Way back in 2013, after reading blogs and watching YouTube channels about beauty for about three
years, I bit the bullet and created my own! I really loved being creative, but had no outlet to utilise it
in a real way.
I actually previously ran a blog about arts and crafts with a friend but I found it difficult to find my
own voice in blogging and was losing enthusiasm for craft. On a whim I created “The Minted Beauty” and over time, this has evolved into what we have today in “The Minted Blog”.

The tools every blogger should utilise:

Every blogger should sign up to at least one “Blogger Bootcamp” style email series. There are so
many free and exceptionally useful blogging tips that get sent straight to your email. I like to enrol in
this every six months or so to refresh the blog, find out new things other bloggers have been utilising
and just getting back that motivation for blogging.

The one hyped up product you just didn’t love:

When cleansing balms first came out I thought all my prayers had been answered and dove right in! I
bought The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Balm that everyone was raving about, and it resulted in crazy scary cystic acne! Turns out it contains Mineral Oil that my skin pretty much hates. It definitely taught me a lesson (particularly in skincare!) to do your research on ingredients and don’t believe all the hype you hear!

Your favourite skincare tip:

My secret weapon for years has been a facial cleansing brush (like the Clarisonic Mia2). It really
made a difference to my skin and if I don’t use it, I notice my skin becoming dull and lifeless, with
more blemishes starting to appear. I don’t think I will ever go back purely to manual cleansing only.

Your favourite fragrance:

This one is hard, I tend to change them up seasonally! I think my all time favourite would be Thierry
Mugler’s Alien, just because it’s so different and I always get complimented when I wear it.

The one product you can’t live without:

Any sort of brow product, these babies need taming to look good! I used to swear by brow powders
but lately I’ve been using Chi Chi Brow Pomade in Soft Brown and it’s pretty fantastic, it would be
hard to go back to powder!

Tip for any newbie bloggers:

Don’t be discouraged when everything doesn’t happen at once. It takes time to build a readership,
and nothing happens overnight (though it may seem like it for some people). Blogging takes hard
work and dedication, but you need to remember why you began blogging in the first place. For fun!

Favourite travel/holiday destination:
I recently just got back from a massive trip overseas all throughout Europe, and it’s difficult to
choose just one place! I would love to return to Poland or Serbia one day, they were both so fantastic. I am hoping to be able to head to Japan at some point too (mainly thanks to Mel for that one!)

Here is the lovely Kate - all dressed up at a friend wedding!

And there you have it! The very first Loads of Lifestyle Blogger Q&A! Thank you so much to Kate for getting in contact! If you would like to be part of the Q&A check out this post here!


Mel x

As always, between posts you can find me:

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