How To Get Inspired In Blogging Again

Anyone that runs a blog will know that there is always times when you can feel uninspired and demotivated to write. Particularly if you have been blogging for a long time, it is easy to feel like you have run out of ideas. I have went through a couple of periods were I feel brain dead in that I struggle with ideas and feel rather ‘meh’ about blogging in general. Yet, at the same time I love blogging and it would be rather sad to see an end to everything  I’ve put so much effort in to. Bouncing back from a time of feeling uninspired in my blog, I thought I would share my tips as to how you can get inspired again in blogging if you are going through a tough blogging time!

REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED 

When I am feeling a bit put off by blogging, I like to remember the positives about it and of course why I started it in the first place. Thinking about the progress you’ve made is important and also the community of people who support your blog. I started my blog as a place to discuss the latest trends and offload on my love for fashion and style. My blog has grown throughout the years and changed along with my own interests which is such a lovely thing to look back on. There is times when I blog and I feel like I am talking to a brick wall yet I love discussing my interests and there is always someone on the other end who enjoys it. Blogging takes a lot of work but it can bring so much pride and it’s important to think about how far you have came and how there is also so much more to give!

TAKE TIME OUT 

There is nothing worse than running out of ideas and at the last minute writing up a quick blog post that is rushed and not to your best ability. There is no point in putting effort into something if your heart isn’t in it. There is nothing wrong with taking a bit of time out of your blogging schedule to refresh your brain for ideas. It is always quality over quantity. I read some blogs that only post every so often yet I am always going back as the quality of the posts is always on top form. Blogging shouldn’t be a forced thing, no one is going to stop reading your blog if you miss out a post on your scheduled day! Take some time off blogging and recharge then gradually build up your posts again!

LOOK FOR INSPIRATION 

I love reading blogs! They inspire me so much with my own blog and essentially keep me in blogging. I am always swooning over how beautiful a blog is and getting inspired to change up my own blog. When it comes to thinking of blog ideas, I want to create content that I would personally read. Looking at blogs that I read and the content they create can give you ideas as to what kind of posts you should be publishing to fit your own interests. Social media such as Instagram and Pinterest are also useful tools for inspiration particularly on images for your blog and can also have useful pieces of advice! Obviously when it comes to taking inspiration from others, you don’t want to blatantly copy anyone’s work instead just taking ideas that you can develop in your own way!

GIVE YOUR BLOG A REFRESH 

Coming from the last point on inspiration, I can often be inspired to change up my blog in terms of layout and style. When you are feeling a bit down in relation to your blog, giving it a fresh look can help inspire you again. We all love all things new so a new logo or design can be a great idea to help you get back into blogging. Also updating your about page or adding new pages and features can bring a little bit of new life to your blog and help get you excited about blogging once again!

How do you get inspired in blogging?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

 

Life Lately #9

It feels so nice to be typing up a blog post right now as September has been a hectic month and it has really affected my blogging this month! I’ve been super busy with work and of course university starting back so the time for my blog has been limited but on top of that I’ve also felt so uninspired right now! I am definitely feeling like I am in a bit of a creative funk at the minute with ideas and when I have such limited time to plan and prepare posts it makes it worse as the last thing I want to do is publish poor quality rushed content! So, to help ease my way back into blogging and get motivated again, I’ve decided to change up my blogging schedule. I usually post three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday but in order to fit around my other commitments I’ve decided to cut my schedule to twice a week! Starting next week, my blog will have fresh content on a Tuesday and Friday at 10am GMT. It’s annoying to have to reduce the number of posts but hopefully it will make my life a lot easier!

Anyway, blogging rambling over. As I mentioned I started back at university this month. How exciting! Summer definitely felt like it went past in a flash and I feel so overwhelmed by the fact that I need to get back into living the student life. Fun. On a plus note, it is now three months til Christmas, if that is not exciting then I really don’t know what is! Whilst I am not particularly thrilled about the amount of workload that is about to hit me soon, I am excited to get productive and soon before I know it will be time for hot chocolate, winter coats and snow. Ahh, heaven!

