What I've Learned About Blogging Since Working in SEO

Hello! What feels like a major case of 'long time no see' is back and to be honest, it feels good to be back.

For those of you that actually remember who I am (thanks!), I'm the person who started up this blog and then neglected it when I got a job. Yes - I feel bad but let's move on.

If you didn't catch the memo from my last post - which let's face it, you probably didn't - then you'll know that I recently got a new job! I've been working as a PR exec at an SEO agency and though that this blog could be brought back to life with the new stuff I've been learning.

So what better way to kick things off than with what I've learned so far?

MAC Rebel Lipstick Review

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of bold lipsticks. Anything from MAC's Russian Red to the Kate Moss 107 lipstick, I'm obsessed with. There's just something about bold lipsticks that I can't put my finger on but I can't get enough of them. An old bold lipstick favourite of mine is MAC's Rebel; one that I loved last year but somehow found it's way to the back of my makeup collection and not been used since. In a bid to downsize my collection and get use out of my old products, I 'shopped my stash' and fell in love with this all over again.

New In: Makeup Geek

If there's one brand that I've seen hyped-up to the heavens, it's Makeup Geek. Since it's only readily-available in the US, the cost of shipping & delivery time has put me off ever ordering from them. Earlier this month was my birthday so I thought I'd treat myself to a litter order - it's safe to say it won't be my last! As soon as my parcel came I photographed it, swatched and then played around, ending up wearing way too much makeup for a Tuesday morning... Isn't that always how makeup deliveries play out?

What Do the MAC Lipstick Finishes Mean?

I seem to always mention this on my blog but I remember the first day I bought a MAC lipstick like it was yesterday. I walked in with no idea what I wanted (or what to expect), and I found the whole 'buying my first bit of expensive makeup' thing a bit overwhelming. The colours, smells and different consistencies confused me - not to even mention the finishes. Over the years I've been collecting them, I've gotten to grips with the different finishes so I thought I'd create a quick guide for anyone who was confused as me!

The Ultimate Weekend Pamper Routine

Weekends have always been (and should always be!) a time for relaxing. I don't know about you, but that never happens. I have these great ideas to have a pamper, spa-like Sunday and it never ends up happening; The Affair and Pretty Little Liars really is taking over my life. My New Years' resolution was to create a Sunday pamper routine, every single Sunday. So far it's not happened, but here are my favourite tips for creating an amazing pamper night!

How Are You Doing? 04

Hello and welcome back to the newly-revamped Peonies in Paris! I've spent most of the weekend (and my lunch breaks at work!) redesigning this blog and for the first time in what seems like forever, I think I'm getting back to my old self. A lot of things have happened since I last posted on here and I felt like another episode of 'How Are You Doing?' would be the best way to catch-up. So, here are this weeks' questions!

Writing for Me

Wow, so this is weird.

I've been blogging for almost four years of my life, both personally and professionally, and I don't actually know where to start. It's not often I'm lost for words but to come back to this space and have it feel like a ghost-town is really hard to explain.

It's no secret that this space hasn't had my full attention over the past few months and for the second half of last year, it dawned on me that the reason I don't feel like coming back to this space is down one thing: the blogging community.

How Are You Doing? 03

Hello and happy Sunday! It's time for one of my favourite posts of the week; How Are You Doing? I always mention how I feel like the blogging community is being silenced by the use of Twitter and other social media. Yes it's great how you can spark up a conversation with someone so quickly, but where are the days when we'd leave comments as long as essays on a blog post, and actually get a meaningful reply? Anyway, here are my questions for this week!

Home Comforts

• Being tucked up in bed by the grand old time of 8pm because you're just too wild & can't be tamed • Watching trashy TV. That's right, TOWIE, The Real Housewives & Jerseylicious - you just can't beat it! • Being able to look (and feel like) complete shit but it's totally acceptable. • Fluffy slipper socks. Need I say no more? • Feeling like you're being spied on 24/7 when your cat sits and watches you bathe. And go to the toilet. And sleep. • Fairy lights & cozy blankets. • Being greeted by a purring kitten as soon as you open the door • Hot chocolate in the big soup mugs, not forgetting to add mountains of whipped cream & enough marshmallows to drown in •

5 Things to Do When You're Out and Have No Internet

Is there actually a life offline? So many times when I'm stuck without internet or I've ran out of data, I feel lost. There's times when I've been on 2 hour-long bus journeys with no internet or WiFi, and I've questioned everything from the point of a dinosaur's existence to who names colours. If you're stuck in the same boat as me and are wondering what life was before the Internet, I've compiled a list of fun things to do when you've ran out of internet.

How Are You Doing? 02

Yay! We're back with another How Are You Doing? post - one of my favourite features on this blog. I mentioned in the last post of this series that the aim of this is to try and get back a fostered community over here, giving us both the opportunity to get to know each other better. So if you have the time to write back a comment to these questions, I would really appreciate it!

