Archives for August 2019

Hey beautiful people! In case no one has told you today, you are amazing and loved.

As you can probably tell from the title- I am answering your questions in today’s post! Remember that time like two months ago when I asked you to send me questions? No? Me either, haha. JUST KIDDING! I do remember and I saved everyone!

Let’s not waste anymore time! I hope you find this enjoyable! Happy reading.

1. How did you get a hand tremor?

• We are just jumping into the hard questions aren’t we, lol. Honestly, I don’t know and neither does the doctors. I have always had a baby tremor in my hands, but I never noticed it. The only time it was brought to my attention was when I would get my nails done. Three years ago, I was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of mac n’ cheese. I was minding my own business when my hands started shaking uncontrollably. That was the day my hand tremor was born, haha! In all seriousness, that was the first time I was like “woah, what is this”. It never went away, and has not gotten better. A month after the first initial time, I went to a Neurologist. We did a CAT scan of my brain and everything came back normal. I was diagnosed with an Essential Tremor. Usually an Essential Tremor is hereditary, but not for me. From there, I was put on three different seizure meds in three months. That was fun. I fainted at work on one, was suicidal on another, and got rapid heart beat which has not left. It was a hot mess, I was a hot mess. After about a year later, I went to a new Neurologist. I felt like I wasn’t being listened to at my other. My newer Neurologist told me that she thought I had a thyroid disorder. Blood was taken and came back that something was up. I needed to see a specialist. At this point in time, my contract at work had ended so my health insurance no longer existed. Since then, I have not been back to be checked or tested. It is on my list of things to do. So, to answer the question: I have either an Essential Tremor or a throid disorder that causes my tremor. I’ll keep you all in the loop when I know more. But that is why I never go into detail, because we don’t know what it is for sure.

2. Why did you start blogging?

• I get this question often! For the full story, you can reference the post I wrote on it here. But to make a long story short, it was a passion and something I was super interested in. I was obsessed with following bloggers, and I have always been a HUGE online shopper. I felt like I had no purpose, and my jobs were not satisfying me. When I was in between jobs, Smile Darling Blog was born.

3. How do you start a blog?

• The first thing you need to start a blog is passion and drive. If you have passion and it is something you really want to do, then you need to educate yourself. I can’t stress education enough! You need to immerse yourself in the blogging world. Follow the bloggers that fit your niche. See what they are doing. Watch YouTube! This will be your best friend for step by step instructions on: how to start a blog, how to take photos, what apps to use, how to edit photos, and what widgets to get for your site. The education never stops. Listen to podcasts to stay up-to-date. My favorites are Work Party, Goal Digger, LikeToKnow.it Influencer Radio, What We Said, Often Ambitious, The Influencer, and Six Figure Influencer. When it comes to what host and site to use, my friend Erica with Coming Up Roses has a whole post on it. See it HERE. She was so helpful! I personally use WordPress.com (there is a WordPress.org too be sure to learn the difference), and I use Host Gator for my domain and hosting.

4. What skincare do you use? You have great skin!

• Omg, thank you!! I have a whole post on my skincare that you can read here! If I could only use a cleanser and one other skincare item, I would absolutely pick serum. I am a serum junkie! I love retinol, hyaluronic acid, rosehip oil, and Vitamin C! One of my fave affordable serum brands is The Ordinary. For moisturizer and cleanser, my go-to is Tula! I have been using Tula for 2 years!

5. Where do you shop?

• I am a huge online shopper, but I also love to shop small. While there are so many boutiques I could list, I am most loyal to Red Dress Boutique, Vestique, Julies Boutique/ Ivy & Leo, Vici Collection, Shop Impressions and Shop Hopes. I have been shopping with Red Dress for 7 years! I also shop at Nordstrom, Abercrombie, Forever 21, Amazon, Princess Polly, and American Eagle.

6. How do you grow your following?

• I have no idea, when you find out tell me! This is so hard to answer. It varies by person. I have friends who gained over 20K in a year. Sometimes, I feel really behind. But, then I have others who have been blogging for 5 years and are at 5-10K. I try not to focus too much on the number of followers. I grew in the beginning by engaging. Engaging is key! I spend 7pm-11pm on my phone at night most days of the week just commenting, liking and saving other bloggers and non-blogger posts. Right after I post, I make sure I am immediately responding back to comments for the first hour. Also, I constantly refresh my home page and interact with the new posts on my feed. I’ve done giveaways, but I really do those to give back. The people who follow you usually unfollow you anyway, so it is not a good way to really get followers. You want people who will want to interact with you. You want people to stay long term. I know this isn’t a good answer, so sorry haha.

7. What do you use to get your skin to glow?

• Serum! As I mentioned above, I love it! I use a serum every morning, and at night I use either a serum or face oil.

8. How do you edit your photos?

• The short answer: I use a preset in Lightroom. The Preset I currently have is by Suzy @suzyshattuck in “Wonderlust”. The long answer: I use my preset, manipulate it in Lightroom to get it just right. I adjust the color, the lighting, etc. Then if I need to remove anything, I use the app “Retouch”. From there, I use the app “Facetune” to bring out details if you can’t see them well, edit things out with patch, or smooth.

9. How do you keep your skin looking so good?

• Haha you guys are rocking the skincare questions. I wash my face twice a day. Morning and night. At night, I use a Clarisonic. I ALWAYS take off my make-up! Even when I am tired or drunk the make-up comes off. I keep a make-up wipe in my purse when I go out just in case I sleep out, haha. No shame.

10. Where do you shop for graphic tees that are not bands?

• One of my fave places to shop graphic tees is Nasty Gal. I mean, they do have a lot of band options but ones that aren’t too! The ones I have been finding lately are at boutiques. Vestique has a ton in stores. I also love supporting small businesses. My friend Anna has a great tee shop called Juniper Mountain. I also love ShopBash,and my friend Elle’s shop Blush & Bourbon.

11. What sunblock do you use on your face? The ones I use break me out.

• I have really sensitive skin. Sunblock on my face always burns. The one brand I swear by is Supergoop (not sponsored)! They make sunblock for sensitive skin. They have some really good face options. They are a little pricey though.

12. How are you liking Charleston?

• Charleston is a beautiful city! I have made some really great friends, and I love being by a beach again. I really like it here, but I do not see it long term. I don’t picture myself having a family here. But, you never know what can happen. I definitely miss the city and having a skyline. No buildings in Charleston can be taller than the tallest church.

13. Summer plans?

• In all fairness, I did ask for these questions two months ago. Now that summer is coming to an end, I am really looking forward to fall. Southern summers are brutal! But, to answer the question: I did not make summer plans. I have a lot of weddings this fall and I don’t have PTO yet at my job. Also, I wanted to stay local to get acclimated with my new city.

14. How old are you?

• I am 29! My birthday is in March.

15. How do you work with brands?

• I am a Fohr.co affiliate. Brands find me on there. A lot of times, brands find me through hashtags too. I just started reaching out to brands, I always have waited for them to contact me. Some have been paid, but almost all have been product in exchange for a post.

16. Do you blog full-time?

• No! I have a full-time job and I blog after hours and on the weekend.

17. Are you always on your phone?

• Yes and no. I have Instagram notifications turned off, and on the weekends I don’t engage a ton. I like to semi-unplug on weekends. During the week though from 7pm-11pm and sometimes during the day, I’ll be on my phone.

This was so much fun guys! Thank you to all who participated! I hope I answered your questions, and you had fun getting to know me!