I had brief bouts of enthusiasm in my teens and 20s, but they'd last a few years and not amount to much. Then in 2007 I bought my first BE loose-powder eyeshadow and liked it, and began looking for lower-costing alternatives and a better color payoff and shade range. I may fall "out of love" with beauty again in my lifetime, but this latest bout has lasted six years so I think this one my stick! Beauty blogs have been a great resource to seeing other looks and techniques discussed, without the hard-sell surroundings that are often found in magazines. (Yay ad-blockers! I'm often a bit shocked if I happen to browse to one of my regular reads while using a browser where I don't have ad-blocking turned on, and I actually see all the adverts they have all over their site!)
2. What prompted me to start Sparklecrack Central.
I'm a list-maker. I write about things, I compare things. And I needed a quick way to organize my growing collection, and share my findings with others - especially indie- and boutique-eyecolors compared to BE shadows, even sometimes indie-vs-indie comparisons. I've been blogging since the late 1990s, so I knew how to set up a blog and I had my own webspace. I just hadn't had the need to put up a beauty blog before.
3. How long as SPC been around.
I launched the site on January 9, 2009 - so it's just finishing its fourth year of life.
4. What do I expect from other bloggers who post on my site.
Basic civility toward myself and toward the other commenters (and viewers), no hard-sell self-promotion, an enthusiasm for what they're talking about. Constructive critique is welcomed (truly constructive critique, like "That color seems a bit golden-toned, one that's a bit cooler might work better with the overall look you've built (or would accent your eyes so well)" rather than backhanded comments like "I could never wear such a bright color I'd feel like a cheap prostitute, but it looks great on you!!" There's a very fine line between sincere constructive criticism and insult-liments.)
5. How SPC came to be.
...wow. Tall order :) It started out because I like listing and comparing things, I like writing, and I like constructing web sites (and I also use them to test out and expand my web development skills and usability techniques.) Like lots of other sites, it's a constant work in progress. This is only the second design-theme that I've had, but I've added to and rearranged the sidebar quite a lot. I've got some other ideas in mind that I want to add next year - ways to reward peoples' participation - but I have to figure out how to make them work.
6. What can we expect from SPC in 2013.
I keep meaning to start a video channel, because I'd like to learn how to edit videos and add that skill to my portfolio; but Real Life keeps getting in the way! Site-wise, I have a few ideas, but they're still in the formative stages. Mostly it will be more of the same: more color- and product-reviews, hopefully more looks this year than in 2012. I also want to try a few more participation-events like the Alphabet Nail Challenge that I did last year. And even though my own last week of posts was a bit spotty (illness! blah!!) I do enjoy putting together the Beauty Blog Advent Calendar.
There are no other contributors to the site. I do all the writing, the coding, the photography, the graphics. I haven't posted any guest posts on SPC, and don't know if I will - if I do, it will probably be invite-only rather than "sign up to do a guest post" because I don't want the extra work of reading through guest posts or proposals to sift out the spammy posts and "free advertising" kind of thing. I tried a mutual-interview program a few years ago, and that started out nicely but fell on its face as more people signed up but elected not to participate if their assigned partners weren't high-traffic enough, or popular enough, or what-have-you.
Thank you for doing this LiAnn, 2013 will be a great year for you and SPC.
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