5 Things: Blogging & Social Media

Social media is one of the most important things when it comes to blogging - unless you don't care about getting yourself & your blog 'out there'. Over the past few weeks I've been really trying and testing some of the social media tips that I've read about and although some haven't worked, some have contributed to the spike in my stats and following. By no means am I saying that blogging is all about followers, but it can be reassuring that you're putting all of the time and effort into your blog for people to read!

1 .  C R E A T E   Y O U R   A C C O U N T S 
It's likely that the people who read your blog have social media accounts all over the internet. From Twitter and Facebook to Pinterest and Tumblr, your followers are everywhere! By creating accounts and being active on there, people are always in the know when it comes to checking up on your blog. I would say the key accounts to have are Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin' and most importantly, Twitter. About 80% of my traffic comes from Twitter!

2 .  U S E R N A M E S 
If your blog name is I Love Makeup, I'd suggest keeping your social media handles along the same lines. For example, my blog name is Elise Dopson, my Twitter is EliseDopson and my Instagram is Elise_Dopson. By keeping them as similar as possible it will be easier for new readers to find you elsewhere, thus meaning they can keep up to date with you and your blog.

3 .  S H A R E   Y O U R   P O S T S
Spent over an hour writing, photographing and editing a post? Don't let it go to waste - share it! If you don't share it, how will people see it? If you don't have the time to publish a tweet every time you publish a post, schedule them.

4 . S C H E D U L E 
You have to remember that there's a chance that your readers are from all over the world and we're not all in the same time zone. Using scheduling apps like Hootsuite and Buffer can queue your posts and they get an even amount of coverage throughout the day. This one comes with a warning to not overshare! I personally schedule tweets with a link to a blog post 3 times a day - 6am, 5pm and 11pm as these are the times when people usually check Twitter.

5 .  T A L K   T O   P E O P L E ! 
See someone asking a question? Try and answer it. See someone mentioning a product that you love? Tell them! By interacting with other bloggers you make friendships and relationships and you can promote & help each other along the way in the forms of shoutouts and collaborations. Twitter chats are also a huge source of traffic for my blog and I always see a spike in stats everytime I engage in one. There's a Twitter chat for everyone, from fashion & beauty to teens & parents. To see times & dates for these chats, head over to Elaine's Twitter Chat Timetable.

What's your ultimate blogging tip?

Baby Powder Fragrance

One of my favourite scents in the whole world is baby powder. Candles, room sprays and now fragrances - you name it, I have it (and love it). I just find it so fresh and it's such a comforting scent to have, so much so that I use it almost everywhere. Whilst I was on a recent mother-daughter shopping trip in Boots, my mum spotted this Baby Powder perfume from Liberty of Fragrance. One sniff and I was hooked. Seriously, it's that addictive!

This was £15 yet Boots often have offers where you can chose two fragrances from the line and only pay £25 - if you think about it, you're getting two decent sized bottles of perfume for under £30... Crazy! This cologne really doesn't disappoint. It's subtle enough to be worn as a daily fragrance yet noticable enough to recognize the scent. It also lasts a longer time on the skin than I was expecting as I'm so used to buying cheaper perfumes that only last 15 minutes - Victoria's Secret PINK, I'm talking to you. You also get a fair amount of product in this and I can see it lasting me a long time. If you're in Boots and come across this, give it a smell! You won't regret it.

A Re-Occuring Obsession

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. Boots also often do a 3-for-2 deal on these, meaning you can get 3 amazing lipsticks for under £20 which is an amazing deal!

Upping My Brow Game

If there's one thing I struggle to master when it comes to the whole makeup shindig, it's brows. I like to think that one day it'll be laughable to look back on the current state of my brows but for now it's no laughing matter, especially when I wake up looking like a caveman. On my whole 'brow journey' since first getting them waxed, there's been highs and lows (including the time when I got them done at a salon and they looked like upside down Nike ticks) but I like to think that I'm moving up in the whole brow-game.

One of the products worth mentioning that have improved the look of my brows is the Rimmel Brow This Way kit, a recent addition to my makeup collection. It's said to be an amazing dupe for Benefit's Browzings at just a fraction of the price & it's surprisingly easy to use. The little kit comes with a wax, a powder and two small brushes, perfect for brows-on-the-go. As for staying power it's great and keeps those tiny stray hairs in place all day.

Anastasia's Brow Wiz has been a firm favourite of mine this year and again, is super easy to use. Although this is slightly more expensive at £15.50, the steep price tag is worth it to me as you get an amazingly fine nib to add individual hairs & one of the best brow spoolies I've ever tried - the spoolie is that good that I kept it solely for that reason, even though it ran out in April! Their DipBrow pomade is a relatively new addition to my collection and although I haven't used it enough to give you a full review, I'm liking it so far!

If you're on a tighter budget & can't justify the price of Brow Wiz, Soap & Glory's Brow Archery is the next-best thing. This little pen comes with a felt-tip nib and a waxy pencil to fill in the brows. I like to use the felt-tip to fill in any sparse areas and then the pencil side to set them in place. Altogether this takes a maximum of two minutes - a perfect little product to chuck in a bag if you're running late!