The days here are finally getting sunnier and taking pictures is starting to get a little easier again 🙂 I think I am still bracing for another possible snow storm since we got hit pretty badly with one last week 🙁 But, I’ll try to think of more positive things. For one, this outfit made me happy! It was worn on a warmer weekend and I was thrilled to be able to leave the Winter coat at home if even just for a day:
Leather Jacket: Danier (Canadian Store) size 2XS
Jean: Gap Jean Leggings 00R
Boots: Me Too size 7
LOL you guys must think that I wear these jeans all.the.time. In fact – ummm I do wear them often! But these pictures were actually taken on the same day as I took my Petite Fashion Challenge #6 pictures so please don’t think I wear these jeans every chance I get (even though I do).
Scarf: dara dot designs
Top: Mexx XSI do however wear this scarf every chance I get because it’s so soft and cozy and I love the bright colour. I can also get away with wearing a really bright lipstick too!
Top: Mexx XSI do however wear this scarf every chance I get because it’s so soft and cozy and I love the bright colour. I can also get away with wearing a really bright lipstick too!
So…here is where I need your advice. I’m becoming a bit overwhelmed with maintaining both of my blogs (in case you didn’t know my other blog is: Toronto Beauty Reviews ). The original reason why I started Curls and Pearls was to share my style/clothing journey or whatever you want to call it with other bloggers and to get feedback and advice. I have always maintained that I am NOT a fashionista by any means. I just know what I like and hope that it fits me properly LOL!
Anyway, my other blog is a bit more my comfort zone (even though I don’t put that many posts up!). It’s also a journey for me, I absolutely love the world of makeup and cosmetics and am by no means an expert compared to so many of the ladies out there. But, among my group of friends and family I’m the one with the answers. And if I don’t know the answers then I’ll know where to find them. Someone suggested to me that since both my blogs are still fairly new I should consolidate them.
This is where I need YOUR advice!
I purposely left the separate to begin with since as most of you know I have a side Avon Business. My beauty blog was meant to share my knowledge, thoughts and opinions with people in my real life many of whom are my customers and co-workers. Of course other people whom I haven’t met will be reading as well. But I never shared my Curls and Pearls blog with anyone except a select few close friends of mine. I felt kind of…silly…I guess is the word. I don’t mind asking my virtual friends and bloggers for advice but for some reason I didn’t want my real life people to be involved. Now I’m having second thoughts due to the time constraints and I’m getting a bit tired of trying to maintain essentially two identities 😉
Do you share your blog with people in your real life? Is it strange? Also, would it even make sense for me to merge the two as they are so different from each other? Also, there is the matter of all my followers on my blog and on my twitter account (I have two of those too!). If I did merge the two, what would I call it? I don’t know that Toronto Beauty Reviews makes sense for a merged blog but I really love the name!
I would LOVE to hear your honest thoughts and opinions. Your advice means the WORLD to me!
p.s. I really try not to share but it seems words get around! Especially when they see you on front row of Fashion Week!
besos,
ML
It’s OUT!
Come and join The Pajama Project!
Twenty York Street
Twenty York Street
Sweetie, having been to your beauty blog a lot tonight, I am amazed how you can do both of these so well! I think you forgot to mention that you also write for another website?
I mean girl – that is a LOT! I say consolidate! You can make pages within so we can view fashion and we can click to beauty!
besos,
ML
It’s OUT!
Come and join The Pajama Project!
Twenty York Street
Twenty York Street
hi elaine, i’m a first time commenter hehe…
it’s so great reading all these advice and i’m cheating by taking some of it and apply to my life too 😉 all these ladies have been extremely thoughtful and honest, and i too think you should combine the two blogs.
i have thought about starting a blog for half a year now, but i finally pulled the trigger last week. i’m taking it slow because i’m so afraid to show my life to the world! i just know a lot of judgmental people in my life and i’d rather not deal with the negative comments/drama when they find out i have a *fashion* blog. so…i’ll remain anonymous for now.
wow here i went on and on about myself…sorry hehe. just seems like a good place to share this. good luck with your final decision 🙂
Elaine, I am behind on reading and late to this…but wanted to share my two cents anyways. I like Kelly’s suggestion on “testing the waters” but I think you should go ahead and combine the two…no testing needed. You should blog about whatever you please and whatever you’re passionate about, and not have to cater to whether your readers would be interested or bored. Also one twitter account is good…I get confused with the RT’s and cross tweets from your two : )
Personally I share my blog with almost all my friends and family in real life, because it’s become a pretty big part of my life! I do agree with Liane that one repercussion is ppl might be aghast at how much shopping I do, but aside from that…I don’t have much to hide.