Before things get all winter-y though, Autumn has arrived first! In the spirit, I did a bit of clothes hauling to fill up some of the gaps in my wardrobe. I picked up the majority of things from my Autumn Style wishlist and I just need a couple more things before I am pretty happy! Hopefully next month I can also pick up my dream Acne Boots that I’ve been saving up for! Considering I’ve cleared out a lot from my wardrobe recently, I do think I deserve a little treat, right!?

In terms of beauty, I was also super hyped by the arrival of Kat Von D makeup in the UK. Finally! There will be a little reveal soon on the blog so keep your eyes pealed! I did also hear of a little rumour about Sephora coming to the UK but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much but that really would be the icing on the cake!

Catch up with September posts: Beauty Wishlist, Sephora Haul, Caring for Hands and Feet, Becca Ombre Rouge Palette Review and Building a Minimal Wardrobe.

How did you spend your month?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

Life Lately #7

Summer just seems to be flying by and it’s crazy to think that August (my birthday month, eek!) is about to begin! This month has been a little crazy. Since my last job came to an end and uni has stopped for the Summer, I have been looking desperately for another job. Luckily, I got a few job interviews which has taken up some of my time to prepare for, hence the job interview makeup post!  I succeeded in my first interview and took the job. I started it last week however it hasn’t been great. My first day wasn’t great and I just felt more and more demotivated. It really isn’t the job for me! However very luckily, I was super relived when I came home from my first shift to learn that I had been offered another job which was one I really wanted! So next month I am super happy to be starting another new job that will hopefully turn out much better than my current one!

Job searching aside, the weather has been pretty poor except from the odd few days of heat in the UK. That didn’t stop me however taking a nice little weekend away with one of my friends before I started my job. I hadn’t been doing much during the month or had much planned so it was nice to just spend a few days chilling and having pretty much no internet! Other than that, nothing else really happened during July, much to the busyness of dealing with my interviews and how bad the weather was.

In terms of blogging, I have to admit there has been times this month were I just haven’t been feeling it. Before I went away and when I started work, I did feel pretty pressured to ensure I had a good blog post arranged for those times and it has been a bit of a struggle even finding time to take photographs never mind thinking of a good post idea. I did mix it up a bit though with some more lifestyle-y posts particularly my foodie post talking about ingredients to have in your cupboard which was so different for me to write about. I also haven’t worn much makeup for the most of the month so I did feel a little uninspired beauty wise! Hopefully though next month, I will have a few new beauty things to share (like my recent little Charlotte Tilbury splurge!) and of course being my birthday soon, I gotta treat my self, right!

Catch up with July posts: Favourite YouTube Channels, My Bag Wishlist, Inexpensive Decor Ideas, Photography Tips, Inside My Sample Box Part 2 and the Origins Mix and Mask Box.

How did you spend your July?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

Tips on Blog Photography

There is so much more to a blog than just an interest in beauty or style or food etc. Photography plays a huge role and whilst I am no expert, I have learned a lot about taking good photos from experience over time on my blog. I have also been lucky to have many comments talking about my photography and I thought it was about time I did a post talking through my tips and everything I’ve learned to improve my blog photos!

COMPOSITION 

Composition is hugely important to consider when taking a photo. It involves the layout and the arrangement within the photo. Two of the main things you need to consider is the focal point and the busyness of the photo. Both of which pretty much go hand in hand. Starting with focal point, for example if you are doing a review of a foundation, you want the photo to capture the foundation as the focal point. If you are using other props or products, you want to ensure they appear more in the background.

This also ties in with how busy the photo is. If you are wanting to focus on one product, you want to keep the composition simple and not have too many props which will just take the eyes off the focus. Again if your composition has numerous products then you don’t want to over-complicate the photo by adding even more props/products to the mix.

