Why you should be in an Instagram pod

Instagram pods.. sometimes controversial. I've seen bloggers post about how much they hate them, how much of a waste of time they are, including people who don't pay their due's or give the same work in return. Which can be true, everyone is entitled to an opinion about them, but I'm going to share what I've found out by using Instagram pods and how they can benefit not just your analytics.
You don't have to make the same mistakes I did!

Don't join a random one you found online

I started by doing this, I joined a random pod I was invited to, although everyone was so lovely - I'm lucky that I haven't had any bad experiences with any people in pods. But the problem was timezone. Most of them were from Japan, which for timezone was so ridiculous, I always found myself trying to catch up with everyone's posts and they would be sleeping.. or I would be sleeping.

Eventually they wanted to expand the pod, which I wasn't really all that into, so I decided to leave that pod, which brings me to the next tip.

Join a pod you're actually interested in

 My first pod I joined, I joined to learn what it was all about. It seemed an amazing idea, except I wasn't really into everyone's content. Them being in Japan just sort of didn't relate to my Insta whatsoever, so my comments felt fake and boring. I wasn't enjoying it at all.

The pods I'm in now, I absolutely love everyone's content and I find it easy to comment on - it's not false and feels genuine.

Start your own pod

It might actually be worth creating your own pod, if you haven't been invited or can find a suitable pod. My advice is to contact people directly and ask if they're interested! Ask your followers, put it on your story - that way the people you're engaging with are people already interested in the same sort of content as you.

Support each other & make friends

Now I'm in pods I really enjoy, I don't feel as though we're all in it to beat the algorithm. I mean, yes that's what its there for, but it's become a community in itself. We're always messaging with tips and helpful advice and it feels more like a club than a commenting pod. The blogosphere is often cliquey and as a small blogger it can be overwhelming. I feel I have a small slice of blogger community on Instagram and it feels really lovely.

Genuine comments

If you are in a great pod, your comments will be genuine. I can honestly say every comment I make is  genuine and I really enjoy being a part of something and hearing others honest thoughts on my content.

If you're not happy - move on

If you're not happy with your pod, if you're content isn't relevant to everyone else's, the pod grows too big,  you can't keep up, or your comments are feeling too forced, then leave the pod. People will understand, you want a pod that's the same pace, content and timezone.

What's your opinion on Instagram pods? Do you agree with them, or are they a waste of time?

I hope this post was helpful,

Thanks for reading as always,

I'm over on twitter & Instagram

- if you fancy a natter

Creating your perfect space at home

A lovely follower (@adeersheart) recently reached out to me on Instagram, asking how I get my flat to fit my clean aesthetic and well, while it's obvious that you guys don't see the messy bits.. (bedroom I'm looking at you..) I don't take photos of my flat, without it being neat and tidy.. That said, I've put together a few tips when styling your home, to compliment the clean minimal aesthetic of your dreams! This post is more of how I created my perfect space, it's still a work in progress and I appreciate that this style might not be applicable to everybody, but I hope it inspires you!

Create a mood board

Before you start your dream deco journey, you need to have some sort of aesthetic in mind. What sort's of things do you like, what do you vision for your home to be like - this really helped us when choosing items for our home. Pinterest is your best friend and can give some creative ideas, for storage and little tips around your home.

Look at what you do have

This tip is pretty important, because it's often not going to be achievable if your desired look doesn't fit in with your lifestyle. Look at the items you do have, are they going to look out of place in your vision or could you store these items efficiently? Do you have children, where will their toys go? or you could have lots of sports equipment that might look out of place.. These are all things that need to be thought about before thinking of a minimal aesthetic. This brings me along to the idea of smart storage.

Declutter your life

I found this to be the most beneficial step to even starting a new clean leaf. I completely cleared out my wardrobe, getting rid of anything I don't wear and giving away to charity, friends, or selling on depop. I still do this now, it's good to recycle things you don't use. Clutter means mess and stress, making use of the space for things you will use and want is a good habit to get into, instead of holding on to things using up your valuable space resource!

Smart Storage

The reason we try and keep our home tidy and neat is not just my uncontrollable need to have everything put away, but we invested in some really good storage ideas for our flat. We live in a one bedroom apartment, which isn't the largest place in the world and for two people moving their life possessions in together we needed places to hide that junk we don't want on display. We bought a few things from IKEA, such as the popular square units we use as bookcases - and slot the fabric boxes inside to hide all the junk we don't want people to see. Our sofa has a secret storage compartment underneath and all my excess seasonal wardrobe is also put away in boxes in our only storage cupboard. Being sensible with storage is probably the best tip I have to achieving the clean look you want. If you don't have the space for it, make it creative, use a clothing rail to make your clothes part of your look. Styling your storage that is visible will make a lot of difference to the feel of your home.