Maintaining two blogs is hard! There’s a lot of blogs that combine makeup and clothes, and I don’t think it’s silly at all. 🙂
Good luck with whatever path you end up taking!
Hi Elaine! My email to you got bounced back – can you give me your email addy? Or email me sewpetitegal(at)gmail.com? Thanks!
I think that beauty and fashion go hand in hand, so I think it would be perfectly natural to merge the two.
When I first started blogging I was to embarrassed to tell anyone, but now I have no problem telling people because I love my blog, and it’s really nothing to be embarrassed about!
Natasha ~ Required2BeInspired
I think you should merge the two. I think that beauty products are a part of fashion. Make-up can be a huge part of someone’s personal style. There are a lot of bloggers out there that combine two or more of their interests. It might also be easier on some of your readers who follow both of your blogs. 🙂
I def think you should merge the two. I love reading both about beauty and fashion and it would be easier on you and your readers just to come to one blog and comment and support you:D
As far as the Twitter account- I say merge them too but keep your CurlsPearls one and just put your website for your beauty blog underneath your description so people can be directed to it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I REALLY appreciate all the time you have taken to write me such thoughtful comments. I won’t respond to them on here but I may be emailing some of you to pick your brains further. I’m so feeling the love!!! 🙂 <3 <3 <3
I have three blogs, and yes, it was getting difficult to maintain them.
However, I was maintaining only 1 before, where my blog was both personal, beauty, fashion, and style… and I felt it was more appropriate to separate out the fashion/beauty and style to one blog and keep my personal thoughts on a separate forum. I was running both a tumblr and my other personal blog of 6 years AND my style site together, and it was getting a bit hectic. So I stopped blogging at my personal site and consolidated my personal thoughts to my tumblr blog where blogging is more immediate and quicker.
Once I figure out how to import my archives and database into Tumblr, I will use tumblr on my old URL.
I am keeping my fashion/style/beauty all on my style blog.
If you want to consolidate beauty and fashion go hand in hand. However, it you want to keep your beauty posts more professional, I would suggest keeping them apart and migrating your Blogger Databases into something where you can blog from multiple sites from a single dashboard, like WordPress MU. It’s more powerful than blogger’s dashboard, and it has more functionality. It’s not free, however.
If your beauty site is less professional and more of just a beauty blog, you should have no problem consolidating. Just make sure you have someone who knows what they’re doing (that is, if you don’t already) to back up your database and import it into your desired URL so that all your archives for both sites are comingled.
I hope that was helpful. You can always email me if you want.
I like the outfit.
I don’t live in jeans, but maybe it’s because I haven’t found a good pair yet?
xx{ish}.,
Mae Lu @ thereafterish.!
I really like the outfit you’re wearing in your post! The jacket is really nice.
I completely understand how you can feel silly even though it’s something you like to do. I feel the same way. I have told a few close friends and family members about my blog, but not anyone from work and I don’t share it on Facebook or LinkedIn or anything. Maybe down the road, but for now it seems a little weird.
I guess I don’t have any great advice on maintaining the two. I do think that it would be really difficult and that if there is a way to continue with the things that are most fulfilling to you while leaving the others behind, that would be for the best. Maybe you could merge, or take your favorite one and incorporate the things you really would miss from the other…
Ahh. Sorry this was a novel 🙂
I agree with Kelly…great advice.
And that jacket looks amazing on you! And that pink scarf! Ah! So pretty!
I only told my husband about my blog. I did not choose to tell anyone else, but my husband has mentioned it in conversations with one of his friends (who apparently thought it was cool) and his mom (she had a few drinks, perhaps she does not remember?). :/ Not something I wanted out, but oh well. No one in my family knows about it. Oh gosh…my mom would be checking every day! Lol!
