It’s day one of American Swan Beauty & The Blogger on Fame Box! The first-of-its-kind web reality show that pairs beauties and bloggers to create compelling fashion & beauty content.
How up my alley is that?! So I’m super delighted to be here, at The Corinthians Resort & Club Pune, mentoring the 8 bloggers that are competing for the crown along-side Anusha Dandekar who is mentoring the beauties, (and of course the host Cyrus Sahukar who is making us all giggle!)
Today the event kicked off with beauty & blogger intros, makeovers by Tresemme & Lakmé a high-drama aqua challenge and the launch of American Swan swimwear *phew!*
With hair & makeup in place, 8 semi aqua-phobic beauties dived into the glistening waters of The Corinthians, Pune to fish out the name of their blogging partner. It wasn’t easy (and not entirely graceful) but they somehow managed to complete the task. (Wait for the video shenanigans in episode one coming soon to a web reality show near you!)
Marv of course is gonna clue you in on all the cute bikinis and bodysuits we loved, while I introduce you to the B&B power duos! Ready? Now meet the players!
Beauties & Bloggers
Now, as I type this, the bloggers are off completing their first photo challenge. They need to capture three looks: wet & wild, a whacky selfie and a mega “oomph!” shot. I hope they have fun with it, just like Anusha, Cyrus and I did with our share of selfie-taking in between (and often during) shots! FYI, this is Cyrus’ oomph face.
I also caught some of the contestants deep in concentration as they plotted their next moves!
PS. Thank you to my hair & makeup crew Reema Patil & Disha Karia who are totally adorable and delightful to work with 🙂
Tomorrow morning I’ll be seeing the bloggers (over hair and makeup) for a debrief where I’ll be giving them the following tips! And yes, you’ll be seeing me use my Little Pink Camera a LOT during the shoot because I can’t resist a good photo opp, and neither must you dear blogger, neither must you 🙂
BEAUTY BLOGGER TIPS & TRICKS.
1. Be You. Find an angle to your blog post that really shows off YOUR blogging chops. If you’re shooting swimwear you already have eye candy on the clicker, now window dress it by suggesting shoes & accessories that match, or tell a story about the day in the life of an American Swan mermaid! Just have fun, use your imagination and be genuine about your enthusiasm because it will definitely shine through!
2. Eat, Sleep, Tweet, ReTweet! Social media is a blogger’s best friend. Use it to spread the word about upcoming content – like your selfie challenge – it’ll give people something to look forward to and comment on. Yani ki, kuch to blog kahenge 🙂 Remember: engagement is the key to social media! Also give a little to get a little, the more you retweet and share compelling content, the more people will follow and retweet yours.
3. Don’t start Th@t again! If you start your Tweets with an @ symbol it limits your social media reach to the people following both you and the handle you’re tagging. So always start with a word or put a dot before the @ like so: “.@” (More tips like this in my #geekchic post here!)
4. Instag-blog it! We all love Instagram filters and how flawless they make us look, why not re-purpose those pictures and videos in your blog post? This is something I do often and so when I know I’m going to blog about something, I plan ahead and take a few action teasers that will make my blog come alive later. Lights, camera, ACTION!
5. Patchwork your pix. I love photo collages that allow you to tell the whole story in just one image. Use cool Apps like PhotoGrid to easily stitch your photos together and share them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Google+. For example; when all the bloggers tweeted & Instagrammed their Tresemme & Lakmé makeovers, I used PhotoGrid to make this collage. (This also works particularly well when you have lower res images on your phone that might pixelate in full size.)
Stay tuned for lots more action as we follow Beauty & The Blogger to its grande finale on Wednesday. And follow the hashtag #BeautyNBlogger for LIVE updates 🙂 xoxo