01.  How are you doing today?
02.  What are your plans for today? Or what have you done today?
03.  What's your opinion on Kim Kardashian?
04.  Are you a night-out or night-in kinda person?
05.  What's your favourite part of the year?
06.  If you could have one super power, what would it be?

Here are my answers:

01.  I'm doing great today! It's currently a Sunday evening and I'm writing this waiting for I'm A Celebrity, but I'm doing great :)
02.  Today I've been re-designing my blog, chilling and eating food with my boyfriend! They're my favourite days.
03.  Personally, I love her. Even if she does appear in 99% of the news feeds I read.
04.  I'm definitely a night-in person! I live for nights where I can just snuggle in my pjs with blankets, hot chocolates and trashy TV. Definitely beats nights out!
05.  WINTER. Christmas, hats, snow, hot chocolate and I'm A Celeb. Say no more.
06.   Definitely to be invisible! Imagine how many things you could get away with!

Hi... Again.

Let's start by saying that this post is a long time coming. Life has been pretty hectic over the past few months and unfortunately, my blog has been put to the bottom of the 'things to do' pile. I think over the past year, the blogger burnout has hit everyone in the community at some point, but for me, it's been longer than a few weeks.

Some good news - I got a new job! I'm now working as a PR Executive, writing blog posts and general PR-stuff. The blogs I now run (as well as this one!) are Celebricious, a lifestyle blog, and Mozbot for more techy people. So obviously, my job has been put top on the priority list but now that I've settled in, I'm attempting to make more of an effort on this little space.

Like 99% of the time when I have burnout when it comes to my blog, I've changed the design. Again. The lovely Valerie from the blog Moonlit Stories has her own blog template shop (visit it here!) and I'm in love with it. I always find that I feel so much more refreshed when in comes to changing my design, and this is definitely one of my favourites I've ever had!

So, I've got a few questions for you. First of all - do you love the new layout as much as I do? And secondly, what do you want to see? Beauty posts, days in my life, my style - tell me what you like to read!

Bloom & Wild Letterbox Flower Deliveries

Readers of my blog should know about my love for flowers - it's documented all over the place with the most obvious hint being my name (my blog name, that is... I'm not actually called Peonies although it would be pretty cool if I was). Over the past couple of months I've heard more and more about Letterbox Flowers and new flower subscription services so when Bloom and Wild offered to send me a bouquet of flowers to review, I obviously jumped at the chance.

The Sophia bouquet was delivered through my letterbox, much to my mum's surprise (the actual words she used were, "Elise, why have we just got flowers in the post?"). I was actually shocked about how quickly they were delivered, with the time from them being ordered to in a vase in my bedroom just under one day. 

One thing I loved about this service that you don't really get with other flower arrangements is the ability to arrange them yourself. Flower bouquets usually come pre-arranged to the florist's taste but you are able to style these how you like, adding and/or removing bits you don't like. The delivery itself comes with a mini notebook with tips to advise you on how they would look their best, but the end result is completely up to you. 

For some reason that I can't quite figure out, this flower bouquet took weeks longer to wilt than usual flower bouquets from other shops. I kept them on my windowsill, added the flower food that came with the flowers and added water, but they just would not wilt. The longest I've ever had flowers without them wilting is around 5-7 days. These lasted almost 2 weeks, and even then they were still not fully-dead!

Overall I'm so happy with this bouquet and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a flower subscription service. They're available as a one-off parcel or 3 month subscription. I know what's on my Christmas list!

MAC Soar Lip Pencil Review

One product that has been on my wishlist for the longest time. MAC's Soar lip pencil (and also Velvet Teddy) seem notoriously hard to track-down after Kylie Jenner mentioned she used it to perfect her pout. I finally managed to get my hands on it after trying to find it for over a year, and I'm so glad I did! I'm a bit late to the party with the whole 'KJ lip' thing but better late than never, right?

Soar is such a gorgeous shade and also very unusual. It's a pink-toned, mauvey neutral shade which looks amazing on all skintones. Because my skin is so fair, I find pink-toned lipstick more suiting than that of a brown/beige toned one - if you're struggling and along the same lines of me, I'd definitely recommend Soar. One thing I love about this product is that it's the perfect pencil for over-lining your lips. Due to it being matte it doesn't show the line where your natural lips end, and just looks like a perfectly natural pout.

