Where Do You Get Your Beauty Inspiration?

I absolutely loved reading each of your comments for the post Why Do You Love Makeup & What Do You Look For in a Brand! It was fun for me to read and gave me a bit of insight into your style and personality. Thank you!

Thanks to those who filled out my mini-survey on your beauty habits from a few days ago. Your responses indicated that 38% of you looked to blogs for beauty trends while 31% of you looked to magazines/publications for beauty trends the most. This was of particular interest to me because of a few recent conversations I've had about where women look for beauty inspiration and how the internet has changed the way women view fashion.

I have read beauty and fashion magazines for about a decade now and while I love the articles and layout, I have to say these days, I find most of them lacking in inspiration for someone like myself. As a woman in my late 20's I find that I end up finding only about 10-15% of the content in these major publications interesting or something that I would actually wear that is at a reasonable price.

One of my favorite magazines has a monthly feature titled "Smart Shopping: Under $500" which I find a bit ridiculous since to me "smart shopping" is not something under $500 and I have yet to see some fashion or accessory in that series that makes me go "oooh, want!" Perhaps I am just reading the publications that target a different demographic.

I used to rush to flip open to the beauty sections of these magazines - I loved the different looks or up close features from the runway and how-to's. Today, it seems like most publications are mainly advertisements and I question the validity of editor comments like "we were blown away by this product . . . " as I wonder is this product really all that or was there something extra paid for this product placement/feature?

So why do I keep shelling out money for these month after month? I have no idea. How many times have I bought an issue only to feel, "ugh, what a waste of $5" after flipping through 100 pages of product advertisements?

I've been told that print is dying. It seems that everything is moving towards a digital trend where we can get more information faster through the Internet. I find it amazing how blogs and YouTube have exploded because it allows so many people to express themselves creatively and share it with everyone and anyone.

Since we can get information faster and sooner, why pay $5 for a publication when you can get the same information (or more) on the Internet for free?

So - my fellow readers, tell me more about where do you get your beauty inspiration from.