(A few smart storage ideas, I love basket's and anything wire)

Take it Slow

It's so tempting to buy loads of things all at once, especially when moving home. There's lots of things we bought at the beginning, that we didn't need, didn't use, or ended up giving away just because we did a huge haul of items before moving in. Start with the essentials, and if you're going for a colour theme, start with neutrals until you decide on a colour palette for your home. I went for a bright yellow accent and ended up changing it because I ended up not liking it. Building furnishings slowly will enable you to perfect your vision.

Ask yourself; does this add value to my home?

One thing I have stopped doing, is buying pointless homeware. Which I used to do, a lot. Which ended up in me having a lot of mismatched items that I actually had nowhere to display, because of the amount of 'decorative' items I had in my space. This ends up in being clutter. I now ask myself 'does this add value to my space?' and 'does it have a place?' I find that these questions stop being from compulsively buying rubbish that I don't need or will look out of place in my home. Most often the answer is no, saving my wallet and my limited storage space. I now focus on items that I feel are missing or items I feel will add value to my home and lifestyle.

(a few accessories I feel fit my style)

These are the tips I try to stick by to keep my home running with the same look and aesthetic. I love plants too, so I'm growing my home jungle slowly.. but surely. Adding plant stand also helps to create some dimension to styling your home. But I hope that was helpful and would be nice to see if you want to see more of these types of posts!

Thanks for reading as always,

I'm over on twitter & Instagram

- if you fancy a natter

final, final year of university. 🎓

Hello strangers, I've been abit of a ghost recently, but that's not due to me being lazy - but more because I'm actually trying to complete my fashion comm's degree, the second time around.

If you're a regular follower, you'll know that I actually dropped out of university last year, in my final year due to mental health and just not really 'gel-ing' with well, pretty much anything. The people, the coursework, I just wasn't in a right state of mind and it finally caught up with me. After a staff member asking me if I were 'delusional' I decided that I wasn't getting the support I needed and wanted to continue, so I left.

Read more: "Why I dropped out of my final year at university"

This year however, has been completely different, I'm so glad I decided to drop out and take a year out to reflect on what I needed to change in my life but also, in my mind.

I'm currently working on my final major project, which I swapped to communications, something I'm enjoying much more and my tutors are much nicer and more approachable. The people who study alongside me, are actually super lovely as well, I no longer hold this sort of grudge or fear that people won't or don't like me.. I think this is because it's fresh faces and I don't feel the pressure to form a friendship group, like I did the previous years. I dealt with the fact that it's okay not to have many friends at university.

This time, it's all about me and my project, which is just really nice and refreshing. I no longer feel anxious to go into uni, I just get on with it - putting my head down and just trying to get through the last little bit of the journey. I feel like I've grown up and just sort of take everything on the chin.

It's amazing how a change in lifestyle can help with anxiety and confidence.

But I have about a month left, which is actually insane, but also pretty gut-wrenching - what on earth am I going to do afterwards!?? (send help!)

One thing that is bugging me is not spending enough time on my blog or social channels because I'm either doing university work, working, or just trying to catch some down time. So I hate feeling guilty about not putting that effort in, plus all the stress of doing work and trying to actually be an adult.

However, what I learnt about myself was an experience I possibly needed. To admit that I made mistakes, I let myself get too wrapped in things that never really mattered, which has given me a new look on life. Stepping down from uni was was of the hardest things I ever did - feeling like a failure. But I'm excited for that piece of paper to say that I achieved it in the end.


I'm probably going to cry at graduation.. no lie. (haha)


Thanks for reading, as always.

I'm over on twitter & Instagram

- if you fancy a natter

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The pressures of consumerism as a blogger

In the blogging world everyone all gets wrapped up in this ideal of receiving more stuff. It's just a thing. Everyone wants to see whose getting the latest fad or makeup palette, or that new fashion trend.

Receiving blogger mail, which is pretty cool and makes you feel a little more important in the grand scale of the blogging world. But a lot of things after you've posted, lets be honest now.. get's put away somewhere. How much of that stuff that gets sent to us, is actually one of our favourites?

Now this could be quite controversial, but it's something I'm really passionate about. And that's to make informed decisions about the stuff that we choose to own. Do you really need that new watch that this company will send you - or is it just a good opportunity for your blog and reach?

