Hey  gorgeous beauts ! How has your day been so far ? It is so rainy and muggy I hate it but that is what you get when it comes to April ! “‘April showers bring May flowers!”. If this weather is going to look prettier in May I am down for it , even though that means suffering while I am inside . But what can you do ! Today I waned to share with you guys all about my blogging lifestyle , how I write my blogs , the 411, how I get my photographs and all that fun stuff ! If there was a blog that shared all this information with me when I was first starting out I would have been on cloud 9!  I literally would of had it made ! Instead, I mostly figured everything out on my own with trial and error ! That’s how ya learn right ? I made a post a couple years ago on my blogging journey and why I chose to start blogging . If you guys want to check that out it’s a little ways back in my previous blogs. This post is going to be a more up to date one and I am excited to share with you guys all my secrets! So shall we get down to business or what?! 

WordPress

I never really knew much about blogs when I first started out as I was never really much of a writer personally. I hated writing essays and just hated making time for them. The idea of writing about something that interests me such as beauty, makeup and life related topics really got me wanting to blog. I personally don’t know if there are any other good blogging sites but I decided to give WordPress a try ever since seeing ” Christina Gooding’s”‘blogging channel. I decided to give it a quick peak and was blown away at how much amazing content she had on there . I loved the idea of being able to freely express yourself , and literally designing your own page . So if it wasn’t for her , I probably never would have gotten started on blogging. I pulled up WordPress and I was so overwhelmed with everything . I didn’t even know where to start!  I had no idea what to call my site and literally sat there for hours pondering. I thought to myself , ” what interests me ?”, and that’s when it came to me , “‘the little things “. I decided to name my site “it’s the little things in life that matter”, simply because that is what I always believed in. I don’t think life is about giant surprises and expecting things. It’s that quick kiss before your boyfriend goes to work , that tight hug when you say goodbye to your little sisters or mom’s amazing homemade pizza . Having a site labelled that could mean endless opportunities to different topics that I could share. So now that I had that down pat, it was all about creating the format and layout for my blog. I knew right away that I wanted to discuss beauty related topics 100% but changed my initial thought of ” beauty blogger” to ” beauty related topics and life advice“. Being a generally quiet person, I have never really gotten the chance to speak my mind and share my views on things. Now having a blogging site allows me to share my thoughts and opinions about life related topics. I was generally pleased with the content I was going to be focusing on within this blog. I also wanted to keep my blog very open when discussing topics. It’s pretty much what inspires me that certain week whether it be a makeup look or a life event, and I will start writing away.  With my layout I wanted to keep it very simple , I did not want anything complicated or hard to follow. I then started writing my first blog once I had a layout down pat .  I uploaded my first blog post ever on August 8, 2015 I believe , quite a ways back! Obviously I was very new with blogging and had a more younger mindset I believe too.

( also had some dark hair happening!) 

I was very interested in beauty products at the time and was not really into the whole lifestyle topics at first. When I first wrote my first “life advice “ blog post , it was on ” 5 things I wish I would’ve known earlier”, and I literally thought , “hey, I really enjoyed writing that and sharing my life views on this”. That was when I knew I had the right content on my blog.

I kind of left blogging for a little bit at one period of my life just because I was not really inspired at the time and did not know exactly what to blog about. One thing about being a blogger is you have to be inspired and want to actually write a blog. If you are simply forcing yourself , you won’t enjoy it , it will seem more like a chore as opposed to a hobby or career. I eventually came back into blogging not too long ago , probably about two months ago maybe , and just was inspired all at once to continue to blog about more things.  Once I started back up again , I received comments from family members stating that ” I had talent and this was my calling“. That really surprised me. Usually I do not think too highly of myself so having someone say something so nice like that gave me the boost of confidence that I needed to hear.  I then thought, ” wow okay I can do this and I actually enjoy doing this… maybe I can get somewhere”. That was when friends of mine would reach out stating that they enjoy reading my blogs or even friends of friends who I had no idea read them … I was flattered! And now here we are today! As I started to take blogging more serious these days , I started being more consistent with my blogs as well. Back then I would post once a week then once a month. Now I keep it weekly and try to write whenever I am inspired to do so. The other day I recently changed the layout of my blog and purchased it for $66.00, which is not bad at all ! I wanted something that was going to be different and look more professional. I then chose and made a cute logo for my channel. My signature phrase is ” much love xo “, this has just always stuck with me ever since I can remember.  I think it’s catchy and it’s personalized as well. Same goes for the word ” beauts” who I refer to you beautiful people by . I have always loved this word for some reason and it just stuck as well.  So I decided to create my logo instead of always writing out ” much love xo”, it is now changed to :

Which I think looks super cute and suites my personality well. I made this logo with the app called , “LogoMaker” and it was literally super easy to make . I am also happy that I have incorporated the social media icons on my homepage now so I do not have to take the time to keep writing it out , kind of gets tiring not going to lie ! So now you beauts can find my other social media accounts located there.

