Remember 2012? Now
that seems like an age ago. Team Fake Bake were asked to take part in an
article for a top business magazine (get us, how posh!) alongside a top
designer and the British Fashion Council to talk about how a new type of
person was going to change the fashion and beauty industries forever: The
Blogger. It was groundbreaking stuff at the time but now looks so old fashioned
it appears like it belongs on the Antiques Roadshow. Never could we have
predicted what was going to happen on social media. Welcome to the world of The
Influencer.
You have the ones who
have some many followers they only have to breathe and there’s an earthquake
somewhere else on the planet: hello Selena Gomez. There are those who
are just achingly cool and appear to live in an endlessly chic world, like Valentina
Muntoni. There are fitness influencers who lie by pools in and live on
watermelons and healthy snacks whilst doing fab poses on beaches and talking
about positivity, like Jesse Golden. And then there are the beauty
influencers. Huda Kattan, who has 26.4 million Insta followers,
is a worldwide phenomenon. From You Tube channels to Live Stories, we are
surrounded every day, by people showing us the way. And for the media savvy
reality star, the current cast of Love Island can clean up in terms of
sponsored posts when they leave the villa. They make hay while the sun shines.
Literally.
Which all sounds
great, until you feel a little bit overwhelmed and bombarded. Because when you
are looking at all of these posts and images, sitting there in a pair of old
PJ’s and working your way through a packet of Jammy Dodgers thinking…..
Waaahhhhhht! How can I
turn myself into my current person into one of these goddesses? The fact is,
you probably can’t. They don’t take selfies like you do. They have whole teams
of people involved. And yet the original queens of influence, like Zoella,
did literally start out in their bedrooms talking about the stuff they love.
So, here at Team Fake Bake, we wanted to get back to that kind of vibe.
Fact. Here at Fake
Bake we never pay anyone to work with us, which is really unusual in 2018. So
when you see an image like this one of the gorgeous Stephanie Pratt,
it’s just because she loves her Fake Bake! (Are you still obsessed with The
Hills? We are!)
And we love working
with bloggers and influencers that really have heart, who are honest and
trustworthy in their approach to giving advice. We collaborate with people like
Pink Tartan Dolly on a regular basis, as we find she is really positive
and embracing.
We adore Ashley
Louise James and her honest approach to body issues, too.
So we decided to set
up our own Influencer Events but with a difference. We didn’t just want
to use the word ‘positivity’ as a marketing tool, but embrace it as a real way
of injecting social media with hopeful optimism, and give influencers a chance
to get in on the action, with a real mix of experts such as Hayley Sparkes
to relative newbies starting out. It was a fashionably beautiful day with a
twist!
Team Fake Bake,
headed up by our Victoria Halliday headed off to hold our Influencers Event at the
beautiful Karma Sanctum Soho London, in association with the UK Blog
Awards, and also sponsored by our lovely friends at Lambrini. Of
course, it was a chance to network and talk about all of the latest influencer
trends and best practices, giving new starters a chance to speak to really
experienced bloggers. They also got the opportunity to find out all they needed
to know about us - Fake Bake!
As a brand we are
interested in fashion, we love the world of beauty and of course, when it comes
to tanning, as the world’s leading independent tanning brand, we
consider ourselves the experts in our field. We don’t have to answer to
huge multinationals, and we never have. We just get on with the business of
creating the best self-tanning products on the planet. We heart the glossy end
of fashion and love sending our Global Creative Consultant, James Harknett,
on missions to tan A-listers and get involved in high end events.
But we are an all-inclusive brand, without a hint of snobbery. We are happy for
celebs and reality stars from all walks of life to work with us, because we
know our fans relate to them. And, of course, we are supportive of women and
men of all ages, body shapes and cultural backgrounds because we believe we all
deserve an equal chance at looking, and feeling, fabulous!
We also teamed up with
Megan McGrory of The Key, who we know and love, and have worked with
many times. As a team, she has delivered to us some amazing lessons. Her
programme fuses science, success, and spirited technology to inspire
everyone to choose a heart and mind set of health, happiness and abundance
leaving you focused, energised and with a clear vision of your future. We
obviously won’t give away her Key ingredients, but she left our Influencers
bounding with energy and bursting to talk about fresh ideas and perspectives.
And this wouldn’t just assist them in what they are doing in their work worlds,
but in every area of their lives.
We’re a close knit
bunch. We are a Fake Bake Family, and that’s how we work. We wanted our
influencers to not worry so much about stats and likes and engagement, although
they do matter, but to think more about what they want to put out in the world,
and how what they do can encourage and help others really feel good about
themselves. At a time when body image is becoming a critical issue for
everyone, and for young women particularly, we all want to feel more mindful
about the messages we are sending out, and we are all about curves of any
size, as long as they are on you!
A brilliant day was
had by all. The fact is, you can become an influencer. All you have to
do is be yourself. If you are genuine, savvy, have a story to tell and
something interesting to say, the images you project really come secondary to
that. And if you approach what you are doing with a sense of openness, and not
just with the hope of getting a famous Discount Code, then your honesty will
win you an army of fans. All you have to do is get in the game.
Roll the dice. We dare
you.
Many thanks to everyone at the UK Blog Awards and
Lambrini
You can find more about Megan McGrory and her work at www.unlock-the-key.co.uk and her range of events, mentoring, training and
retreats. You can follow her on
Insta @UnlockTheKey
Stephanie Pratt’s Fake Bake professional tan courtesy of
@tans_by_zarina
Ashley Louise James Fake Bake professional tan courtesy of
@secretspauk
Follow beauty blogger Laura Maginess on Insta @pinktartandolly
Follow beauty expert Hayley Sparkes on Insta @hayleymsparkes
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