Happy 2019! I hope you all had a lovely festive period whatever you got up to : I had one of the most low-key EVER, with just me, Tom & Margot and a shit-ton of cheese and treats. I still have quality street left. Life is good.
This is my first post of the year and I’m using it carefully to say hello, have a quick check-in and update you on a few things in one quick sweep.
WHERE HAVE I BEEN?
You may or may not have missed me over on here : My posts have been few and far between over the last couple of months and that’s because, in all honesty, I was having a very tough time after the birth of Margot. I’m going to be introducing her and more about my hasthag mum life in another post ; but I had what can only be described as a complicated birth and aftermath. I have PTSD, and needed months of recovery both physically and mentally. I’m back and in a great place now so I’m finding it easier to talk about and I can focus on other things : my blog, my makeup work and all the other things in between.
BLOG DIRECTION.
No I’m not changing my blog into a MOM thang. Mainly because I’m just not *that* good at it and I started this little space on the Internet nearly 10 years ago…..for my love of makeup. I want to come back to that a little more in 2019 and re-visit the classic makeup reviews and chat, and using my experience in the industry to create posts to help others.
I will be introducing a TINY (I’m sorry) bit of mum stuff and lifestyle into the blog….because it’s simply a huge part of my life now. I promise I won’t be a mummy wanker.
RE-LOCATION.
So if having a newborn turning my life upside-down wasn’t *quite enough* , we decided to re-locate, quite drastically, a week before she was born. We were area and house-hunting in Dorset literally the week I was due. We fortunately found the dream house very quickly (we came up to do a one-day of back-to-back viewings with a 4-week old Margot in tow) and we moved a month later, in a whirlwind of packing, crying, boxes, organisation and me questioning my sanity.
We moved primarily because of Tom’s job. He got a great opportunity, the timing is good because I am on maternity leave and we just decided to take the plunge. We had wanted to move away from London for a while, and after 11 years there, I was ready and here we are. It couldn’t be more opposite of where we were before : I lived 100m from the central line sweeping me into bustling Oxford Circus in 40 minutes and now I legit live in a rural Dorset village in the middle of nowhere and there isn’t even a shop! I’m a country girl at heart, I love that welly life and being outdoors…the slower-pace is being kind to my soul. Hell I am missing a lot of things about London (mainly restaurants/ food and instant access to friends) but adapting is ongoing, but I know it’s 100% right the right thing.
MAKE-UP ARTIST LIFE.
It’s going to be a lot tougher, however I still have great clients and brands that I work with. I am keeping my toe dipped firmly into that makeup-artist life but the direction will change a little. If you didn’t know I work mainly in fashion, music, editorial, runway and red carpet. London is pretty much the place you have to be for that kind of work so I will be taking a little step back from that but still travelling up for big jobs and shoots. It’s a 3 hour trek but it’s work-able.
BACK TO BEING ME.
I have had SO much time to think about me (selfish, I know) over the last few months and how I want my blog and social media to progress. I think we are all guilty of looking around us, thinking that other people are better with their carefully-edited life and pictures and we try to fit into this norm. I’m guilty of this, hands down, and I’ve lost myself a few times. I never did quite fit in, and this is ok.
This year I am going to focus very much on not trying to morph myself into what is popular. It can be very hard to let this go, because as we all know, it can get you the recognition, followers and success that you may want, but I feel like the perfect-edit and pretence isn’t me and it never was. I still love and follow the glorious insta-feeds that look incredible as I do find them inspirational but I am not that person.
*Popular formulas* for perceived social media success can take a back seat for me. I have found myself enjoying social, in particular, Instagram, when I stopped with the worrying about likes and comments and just started posting when I wanted….sometimes once a fortnight, sometimes 3 times a day. My engagement seems to be so much better….when I’m just being myself. That sounds cheesy AF I know, but it’s working for me at the moment.
I have FINALLY nearly unpacked my makeup room in the new house. Normal blogging will resume imminently and I hope you all have had a lovely, positive and stress-free start to the new year. I am all about that vibe for 2019.