I'm all for bloggers making money and yeah you get that dollar girl.. But is it really worth the expense of possibly throwing it away in landfill? Because guess what, our rubbish goes somewhere, and of course we can't stop this completely, but thinking about what we choose to purchase can decide on our own personal impact.

Fashion I know, is terrible for it. Consumerism at it's very finest - Hey you need that new shirt because everyone on the internet is wearing it. But do you? Is it going to add value to your life? Or will you forget about it the moment something else comes along? And we are all guilty of this, I'm guilty. I know for a fact that some items in my wardrobe I just bought because it was a great deal, or it was super trendy at the time, but in hindsight I never needed it or actually really wanted it, I just thought that I did.

Recently I've been trying to save money, which is really helpful when it comes to making more informed and active decisions when it comes to purchasing my clothing. If you read my post 'a better wardrobe' you know that I did a wardrobe culling recently, erasing and donating most of my closet to have a simpler way of purchasing.

This has actually changed how I buy fashion now. Now I'm looking at old brands I used to love and thinking 'hey multi million cooperation, what are you doing to contribute to sociological and financial needs of your production workers' This is changing how I purchase goods. I'm looking at buying less, but also buying value. Value to myself and also value to the people who we owe it to!

So my ultimate question is, as bloggers should we have a more mindful obligation to produce content that isn't pushing the latest trend and fad on our readers? Or will it always be that way?

Does this change your perspective on your own content in anyway?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, thanks for reading mine!
Leave a comment down below with what you think :)

Here's some interesting documentaries on consumerism & fashion:
- 'The True Cost' (Youtube trailer)
- 'Minimalism' (Youtube trailer)
These films are both on Netflix :)

I'm over on twitter & Instagram

- if you fancy a natter

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Lets talk: Blogging and uni

You're probably thinking, hey Emily.. you said you were going to post 3 days a week.. well my friends, I over estimated. I tried okay, gold star for me.

But I didn't really realise how much my final major project was going to interfere into my blogging schedule, which it is.. super annoying. I also work on Saturdays, so my free time is often full of other things..

But if you've been here for a while, you'll know that I actually decided to drop out of university last year and restart in September which I'm so glad that I did. But being in uni almost everyday is taking its toll on my other activities such as blogging and often I come home super uninspired because all my energy is being channelled into my final major project. Not only does it mean I won't graduate (again) if I don't pass it, but it's a topic that I'm really passionate about. Last term wasn't as hectic, as I only had to resit one unit and I already did my dissertation. So I had a lot of spare time to blog.

I've also been really into slow fashion and capsule wardrobes recently, which is super exciting. I feel so passionate about it, because not only does it simplify your life, it encourages you to be more environmentally friendly which is awesome. So I've been researching more into that and just trying to find a happier lifestyle I guess. I even bought some of those sustainable lady pads haha, which is weirdly exciting. So that's what Ive been up to while I haven't been posting. Oh and sims.. (whoops)

So will I post regularly?

I'm going to try... I'm going to aim for Fridays as it's normally my free study day. Hopefully this means I won't neglect bogging, because it is something I really enjoy doing, it's just finding that god damn time to do it! So Friday's will be my specific blog post day, so if you enjoy reading my posts I should have one up every week. A little less pressure for myself, but still able to feel a part of the blogging loop!

Sorry for my little break, but life just caught up with me!

Thanks for reading as always,

I'm over on twitter & Instagram
- if you fancy a natter

A better wardrobe

This week I've been challenging my ideals about stuff. What makes owning stuff so great? What actual fulfilment am I getting from owning more clothes, more homeware, more general crap that I don't need? It's a little bit deep, but hear me out..

My final major project at university is being based around these ideals and questions, so all week I've been opening my mind up to this whole idea of having a much more minimal lifestyle. Ultimately this adds a lot more value to your possessions, making you appreciate the items you have, getting more wear out of clothing - because they're all your favourites. Instead of using your hard earned cash on things you don't actually need or will even wear sometimes.

If you haven't already, there's a documentary on Netflix called Minimalism, watch it. It explains it a lot more in depth than me, but its really fascinating to see how far consumerism has come and played its part in our everyday lives.

