BBHQ May Task: Beautiful Collections

May's Beauty Blogger Headquarters task is all about 'Beautiful Collections'. I love seeing other bloggers collections and how they store/organize them. I'm always looking for new ideas.

Since this task was about our collections I thought it would be easier to do it in a video as opposed to taking a bazillion photos :)

 

Lip products before the big clean out

I hope you enjoyed the video :)

A few additional details:
Where do you keep your collection?
I keep my hair products in my bathroom and all my makeup and nail polish in my bedroom.

What furniture or organizer do you use?
I love, as you seen in the video, to use small baskets. You can get these from Walmart, The Dollar Tree, Dollar General, ect... I also love using the storage drawers from Sterilite, which you can also pick up from Walmart. Also check out your local Big Lots as they carry these sometimes too.

Do you have a cataloging system? If so, can you share your secret?
I love to organize things, it's a bit of an obsession. I like to have things grouped by type, like all my eye shadows together. I also like to have things organized by color. I worked in retail for several years and that taught me a lot about colorizing and it has stuck with me :)

Do you have any special displays for your favorite items?
Not currently, but that may be something that I do in the future.

When you get new items, where do they go?
Typically when I get new items they usually start off in my office till I get a change to take photos of them, if the product is something I want to share on my blog. From there it finds its way in to the appropriate drawer or shelf.

For fun, share your top 5 Favorite items in your beautiful collection :)
My current top 5 favorite items from my collection are:
1) Baby Lips in Quenched
2) Mabelline Studio Gel Liner in Charcoal 
3) Any of my Wet n Wild eye shadows
4) Wild Honeysuckle Fragrance from Bath & Body Works
5) Cover Girl BB Cream

I would love to see and hear about your collection! Leave me a link below if you have shared about your collection. If you would like to a more in-depth look at my collection or have any questions feel free to leave them down below.

Also be sure to stop by and visit the other bloggers that are participating in the Beauty Blogger Headquarters Tasks!

 

BBHQ April Task: Inspirations

Today I am back with April's Task from Beauty Blogger Headquarters. This month we are talking about inspirations!

What inspires me to blog?
Honestly it's just my love for beauty products. No one in my family or any of my friends are really as interested in beauty products and nail polish as I am, so blogging gives me an outlet to share my obsession :)

Share some of your favorite blogs to read for inspiration:
I don't really feel like I read other blogs for inspiration, I feel like I read other blogs for information on products. But some blogs that I do love to read are:
Green Eyed Monster
Quick Cheap and Pretty
Miranda's Makeup & More
World According to Shia
Check out my Blogs I Follow tab for several other great blogs!

Share some of your favorite YouTube channels to watch for inspiration:
Some of the YouTube Channels I enjoy watching are:
Ingrid from missglamorazzi
Emily from emilynoel83
and my new favorite Mellissa from Melmphs

What are your favorite magazines to browse for inspiration:
Currently I have been finding some inspiration from Redbook and Marie Claire

How do you organize your inspiration?
I use Pinterest to pin makeup looks and manicures that I would like to try. With magazines I will either mark the page by folding it down or just tear the page out.

What motivates you to continue blogging?
My passion obsession of beauty, makeup and nail products is a large part of what keeps me motivated to continue blogging. Another thing that keeps me motivated to continue blogging are all my lovely subscribers :) when I started blogging I really didn't think anyone would be interested in my thoughts and opinions of beauty products because I either didn't look like most of the girls on YouTube or because I don't purchase high end products, but now I have 78 followers via GFC and I am very thankful for each and everyone of my subscribers :)

How would you describe your style of blogging? How has it changed from when you first started?
I don't know that I really have a 'style' of blogging. I just try to give the facts and honest reviews. I think one way my 'style' of blogging has changed since I stared is that I feel like I give more in depth reviews.

How do you handle competitive thoughts with other bloggers?
I don't have competitive thoughts with or about other bloggers. We all have different styles of blogging and blog differently, I think that is what's great about the beauty blogging community.

Some photos that inspire me:

Image from http://www.beautylish.com/photos/summer-looks


Image from http://www.joyapreziosi.com/2012/06/amazing-eye-makeups.html

BBHQ March Task: Editing

March is here and that means it's time for the Beauty Bloggers Headquarters March task! This month we will be talking about editing programs for all of our photos and videos.

1. What program(s) have you used in the past for editing your photos and/or Videos? 

The program that I always use for editing photos is Jasc PainShop Pro 8. I really like this program because it is simple to use, very effective and a lot cheaper that PhotShop.