I didnt’ know you had a beauty blog, I’m checking it out right now! hehe I love reading beauty and fashion blogs….since I’m always looking for ways to look better overall. I wouldn’t mind if you merged the two, if that’s easier for you to maintain, and if you feel comfortable with your different readers, whatever you decide, I’d read them all! 🙂 maybe… call it: Toronto Curls & Pearl’s Reviews with subtitle: Beauty and Petite Fashion haha
I really love your infinity scarf!
As far as maintaining both, I can definitely see it would be a very time consuming commitment. I actually have the same thoughts you do about my blog. Only 2 “real life” people know about my blog. I just feel so much more comfortable waxing poetic about the trials and tribulations of pants shopping to people who don’t know me 😛 If you feel comfortable, you should definitely merge the 2 – I don’t have good suggestions on how though 🙁 Sorry!
If its too overwhelming for you to maintain both, I would make them one! Your blog should be a creative outlet for you, and all sides of your personality, be that both fashion and beauty! Plus, those two things do go hand and hand!
Hi C&P! I’m all for combining forces. I think it would simplify things a lot… and let’s be honest– most of us who love cute clothes also love nice makeup/skincare… and vice versa. (And if people aren’t interested in one or the other, they can just skip to posts that interest them.) My blog is about style, broadly defined… I have a day dedicated to OOTDs, and right now, Wednesdays are about the condo renovation… and Friday is a wild card– makeup, travel, food, etc. Perhaps having a day dedicated to a certain topic will help readers to know what day to read/skip based on their interests.
As for sharing my blog, my close friends and a few colleagues know… but I’m not super public about it. (Heck, I don’t even use my real name, and I crop my head out of my photos!) 🙂 That may change, though, as I’m starting to feel a bit less paranoid… haha! 🙂
I can’t wait to see what you decide to do!
xoxo
kiki
Hey there, I am coming late to this (as usual…) but as you know, I combine both cosmetics and fashion in a single blog because I know I won’t have the time to maintain two separate blogs. I have been thinking of migrating to a stand-alone website but not until later in the year when I hopefully have more time.
As for who I share the blog with, I have been showing my blog to all my friends and even some of my husband’s friends, but that’s about it. I think my family would find it trivial and not worth spending my time on 🙁 (my parents are very traditional Chinese – fashion/beauty is considered frivolous).
I think you could definitely combine the two blogs, especially if you think the audience for both is mostly the same set of people. However, if you think they are different, maybe stick with the current format? But also, it depends on whether you think the two blogs are suffering from you feeling like you are spreading yourself too thin.
…Great outfits – love the pink scarf!! 🙂
Most people know that I have both Shorty Stories and DelectablyChic!. I feel that I need to maintain two separate ones because the market is different. Though I do write about being petite in DelectablyChic!, I try to limit personal pictures and talking too much about petite issues, since I don’t want to alienate certain readers. DelectablyChic! is meant to be a style blogzine focusing on fashion, food and “fun.” On the other hand, Shorty Stories is more personal.
Lol, like Elle, I was also thinking that the jacket fits you really well! And I also agree with her that I feel like my friends & family would react negatively to what seems like excessive shopping or spending or what not if they know about my blog. Aubrey was right in that I do keep the two lives separate. So far only my husband and a couple of family members know about it, and they don’t care about this kind of stuff so I don’t think they even read it.
Because I read both your blogs, I’d lean towards consolidating the two… or even use two tabs in the header or something similar to separate the two. As for Twitter, I think there are programs (Tweetdeck I think) where you can have multiple accounts and keep them organized and still stay up to date, if you decide not to merge.
I LOVE your leather jacket (it fits you perfectly!)
And I imagine it’s an impossible task maintaining two blogs…I only write one and I barely keep us (hence my rather delayed response to your posts). My blog is private in that my family friends and relatives don’t know about it and I am more comfortable with that since I don’t need anyone to comment on my spending habits or react negatively to my obsession with clothes. So on this front I don’t have a lot of advice to give you but just scrolling through previous comments it looks like there are lots of ladies with invaluable advice, good luck to you Elaine. Whatever you decide to do I’ll still be a loyal reader! 🙂
I know what you mean…keeping up with writing posts and reading other blogs is hard work! And for our blog has 3 bloggers and we feel overwhelmed! Those who blog everyday must be super efficient and way better at remixing their closet than I am!
