Homemade Avocado and Raw Honey Facemask

Face masks really are my thang, and my sensitive skin means that the more natural a face mask is, the better my skin reacts to it. As someone with combination to dry skin, this face mask works absolutely perfectly for me. The combination of the natural oils in the avocado, as well as the coconut oil and olive oil really make sure that your face is replenished in terms of its essential moisture. Obviously the face mask is quite oil-heavy, so it is one that I would only do once a week or once a fortnight, just to give my skin a chance to reach its optimum moisture levels without getting greasy. 
Ingredients (makes 3-4 masks):
- 1/2 avocado - 1 tablespoon raw honey - 1 tablespoon olive oil - 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
How to make:
- Ensure that the coconut oil is melted - Blend all of the ingredients (I only mashed them which is why I have yucky green lumps all over my face in the picture!).  - Smoosh onto your face and leave there for 15 minutes before washing off.
This is such a wonderful face mask for giving your skin a deep cleanse without using any chemicals. If you give it a go tweet or Instagram me your pictures - I'd love to see them!
What is your favourite homemade face mask?

10 Ways to Improve Your Blog Today

I'm always looking for something I can do to tweak my blog so that it becomes more appealing to readers, contains better content and eventually will start making a little profit (all about that side hustle). Over the past month or two I've been doing this almost daily, and I'm finally starting to see the results I've been wanting for months and months. With blogging I definitely think that 'you get what you give' in terms of giving time and getting results. But, there are some things that you could kick start today to up your blogging game in ways that you might not even have considered. Here's my guide to 10 things you can do, or start doing, today to finally see the results you've been wishing and dreaming for.

Get your own domain

I've actually only recently just done this - no longer is Nourish ME living at http://nourishmeclean.blogspot.com, but instead it has moved to www.nourishmeblog.co.uk. There are a whole host of benefits to this, but the main one is that brands and PRs will take you a lot more seriously if you have your own domain. Some brands won't even agree to a collaboration, let alone any payment if you don't have this. 

Another benefit is that you can rename your webpage without having to make an entirely new website. I was pretty sick of my blog being called 'nourishmeclean' in the URL - originally Nourish ME was all about clean eating and creating healthy recipes, but as it's evolved to what it is today this name seems a little odd and really irrelevant. I'm now a LOT happier with 'nourishmeblog' as I feel like it summarises my blog a little better. I bought mine from GoDaddy for 0.99p for owning the domain for one year. There are other packages you can buy that offer you more protection - in the end I think I paid about £8 for the year. 

Make sure your blog design fits your brand

This is going to be the most expensive thing on this list by FAR, but it really is important. Have you ever clicked on a blog and decided that you just can't deal with the overload of colour or poorly organised layout and left without following? I definitely have. I'm a bit rubbish with anything beyond seriously basic html, so my blog was designed by Jen from Magic Feather Designs. She was really sweet and did everything exactly as I wanted to almost a year ago, and has been really helpful as I consider updating it at the moment. I wanted bright, fresh colours to match my theme of enhancing your mental and physical wellness, which is why I went for the blue and yellow. 

Optimise the size of your images

The irony of this is that this is the first blog post in about six months that I haven't done this with (her's me choosing pinterest over blogger - #sorrynotsorry). On blogger the optimum picture size is about 650 pixels wide. This allows your photos to remain as wide as each other and your text, meaning that the whole blog post appears to be coherent and well organised when you first view it. However, each social media platform has its own optimum image size, so it's best to have at least a few height varieties, or keep separate photos that aren't on the post for promoting your blog post on social media. Canva is my go-to for making photos specifically for social media, as they have templates for pretty much any social media platform you might want to post to. 

