Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Marissa Deane @rissasbeautyandboxaddiction

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

Hi! My name is Marissa and I am a wife to an US Army veteran, mother to 7 children, and a beauty & food fanatic! I live in Roanoke, VA, USA and I currently blog about beauty, skincare, food, & wellness with an emphasis on Green Beauty and Korean Beauty.

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

I am completely addicted to Korean/Asian Beauty products while having an affinity for Green Beauty products as well. I personally believe that makeup and skincare should be fun & effective yet as natural as possible, what you put on your body is as important as what you put in it! I think I probably lean towards more skincare posts on Instagram as I find it to be a crucial step in anyone’s daily routine and the first line of defense against premature aging. I also like to post about food as I am a huge Foodie and I love to cook as well. Lastly, I like to tie my beauty and food posts together with posts on wellness as well. I am a firm believer in taking care of one’s self both inside and out!

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

My Instagram name is a combination of my nickname “Rissa” and my favorite things that I reviewed when I first started which were Beauty products & Subscription Boxes. I started by reviewing beauty subscription boxes and it eventually morphed into an awesome mix of both worlds. Through reviewing subscription boxes I was introduced to more beauty & skincare companies which lead to more product reviews and becoming a product tester for several beauty brands.

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

I love using Instagram, No Crop, & FaceTune as my main photo editing apps. I generally start by using Instagram to fix things like lighting and color but generally don’t use many filters. Your pictures will garner more likes and attention when your photo is bright, clear, and has a warmness to it’s coloration. Then I will sharpen my image to bring out more details & smooth out imperfections in my FaceTune app. FaceTune is great for whitening teeth, bringing out more details, and giving any picture a more polished and professional look. But while they have filters and frames as well I still shy away from these features as they tend to be obsolete when I tweek my photos in Instagram first. Lastly, and only when needed, I use No Crop to make sure my picture will fit in Instagram’s frame and/or to add any words to my pictures like when I do swatches of lipstick to depict each shade in the picture. Above anything, I have learned that photo editing is so crucial to learn as a social media influencer more than anything else. Great pictures lead to more and better followers overall.

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

Some of my favorite Instagrammers area mix of my peers and businesses I love most. In the Green Beauty department I love following Organic Bunny, The Real Mom Review, Sarita Cohen & The Fabulush. For my Asian/Korean Beauty I adore following Snow White & the Asian Pear, Bisou Beauty Bar, and Ryanroar. For Makeup I like following Glamour & Giggles, VanityPrimp, & Anchored to Beauty. Honestly, I am inspired by all Instagrammers, each one has something new and unique to bring to the table whether through perspective or by creativity which only further sparks and ignites my own passion & creativity as a blogger.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

I would most certainly say one thing you have to try by now if you haven’t already is a great Sheet Mask! They are super relaxing, really help make skin glow, fantastic at combating signs of aging, and just a super fun experience overall. You can’t put on a sheet mask and look in the mirror without giggling, I promise lol! I love that they are ingredient specific to your skins needs and very affordable. Some of my favorite brands would be Leaders, Maskingdom 360, Dr Jart+, Tony Moly, Skinfood, and Karuna.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

My favorite part as an influencer is getting to voice my own opinions on products, interacting with people & companies from around the globe, and constantly pushing myself creatively whether through my pictures or the way I word my posts. Connecting to people through shared passions is the absolute best feeling when you are an Influencer!

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

My tips for brands running campaigns would be make sure your posts aren’t just informative or pretty but engaging to your followers. I love when a brand or company interacts with me online and is ten times more likely to get my business than those who don’t. Running contests occasionally from time to time is crucial as well, it gives those who haven’t experienced your product maybe a chance to and when they post about it you have a whole new spectrum of people interested in your product. I also highly believe in having a reviewer program when able as well, product reviewers have the ability to make or break a company based upon their opinion and influence and are a great way to creatively get your product noticed. Plus, like me, most people want to know from people of their own peers on whether a product really is great or too good to be true. I think you can maintain Authenticity by not simply reposting other material and creating your own instead as well as keeping your material relevant to what you are trying to promote.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

People do not follow you to see the same thing someone else has already posted twenty times, they are following you for your own original content so it is most certainly pertinent you do so. Quality of content is more important than quantity of posting. If you have clean, clean, concise pictures with well thought out original posts your Instagram will grow a million times faster than those with dark, blurry pictures with bad/no content any day.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

Getting to know the company from the ground up, (what drives them, why they started, what they stand for value wise), exploring new takes on products, and building mutually beneficial partnerships are all things I love most about partnering with brands amongst genuine interactions with them.