Beauty Blogging; Do We Have To Be Experts?

I was always a huge fan of makeup; whether it was robbing my mum's lippie as a kid and smearing it across my lips, applying the heaviest of black eyeliner in my emo phase, or waiting up these days for the latest beauty release to go online. Either way, I love all things beauty related, I really do.
There's no way I could even begin to explain how much blogging has increased this obsession. It's totally fuelled my passion and my knowledge is greater than ever. I'm always learning new things about beauty techniques, what will suit me more, and how to use beauty products I've never tried before. All this leads to me blogging about beauty regularly too. But does this make me an expert?
Hell to the no. Blogging about beauty is simply my way of sharing something I love, and recommending things that have worked for me. I write about what I know from my point of view, and what I'm interested in. All of this is delivered with my voice and my opinions, and that's all it's supposed to be. I'm not claiming to be an expert, I'm not claiming to know it all, I'm not even claiming that I'm right. I'm just sharing with you guys.
So why is it that I see people so often bitching about bloggers? I've seen people remark that bloggers don't know what they're talking about, so they shouldn't be "selling" products to their readers. Now, the thing is, I DO get where people are coming from if someone is claiming to be a beauty guru/expert/specialist and they're just.. not. And I get that people shouldn't tell others what products to try unless they know what they're talking about. Believe me, I have a lot of respect for people who work in the industry and who know more than I ever could.

But here's the thing, it's very rare I see a blogger saying "this product will definitely work for you, you need this, this is what you should be using". Most of us are just like, "Oh hey, I loved this, this is why it worked for me. Maybe it will for you?". We are having a conversation with our readers, we are not trying to sell them something - and I love that. I'm no skin expert, but you better believe I love sharing skincare on this blog. I'm happy to tell you guys what products I love and hate, and why. That doesn't mean I'm saying I know it all, or that I'm right.
The worst thing is, I've not only seen it from 'outsiders', but I've also seen it from other bloggers. The people who are supposed to understand, are now bitching towards individuals for "being a beauty blogger, when her makeup looks like crap". Yeah, I've actually seen this. We all know there are certain horrible websites dedicated to this sort of talk too. It pisses me off when I read this kind of thing. First of all there's no need to be so nasty, but also; why the hell can't someone share their thoughts on beauty, even if they do have crap makeup themselves? It's a free world and we can all write about what we like.
Once again, I'm totally against people giving out advice without knowing what they're talking about. That goes without saying. But do I think we have to be beauty experts to be a beauty blogger? Of course not.
I'm off to buy more palettes, keep your eyes peeled for the reviews to follow... ;)

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