14 Tools That Make Beauty Blogging So Much Easier

When I started blogging all I thought I needed was a computer and a dream. After a few weeks, I realized I needed a bit more than that to really make my blog look professional.

I honestly wasn’t prepared for all of the tools I would need or even the cost that is associated with some of them. Through trial and error, I figured out what tools work best for me and make running my beauty blog so much easier. I’ve also been able to determine which ones I absolutely needed and those I could hold on to for a while till I saved up to purchase them.

I’ve compiled a list of my top 15 tools for beauty blogging. Some of these tools can be found online. Others are free and a few may be ones that you already have.

(This post includes affiliate links. Should you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you.)

Camera equipment

Of all of the tools, camera equipment is some of the most important. I’m not sure how you would blog about beauty without showing the products or yourself using the products.

While it’s important, it can also be some of the more expensive equipment. There are a few things you can do to keep costs down though. One of those is using items you already have around the house. Such as the first piece of equipment on this list.

1. Smartphone

This is what I started out using to take my photos and shoot my videos. I didn’t have money to buy a decent camera and figured it would be better for me to go the budget-friendly option first and see if I even liked this blogging thing.

Smartphones have such good cameras that most people think I’m using a DSLR to take my pictures and are really surprised when I admit I’m just using my iPhone.

Related read: 5 Free Apps To Kick Your Photo Game Up A Notch

2. DSLR

If you’re looking to go a step up then a digital camera is the way to go. A mirrorless camera is actually on my wishlist. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to get it. Depending on the digital camera your photos can come out crisper than they do with a smartphone camera. Plus, you have better options for focusing and zooming when it comes to a camera.

3. Tripod and/or clicker

Whether or not you’re using your phone or a camera a tripod and clicker are a must. Using books to prop up your phone or setting a timer for your camera gets old after a while. You can find several budget-friendly tripods and clickers online.

Lights

To take pictures and shoot videos natural light is preferred but sometimes weather and schedules don’t allow for that. So artificial light is needed. Here are the two types of light that are perfect for beauty blogging.

4. Softbox lights

I haven’t bought any lights yet but I think my first light purchase would be softbox lights. They’re a good alternative when natural light isn’t available. They are very versatile and can be used for shooting videos, taking pictures of yourself, and of products.

5. Ring light

If you shoot a lot of videos or take pictures of yourself a ring light provides some extra light directly on your face that the softboxes and natural light don’t. Personally, if you’re trying to choose between softboxes and a ring light I would choose the softboxes because they will provide better light than a ring light alone. But if you have a small budget a ring light will work just fine.

If you aren’t really or can’t spend the money on a ring light you could make one of your own. There are several YouTube tutorials showing how to do it.

Laptop

6. PC or Mac

I could have separated these two out but which type of laptop you get all comes down to preference and/or budget. I have a PC laptop but if I could do my computer purchase all over again I would pony up the extra dollars and buy a Mac laptop.

I use a Mac at my full-time job and compared to my personal PC which has a lot less use the Mac has had fewer issues with the operating system and from updates.

Plus with a Mac, you get the free iMovie video editor. Windows discontinued its video editing software so if you have a PC you have to pay for a decent one.

Photo and video editing

7. Snapseed

Photo editing is a must. Sometimes the light or shadows in your pictures just aren’t right. Even if you used a nice DSLR camera. This is where a photo editor like the free app Snapseed comes in handy. I love this app as it’s really easy to use and my dark, not-so-hot images come out looking like fire when I edit with Snapseed.

Related read: My Favorite Apps For Designing Beautiful Blog Graphics

8. Video editor

As a beauty blogger, you may decide to also shoot videos showing your makeup application or hairstyle tip in action. If that’s the case you don’t only need something to shoot the video but you need a tool to help you edit the video.

My favorite long-form video editor is iMovie. It’s free on Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The kicker is the best version of iMovie with all of the features on the Mac. The versions for the tablet and phone are somewhat limited in what you can do. Despite that, I’ve been able to make it work on my tablet.

Now if you don’t have Apple products you won’t be able to use iMovie because it was developed only for iOs systems. If you have a PC then Adobe Premiere Rush is a good choice. It’s not a free video editor but it’s not expensive and offers a good number of features for the price. Plus, it was designed with YouTubers in mind. Give Adobe Premiere Rush a try using my affiliate link.

If you're editing videos on your phone, I prefer CapCut. I do all the basics such as trimming clips, adding VO, adjusting color, and cropping for all of my short form and social media videos.

Apps

9. Later

If you’re a beauty blogger you need to be on Instagram. It’s a key destination for all things beauty-related so if you’re not there you’re missing out. 

The kicker is being active on Instagram can be very time-consuming. One of the ways I cut back on that time is by using an app like Later to help me plan and post to my Instafeed.

I use the free plan that Later has to preschedule my Instagram posts and see if the images for my upcoming posts work with my overall feed aesthetic. Plus I can have the app automatically post to my feed saving me even more time.

Use my affiliate link to try out Later for your Instagram posting.

Online tools

10. Tailwind

I’ve talked about Tailwind quite a lot so there’s really nothing new for me to say. With a Tailwind subscription, you can pre-schedule and auto-post your Pinterest pins and Instagram images. This is so handy because who has time to be on either one all day.

You can try out Tailwind yourself using my affiliate link.

Related read: How To Easily Boost Your Blog Traffic With Pinterest

11. Google Analytics

No matter what you blog about you, you need, I repeat, you need to be using Google Analytics. Not only does Google Analytics tell you how many people are visiting your blog, but who they are (in a general sense, not in a creepy way), what they are interested in, and how they found your blog. This information can help in coming up with new content ideas. 

12. Grammarly

If you’re good at editing your own writing or you just make videos then you can skip this one. But if you’re like me and need a little help with editing your posts, then you need to give Grammarly a try.

Grammarly is so helpful for me as it highlights any misspellings or grammar mistakes I make. I use it after writing my blog posts and before I set them live.

13. MailerLite

A great way to keep your readers and followers engaged is through an email newsletter and to have one you need an email service. That’s where MailerLite comes in. It’s free up to a certain number of subscribers and it helps you to easily capture subscribers, organize them, and send them emails.

You can use my affiliate to sign up and give MailerLite a try.

14. Bitly

This tool ended up at the bottom of my list just because honestly it’s not a necessity. It’s more of a nice to have. I mainly use Bitly’s free plan to create links for posts I want to link to in my YouTube video descriptions. I don’t want the descriptions to look cluttered and having a shorter link helps with that.

What tools do you recommend for blogging?