When we started Petite in the City, we just focused on fashion, but a couple of my friends (including one who’s a guy!) suggested we do beauty and makeup products. I guess he’s not interested to find out whether that H&M blouse will fit his figure. We added skincare and makeup as a new category (S&M), which we just post on Fridays. I think most of my friends just skim the fashion sections but they read the S&M posts and only virtual friends/bloggers (like u!) read the fashion sections. I think those interested in fashion are also interested in beauty and makeup, and a lot of bloggers discuss all three, 99.99% of the time your readers will be female. However, even with the skincare and makeup section in our blog, plus our random TGIF posts, sometimes I feel like we’re branching too far in different topic areas. I used to have a blog on xanga where I talked about everything under the sun; I thought it was such a mess! But overall I’m still happier we’ve added S&M to our blog. If you’re feeling too overwhelmed, then you should consider combining the two blogs! But I really like the name Curls and Pearls, but Toronto Beauty Reviews is not an easy url to get, I’m surprised it wasn’t already taken! Maybe you can be “Curls and Pearls does Toronto Beauty Reviews”! Just kidding that name’s too long!
I was really surprised when I saw the other comments, that most people only share their blogs with close friends! I’ve been bugging everyone I know to read it, I post the url on my status on GT, BBM, Whatsapp etc, but I’m pretty sure they don’t, since many of them are taller than 5’4”! I was talking on the phone to Cat today and we were talking about the same issue. Both Joe and Cat don’t feel comfortable sharing our blog with colleagues and other not-so-close friends/acquaintances. Last week I had lunch with an old colleague, who currently works with Cat, and I was really surprised to find that she didn’t know about our blog! Sometimes it is a bit weird, because a dude who dumped me years ago (and he even deleted me from FB!!) suddenly starts messaging me on GT, initially commenting how I look nicer (I’ve lost weight and grown my hair longer now) and trying to start other conversations (and I don’t really want to talk to him!). I’ve come to accept that being a blogger also comes with a virtual “Rock Star” status.
Hope this helps!
<3 Lor
that’s funny we were just discussing this this morning. I’m going the opposite route as I’ve been thinking of separating things out, but you’re making me rethink about branching into two twitter accounts. The thing is, I think consolidating your two sites is doable. Makeup+style/clothing make much more sense and I think is very consolidatable (okay, so not a word) but they seem more hand in hand (unlike me, I have about three blogs + a forum based on a celebrity, hard to consolidate those! I think people would get confused if I put a movie+style blog together). I do agree that it is VERY hard to maintain. I wrote up three movie reviews in the past week, but have neglected my clothing site. Most of my friends in real life know that I have a blog, but they don’t know about my style blog — for me, that’d be strange. I just don’t tell them because I don’t think they’d be interested.
Curls and Pearls should definitely be kept, and as ShortieK mentioned, have Toronto Beauty Reviews as a themed post or category?
I actually haven’t told anyone I know about my blog. Mostly because most people I know don’t blog and I don’t feel like them knowing what I am thinking..haha.
I think having a blog with beauty & style is a great idea. I think most blogs are really random ideas so don’t feel restrained to have only one topic per blog. 🙂
Hi,I just started blogging (like just last week!) so I’m not the best person to give advice.
For me the separation of an online identity vs in-person identity is nice- I talk about things like comic book characters and writing A LOT in my other online identity, and I don’t discuss those things off the internet…. my “real life” friends don’t really care about Batman & Robin! 🙂
In your case I feel like your two “identities” are very similar. It sounds like your other blog readers already know you as someone with an inviting personality who gives great advice and cares about fashion! Plus the two subjects are somewhat related.
If you merge them, I’d say keep curls and pearls. Maybe you could title all your make-up themed posts “Toronto Beauty Reviews” and make it a heading tag or do a weekly/ daily “segment” with that title?
Hmm… this is a toughie. I do think clothes and makeup go hand in hand, so it would make sense to consolidate the two. I’ll admit that I’m not a makeup junkie so I tend to skip over makeup posts. Don’t yell at me 🙂 But if you think they are different enough, it’s probably a better idea to keep them separate. I think it’s alright if you don’t have time to blog on both all the time. Blog when you can. There’s no pressure to write a new post everyday. I just realized I haven’t been helpful at all, haha.
