Welcome! 

Today is the first day of the 7-Day Blog Revamp! If this is the first time we’re meeting, my name is Erin Bailey. I’ve been blogging about makeup for seven years now. I have to admit, this challenge is going to be a workout for all of us. Yep, I’m doing it with you! My blog needs some TLC, so I think we can all benefit.

Today, we’re going to start out with an assessment. We’re going to see where we are, so we can figure out where we’re going. Some of you might be hippie bloggers–you post whenever, aren’t concerned with who’s reading or what your stats are, and you do it for personal enjoyment. Others could be looking at it as a serious hobby, treating it like a part-time job, pumping your heart and soul into it. Others might see it as a profession, using it to help bring in steady income and build a brand. All of these options are fan-freakin-tastic.

So lets look ahead. Where do you want your blog to be in 3 months? What goals do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to be on your next blogiversary? What about in January 2014? What about 5 years from now? There’s no right or wrong time frame.

Types of Goals

Statistical: What kind of growth do you want in 3 months? Are you looking for more daily readers, or does that not matter to you?

Design: Do you want better photography? To finally create a streamlined color scheme? The perfect business cards?

Productivity: Would you like to have a blog routine in place? Canned responses for your email?

Learning: Do you want to attend more blog conferences? Learn how to code?

Nuts and Bolts: Do you want to switch blog platforms? Try out more plugins?

Financial/Sponsored: Do you want to make money from your blog? $50 a month? $500 a month? What brands do you want to partner with?

Relationships: How about joining more blog networks, forums or twitter chats? Commenting more on other blogs?

Post Type: Do you want to do less reviews and more lookbooks? Do you want to shout out more bloggers on your blog? More DIYs?

The list goes on and on and on. There are no rights and wrongs to this post, and remember, there doesn’t have to be a definitive time frame for this post.

A Quick Bit Of Advice..

Never, under any circumstances, compare yourself to other bloggers. Keep your blog set around what you want. Make it original. You’ll probably never know why that one blogger got to go on that press trip, or why the other one gets 300 comments on every post no matter what they’re about. Set attainable goals for yourself, and know that it’s totally fine to take small steps to make it all happen!

Assignment

Fill out the Blog Assessment with a few assessment ideas. Most of it is about your blog’s stats, but there’s space to fill out other things to. Fill it out, and compare it later down the line. If you make your goals, pat yourself on the back! You’ve done an excellent job! If not, figure out what steps you’ll need to accomplish to make it happen.

Other Resources on Blogging Goals:

• Easy Goal Setting For Your New Blog at ProBlogger.net
• Blogging Goals and Why We Need Them at Essentially Eclectic

Catch Up!

Here are a few articles from Erin’s Guide to Better Beauty Blogging. Hopefully they will be helpful to you!

• How To Create a Media Kit for your Blog
• Boost Your Blogging Flow: A Resource Guide
• Get More Visitors To Your Blog Using Bloglovin’
• Spread The Word: Create Business Cards For Your Blog

Need to sign up to receive daily blog revamp emails? Join here.

They’ve got all kinds of stuff on sale, and there really is A LOT up for grabs. Here’s the Last Chance section on Becca’s website.

I have to apologize! Today was supposed to be day one of the blog revamp challenge, but there was still LOTS of work to be done in preperation, and I just couldn’t fit it all in. Now that that’s all out of the way, let me explain what’s going down here. I want to jump into 7 blogging and social media basics to help transform your blog. In fact, I’ll be doing the challenge with you, because my blog needs a major boost too! MAJOR. This go round, I’ll be sure to share several resources to help you dive even deeper into the topic. Are you ready? 

The challenge begins Sunday, May 19th.

If you think you’re going forget to check back in, receive the daily task by email by Signing up here!

