2 Years of Jasmine Talks Beauty

Ok the title is a bit of a lie as this blog has gone through several incarnations before becoming Jasmine Talks Beauty however I sort of always feel that's been what it is - Jasmine talking about beauty! Today is the 2nd anniversary of my first ever blog post, which has long since been 'converted to draft'... However I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what I've learnt and how far I've come in the past two years.

Learning how to blog

My life has undeniably changed since the 1st of May 2014 and there's definitely a part of that change that's come about due to blogging. I honestly don't know what was running through my head when I started by blog because I didn't have a clue what I was doing! I didn't even know how to make my awful default Blogger template look good (I wish I had a screenshot of it!) and my photography left quite a lot to be desired...

#Photographygoals 

But I gradually started improving...

And that Christmas I got a new camera (not that this made the change all by itself but it definitely focused my mind) and started 2015 with a fresh determination to improve my photography. I tried to get a little more creative, experiment with props and backgrounds and actually started editing my photos! These all helped me to improve further.

Over time I've learnt little tips and tricks and made my site a lot more visually appealing and intuitive to use. I also learnt the best way to format and lay out my posts, though that's sometime I feel like I can continuously tweak and improve on. I'm definitely still learning every single day. No one bursts out of the womb understanding SEO, having an amazing layout and brands knocking their door down. I guess I'm saying this because some of you reading might be relatively new bloggers who are a little overwhelmed by everything. You're not going to know it all on day one and you probably never will! But if your photos look better than mine did then congratulations because you're already miles ahead of where I was at... I think was a steep learning curve but I'm pretty happy with my blog at the moment. 

I can be a bit of a perfectionist but I have to be realistic and when I'm feeling negative just remember how far I've come since those early days. I also hope that what has happened to me gives people the confidence to keep trying to improve at things and to not be disheartened if it seems like everyone's blog is better than yours. Because for one: they're probably sat there thinking that about another blog! And for all you know, they've been working at their blog for years so comparing yourself to them is unfair to you, as you're at completely different stages of a journey.

The post that changed it all

It's still a little bemusing to me that virtually overnight, after 18 months of very gradual growth, my blog seemed to gain a whole load of new followers but I'm just so grateful. I had no idea one little feature in the Bloglovin Edit could be so life-changing for a blog! I have no idea how my Winter Highlighters post was picked out from the crowd but I'm just really glad I wrote it and someone saw it! Somehow I'm sat here now with more than ten times as many followers on Bloglovin' than I did before Christmas, which is surreal to even quantify.

I've been incredibly lucky to get that exposure and it's amazing to think of how many more people are reading and hopefully enjoying my posts! Especially given that when I first started my blog it took me months to get my first comment...

What blogging means to me

Blogging is my escape; it's where I don't have to worry about real-life stressed and I can just indulge in something that's a lot of fun. I've 'met' so many people I feel like I know through their blogs and our interactions, which is pretty amazing. I've also had the opportunity to meet so many lovely bloggers in person. Obviously I love my 'real life' friends and they know stuff about me that no one else does and we 'get' each other on a level where we can talk about really intense things like politics, religion or whatever and not leave the conversation feeling angry at each other. But there's this little beauty-obsessed part of me that that no one else I know personally truly understands, and I love that the internet gives us a place to connect with others that share this strange little fixation.

It's really crazy to me that I started blogging at uni in my grubby little bedroom where the roof used to leak through my light fixture (we had the worst landlord ever!) and now I'm well on the way to where I want to be. In that time I've graduated, had an internship, was faced with the prospect of no grad job at the end of it, worked in a position I didn't like for almost a year, managed to land a role that's put me on the path to my dream career and I finally feel like I have a real, grown-up job and a salary (after years in retail whilst I studied where I got about £6 an hour!)

I've also had the chance to meet a lot of great people along the way. I was just talking with my friends the other week about how much has changed since we graduated and for me it's particularly significant because I've had that journey represented through my blog. I can look at a post and remember where I was in life and how I was feeling at that time. From my damp uni bedroom, wringing my hands over spending £10 on a cleanser but going out virtually every other night to being a 'kind-of adult'. 

What's next?

I'm still really passionate about beauty so I think this blog will primarily stay focussed on that but over time I've gauged how much of my real-life personality I'm comfortable with sharing. I do see myself growing in confidence and sharing more personal things and doing more lifestyle posts going forwards. 

I've managed to keep this blog going through hard times and busy times over the past two years so I feel like we can make it through anything. Yes, there will be times when the pressure is on and I have to scale back what I'm doing, but I've never actually stopped blogging and I can't see that happening any time soon. I'm really enjoying my job and as I've talked about before, I couldn't see myself blogging full time. However I don't feel like I have to choose! I'm not a one-dimensional person with singular interests and I will continue to juggle all the things in my life that I love, because that's just how I am and it's sort of liberating just to accept that.

How long have you been blogging? What have your learnt in that time?

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