Aprill Coleman is the creator of Hey Aprill, the leading blog for women interested in beauty, lifestyle, and wellness. We recently chatted with Aprill to learn more about her work as a skin care micro-influencer and how she creates trust and relationships with her readers.
Tell us a little about yourself. Why did you decide to become a beauty blogger?
I actually stumbled upon blogging. I was attending Baker College for Information Technology and Securities, and I was looking for a release from school and being a mother and a wife. I found a community of women of all races and ethnicities called makeuptalk.com. I spent a few years there as a moderator and jr. administrator when the owner of the site approached me about blogging. In exchange for blogging for his site, he would host my blog. But I didn’t have one. I created Glitter.Gloss.Garbage in 2009 using blogspot, but I was not consistent. I purchased the domain, rebranded as Hey Aprill in 2015, and the rest is history.
Since you call yourself a “skin care micro-influencer,” could you tell us what that means and how that is different from a standard influencer?
A micro-influencer is someone that has a small but powerful following in certain topics – in my case, skin care. There’s a lot of skin care content out there, but I noticed there was not a lot of influencers with solid followings creating dedicated skin care content for black women, so I decided to make that my focus. I am different from standard influencers because my reach yields a higher engaged reach thanks to creating authentic conversations with like-minded people who have a need that must be met.
How is the beauty and skin care atmosphere in Mississippi and the southern U.S. different from the Los Angeles or New York beauty scene?
It’s very hot and humid in the South, so there’s a need for readers to create skin care and cosmetic routines that beat the heat, control oil, control shine, and achieve “melt-proof” looks.
How do you separate yourself from all the other beauty and skin care influencers on the web?
I’m relatable, not aspirational. When readers engage with me, they are not engaging solely because I have a pretty face. They engage because I’m a mother, I’m a wife, I’m fat, I’m black, and I struggle just like they do – and they know it. But I’m informative about beauty, I’m helpful, I talk to them. I laugh with my readers, and I’ve even cried with my readers.
What guidelines or routines do you follow when you decide what to blog about?
For every sponsored post, I write three non-sponsored posts to keep a balance. I cover at least eight beauty topics per month – four lifestyle and four wellness.
Are you willing to try and review any beauty product? Or are there certain products that you generally avoid altogether?
I love to test and review beauty products. I do avoid brands that do not properly represent or accommodate black women.
Other than put out a quality product, what does a beauty brand have to do in order for you to form a partnership or relationship with it?
In order to form a partnership or relationship with me, I just want honesty. I want to know what’s your end goal and what can I do to help you so that I can do my part to give your brand visibility or an honest review.
Will beauty blogging be substantially different in the future? Or do you think it will be pretty much the same 5-10 years from now?
I think it will be different. How? I don’t know. It depends on the future needs of readers, bloggers, influencers, and (most importantly) consumers.
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