Earlier today, I took a picture of Ruby Woo and Riri Woo side by side. As you can see, they’re very, very close. Some say they are identical. My makeup buddy Meagan says “Riri Woo is much more blue & is a true red, while Ruby Woo is more warm, less cool.” I’m no makeup expert, any my eye for detail has never been that fantastic. However, these are just too close for me to really be able to tell the difference. I’ll be wearing them interchangeably.

Did you get a tube of Riri Woo lipstick? Based on the image, do you think they’re the same color, or is there a difference?

Sample provided by the brand for blog consideration.

Rihanna fans and red lipstick lovers all over the world are doing backflips right now.  MAC Riri Woo lipstick ($15) debuts online May 2nd, plus at Barclays Center, at the M·A·C Pop-Up Store for concert ticket holders. MAC calls it Rihanna’s remix of the cult classic, Ruby Woo. As a fan of Ruby Woo, I have to say that I am REALLY exited to see what this lipstick looks like. One thing is for sure–this is going to sell out FAST. *All I see is signs, All I see is dollar signs*

So here’s my beauty freak blogger conundrum. Do I replenish the products that I’m satisfied with, or do I try something new? I ran out of moisturizer and left my cleanser at my boyfriend’s house, so it was time to get some more stuff. I spent an hour or so looking at the travel beauty sets (or in my mind, sample packs) on Neiman Marcus and Sephora.

I’ll be real with ya. I am an immediate gratification kind of girl. I’d rather take the drive to the mall then order online, even with the free shipping and samples (most of the time).

Since I was in a pinch, I thought I’d run over to my local Arundel Mills CCO and grab a few things. I can’t go wrong with Clinique’s Wash Away Gel Cleanser. It’s one of the few cleansers that makes my skin feel really clean every time I use it. No matter if I take a month off from using it, or a few years, I always seem to come back.  As far as moisturizer, I remember plenty of women using Estee Lauder DayWear. If I worked 4 days a week, someone purchased a jar of this 3 times a week. Regular price is $48, I paid $38.

Pure DKNY was one of those fragrances that I received a sample of, and I fell in love with it. I’m never really sure how to break down the notes and tones and yada yada of a fragrance, but this just takes me to that Spring Summer feeling Jilly from Philly sang about. This little 1.oz scent spray was $20. They had more sizes, but I never finish fragrances, so it worked out.

Drag makeup is a science that I had been dying to learn for years. There’s a huge difference in a boy wearing makeup and drag makeup. When I found out Warren was going to be trying out for RuPaul’s Drag Race, I was elated. I had been begging him to do this for years! I got to help out and film a bunch of his scenes. During the process, he took the time out to tape himself as he turned into Naomi Michaels. Now let me just say, I LOVE this look. It’s one of those jaw droppers that you might not totally understand or can’t figure it out as it’s coming together, but afterward, you are astonished. He LOVES Ben Nye Banana Powder, as you’ll see when you watch. He also uses a few other shades. You can follow and connect with Naomi on Facebook, and Warren on Facebook.

If you want to see Naomi Michaels on RuPaul’s Drag Race as much as I do, please vote for her here: http://bit.ly/Z4oIPY (You can vote once a day!)

I’ve had the organizing bug for the last few weeks now, and I have to admit, it’s getting pretty exciting buying little things for storage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m starting to feel silly purchasing items just to store my makeup. I’d rather be spending on the makeup itself.

In this video, I’m sharing my progress as of this morning. In the image above, you can see how some of my lip products were “organized” before. I went back to Ikea to purchase more organizers, and ended up with three of the Antonious baskets, which you’ll see in the video. I’ve transferred most of my lipsticks and glosses into the new Antonious baskets (but I’m not sure if I like it yet). I really, really like these baskets so far as a whole.

Now I just need to make sure I make better decisions with them, as far as the best products that fit. It’s all a giant puzzle, and I’m having a lot of fun figuring it out.

Here’s the photo tutorial for adjusting the Summera (where I store my MSFs, Fluidlines, Eye shadow quads, etc) to fit in the Alex 9 Drawer.

If you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!