Taking a look at all my posts and my blog in general here are some things that I want to look back or reflect on. For starters, if I could improve or include anything within my site I think I would want it to look more editorial because I talk about editing, skincare, and fashion, I would want a more sleek yet modern look with more black and bold designs and just, in general, look less plain. As I look back on my promotions, I wish I would’ve taken my time on the tweets in order to better promote my posts in a more casual and engaging way and into something that I would want to click on myself.

 My best experience of the semester-long project would be expressing myself and my ideas on these certain topics as this experience had helped me gain an understanding of what it’s like in this industry as well as gain a background of knowledge and skills. For example, taking my own pictures and how to make pictures look appealing, my writing skills, and my sense of information and how to communicate my knowledge or experience in a more professional and proper way. 

For my future, I want to work on promoting and advertising for beauty/skincare, interior design, or fashion business and by my skills used in this class, I feel like I have a better understanding of how to have a deadline, while creating creative topics that are knowledgable, and how to promote and get people to interact with your promotions.

In addition to looking at the past, I also want to look at stats for my posts and overall analytics. Starting off with my posts, the most popular post week was from February 17 to February 23 with 23 views and 3 visitors. My most popular post this semester with 19 views was the first in my series called “How I edit my photos”. I think this was the most popular because I feel like a lot of people don’t really like sharing their tips or tricks to edit their photos and would rather have people buy their presets.  

Overall from the stats data, I wasn’t too surprised by the stats because of how unknown my blog is and how vague my posts may seem. And another stat that I want to share is where I promoted my posts, on Twitter. My most engaged tweet promoting my blog was for the skincare post which is surprising because I thought that the photo editing post would have gotten more engagement.

To learn more about my twitter check it out here

Recently with all this stuff going on things like online discounts and coupons to save up to 40% off a lot of people are excited about discounted items for almost every website. But the best part is, is that this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discounted products. 

Because stores have closed and stuck to online or semi-open times to pick up a lot of the merchandise that isn’t sold stays in-store while new merchandise is shipped in with the rest of the store leaving an overloaded stock of merchandise in stores and factories. Even when there are discounts now, fashion employees and industry workers predict that due to a mass overstock in stores that merchandise will be at an all-time high as soon as the pandemic crisis starts disappearing. 

Retail Dive recently posted an article talking about how stores will be more in demand for pickup and in April a poll found that 24% people said they wouldn’t shop in store for the next 6 months, which is higher compared to the 16% for three months and 4% for the next month. Suggesting that around August stores will start increasing their promotions such as discounts in order to sell out their high increase in stock production. 

In conclusion, the best time to shop would be in the late summertime, even if online because the summer fashion wasn’t sold due to the pandemic because no one was going out and needed summer clothes which leads to the highest increase in a promotion. So save your money and wait because you could possibly get the same shirt for half the price in less than 4 months and any products or clothes that you may have had your eye one, maybe easier to obtain now. For further information check out the article from RetailDive here. 

With this new lifestyle that we have, sometimes it’s hard adjusting and figuring out how to work functionally and be independent knowing that you can get your work done and feel like you have a purpose for each and every day. Here are some tips that helped me recently break my bad habit of doing nothing purposeful with my days.

Tip One: Have different spaces for different objectives

One thing you have to remember is that you can’t just go to the coffee shop to get your working done or go to class anymore, but that shouldn’t make you feel like you don’t have to do anything because getting up and going somewhere made you feel like you could get these things done. An idea would be to separate eating, sleeping, homework, exercise/ meditation, and hobbies. For example, I sleep on my bed, eat downstairs and NOT in my bed or at my desk, I work on school work and other online positions at my desk, paint or do puzzles in my living room and work out outside. 

Tip Two: dress up to get down.

Regardless of your hobbies and work dress for each part, when you wake up to try and dress up like your going to class or in your athleisure wear, but if you are going to work out then I would recommend wearing your classroom outfit and then changing into your athletic wear. Setting apart different outfits for each role in your day helps you separate the day into portions and help your mind make you feel more productive.

Tip Three: Give your body the nutrition it deserves.

Without adventures to break our day down, think about now that you are isolating yourself from how your diet affects so much of your mood into your productivity. Try and eat less red meats and focus more on proteins and carbs. To learn more about what your body needs and the effects that food has on your mental health, check out this blog below! 

https://www.aetna.com/health-guide/food-affects-mental-health.html

Tip Four: Keep your calendar.

What helps me the most is having due dates. Nothing is worse than when you know you have a couple of things due, but not knowing when it’s due or how long you need to prepare to start that assignment. I like to personally start off the week by looking at my assignments and projects coming up and listing them out on paper, setting up your due date before that actual due date to get them done. As the week goes by, everyday check your to-do list to see the next thing that is done and finish it off without feeling like you’re overwhelmed. 

I truly hope that this helps you and inspires you to keep being productive in your day and know that each day is just as important as the rest, whether that be self care or working day!

Here are the best brands that will help you come out of quarantine having silky smooth skin!