This is my first MAC lip pencil and as for the actual pencil itself, I'm positively surprised! I've found in the past that although MAC lipsticks are amazing, there are more amazing ones than them - the only reason why I stick with certain MAC lipsticks is if I can't find a good enough dupe for the shade. This pencil is amazing and doesn't cling to dry patches or dry out your lips like most pencils do. I have to say, I think this Autumn I'll be reaching for this over some classic Autumnal shades!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet

Last year, for me, was the year of the liquid lipstick. It seems like in 2014 every brand from high-end to drugstore had their own take on them. One of the most exciting and memorable makeup launches from 2014 is still a product that I'm obsessed with ten months later - the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvets. I picked these up in the early months of last year and they're the only lipsticks I lean towards on a daily basis, so much so that I've come to the conclusion that they're the best lipsticks ever. Big statement, right? Here's why.

The thing I love most about these is the formula. They're liquid lipsticks that dry matte, to an almost powder-like finish. Unlike any other liquid lipsticks that I know of, layering is not a problem at all and you can toss on as many coats as you want without any flaking, smudging or disturbing the colour. The most impressing thing about the formulas are the staying power - seriously, I've never come across anything that stains my lips as much as these! I love that though - it means the color isn't going anywhere.

Another thing I love about these is the colour range. Peach Club is my favourite out of the three that I own, which is a surprisingly bold, opaque nude shade. Ole Flamingo! is a stunning hot pink, again with amazing pigmentation. Hot Pepper is another great shade, a post-box red that looks stunning on everyone. Feel Unique are also doing an amazing deal on these (3 for only £12!) so I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on them if you can!

You Know You're A Beauty Blogger When...

Ever since starting my blog a few years ago, there's more and more things I find myself doing that my mum likes to define as a 'typical beauty blogger'. Since I began my blog I try my hardest not the fit in the typical 'beauty blogger' mould but come on, can you really resist the new Naked palette? I didn't think so.

○  No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to just walk past Boots.
○  Checking CultBeauty and Debehams daily just to check there's nothing you missed.
○  When you buy a magazine, you flick through looking for the beauty adverts rather than the actual articles.
○  "This red lipstick is NOT the same to the other 78 I own, trust me..."
○  A spending ban will never work.
○  Wearing a full face of makeup to pop to Tesco, because you NEED to try out that new eyeshadow.
○  Trying your absolute hardest to create an amazing winged liner and when you finally crack it, no photo can do it justice.
○  Your mum will always ask "Elise has anyone reviewed this product?" before she buys it.

5 Ways to Easily Refresh Your Blog

If haven't been around these parts for a while you might notice a difference - my blog design! I decided to get rid of the pastel pink scheme and just stick to monochrome & it's safe to say that I'm loving it. There's not many things better to get you in the blogging-mood than to have a refresh, so today I'm coming at you with five super easy tips for a blog Spring clean. If you're feeling unmotivated, sick with your blog design or just want to de-clutter your blog, I have a feeling that this will be the post for you!

Declutter your sidebar

y far one of the most satisfying to sort through and it makes such a huge difference once it's been de-cluttered and gotten rid of all the gadgets you don't use. I personally go by the rule of getting rid if I haven't used it personally in over 2 months, or doesn't make a difference to my blog/readers. I also really like to add a lot of spacing between gadgets to make it look as clean as possible & also use a similar colour scheme to tie in with the rest of my design.

Update your photo

I love being able to click on a site and be able to see the person behind the blog straight away; it feels much more personal. I like to refresh the image in the top of my side bar for two reasons - a) it's nice to have a change, and b) I get bored too quickly! I'd also recommend using a clear photo that's not too small to see properly.

Change your fonts

Fonts make such a massive difference when it comes to the design and accessibility of a blog. Personally, I like to stick to easy-to-read fonts like Arial, Georgia or Times New Roman, then leave the fancy fonts to titles and headings. I'd also recommend keeping to two/three different fonts to make your design look uniform.

A new header?

Following on from the previous point, a new header is one of the crucial parts of a blog and updating it now & again will do no harm. Again, make sure it fits with your colour scheme and is big enough (and clear enough) to read.

Revisit your pages

Another great way to refresh your blog is to revisit the pages you use. I like to update my About and Shop pages recently because I'm always changing, getting new ideas or recieving inspiration from somewhere that changes me. About pages are one of the first things I visit when I go to a new blog because I like to see who's behind it and get to know them a little better.

How Are You Doing? 01

Without a doubt, my favourite blog post this week was Food for Thought by Daisybutter. Michelle has always been one of my favourite bloggers and the way she writes is something I really do love, and this post especially struck a chord with me. She mentioned how the blogging community used to be post-Twitter chats, and I really do miss the actual blog-focused community on blogging. The times where we'd communicate via blog comments, leave actual meaningful comments and get to know each other via our blogs. I feel like more valuable friendships were formed that way, and I'm really going to make an effort to get to know the people who read my ramblings. I don't know why you do it, but thanks! To get to know you a little more I want to do what Michelle did - ask you some questions.