Have a blog brand focused social media account on all main platforms

Sorry for the massive jumble of words here! What I basically mean is ensure you have a Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest account and a Facebook page that is not something personal that you use to rant on (been there, done that), but something that is focused on your brand. I recently went through a mini social media rebrand by making sure all of my accounts have the words 'Nourish ME' at least somewhere in the handle or name and I've noticed a much better response in terms of following since I've sorted this. By doing this you make sure that your followers know what brand you're affiliated with immediately, so they're more likely to follow you. This also allows you to tweak the content you share on each platform so that it is brand focused, but not sterile or pointless. For example, my twitter is my most personal social media; because I write so many tweets daily I post links to blog posts three or four times a day on there and this doesn't overwhelm my followers. On my Facebook page however I only post something if I've written a new blog post, or if I want to share relevant posts from other users on Facebook. My instagram is different again. I post once or twice a day, but use this more for general life updates, with the odd picture for a blogpost. And finally we have Pinterest (aka my new love), which I make sure I pop on at least once a day to gain some foodie inspiration and make sure I'm putting my blog posts out there.

Enhance the quality of your images

If you're a veteran blogger, then this is pretty much blogging 101 - a picture is, after all, worth 1000 words. BUT, I know that for well over a year I considered a semi alright picture with no attention to the background or editing something that was appropriate for my blog and would draw readers in. Now almost all of my photos are taken on my camera (a Canon 1200D). I'm not suggesting you need expensive equipment, but definitely use the highest quality piece you have. Another really important thing to do is to make sure you have an appropriate background. A lot of blogger opt for white, marble or single toned backgrounds; this ensures that your readers are drawn to the real content of your image, and aren't distracted by a background. Once you've actually got the picture, editing really is important. I use PicMonkey to improve the brightness and contrast of pictures, crop out anything unwanted from the background and add text when relevant. 

Make your blog post titles appealing and SEO friendly

This is one that up until recently I've been seriously guilty of not doing, and since I've started focusing on improving my blog post titles I've noticed that they've been getting waaaay more hits. Statistics show that there are certain title templates that really work for drawing in readers. Ones containing numbers (like my 10 things we can all learn from Disney's Zootropolis) and ones starting with 'how to' or 'ways to' are statistically proven to draw many more readers in than titles without these attributes. Obviously you wouldn't want to do this all the time, but for example, '75 blog post ideas for when you're low on inspiration' is a much more appealing title than 'Ideas for blog posts when you have no inspiration' - I know which one I would click on. Also, using straightforward titles may seem boring, but helps you greatly in terms of SEO. If you're reviewing something let your readers know, and don't write a prosaic title that has little to do with the actual content. 

Have a media kit set up and available to view on your site

I've got a whole blog post dedicated to making your own media kit. A lot of brands and PRs will ask for one if you want to collaborate with them, plus it means that readers can have a brief perusal of your stats and see what your blog's about all in one place. 

Start being social on social media

This sounds really obvious, but since I've started interacting with other bloggers, particularly on twitter (blogger chats are fab for helping you out with this), I've learnt so many things and met some really lovely bloggers. If you don't interact with anyone, follow other bloggers or check out their blogs why should you expect them to do that for you?

Get organised with spreadsheets

Jess from The Indigo Hours has an amazing post on this here which is what inspired me to start using excel spreadsheets in the first place. My spreadsheet currently has pages for April, May and June blog posts (yes I am now that organised), monthly stats and a record of any brand collaborations I am planning on undertaking. I love being able to just pop a new blog post idea down when it comes to mind, and colour coding the posts on themes (fashion, lifestyle, food, etc) means I can make sure that I don't write too many similar posts in a row. 

Update old posts

This is next the next big project on my blogging to-do list, and soon I'm probably going to start updating at least 5 a week. You know earlier I mentioned my awful photography skills and not brilliant content? Well those posts are still sitting around waiting for people to read them. I'm (eventually) going to revisit them all, alter the images, improve the content, possibly change the post title and ensure that none of my links are broken. So, when people go rooting around on my blog, or I want to talk about an old post, this can happen without me dying a little inside.

What would you add to the list? I hope this was helpful!