Recently, I challenged the idea of shaving my head. Weird I know, but I'm just so attached to my hair and now its ruined I'm just so annoyed with it, it got to that point okay.. I think we've all been there (haha) But something really inspired me and that was that when you have no hair, you focus more on what makes you beautiful inside. Because it's just so superficial. The idea that these outward things like stuff, like hair.. doesn't actually mean anything. I guess that transfers to stuff too, does it add value to your life in anyway? Or because consumerism says you need it?
Don't panic, I'm not shaving my head, but it was just a really nice perspective to hear that these things, don't actually mean anything in the bigger outlook of things.

You're probably thinking.. okay cool, but what are you actually up to..

So today, I'm doing a huge wardrobe clear out, which was inspired by Project 333, a way of cutting down your wardrobe, so you have nicer, higher quality items which last longer and get much more wear out of them. There's video's of this all over youtube, so if you're interested take a look!

Today however, is the culling. I'm throwing away clothing/stuff that I don't wear, I'm never going to wear again, and sort these out into categories.

• Donate
• Keep
• Summer Season

I'll be putting a box of summer clothing (that I think I will wear) in my storage cupboard, because I can't wear jumpers in summertime! The idea however to complete a capsule collection of clothing, to gain the most usage of all the clothes you have as opposed to just having your favourites.
But I think I'll just have a really good clear out first!

A few hours later and here's what we managed to do!

Howard managed to somehow bring this huge storage shelving thing home, which was amazing to put my jeans and bags and things on, in the tub is a few jumpers too, mainly Howard's! We managed to cut our entire closet in HALF. We used to have my side and his side, now it's practically half a storage bit and half a hanging space.

and this is all the stuff we managed to throw away & donate. I didn't even realise I had this much stuff just sitting in my wardrobe.. I'm really looking forward to creating a wardrobe that's more me, but also one that will last with quality chosen items instead. This was a bit of a strange post (haha) but I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you been inspired to do a clear out?

Thanks for reading as always,

I'm over on twitter & Instagram
- if you fancy a natter

I READ // THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN REVIEW

Welcome to another I read post!
I finished this book what seems like ages ago, I got so caught up in all the festive posts, I forgot about this one! (whoopsie, sorry)

Anyway I'm going to try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, just in case anyone was interested in reading this book. I saw all the hype online and to be honest, I'm not usually into all that mystery genre of reading. Mainly because I didn't think I would be. But this book..

It just grabbed me right from the beginning. Although it may seem tedious at first with the back and forward-ing of the train, it will start to make sense (promise!) There's so many unanswered questions and mystery throughout the whole read.. you can't put it down, because you just have to find out who it is. I love a book that just keeps you guessing the whole way through, but also the one's that make you question what you think is real or not, which is just so fascinating in a book, constantly toying with different theories. This book has all of that. I feel like this was such a twisty turn-y read (lol for my great descriptive review) but in the sense that you can't see what's coming.

It's just so beautifully written, with its storyline, which follows a sad alcoholic lady, whose life seems to of just fallen apart, you almost feel sorry for her, but at the same time you just want her to pull her shit together. She's not a super likeable character, but that just makes me like her more. She's just so interesting.

Shortly after finishing this book, the movie actually came out, which I was so glad I had finished it beforehand. I'm always a firm believer in reading the book before the movie, as movies just ruin the book for me.

And it was just as good. Although I wish it were set in London, like it is in the book. So I really recommend reading this before seeing the film.

If you love a book where you can't figure out what the ending will be, this is a great book to get into. It's easy reading too, I found it so easy to fall into the story and it didn't take me too long to get hooked.

An amazing read, I will probably re-read it again if I'm honest, I loved it that much!

Have you read girl on the train? - leave a comment with your thoughts!

Thanks for reading as always, I hope you enjoyed this book review!

I'm over on twitter & Instagram
- if you fancy a natter

Colour Freedom Metallic Glory in Silver Blonde Review

I don't think it's any shock that one of my most popular posts of all time is a hair dye review, a Colour freedom review to be exact, that shade however was in Silver grey which you can find below, if you're interested in that colour too!

Read: Colour Freedom, Metallic Glory in Silver Grey Review

But seeing as the amount of success I had with the previous one, I decided to give it another go. I had previously used the graphite grey on my hair, which sent it green. So please be careful, assess your porosity and always always please please do a strand test before putting all over your head!

So my hair was black this summer. But it was killing my hair. I know, you would think it would be the opposite, but I'm naturally quite fair haired anyway. So constantly topping my black hair up was doing more damage than good.

So I made the terrible decision of trying to lighten it. Which ended in a terrible trip to the hairdressers. But hey ho. A few months later, a few bleach baths and some sad looking hair, I finally thought I would be light enough to tone.

