Customer added pics?

[superwahz]

The other day I was browsing ThinkGeek's website and laughing over their "customer action shots". On every product page they have a place where users can submit pics of them wearing/using the product for prospective customers to see. I was wondering, at some point in the future would it be possible to do that on the SN site? Given how varied the make up can look on individuals, I think it would be really useful for potential customers to see how a specific color looks on someone other than a swatch (though the swatches are very useful!). Those of us that use the forum already benefit from pics of other users wearing the make up, but I bet there are loads of customers that don't have the time to browse, or are scared of forums.

I'm sure implementing it would be a big task, but I don't think I've seen many other sites that do it (especially make up sites). The only other one I can think of is E.L.F., they allow attaching pictures into review comments. The descriptions that are with the reviews now on the SN site are helpful, but combined with pics I think it would be spectacular! Though I don't know if my pocketbook could handle all the new colors I'd NEED if every time I browsed the site I saw people rockin' colors I don't have...

[Xarata]

tmm keeps a customer photos page. They also put a wet swatch and a dry swatch on every color's page and used to put an EOTD-type photo on each color's page (which of course tempted you into the colors that just looked amazing with it)- not sure why they took them down when they redid their site though. I loved the eye photos, they were great- i tried so many colors that were outside my box based on those photos...

[Cupcake]

I've got to admit, I do all my shopping from Jen's swatch photos. Any good, clear, focused swatch photo is helpful. I would ideally like to see a swatch accompany every colour, like the Fyrinnae site for eyeshadows, as swatches really do help sell mineral eyeshadows. It would be a massive job to do as it's a difficult thing to do justice to in home-quality photos.

I'm not sure if adding customer photos to the main site would work. I'm thinking about the extra workload in moderating them and the inevitable admin time spent on assisting people emailing with techy uploading questions.

[superwahz]

Xarata- See, bad for the pocketbook! Actually, I think having a general "customer pics" page or an EOTD pic on each color's page would do the trick. There are so many FOTD pics throughout the forum that I bet many users would be happy to volunteer their pic to be used if it was deemed high quality enough to do the color justice... I know I've added to my "to buy" list after browsing through them!

Cupcake- I do pretty much all my shopping from Jen's swatches too (as well as other swatches here in the forum), she does a fantastic job with them! For me, those swatches are great because I can imagine what they'll look like blended out or heavily foiled on. But I know several women who can't do that and find swatches a bit intimidating. For instance, my mother was convinced a lot of the colors on the site wouldn't work for her based on the swatches because they looked too pigmented, but after having me swatch them on her arm with a dry brush she could clearly see they were all very wearable colors...and walked away with all my empty jars filled with samples.

I guess the home quality of the photos is part of the charm IMO... They may not be the highest quality, but somehow they still seem to show enough to get a good idea of things. But I agree, implementing it would probably be a nightmare and not doable any time soon! It's more of an "in the future" sort of suggestion. A girl can dream, right?

[lilychemgirl]

Aromaleigh is going to start showing each shadow foiled, dry, over cream liner, as a one wash on an eye and... one other way, I can't remember. I think (although this would be a heck of a lot of work) that this would be an amazing way to sell colours. I love the forum for that, but for customers who don't want to browse/ask questions I think a few more pictures would be fantastic.

[karen]

I have a feeling it would be tough to add to the site, and I can guarantee that someone, sometime will upload some sort of inappropriate picture. I know we have Climax blush, but you shouldn't have to send the kids out of the room just to buy some makeup. The solution is we moderate it, but gosh that doesn't sound like fun, and I don't like to edit or delete any user comments. The user generated parts of the site should be as authentic, un-prompted, and unedited as possible.

BUT there's no reason people should have to sift though hundreds of posts to find a swatch. Give me a day or two, and I'll swap some things around on the forum.