1. Where are you from? And do you blog?
2. Do you have any nicknames?
3. How was your day?
4. What's your least favourite word?
5. What made you happy in this past week?
6. What did you do for your last birthday?
7. What's your favourite hobby (minus-blogging)?

Here's my answers:

1. I'm from Manchester (UK) and of course I blog!
2. Ever since I was young, my dad has always been the person to give me the most nicknames. He calls me Ellie-bellie (I could eat for England), Sweet Pea and when my neighbor had her daughter, she always called me Melise as she couldn't pronounce my name. She's almost 6 now and still thinks that's my name!
3. So far, my day has been great. I'm meeting my boyfriend later for lunch and a movie date - they're my favourite days!
4. Moist - even typing it makes me cringe haha.
5. Getting another job interview! I've been on a job-search for the past month and I've actually got an interview with a company doing social media and digital marketing... Wish me luck!
6. For my last birthday I had a quiet one eating out at a favourite country pub with my family.
7. My favourite hobby is probably eating out (surprise surprise). My boyfriend gets sick of the words "can we eat out tonight" hahaha. Sorry Kyle.

5 Tips to Defining Your Personal Style

One thing I find hardest about the whole fashion dilemma is defining your personal style. I honestly think that you're never too early to change the direction of how you want to style/dress yourself, whether that be in your teens or 50's. Let's face it, your personal style will gradually change throughout your life (would you still wear the fourteen year old-you's hot pants in your seventies? I doubt it, but whatever floats your boat!) but you always need a rough idea of where to start, and that's usually the toughest. I've conjured up a little checklist to defining your personal style with tips that have helped me and that are so much fun to do.

Know your shape & what flatters you

How many times have you seen a gorgeous jumper on someone walking in the street, you finally hunt it down and it looks ridiculous on you? It's all down to trial & error and what flatters your body shape. On myself I steer clear of shorter dresses, strapless t-shirts and anything brightly coloured. I'm a minimalist at heart!

Do your research!

Of course, we're talking about the genius that is Pinterest for this step. Start by creating your account & dedicate a board solely to fashion. The only rule is that you need to pin what you'd actually wear. If you're really into your fashion and enjoy looking at other people's style to be inspired, create another board but don't mix the two! By pinning the things you'd wear, you're more likely to reference back to it when you're out shopping. Personally, my board mainly consists of denim & monochrome.

Justify

Can you really afford £100 on a new, plain white t-shirt? I doubt it. By all means purchase investment pieces, but make sure you can seriously justify them so you don't regret them further down the line.

Clear out regularly

Personal style is ever-changing. Would you really wear the bootcut jeans you wore out ten years ago? Nope - clear it out! Sort your clothes into three piles - keep, maybe and throw. The 'keep' pile contains items you've worn within the past 3 months and you couldn't live without, ie. the classic plain white tee or a pair of skinny jeans. The 'maybe' pile is items you haven't worn in the past 3 months but you can still find a use for. This is mainly the pile for special occasion clothes like wedding guest dresses. The 'throw' pile is everything you haven't worn for at least 6 months and you'll never find a use for them. When it comes to the clear out, you need to be harsh. None of this "I'll find a use for it! It's too nice to throw away!" rubbish. You probably won't find a use for it and you don't technically have to throw it away. Sell it or give it to family and friends, then you have a bit more cash & wardrobe space to buy more - it's a win-win situation!

Enjoy it!

Experimenting with fashion is one of my favourite things to do and sometimes, some of the best results come from the ideas you never expected. If you buy something without trying it on first, you bring it home & don't like it - sell it! Nobody's holding you to it. No matter how much you bought it for or what style it is, it will suit someone's body shape/budget perfectly.

Leighton Denny I Am Goddess Collection

items are PR samples*

I've forgotten the amount of times I mention how much I love Autumn - the Pumpkin Spiced Lattes from Starbucks, the cosy blankets, the multiple layers of clothes and of course, the hair, makeup & nail polishes. I was lucky enough to be sent a few nail polishes from the new Leighton Denny I Am Goddess range and I have to say, I'm completely blown away.

Leighton Denny are often forgot about when it comes to buying nail polishes and they're seriously underrated - I'd even go as far to say as their formula is my favourite ever (and that's a pretty big statement to make). Everything from the brush, the opacity and the thickness of the product is perfect, making it so easy to apply. I reckon I could even apply this on the train, it's that easy!

The colors I have are Aphrodite's Love, a gorgeous purple/olive hybrid, and Queen Hera, a metallic chrome shade. Out of the two, Aphrodite's Love is my favourite because of how versatile it is. I apply this over something like Rimmel's Black Cherries nail polish to give it a something extra and the opacity is perfect - enough for it to be noticeable but not overpowering.

What's your favourite nail polish for Autumn?