Okay, so I know I said in my last post that I would be doing a round up of Sanibel outfits I shared on Instagram for today’s post. But, it occurred to me as I was “rounding them up” that I have shared maybe half of the outfits on my Instagram (oops). The rest will be going up throughout this week. Blame it on the fact that I was functioning off of limited sleep or that traveling in general makes me lose my mind, but the Sanibel outfit roundup will be happening on Wednesday or Friday!
For today, I thought we might do something a little different that I’m rather excited about! In my first post on the blog, I discussed what made fashion and beauty so special to me. I’m pretty sure every style & beauty blogger is gonna tell you he/she has a passion for the industry. I’m no different. But, since graduating college almost 5 years ago (crazy!), my personal style & beauty regimen have become serious forms of self-expression for me and huge sources of confidence as well. I simply believe that you truly can dress for success and have that confidence translate to every aspect of your life. However, I think people often view the fashion and beauty industries in a negative light. These industries are often painted as a world of vanity and fierce competition as women try to out-do one another on every level.
The comparison game is something almost every woman has experienced. You may find yourself looking at someone else and feel yourself lacking. I’m here to tell you you don’t have to have that perspective. I know this because I’ve experienced the negative internal monologue of “if only I had… hair like hers, her closet etc” I would be happier. You have the power to change your thoughts, to take action in your life and start leading the life you want to lead now instead of tomorrow. Instead of comparing yourself to the one you envy, start figuring out why you’re settling for less and start taking action immediately. Think about it, time will pass regardless. You can spend your time negatively or spend it creating a life you love.
And, when I say I have experienced a negative perspective, I mean I really experienced it. When I graduated college, reality hit me like a 2 ton bus. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, just had some huge changes in my personal life and generally felt lost. I remember isolating myself from social media thinking that I didn’t even want to associate with anyone because it seemed everyone was out living life and mine felt like it was passing me by. It was a time when I second-guessed everything I thought I knew about myself. And, it wasn’t pretty.
When Kevin & I started discussing our engagement (2014-15), I began watching youtube videos by Jaclyn Hill & Stephanie Lange because the plan was for me to do my own makeup for the big day (remember, married to the world’s most frugal person!). Unlike a lot of beauty youtubers, these two women are real. Jaclyn makes you feel like you’re her best friend, and Stephanie is always up front about her latest skin issue (she too has acne-prone skin). Through them, I started finding a renewed passion for makeup that I had lost during the “dark ages” as I call them. I began to become more confident as I found something I was truly passionate about. This passion eventually translated into taking better care of my health and caring more about my personal appearance in general. I better defined my personal style and soon after our wedding in 2016 started posting more outfit/beauty photos on my personal Instagram account.
These beauty gurus taught me that the fashion and beauty industries can and will build you up. They will give you confidence and lead you to a happier life if you let them. And, although helping other women find that confidence through fashion and beauty has been a major purpose behind my blog and brand, I haven’t always stated it so clearly.
So why now? I’ve been thinking that I needed to write a post clarifying my purpose and providing inspiration to other women for quite some time. And with International Women’s Day last week and talking with some fellow bloggers, I realized that nothing is more important than getting this message out now.
I hope you can always find inspiration in my blog to lead a more confident, goal-driven life through the modes of style and beauty. However, we all need a little instant pick-me-up from time to time. So, I’m going to start sharing quotes that I find are motivating, moving or inspirational through my Instagram stories. I hope to do this everyday or every-other day at a minimum. I encourage you to screenshot these quotes and share them on your own story because you never know what one of your followers could use it! Sharing them to your stories also saves them to your archive for later personal viewing when you need it. You can also forward them on to friends/family who may need that extra something or message me with a personal story if you just want a shoulder to cry on (or vent to!). I hope we as women can make this industry more about building one another up through community and realize that competition and negative comparisons only weaken us as a whole.
To end this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite quotes directly from Pinterest! Hopefully this ends your Monday on a high note and gives you the motivation you need to tackle the rest of your week!
Leave a Reply