So this week I’ve been asking everyone to vote for me in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards, in the Next Best Newcomer category. I won’t lie, those asks are going to continue for a while (voting closes on 3rd June) but I thought I should try and explain why I’m asking, and why it, and the blog as a whole, means so much to me. That way you can decide whether you want to vote or not, and hopefully you’ll get to understand what this blogging lark is all about for me!
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You can vote for thebeautyobsession.com by clicking through the pic!
If you haven’t read the post on how this blog got started, then you can do so here. Why this blog continues is an altogether different reason….
Firstly, I love words. That sounds like an AA statement “Hello, I’m Sheona, and I love words…”! When I was little I always wanted to be a journalist. Envisaging being Louis Lane and writing stories whilst being swept away in excitement every day of the week! Unfortunately, at school I had the attention span of a fairground goldfish and went straight into employment without gaining any additional qualifications or properly exploring it as a career. When I was 19 I started work in sales at a regional paper, and let’s just say that took the excitement out of it for me. It didn’t however, take away my love of words – reading them or writing them. Do you ever read the backs of shampoo bottles, the instructions in medication, the notices on the tube, or the small print in a contract? I do, because quite simply, I love reading and I eat up words just as quickly as a Cadbury’s Creme Egg.
My love of writing has always been there too, I think I was one of the only ones who used to love English coursework (actually it was the only coursework I loved!). There are drawers stuffed with old notebooks and diaries, some of which are so cringe-worthy it doesn’t bear thinking about. However, it’s only since the inception of thebeautyobsession.com ten years on, that there is a real outlet for this love of the English language. Before the mind boggling discovery that people spend hours and hours writing blogs about their passions, from train spotting to films, cakes to camping, I kept my passion for beauty within my head and saved it for boring friends with. Now I can combine both of my passions, and share them with like minded, beauty loving readers!
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I’ve loved beauty since I was a little girl….
Despite a love of writing, it is the love for the beauty industry that keeps this blog alive. From toddling around as a little girl, Mum’s makeup box was so appealing, there were regular incidents of a five-year-old me unintentionally impersonating a clown. It’s very hard to explain, because it’s so inextricably linked to me and my personality that it’s not something I’ve talked about before. Anything that makes you look and feel good makes you happy, makeup excites me and skincare fascinates me. That’s not to say that the natural look isn’t beautiful, because it is, but the colours, textures and results of products are beyond wonderful. You can enhance the look of your face with the smallest amount of product, if applied in the right way. Skincare products can give people a huge boost in confidence, and body care can be a little bit of luxury in this otherwise hectic world. It doesn’t make you vain or a bimbo to love these things; it allows you to explore your creative side and keep some of that childlike awe that we all lose as we grow older.
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…..and I still love everything about it now!
A lot of people think it’s all about the freebies, but I can wholeheartedly say that if you think that, then unfortunately you just don’t “get it” yet. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great when a product lands on the doormat, not because I’m too tight to pay for it myself, but because the anticipation of trying a new product, shade or formula is huge. It might be easier to understand if I explain that most PR samples are used for a very short time to trial them and review for the blog, but then most of them are retired to a box/cupboard/drawer or given away. That’s because it’s not about having them to save my purse, its about the sheer joy of testing something new, of being inspired by new technology and in awe of colours and pigments. The much loved products will be used of course, but there is always something new and tempting to try tomorrow and the more reviews and updates that can be written about, the more I want to continue. thebeautyobsession.com is one of my proudest achievements, topping my house, my career and most other things in life aside from family and friends, because it is a little bit of me that I’ve managed to share with people in this corner of the Internet. The words are me, the photographs are me, the blog design is me – and the fact that people actually come here and read it, makes me enormously proud – if somewhat surprised!
This post could go on and on, but I don’t want to send anyone to sleep. Hopefully, it’s given you a tiny view into my little mind and helps you to understand why thebeautyobsession.com is here. If you would like to vote for this blog in the Cosmo Beauty Awards, you can do so here. If you don’t want to, that’s completely fine too. The beauty of the world nowadays is that this blog can exist and be full of my favourite things, and yet if they don’t want to absolutely no one has to read it!
If you are reading this however, a heartfelt thank you.
Original article: The Cosmo Blog Awards 2013, this is why…
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