Instagram Themes | Blogging

It's always been a bit of a hot topic hasn't it, Instagram Themes? Bloggers love a bit of marble background and love a good theme! And I admit  I'm the first person to swoon when the pictures all have the same filters and shades, the little OCD person inside me is soothed when everything has the same perfect border but that's the thing though, it's all a bit too perfect isn't it?

I'll be honest, I have struggled to gain my Instagram following and I think their are a couple of reasons for this, first being that I don't post enough, I'm rubbish and sometimes go for days without posting pictures at all and I think if there is one thing we have all learned through blogging, it's that followers like consistency! The other problem I think is because I just don't have THAT theme, I don't have the style of pictures that everyone loves! When I lived in England I feel like I was kind of getting an Instagram theme or at least creating content that people could easily tell was mine, things had a very similar background and were always brighten slightly so it was a kind of consistent but my problem is, I like taking pictures of everything!

When I moved out to Italy I no longer had my light pretty background and the lighting was all different to what I was used to, on the other hand I did find a new surface to take pictures on which definitely added a different look and feel to my blog and my Instagram but for those followers who likes the light and bright images, they went, they just disappeared! I found myself not wanting to post pictures because I couldn't apply the same filters as I did before which is ridiculous! So I just started posting them anyway and at first it looked a little weird because they were my images but they didn't feel very "Honeypot Blogs" if you get what I mean and think this also lead me to the decision to change direction of my blog! The way I see it is if I like the pictures then why should it matter?

I have also seen when the need for a theme goes a bit far in the sense that pictures are brightened and highlighted so much you loose all aspects of the picture, beauty products look a completely different shade and bodies blend into the white wall behind them and somethings also disappear entirely but they have so many followers because that's what people want! I have been guilty of looking on someone's Instagram at the first 9 pictures and see that if the pictures are stages nice I just follow blindly, just because it is so pretty!

I know it's all down to personal preference and I get that, but sometimes I have to ask myself when does having a theme come before the quality of the content?

Do you have an Instagram theme? If so, do you find it hard to maintain or do you love the creativity of it all?

Blog life vs Real life | Lifestyle

When I started my blog 2 years ago, I decided right from day one that my blog would be completely separate from my personal life, I took ages to start telling people that I had a blog just because I was scared of people's feedback!

I created a different Instagram account, a different twitter account and never even spoke about it on Facebook! For me it was the only way I would be able to just write whatever I want and say what ever I want without judgement! OK so I know what you're thinking, I write about bloody make up who cares it's hardly ground breaking stuff but for me it was a very different angle to what I had always liked! Another fear was that the people knew I has a degree in Journalism, would they be judging every small little mistake I can and will make! It was too much, so I thought I would just keep it as my own little private space of the internet! I kinda feel that a lot of other bloggers do this as well, I know so many people who kept theirs quiet to start with because I just think it's easier.

As time went by I pretty much stopped using my personal account and just stuck to my blog one under my little Honeypot Blogs title but as time goes on I feel like I'm getting prouder of my blog, all the time and effort I have put into it, it's tiny and but a mere drop in the ocean of all the blogs out there but I don't think I have done a bad job! I have worked with some great brands in the UK and all because I like writing but now as my lifestyle changed I kinda want bring a little more of my blog into my personal life, I've even changed my Instagram name to read my actual name as opposed to just my blog name! I'm even starting to post pictures from my Instagram account onto my Facebook as well though I don't actually link them together, not yet but it's a start!

I feel that because my blog is changing slightly and going towards a more lifestyle route I want to share all of my experiences that I am sharing with you guys but also share them with my "real life" pals as well, I don't expect all of them to read my blog bit it does feel good when they do!

Have you kept you blog and your life separate?

What's next for Honeypot Blogs... | Lifestyle

That's a scary title isn't it? Well, just let me explain...

To my 3 regular readers, you may have noticed that I just haven't been posting a lot and this isn't because I don't like blogging anymore, it's all about the timing! I have started a new job and relocated to a different country in such a short space of time!! I did take a break and wrote a bunch of posts ready to get me started again and then...there it was...LIFE, it bloody got in the way again! Just as I was getting on track I had to stop again, which sucked!  It sucked because everything was down, the views, the followers and the engagement, it was a visual representation that I was failing my blog!

It took me a little while to think about how to carry on, the thing is I have always loved writing and yet here I am struggling to find time to put it all together but how could that be when I have so much more time now? The formula that I have always followed with my content was primarily reviews, 3 pictures maybe 4 and then the reason why I picked the item, the first impression, the results and my thoughts, it followed that specific formula for 2 years! It was only when I was reading a book that I realised it's just too routine, which worked when I had one but now I don't, everything changes all the bloody time so how can I expect my content to remain exactly the same? I just can't!

This means, Honeypot Blogs is going to take more of a lifestyle turn, so expect more personal and more content heavy posts, I'm going to be expressing my thoughts and opinions about topics that are important to me and hopefully something you can relate to as well! I will still be writing about food because...well...just yum!!! This blog will still remain true to me just a little broader in terms of what I am writing about! This way I can sit on a train/plane/in my room and just write instead of needing to see the pictures or the product a thousand times before I finish what I'm writing! Of course my posts will still have pictures but they won't be as structured and staged but more sporadic and real I guess!

You may see the odd beauty post filter through if it has already been in my drafts but they will become fewer and far between.

So let me know what types of posts you'd like to read? Do you even like content heavy posts?