Hi Everyone! Hope you all are doing well! This is a long overdue update and life has been very busy since the last post. A lot has happened and changed with me and I really want to address it all in this post. Ps. this is going to be a long post!
First off, I want to acknowledge that this blog has never been super active and has always had a small group of followers. The reasons for that were many - I was not a typical blogger - I followed quite a few blogs but silently. I didn't comment frequently and when I did do so, I lost track of all the comments and replies etc. I only commented when I genuinely felt the need to say something. Sometimes I would give in to the pressure and just leave random comments here and there to improve my visibility and that just made me unhappy. I didn't want to feel like I had to leave comments on other people's blogs in order to attract more visitors to my own blog. Sometimes bloggers would comment on my posts just because I had left a comment on their post. It was a very "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" attitude and I didn't appreciate it. Blogging to me was not a business or a commercial activity and if you have ever noticed - I have never had any ads on my blog. The blogging world seemed too commercialized and self-promoting for my personal taste - I just wanted to share my knowledge and love of makeup but I was getting too caught up in it all.
Another reason for not posting was boredom and loss of inspirations. I got tired of reading and writing reviews. I got tired of seeing the same newly-launched product reviewed by 5 different bloggers. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy reviews - and a lot of blogs do an amazing job with reviews a massive range of products. But it was getting too repetitive and un-original for me to do - I felt that there was nothing new and fresh about my blog - I kinda lost track of what I wanted my USP to be.
The last reason was work. It just got too hectic, with lots of travelling, long hours etc. I also made some personal life changes in the last few months - I quit my job and moved to Hyderabad. So things have been hectic to say the very least.
Also, I have made some changes in the brands of products that I use. I started reading and researching animal testing in makeup and I decided to stop using animal tested products. Now this is a massive personal challenge and I found it very tough. There's so much to figure out. A lot of companies have ambiguous policies on animal testing, some companies don't test but their parent companies do, some don't test finished products, some test only in countries where the law demands etc. It's really an ocean of info out there and it's very difficult to know where to draw the line. I think I have sort of understood where my line/limit is and I'm trying hard to stick to it. The biggest test for me was when someone gifted me 4 brand new mascaras made by 2 companies that do animal testing and I really had to fight the temptation. I ended up distributing them all away and boy was that tough!!
So moving forward, I am not a 100% sure which direction this blog is headed. I definitely want to focus on doing looks, especially with products available in the Indian market. I want to focus on doing simpler looks suited to the busy woman. I want to focus more on techniques and hopefully improve my own in the process. If you have any ideas, do share! I'm always happy to hear from you.
So bye for now, and see you all very soon with a hopefully fresh and inspired post!