I had gone pink to cover up the mess I had created underneath so I had some extreme warm tones going on, which I just couldn't really shift. So I thought this toner would do the trick.

I bought it in silver blonde this time, as the last one in 'graphite grey' sent it green. This is probably because my hair wasn't light enough. (and I didn't do a strand test and ended up with green hair) Here was my hair before any toner.

Beautiful I know, but as you can see, there's so much red tone there, I just couldn't get rid of it by bleaching.. I used Bleach london's big pink.. so I have no idea what was in it, but I just couldn't shift it. I've never had any trouble getting out pink shades, so don't use that brand if you plan on getting blonde again easily.

To tone, I tried the Colour freedom silver blonde to see if I would have much success.

I always do a strand test now and test a little piece of hair to see what colour it will turn and also how long to keep it on for.

After finishing the strand test, I was pretty happy with the strand result, so it was time to put it all over!

And this was the finished colour! As you can see it's much much cooler than it was, making it much more of a ashy blonde colour, which I was really happy with! I kept this colour for a month or two before finally bleaching again to go grey. 

It's a hard colour to achieve, so patience is really the key. Also doing strand tests ensures you don't ruin the whole of your hair if it doesn't turn the way you wanted it to. This toner does still contain a small amount of peroxide, so just be aware if your hair is mega damaged like mine :( - keep an eye when developing, as damaged hair can over-process.

I would really recommend this product as I did the last one. Even after having a bad experience with one of their colours, this was because my hair wasn't light enough to be toned. Also I didn't do a strand test.. which is super important when dealing with toners and any other hair dyes.

Hope you enjoyed this review! I will update you guys soon with my current hair dye situation!

Happy and careful hair dying! <3

I'm over on twitter & Instagram
- if you fancy a natter

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2017 a year of goals and aspirations.

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and new year, I went up to Birmingham to see my family again which was so fun and relaxing and for new year, we had some friends over to our flat and completely chilled out. It was probably one of my favourite New years, mainly because there wasn't any faffing about and spending money left right and centre. Lets be honest, 2016 wasn't exactly the best!

After an expensive December though, my wallet is feeling sad and my belly is feeling rather 'juicy' hahaha. So after much reflecting and a good ol' break from the pressures of blogging and my studies at university, it's time to lay down my 2017 resolutions, the goals I want to achieve and my 2017 dreams.

Spend less money

So my student loan is rather pitiful. It just about covers my rent so the money I earn from working on Saturdays contributes to my living costs. I don't buy a lot of things but there are things I can definitely cut down on spending, like new cushions for my flat etc, no matter how nice they look. 

Eat better

I know this is super boring and clique, but December.. you always eat so much crap. I'm not saying I'm going to the gym and trying to lose weight, I just want to start eating better meals again. I've been eating way too many snacks and not eating proper good meals. So I'm really looking forward to that.

University

If you've been a reader for a while, you will know that last year I actually dropped out of final year university, it was a tough decision and you can read all about my experience in another blog post that I posted.  (Read "why I dropped out of my final year at university") It was hard watching all my friends graduate without me, but this is my year to finally achieve my graduation on my own. It's a huge deal for me and I can't wait to complete it.

A new wardrobe

Something I've been doing for a little while now, is buying more neutral coloured clothing. if you've seen my flat on my instagram you will see that I'm a huge lover of minimal layouts and it's sort of grown into my clothing choices too. One thing I really want to do this year, is donate my old clothes, things I've had for years and start over with a interchangeable more chic kind of wardrobe. Obviously I don't really have the budget for this as I'm trying to save haha, but we'll see how it goes. Abit at a time.

Blogging.

This year has been so amazing for my blogging, I sorted my blog layout out, got my photography style down, I've had some really cool opportunities and it's just been so much more fun and exciting. My boyfriends a photographer, so we go out on shoots together, spend time doing some photos and it's been nice to bond over something I love to do. I only really became super obsessed with blogging again around October time, being in my new home really helps. So I can only imagine what I could possibly achieve this year, it's also something I feel I can fit around uni life now unlike before when I was too stressed to either think about it.

I'm considering starting a blog schedule, but I'm going to use January to suss out what works best for me and my schedule with uni and everything like that. Blogging takes a lot of time, especially with marketing and self promotion, it's not the easiest thing to put into a schedule, so I'll keep everyone updated if it changes!

Have you posted about your 2017 goals? Leave them in the comments as I'd love to have a nosy!

Thanks for reading as always!

I'm over on twitter & Instagram
- if you fancy a natter