Cetaphil: Gentle Foaming Cleanser

This is by far my favorite foaming cleanser ever. This face wash has no fragrance, no harsh chemicals, and works great for all skin types. At this point, I have put my mom, my brother, and my friends on this foaming cleanser and they all love it! There’s even a review on it on youtube from a dermatologist that also recommended this face wash!

CeraVe: Hydrating Facial Cleanser OR Foaming Cleanser

I personally have the hydrating one which doesn’t necessarily feel like a deep cleanser but it’s great for keeping moisture in your pores! I also recommend any skin product from CeraVe as there are affordable and aren’t damaging to the skin long term wise!

CeraVe: Daytime Moisturizer

I couldn’t get a picture of it but the CeraVe moisturizer is amazing affordable skincare. It has the recommended spf and is lightweight. I only thing I would say is to use it lightly as It does make your skin a little oily from the sunscreen, but it’s better than having bad skin!

All these products are affordable, fragrance free, and great for all skin types. If you have any other products that you would like to recommend that are similar to these I would love for you all to share them!

For more skincare inspiration check out my Pinterest!

Being stuck at home not with your friends and not going out and wearing your favorite fit really sucks. So I decided to dedicate this blog post to all the outfits that will keep you motivated or just make you feel good as a college kid coming back home with no plans and no motivation.

The spring Tailgate you didn’t go to.

Just to remind yourself that you are intact still a college kid, wear your favorite tailgate fit. Wear the jersey and the boots and take pictures outside like you are under your favorite frat tent.

The fitness center in your living room

I feel like a lot of people don’t give athleisure style enough credit. I love getting into some leggings and a sport top and even going the extra mile and putting on some tennis shoes and just walking around the house. Putting on a workout outfit as soon as you start your day kind of puts you into a mood to do something with yourself instead of playing games all day.

The date that you weren’t gonna go on anyways.

Sometimes just putting on a strong 10 outfit as well as your makeup and hair for dinner with the family is the closest you’ll get to date night. Take some pictures or get creative for the next outfit you’ll wear as soon as you do get to go out of quarantine.

In this strange time of the unknown, everyday activities like getting ready or choosing an outfit really does not come into play. But keeping a routine will keep you motivated and doing this like this will keep you from wanting to go out and do things in public places. Just know that staying with yourself and isolating yourself will not only protect you but protect everyone else.

for outfit ideas, follow my Pinterest to get some inspiration!

One of my favorite things to do is get ready with my friends, try on our new or favorite clothes and hit the town to take pictures. In the light of unfortunate events, things like walking around Isn’t really apart of #socialdistancing. So instead I’ve decided to share what I’ve been doing to keep myself busy in the comfort of my apartment.

Get Crafty

For a while, I really wanted a bleach dye sweater or college t-shirt, but when I saw how much it cost for something so simple, I decided against it. Thanks to the app Tik Tok, I had learned about how to do it at home and saw how simple it was and how cool the results looked.

Somethings you’ll need are:

• Some old shirts or sweaters. For instance, I found an old cheap sweater I had from the thrift store and a black Texas State tee-shirt all in my drawer.
• Bleach, but I recommend toilet cleaning bleach because the nozzle on the bottle is more controlled than just a regular bleach jug.
• Rubber bands, although I used hair ties cause I couldn’t find any.

After you’ve gathered these things rinse the shirt/sweater underwater until it’s soaked. Next, you’ll want to lay the shirt/sweater down flat and pinch the middle twisting the material counter clock-wise or clock-wise, up to you. wrap about four to six rubber bands around the material and focus the bleach on random sections, the more the merrier but don’t go crazy.

After a while check up on your shirt (est. 10-15 min) and see if you like the results if so wash out the material and put it in the washer and drier.

Get Creative

I know for a fact that when it comes to being artsy, I’m not the one. But recently I have enjoyed watercolor painting and drawing. My roommate and I like to sit down put on a movie and paint. So I consider you to think about something that you’ve always wanted to do; paint, knit, basket weave, macrame, etc.

• follow a Bob Ross Tutorial
• Try out new makeup looks
• learn how to knit, basketweave, macrame, etc.

For some inspiration here are some things such as painting or macrame a basket for my disco ball

Get Cooking

All of us get caught up in the fast pace lives of school, organizations, or work. But know that there’s more time on our hands, something as simple as cooking a meal can be fun and exciting. Try out the new recipe that you saw on Instagram, or come up with your own fun variation of foods. One food that I’ve always loved getting is muffins with my coffee when I go to Starbucks or Mochas and Javas.

As for my new recipe I picked up a mixed berries muffin mix when grocery shopping and decided to make that. Although this was super simple, there is an endless amount of creativity when it comes to cooking.

Here’s a cute pic of my muffins in case you wanted to know how they turned out.

In conclusion to this segment I think the most important thing you can get out of this is just to enjoy the little things. Be adventurous while staying home, do things that you’ve always had in the back of your mind and take your time to appreciate what you have. Stay safe.

Don’t forget to follow my instagram for more creative content!