Hello my lovelies...

I'm going to get straight to the point, as you can tell by the title this is a goodbye. My heart is filled with sadness and excitement at the same time. I have fallen out of love with blogging and unfortunately I have no desire to reignite the love I once had. I haven't been very consistent with this for a while and it was frustrating that I couldn't put my finger on why. Truth is, I was falling out of love but I was refusing to acknowledge this. This blog has been my little baby that has followed me through very important parts of my life: college, university and branching out into the adult world. I initially used this blog as an outfit diary, if I liked what I wore that day I would take pics in my room, edit them a little and upload. I was a serious beauty and make-up fanatic, and I loved sharing the new gem I was loving at the time. 

It's undeniable that the 'online world' has completely evolved over the last few years with the rise of social media. All of a sudden 'blogging' was a thing, and many people began identifying themselves as bloggers and influencers. This is something I really struggled with. I saw myself as someone who had a blog, but really felt uncomfortable calling myself a blogger. I did it anyways. With time it was no longer enough to take outfit pics with your room and your bed in the background.. you had to go outside. Not just anywhere either. You had to pay close attention to your background and even match it to your outfit if possible. It no longer became about sharing your outfit for the day. It was all about planning and creating outfits even if that's not what you wear on a day to day, with some bloggers even going as far as buying outfits to shoot in and return after. New season of course, even if the trend doesn't suit you, because you can't miss the opportunity of maybe being featured in PLT or Missguided's Instagram page and gain immense amounts of exposure. I've been a lover of vintage clothing from the minute I stopped wearing school uniform so I wasn't sure how to still stay true to myself, whilst still keeping up and 'playing by the rules.' 


This blog has done amazing things for me that I never imagined! It has helped me to express my creativity, been the perfect diary to express my thoughts through difficult times, increase my confidence, given me the opportunity to try amazing products, work with amazing brands, attend fashion week shows (with actual invitations!), network and meet amazing people and even helped me secure jobs. 

One of the mottos I live by is 'You either get with it or you get left.' I refuse to get with it. Blogging is a very time consuming hobby, and can also be expensive. The rewards you can gain from doing it right are immense but the opportunity cost is just not worth it to me. I don't want to shoot 4-5 different outfits in one day for the sake of content. I don't want to pay for a photographer. I don't want to go out of my way to travel elsewhere and take pictures in an area that is not my own, outside a complete stranger's home. Some of the outfits on my blog I've never even worn on my day to day (I don't even like wearing heels!). It was all for the sake of having quality content for the blog. I don't want to schedule Instagram posts. I don't want to follow an Instagram theme. I don't want to track my numbers anymore. I hate the energy at blogger events and how stinky people's attitudes become when they realise you don't have x amount of followers. That does not define my value. 


 The list could go on forever.. my point is I felt like in order to be a 'blogger', (my title because I have a blog *eyeroll*), I have to be more serious, more consistent and really be about my ish. Running this blog became more of a job than a hobby. I had and still have zero intentions of making this my career and becoming an 'influencer'. I don't want to have to be a prisoner to social media and the bloggersphere in order to be successful and make a name for myself. I've evolved, and whilst this was an amazing hobby, I feel like I have learnt enough and I want to explore and develop other interests. I want to learn new skills, new hobbies and fall in love with new things. I love giving my all to everything I choose to do, but I genuinely can't and don't want to give my all to this blog. The passion to express myself through here is no longer there. I hate the idea of  being inconsistent. I'd rather not do it all and put my energy elsewhere.


This blog has really fuelled and highlighted my passion for skincare and I am currently learning how to formulate natural skincare products, from scratch with raw materials. It's like chemistry meets beauty. Something completely new and outside of my comfort zone. It gives me a great feeling of excitement that I've been lacking lately with blogging. So I'm choosing to place my 'blogging eggs' (my time and effort) into this new love of mine. Who knows.. that could be my calling, the thing I choose to go seriously hard for, or it could be something else...

Either way I feel like I have to let go of this, find my new niche which gives me more control and allows me to really truly be myself again unapologetically. 

Don't worry I won't disappear of the face of this earth, you can find me on Instagram (@mimibella_) and follow me on my new journey.

Lots of love, 
MIMI ♥