The background is also super important as it can also add that busyness feel if you are using a ‘busy’ background. I like to stick to a white background (I use white paper/wood) as a backdrop to create a flat lay image. Using a soft block colour keeps it simple and soft. You can inject a little pattern such as marble or a wood effect but obviously you have to be careful when you start adding props that it isn’t too busy. If I ever add any pattern, it is usually in the form of a scarf, or a tray so doesn’t take up the whole photo and instead adds a little more dimension.

LIGHTING

I don’t think I can stress how important lighting is in taking photos. If you live in a place that is fairly bright and light instead of being like me in the miserable and dull UK then damn you are lucky. Natural lighting is so vital in taking photos and has made such a difference to mine. Ditch artificial lighting as it can create a horrible orange yellow cast over the photo and doesn’t really make it bright at all. You want to set up your photo next to good lighting, I always take mine on the floor next to a full length glass door so I get the light shining on it. So I would suggest getting a good window location that lets in a good amount of light in.

The timing is also important in terms of lighting. The best time to take photos is in the morning as it is light without being too bright and obviously in the evening it is too dark. Speaking of brightness, whilst a sunny day always seems like a bonus, if it is too bright then it can be quite difficult to get a good shot as it will usually cast shadows. The best weather for taking photos is when it is fairly cloudy yet with still a bit of light!

EDITING

Whilst the actual steps of taking a photo are very important, there is also editing. I always edit my photos, however I try to avoid going overboard and ensure my lighting is as good as I can get it. Basically the better the raw image the less editing and the worse the more editing that you will need. I use PicMonkey to edit my photos which is super easy!

To edit, I rely on two main things. The first the size, I always size my images down to fit for my blog and also crop if necessary! The second is exposure which is the main editing I rely on. As you may know, I like bright white and airy images and as natural lighting doesn’t always capture this so well, I like to adjust the brightness/highlights accordingly. I also adjust the contrast/shadows so the products don’t get too washed out. However when adjusting the exposure you do have to be careful not to overexpose your images (I have been guilty many times!) as it can just look pretty contrived and unnatural.

One last thing I also do in editing is adjust the temperature/saturation. I only do this sometimes when my images are quite dark and have a blue cast over them. So by warming the colours up a bit it makes it much brighter and less duller and blue!

EQUIPMENT

So many people say you don’t need expensive equipment and loads of it to take a good photo and that is so true. I actually take all of my photos on my iPhone 6 and it always takes decent photos. Phone cameras have long been developed so are far superior than the ever were. In fact they only seem to be getting better, my old iPhone 4S was responsible for taking a load of my pictures over a year ago and then I moved on to using the 5C model which was much better and then to the 6 which is definitely the best I’ve used. So if you are looking to improve your photography then don’t get too stressed if you don’t own a fancy DSLR camera! I have a digital camera but my phone is actually better so I use that. I actually would love to invest in a camera sometime just because I have became so into photography since my blog! However it is definitely not a must!

If you do use an iPhone for photos, all I would suggest is to firstly ensure your lens is clean! It’s actually crazy the difference it makes if you simply wipe the lens as it makes a photo so much clearer. Obviously your phone is left in your bag, pocket, tables etc. so picks up on bacteria easy so giving it a little clean is definitely recommended! Also, whenever taking a photo I always rely on the focus tool. By simply pressing where you want the focus to be it adapts the lighting to capture it better. Additionally, when hitting to focus if you drag the little sun symbol up it also improves the brightness of the image making editing less the challenge!

So really all you need is a good working camera, aside from that I have a tripod although really I haven’t used it much and don’t see it as necessary unless you take outfit, head shots. As I mentioned before a good backdrop is also important for flat lay images whether it’s a piece of wood, paper, wallpaper/flooring samples. That’s it really, the rest is down to you and your creative mind!

What are your tips for good blog photography? 

