a blog and a You Tube channel, some just have a blog.  Here's a very short selection of my absolute favourites.

Caroline Hirons
www.carolinehirons.com 

A third generation beauty industry insider with nearly twenty years' experience under her belt, what this gal doesn't know about skincare isn't worth knowing.  You are definitely in a bullish*t-free zone here as Ms Hirons will always Tell It Like It Is.  She really does know her stuff.  She recently started her own You Tube Chanel and here is one of her latest posts, which also features the very lovely Ruth Crilly from A Model Recommends.  Which leads me nicely into my next favourite...


Ruth Crilly / A Model Recommends
www.amodelrecommends.com 

This blog is by the lovely, witty and talented Ruth Crilly.  Ruth posts every day and it's rare for me to miss one of her posts.  She writes with great clarity and honesty, and comes across as being really down to earth.  The kind of person you'd love to go for pint and chat with.  Not only does she post about beauty but also on fashion, travel, her favourite books, you name it.  Oh and if you're an animal lover, you will love her posts about her huge cat Mr. Bear and her dog Dexter.  She has made tons of videos, here's one of the most recent makeup tutorials she recorded.


Jane Cunningham / British Beauty Blogger
www.britishbeautyblogger.com

Jane Cunningham is a writer for both online and mainstream media.  With four books on beauty under her belt, Jane is another Tell It Like Is blogger.  She will showcase products that she believes are amazing, and at the same time, has no hesitation calling out the rubbish stuff that's not worth your money.  Jane posts short blog posts several time a day so this is a blog I like to sit down with a cuppa in the evening and catch up on.  Jane also recently started her own You Tube channel, and here's one of her most recent recordings.


Kirstie McDermott / Frillseeker
www.frillseeker.ie

Time to show some love for my fellow Irish blogs (the first three mentioned are UK based).  Frillseeker is by Kirstie McDermott, a beauty writer of many years standing, and it's a website that will make you smile!  It covers beauty, fashion, accessories, and all things bright and beautiful in between.  Kirstie shoots from the hip with bite-sized posts that showcase her sharp wit.  I enjoy this blog very much!

This is only the tip of the iceberg and I could have listed a whole lot more but what I really went to get across is that the truth is out there!  Honest reviews of products do exist.  I should add that on the Make Up for Dolls blog, you will always get a true and honest opinion on a product from Siobhán, Emer and myself, and occasional guest posters.  If we like it or if we don't, we'll come straight out and tell you!  If you don't know these ladies above, I recommend you go take a looksee... and maybe discover some other blogs you'll enjoy following.

As always, until next Monday,
MontyC