Photography

One of my most favourite parts about completing a blog is my photography and pictures located within in . I am so fortunate to have a best friend who is an amazing photographer , her name is Katherine Steele “ksteelephotography” and you can find her on Instagram at “Katherine Steele”. A lot of my more professional pictures come from Katherine which I adore.  What a gem. 

She literally tells me what to do and sets me all up I love it. Usually I bring a change of clothes for the sessions just to spice things up a bit . For the session above , I wanted a more ” chill” atmosphere but as for the one below , I wanted more sophisticated ( both of these were shot one after the other).

Recently , probably three months ago a beautiful soul posted an item on Kijiji that changed my life forever… not even exaggerating! I bought mutself a ” diva ring light “,  which helps brighten up my pictures and helps them look more professional. For every single one of my pictures that I take by myself I will always use my ring light. I find that I can not go back without one now that I have tried this method. My pictures always look so professional and flattering that I am in love over my own pictures… conceited bitch much ? Just kidding! 

Editing

When it comes to editing I literally take it very seriously . Even my boyfriend will say to me “you take hours editing“, I know ! That’s because I need my pictures to look perfect and presentable on my blog. Does that mean I edit the shit out them taking away my wrinkles and freckles ? Absolutely not. I do not alter how I look in my photos , I simply add a filter or words into my pictures . Some of the wonderful apps that I use on a daily basis include:

• Photo editor
• MOLDIV
• BeFunky
• InstaSize
• Font candy
• Boomerang

Those are probably my ” go to ” apps that I love using for my picture when it comes to editing them . I usually use the photo editor for some of the stickers in my photos , and the MOLDIV for the texts within my pictures . I have been really loving bomerang lately as well so I have been starting to get the hang of that lately!  When it comes to filters , I usually use the ones the Instagram provides. I absolutely love ” slumber ” and “crema“, I think the colours look absolutely gorgeous on my photographs.

Inspiration

What usually inspires me to write my content can be a number of things . When it comes to my life advice , usually something happened that triggers my thoughts and gears towards a blog. Some examples from the top of my head include : my letter to my bully , I was bullied in high school quite badly and my younger sisters were being bullied at the time . This influenced me to write a post geared towards bullying and what I have to say to my bully. Another one was ” dear 16 year old self “, my sisters were having a tough time in school mind you they were only in elementary school but I wanted them to know the ins and outs what my 16 year old self did and what I want them to know about in high school. I love the life related articles because I am so influenced strongly by things around me . When it comes to makeup tutorials it could be a night out where I was playing around with a palette that inspired me to do a post . Or even Pinterest is excellent for different ideas for tutorials. I have to be in the mood for makeup which I usually am 99% of the time! I then play around with my palettes and see which looks I can create! I am usually inspired by things around me and that’s where a majority of my blogs come from. I like to be down to earth in my blog posts and extremely honest. With my social anxiety mini blog series I was 110% real with you guys and was actually hesitant to write them in the first place. I was not sure what kind of feedback I would get , but I thought to myself “I wish someone would have posted these treatment session groups at the time when I was considering therapy”.  I want my advice to help someone , even if it’s just one person. My aim in my blogs is to inspire people to be themselves and to try new things.

Blogging vs YouTube ? 

I have been told several times now to consider starting a YouTube channel. I have thought about this a million times trust me I just don’t have the proper equipment for it at the moment. I know some people are going to say just use your phone or you’re fine ! I am a perfectionist when it comes to my channel and I know I will get down on myself if I personally think my videos are not that great of quality. Also I do no know how I would be in front of the camera. I know for a fact I would not feel comfortable vlogging…. hey guys give me a break it’s been 1 week out of group therapy.  I would always wonder who’s watching or what other people are thinking which sucks but that is just how I am ! Maybe one day I will try YouTube but for now , I am Sticking to WordPress and blogging. I like to be behind the computer and have my personal space.

I would highly recommend that those who are slightly interested in blogging to try it out for yourselves ! That is exactly what I did and look at where I am today ! I also want to take the time to thank my followers for reading my blogs you guys have no idea how much that means to me ! Thank you so much ! I have wrote over 70 blog posts and still continue to keep on writing! I hope you guys enjoyed this post , be sure to follow my other social media accounts located on my home page !

Have a great rest of your week!