2 years a blogger!

On January the 28th 2015 I published my very first blog post, little did I know 2 years later I would be sat here writing up my 2 year bloggiversary post with the 4k+ following I have gained throughout my time as a blogger. I am extremely lost for words if I’m honest, I don’t know where to begin I am just so grateful for everything I have achieved from brand deals to making many new friends in the blogging community.

I began blogging as a creative outlet for my passion for beauty, fashion and lifestyle topics. Over the past year this has narrowed down to more specifically beauty as not only my makeup collection but my makeup addiction has grown significantly! Blogging is my safety net, my own little space on the internet away from the troubles and calamities of daily life. It takes me away from the world for a short while whilst I dedicate time to writing up posts, taking photographs and editing them. Blogging is more than a hobby, it’s a part of me now and if it wasn’t for blogging I still would be unsure of what I want to do when I leave college.

My dream career is to be a makeup artist however whilst working towards that slowly I want to do something else first, not just to financially support me but I want it to be something I love. Like they say, if you find a job you love you’ll never have to work a day in your life. I am a firm believer of this saying and want to be in a job I love and have a passion for! University was definitely crossed off my list, I’m barely making it through college so I want out of solid education as soon as possible. I looked towards apprenticeships where you earn whilst you learn, sounded perfect to me! I discovered that social media and digital marketing apprenticeships are a thing! It links in very well with blogging and managing social media accounts professionally which is similar to what I do with my blog, I finally knew what I wanted to do when I leave college and all thanks to blogging, had I never blogged I probably wouldn’t have even looked in that direction.

In my first year of blogging I began a YouTube channel which after beginning college I took down due to the practicality of managing blogging, a YouTube channel and A levels. Deleting my channel is something I very much regret and I do hope to start it back up once I leave college so keep your eyes peeled for that! I stuck to blogging, I try my best to blog once a week or at times of demanding college work at least once a fortnight. Throughout my 2 years of blogging I have successfully completed blogmas not once but twice which is an achievement I am very proud of. Despite it being a very challenging commitment to take on whilst at college I managed to complete it twice!

I have had the honour of continuing to work with many brands in my second year of blogging, 2 of my favourites being Kokoa an amazing skincare brand and Six plus cosmetics who sent me some luxury must have brushes! My Instagram audience has rocketed which I am very proud of as I started and Instagram account for my blog quite a while after I began blogging. Overall I am just grateful for every single thing I have achieved throughout blogging, I have met some wonderful people and worked with some amazing brands, I can’t wait to see what my third year of blogging holds for me and many more years after that!

Here are a few questions I have been asked in terms of my first 2 years of blogging:

Rebecca Ellis asks: What have you gained most from blogging? And would you change anything about your blogging experience?

I have mostly gained confidence in my own writing, I have always been a bit of a creative writer, when I was younger I aspired to become an author! Growing up I lost confidence in my writing and didn’t think my style of writing was very engaging but blogging completely changed that! The response from my audience and friends after reading my blog really helped me grow confidence in my own writing! And I would not change a thing about my blogging experience, it is the exact experience I have had that has allowed me to grow as a blogger and a person there is not a single thing I would change!

Abby Louisa Rose Ellis asks: What is your greatest blogging achievement? What do you hope to achieve in the next 2 years? Which posts are you most proud of?

Firstly, my greatest blogging achievement has to be gaining the 4,000+ followers across all my social media platforms in the 2 years of blogging. I know it isn’t all about the followers but for me it shows me that people enjoy my content and actually like it enough to hit follow, it makes me feel more confident in publishing my work on the internet and makes me feel as though it is being appreciated so a huge thank you to all my wonderful followers making me believe in myself more by the day!

In the next 2 years I hope to achieve more with my blog layout. I want to go self hosted, purchase a layout (had my eye on one for a while now!) as I want my blog to look more professional and to be honest just better, there is always room for improvement and improving the appearance of my blog is one thing I want to work on. Not only will I feel better about my blog but it is more likely to draw in more traffic meaning the content I create to help or advise others reaches more and more people which is what I want.

The posts that I am most proud of? hmmm… This is a tough one! I will list my top 3:

1. A new scent for the new year – This is because it is different to any other post I have written, it is about a perfume rather than makeup and I am very happy with the photograph quality and written content in the post. Good photography is very important to me!

2. Am I dreaming too big? – This is a very personal post where I just put into it exactly how I felt at the time and I really like it for that one reason, how honest I am in it. I am always honest in my blog posts but I showed a lot more emotion in this one.

3. My makeup story tag – I had a lot of fun creating this blog post and reminiscing on my introduction to makeup and how I got into it. I feel as though this post is really just me and as a makeup junkie I loved sharing my thoughts on makeup, favourite brands and views on products.

I am proud of all my blog posts but specifically these 3 as they aren’t just typical blog posts, I put a lot of thought and effort into them!

Thank you so much specifically to my audience for being so engaging and supportive! To keep updated on my blog posts, progress and opportunities follow me on all of my social media platforms!

Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin, Pinterest and Envicase

Here’s to another year of blogging!

Desire4Beauty