The program that I use for editing videos is RealPlayer. It allows me to edit out sections of videos. I would love an editing program that allows for more in depth editing. I have Windows Movie Maker, but it never seems to work right for me.

2. What are your thoughts on image editing websites; free or purchased?

I do not have a lot of experience using editing websites. I used Picnik for a short time, before they did away with it, and I really enjoyed using it. I think these type programs would work fine.

3. What are your thoughts on editing videos directly on YouTube's website?
I like that you can add annotations and a couple of the effects that you can add to your videos. I also really like that you can adjust the lighting and contrast, as this is something that I can not do with my current video editing software.

5. What program(s) would you recommend for beginner bloggers?
I would recommend using any of the free online photo editors and using the YouTube video editior when you start out. Then if you decide to stick with blogging/vlogging maybe update to programs that you have to pay for, if you are looking for more than what you can get for free online. If the free programs are working for you, stick with them.

6. What is your editing process like? Do you edit individual pieces or schedule a day for all your editing?
Usually I take my photos either the day before or the day that I'll be writing my post. As of late though, I have been looking at my planner and taking all the photos for the week at one time. Once I have taken all my photos I'll upload them to my computer and edit them all in one sitting. I do the same with my videos, although, I do n't do videos very often anymore.

7. On average how much time do you think you spend on editing images and videos in a week?
It really depends on how many post I do during the week. For example I took photos for 4 upcoming blog posts the other day and I spend about an hour editing the photos.

8. Show some before and after examples from when you first started blogging/vlogging and what your current content looks like.
As far as editing photos go, I have been editing since before I started blogging, so I don't see much change from when I started blogging and now in my edits. I have, however, started taking better photos for my blogging.

And for videos, I still don't feel like I'm any good at editing video :/

I hate to even post this one LOL It was my very first video:

And one of my more recent videos (from 2012)

Be sure to head over to BBHQ and check out how and what other bloggers/vloggers use for editing.

BBHQ: February Task

Today I am bringing you another task from Beauty Bloggers Headquarters! This month all participating bloggers will be doing posts on our Blogger Office/Organization. I am excited to read the post from all the other ladies, I love good organization tips! So let's go ahead and get in to it!

1. Where do you blog? Do you have a space dedicated to your blogging work?
I typically blog in my Avon office/computer room. I do tend to pre-write a lot of my post on paper and I usually do that at night while watching TV.

2. What do you blog on? What do you recommend?
I blog mostly on my desktop computer. Ocassionally I'll use my laptop, but I like the desktop better because I have the whole desk to have my products, notes and any thing else I may need laid out on. Whereas, when I use the laptop, I have no where to put anything.

I recommend that you use whatever you feel most comfortable using :)

3. Do you have any blogging rituals?
I don't really have any blogging rituals. I do sometimes listen to I heart Radio while blogging, like I am now.

4. How do you keep your blogging ideas organized?
I have a tiny notebook that I will jot down notes and blog ideas in. I also have a weekly planner that I use.

5. Do you have a blogging schedule for the week? Or the month? If so, how do you stay on top of it all?
I don't really have a blogging schedule, per say. I usually try and jot down the blog post ideas I want to do in my tiny notebook, then I'll usually look at my planner and see what days will work best for those posts. Then I'll jot them down in my planner. Some weeks go as I have them planned and others I have to shuffle around sometimes because I didn't get around to writing them.

I feel like having my weekly blog post ideas wrote down in the planner helps me to prepare for the posts and for the most part helps me get them done by the date I gave myself.

Sometimes I'll write all my planned post for the week during the weekends, while my hubby is working and just schedule them to post on the assigned days.

6. If you review products, how do you keep track of what needs to be reviewed in your collection?
Usually to keep track of products that I need/want to review, I'll just jot them down in my little notebook and then I'll usually jot down in my planner two weeks from that day. This gives me the time I need to try them out and get all my thoughts down for my review.

7. What do you do with all your 'old' data?
Currently all my 'old' pictures and videos are still saved on either my desktop or laptop. I really need to decide what to do with all of them! I do, however, delete all the 'bad' photos and videos that I never used.

8. For fun, what beauty/non-beauty products do you need to have on hand near your blogging station?
I can't really think of anything that I need to have on hand near my blogging station, other than lip balm, and that's something that I have to have on had regardless of where I am and what I'm doing. I do keep a tube of my favorite hand cream in my desk drawer too.

An overview of my Avon office/computer room

My blogging station

My folder that I keep some blogging materials in, my notes for this post, my planner and my tiny notebook