Oh and people “in real life” follow me on Twitter too so it’d be hard to NOT tell them about my blog. LOL
I can hardly keep up with one blog. I think merging 2 blogs will make your life a lot easier. I don’t tell my co-workers about my closet. Only my family and close friends know. It’s not a bad thing to tell everyone that you have a blog. I just want to keep my personal life and blog life separately.
I hid my blog from the “real world” for a long time. Last year, I started to show my close friends and family, after I decided it was something I really loved to do, and wanted to share it with them too. I also thought they deserved to know why I became a hermit, furiously typing away at my computer all hours of the week/weekend. Plus, the jig was up when I quit by biotech job last year to pursue something more “techy”…LOL.
Merging the blogs makes a lot of sense, since it’s easier to maintain and less stressful. Just one blog is hard to maintain…so I can only imagine two! It also makes sense that fashion and beauty go hand in hand, like you did in this post…pink scarf + bright lipstick = fabulous!
It just all depends on your comfort level. If you’re not comfortable sharing your fashion blog with everyone, then maybe you’re just not ready yet. You could test the waters…post a fashion post on TBR and see how everyone reacts. You might be pleasantly surprised at the response, and it might help you decide which direction to go.
Wow, I don’t know how you do it! Like the other gals, I have trouble keeping one blog!
Other than the BF and a few close friends, no one knows that I blog – people who don’t do it just don’t get it, I find. Plus I find blogging a great place to leave my worldly problems behind and just talk fun light stuff without guilt.
Like everyone else mentioned – you need to do what is good for you. If merging two blogs makes it easier for you, then do it! If you don’t enjoy blogging, then that’s not a good thing!
I think it’s natural to merge fashion and beauty (Keiko Lynn does it.) So, go for it!
Only my closest friends and family know about my blog and I think only my sister actually looks it up. Haha I’m glad for that.
I like to keep my real life seperate from my blog life as much as I can, mostly because I don’t want people at work to find out about my blog. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if my friends, family, and colleagues found out about it, but I just don’t feel comfortable yet sharing it with my offline world.
And about the two blogs, I think it might be beneficial to merge the two. I am slowly starting to develop an interest in beauty products (I’m a late bloomer and only just started using exfoliator!) and would be very interested in learning more about what’s out there. I would love to see the two topics(beauty and fashion) come together!
I keep my real world and blog world separated for the most part! My close friends and family know about my blog, but I feel like my blog is my safe haven to talk about things that most of my friends find silly or can’t relate to (petite fashion, preppy style).
You’re not alone! And if you’re feeling stressed maintaining two blogs, perhaps it may be a better idea to consolidate into one. Whatever makes your life easier and you happier.
I can imagine that maintaining two blogs is difficult. I have a tough time maintaining just one! To be honest, none of my family or friends know about my blog except the SO. I find it a little embarrassing, I guess. But I love the online community I’ve found myself in. I say that if you like both, you should just merge them. The best way to keep up with your blog is to blog about what *you* want, not what other people want (of course it’s always good to consider your readers’ input). I don’t think it’s strange to blog about beauty and fashion together, anyway. They’re essentially in the same “realm”. Sorry, no help with the name but I think you could get away with keeping with what you have.
wow woman! how do you do it? the thought of creating a blog already tires me out. and I would never tell ppl in real life that I’m friends with. I’m shy like that. I think Liane said she doesn’t tell her close friends. correct me if i’m wrong.
however, i do like the fact that each blog has its own theme. but you should only have 1 twitter account. i wonder if there’s a way you can sync the 2 twitter accounts together.
My family and close friends know about the blog, and it was a little weird at first. Really though? I think some who are interested read it consistently, but most don’t. I’m over it now. 🙂 I think you SHOULD join the two blogs b/c it’s going to be hard to keep up with two AND it seems many people who are interested in fashion blogs like the beauty aspect too (or at least tolerate it). Personally I think it would be great, and love reading about cosmetics/beauty as well. Just do it! 🙂 Don’t drive yourself nuts!
Elaine– that is hard to maintain 2 blogs. I can barely maintain one and I sometimes can only blog once or twice a week. my coworkers and close friends know about my blog, but i don’t think they read it. lol. it probably bores them.
would if be so bad to combine the two. talks about clothes and makeup in one blog.