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

Monthly Roundup: September

A new season has finally begun. It’s ever so strange to think that Autumn is here. I am still trying to recall when Summer actually took place this year. Anyway enough of my seasonal ramblings it’s time to look back at my month of September. This month started as a slow burner and picked up halfway through with my hectic schedule coming back to haunt me. This month marked my return to uni to start my second year which is crazy and I have to say I am feeling so unprepared for the mountain of work that will be coming my way. This will be the first time I am at uni and have a job at the same time so this year will definitely be jam packed to say the least and I do apologize in advance if my blog does suffer as my spare time is pretty limited just now.

Whilst the thoughts of going back to uni was pretty depressing, I did get excited about the shopping that was about to commence. Let’s just say I think I will need to enforce myself on a spending ban for at least the next month. I picked up some pretty good deals on some things I had been lusting over for so long and I now have my hands on a couple of new palettes in my collection (that I will obviously share with you all soon!). Yup that is the UD Naked Smoky palette, I wasn’t going to let my Naked collection miss out on this one, was I!? I also picked up an exciting new purchase for my wardrobe in the terms of a new leather jacket. A leather jacket is a wardrobe staple and I wasn’t happy with my old one so I rightly so invested in a new one from Zara which I am obsessed with. Bring on the Autumn wardrobe! Can I come off that ‘Spending ban’ now…

I also finally discovered Cotton Candy grapes. Oh yes, you heard that right! I had been looking for these interestingly flavoured grapes for the past year and after a little trip to the supermarket my eyes clapped onto these with the feeling of success. They are as good as they sound and I am definitely needing to stock up now! You can obviously tell how exciting my life is that I have to mention the excitement of buying grapes. Yes. So in summary this month pretty much consisted of eating (grapes), shopping, working, going to uni and also recovering from a couple of sick days in between. Now let the excitement of Autumn and berry lips begin…

Catch up on September posts: A Charlotte Tilbury Haul, Nails Inc x Victoria Beckham, My Blogger Enabled Purchases, Clinique Melon Pop and My fave nude lip combo.

Are you looking forward to Autumn?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

Monthly Roundup: August

It’s hard to believe I am here rounding up another month (soon) gone by. It feels like I only just spoke about my month of July but here we are already nearing the start of Autumn. How exciting! I don’t mean to scare anyone but as we enter the 9th month of the year, there is only a few months until Christmas! With the rate this year has went at it will be here before you know it! Anyway back to the focus of this blog post, my month of August.

Of course one of the most exciting things that happened this month was my little blog makeover! If you are a regular reader around these parts then I am sure you are already aware of the slight changes here and there. I was getting pretty tired of the old layout and I am pretty chuffed with how it’s turned out! Thanks for all your lovely comments too! I am super glad it’s went done well! Who said change had to be a bad thing!?

Of course, August also meant it was my birthday! I had a pretty quiet birthday this year compared to last year. The only thing I really did was go out for lunch which was really nice. Also, you may have seen my Birthday beauty wishlist I also did on the blog earlier this month. I did pick up a few of the bits from the wishlist namely Charlotte Tilbury so check back soon for a little look at what I picked up. I can’t wait to start using them!

Also, I went to go see Paper Towns this month too! I read the book during my holiday and loved it so I was very eager to see the movie adaption. It really didn’t let me down. It really did the book justice even though there was a couple of differences but I definitely recommend it! That was all really I got up to this month besides the large quantities of online shopping that got carried out… oops! Lets just say I picked up quite a lot of nail polish so keep your eye out for some nail related posts along the way! Oh and lastly I joined Instagram not too long ago either and I am pretty much hooked so follow me here if you like a good beauty pic or two!

Catch up on August posts: Mac Brave lipstick, 50 Things That Make Me Happy, 5 Beauty Products under £10 and the gorgeous Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette.

What did you get up to this month?

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

Welcome to the new Styled By Lauren

So if you read my Mac Brave post or if you follow me on Twitter then you may have been aware of the little changes planned around Styled By Lauren. Now after so long of debating a little change finally my little online space is looking fresh and new. I was getting a little bored of the old layout and it was leaving me a little frustrated. Now I am super happy to have a new improved site (imo anyway!) for you all which hopefully you all like as much as I do.

