Dainty Ditsy Turns 3!

What?! I can't quite believe I'm saying this but today - 25th August 2017 - marks a grand total of three years since I started this blog. Three. Years. Crazy stuff, right? I know it's cliche, but it really does only feel like yesterday that I hit 'Publish' on my first ever post (which you can find here if you fancy a little ol' cringe) and I guess the rest of kinda history...

As soon as I started my blog, I got hugely into the notion of blogging and the blogging community as a whole and found my passion in the beauty arena in particular. It was a time when I was just starting to get into makeup and I feel like ever since beginning 'Dainty Ditsy' - that has only gotten more and more prevalent. My love for using, applying and just generally buying makeup has really grown - and as a result, so has my makeup collection too. I feel like over the past few years, I've gotten more confident and interested in experimenting more and trying new colours/products/looks and *hopefully* my makeup skills have improved a little too. As a whole, my love for the entire beauty department is just a whole lot greater now - bodycare, haircare, skincare, you get the gist - but especially with makeup. Asides from the whole beauty thing, though, over the three years of DaintyDitsy, I've talked about various other topics too - from fashion to food, lifestyle to just general chit chat - and I feel like over time, while I have become more beauty-obsessed, my blog has also expanded to include a more wider range of subjects at the same time too. I talk about beauty more - and in more depth, too - but I also talk about more things than just beauty, as I used to 'back in the day' and all that. Now, I feel I've got the perfect balance and I really love the direction my blog is going in. A whole lotta beauty - but a whole lotta other stuff too. 

When I began my blog, I was at Sixth Form, doing my A Levels. I wasn't particularly enjoying them (nor was I enjoying the part-time job I has to run alongside them) and so wanted something that was mine that I loved, filled my spare time and gave me something to feel even just a little bit enthusiastic about. And that was this blog. It filled a void, lifted my mood no end and when I finally completed my two years in the Summer of 2015, I think I underestimated how much that would come in for the following two years aswell. By the end of Sixth Form, I knew it was a some sort of career in the Beauty/Makeup area I wanted to go into and these past two years have been filled with lots of applying for jobs, going to interviews and just trying in general to escape a job that I hated. And so far, it definitely hasn't turned out the way I was expecting it to. One year in, while I had made progress in some areas (passing my driving test, qualifying as a Nail Technician - something I really want to throw myself back into super soon - and growing and developing this lovely blog), I was still stuck in that pretty darn awful job and my mental health wasn't at its best. That pretty much continued up until a couple of months ago when finally I managed to get a new job. Hallelujah! While it's still not exactly where I want to be, it's a good stepping stone and I am just so glad to finally be in a job that is more manageable and sustainable in terms of how it makes me feel. Hopefully I can make that next step towards the career I really want - whether that be developing my Nail Tech stuff, going into another beauty-related job or maybe a mix of the two - very soon. For now though, I feel a hell of a lot happier. As I said, I am so glad to have had my blog over these past two years. Just as it did during my A Levels, having something like this to focus on, divert my attention and just make me feel a lot better has helped no end and no matter what happens in the future - I know for certain now that 'Dainty Ditsy' is always something I want to continue; no matter how often or what I may talk about.

I said around this time last year that I wanted to take things another step further and finally have this little space redesigned and I did it! Or at least, the lovely Serena from 'Pretty Wild Things' did it for me. I am even more happy with my blog now than I think I ever have been - it's finally at a point where I am fully happy with it and I really love how it looks at the moment. As I always say - while it is by no means about numbers, I am so proud and thankful for how my blog has grown over the years. For some time after starting my blog, I felt like I was talking to near to no one (and most likely was, too) but now - three years later - we are nearing 400 people following this 'ere blog on Bloglovin'. Four. Hundred. To me, that is just mental and I just want to say 'Thankyou!' about a million times over. Even if you aren't following my blog, thankyou for simply reading and interacting with me - both here and on social medias - and just generally helping to create this little online space that I love so much. All the love to all of you! Here's to next year!