I always like things to be clean and simple so my blog pretty much is that. I also wanted to inject some little personal touches along the way so I have updated the pages and navigation too so hopefully it is a little easier for you guys having a little browse!

As you may see I have also finally updated my domain *celebration dance*. I was getting rather annoyed by my old wordpress domain which of course still contained the ‘4everfashion’ name which was getting a little old now! So you can now catch me here via styledbylauren.org although you can still access my blog via the wordpress url. Also, in the topic of newness I briefly mentioned previously that I am now on Instagram! If you like a dose of beauty related images then follow me here @styledbylaurenblog and I will happily follow you back!

Thanks again to everyone who reads my blog, you are all awesome and I hope you enjoy my new design! Please do feel free to have a little explore, enjoy!

Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin | Instagram

 

Social Media & Blogging Update

Hello everyone 🙂 I wanted to do a little update post just to share a few things with you all and also let you know of my existence in the world of social media. So firstly, I would like to thank everyone who follows me on any platform. I reached 400 followers on WordPress not too long ago as well as 200 on Bloglovin, so thanks so much! Also, I would like to thank everyone that tagged me in a blog award post, its feels super nice for anyone to think of my blog so thank you. Although, I would also like to apologise for not being able to make any related blog posts on those awards over the last few months. Since I have been sticking to a blogging schedule I haven’t really had the time to fit them in but I really do appreciate all the nominations! Lastly, I also want to share with you all my social media accounts. I have linked them below if you want to give me a little follow, I will certainly follow you back!

Bloglovin – STYLED

Pinterest – Styled By Lauren

Twitter – @styledblog

Thanks again and I will see you all again for another beauty post on Monday 🙂 

 

Liebster Award Nomination

Hello again, I don’t usually post on a Thursday but I was very nicely nominated for another award 🙂 This time I was nominated for the Liebster Award by the very lovely Amy at Amysbeautydiary. Thanks Amy its very much appreciated and if you haven’t then go check out her blog, its fab!

The Rules:

1. Post the award on your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.
3. Write 5 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 5 bloggers (they should have less than 3000 followers)
5. Answer 5 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 5 questions.

5 Facts About Me:

1.  I am a Vanilla over Chocolate kinda gal.
2.  If I had a dog I would name it noodles.
3.  My dream is to move to London.
4.  Glee is my guilty pleasure.
5. Country music is another guilty pleasure of mine.

5 Blog Nominees:

Zeenat Javed

Nicolish

Makeup by Chelsey

Say Hello to Gorgeous

Beck in a Blog

Questions from Amy:

1. What is your favorite makeup brand?

This is difficult! I have so many favourites I don’t think I can pick one. Probably Benefit, Nars or Urban Decay.

2. When do you write your blogs?

My blog writing varies. Since I’m still off on Christmas break from uni I’ve been spending most of my days writing blog posts for the next few weeks. After that its usually at the weekend or any time I have spare.

3. Why do you blog?

I started my blog initially as a fashion blog as I wanted a career in fashion and after reading fashion magazines I kinda wanted to be able to share my fashion knowledge and talk about trends etc and blogging just seemed the right way to do it. Now being more into beauty I just love reading about beauty and fashion and I love being able to share my thoughts and talk about what I love.

4. What is your all-time favorite nail polish?

Tricky. I don’t know if I really have a particular favourite but if I had to say one it would be Barry M Crush from their Matte collection which has the perfect formula and is a beautiful burgundy shade 🙂

5. What is your biggest beauty tip?

Primer. Its the secret to the perfect base in my opinion. So many people skip Primer but I couldn’t go without it! It makes your makeup stay in place longer and makes your foundation look better.

Questions for my nominees:

1. Why do you blog?

2. What is your ultimate blogging goal?

3. What beauty product could you not live without?

4. What is on the top of your beauty wishlist?

5. What was your favourite beauty item from 2014?

Thanks again to Amy for the nomination 🙂 If any of my nominees do the post then please let me know, I would love to see it!