Vegan Pear and Raspberry Oatmeal Recipe

It feels like FOREVER since I've shared a recipe with you guys. The last one I posted was my homemade orange juice recipe waaaay back in December! I've been obsessed with Pinterest recently (follow me here) and it's inspired me to get back in touch with the roots of Nourish ME. If you've followed me since Nourish ME was a wee un-SEO'd, disorganised, poor picture quality baby, then you'll know that originally this was solely a recipe website for me to share all of my creations with you guys. Since then it's expanded into a more lifestyle orientated blog with a bit of beauty, fashion and foodie content thrown in. 
 So, I've decided to share my favourite breakfast of all time with you. I fell in love with Deliciously Ella's blueberry and apple oatmeal recipe - it was totally my go-to Winter breakfast - and I created this one as a yummy alternative to add a bit of variety to my mornings. Although Spring has sprung it seems to have pretty much disappeared here in the UK - it snowed (snew???) today and was so cold I'm pretty sure my baby finger has frostbite from cycling to work this morning. 
If you want to add normal milk instead of a vegan alternative then this recipe will definitely work with that too. Also, the majority of the ingredients for this easy four-ingredient recipe can be bought organic, so doing that will increase the nutritional quality of the dish, but will obviously make it more expensive.
I'm a pretty big fan of all things Instagram, so I'm always looking for ways to optimize my food photography. With the pictures in this post I've added my Beyonce wall art from Coconut Lane (you can get 20% off with the code 'nourishme20') and my That Lame Company list pad. I love adding a touch of stationary to my food pictures because I am a serious stationary obsessive and they add a depth to the photo. This recipe is pretty great for sharing on Instagram or other social media because it's super easy to create and makes you look like a top-notch foodie. 
In terms of topping the oatmeal to make it Instagram-worthy, I usually thinly slice a banana and arrange that on top, then add a few flax seeds, chia seeds and sometimes even a teaspoon of wheatgrass powder for that extra boost.
Pear and raspberry oatmeal (Serves 1)

Ingredients
1 pear 100g raspberries 40g porridge oats 200ml rice milk (or any other milk alternative)
Method
- Place the raspberries in a pan with just enough water to coat them. Allow to simmer for ten minutes.
- Whilst this is cooking, grate the pear into a bowl and add the rice milk and oats. Leave to soak for a couple of minutes.
- Cook the porridge mixture in a pan for 2-3 minutes until thoroughly heated. 
- Add the raspberry mixture (should look like a compote with a few whole raspberries or parts of raspberries remaining) to the porridge. Mix and serve. 
What is your go-to breakfast at the moment?

Makeup Revolution Haul

This is going to be a super quick Sunday post. I've got my first day of my new job tomorrow and I'm super excited and nervous. I'm really hoping that my blog doesn't get kicked to the wayside because I'm focusing on work, but I've got about two months' worth of post ideas stored up so hopefully things will go smoothly. Anyway, moving on from that brief life update, I just wanted to talk to you guys about some Makeup Revolution products that I've absolutely fallen in love with recently.
First up is my favourite of the group, the pressed powder in porcelain soft pink. This is an absolute bargain in my opinion - it costs £2 from Superdrug and totally perfects my base. I apply it after my foundation and it evens everything out and avoids making my skin look cakey. I'm not going to lie, it only lasts me two months or so at a time, but for such a low price I really don't mind repurchasing it often. 
The colourful Mermaids vs Unicorns eyeshadow palette is another absolute steal in my opinion. It's only £4 and has such a wonderful range of well-pigmented colours. Although I probably won't use the two darkest shades, the rest provide me with a wealth of ideas for days when I'm feeling a little adventurous and don't want to stick with my standard nudes and coppers. I actually bought this originally because I had been so inspired by Aria from PLL's eye makeup, and I'm hoping to recreate some looks soon, so keep your eyes peeled! 
The one thing I was disappointed in was the Amazing Lipstick in Rebel With Cause due to it's lack of pigment. I had been inspired to buy a vampy purple after falling in love with MAC's Sin (post here), but this £1 Makeup Revolution purple was almost invisible on my lips and lasted less than half an hour. Saying that, I do want to give the new rose gold lipstick range from them a try, so we'll see how that goes!
I hope you enjoyed this post and I didn't ramble on too much! What are your favourites from Makeup Revolution at the moment?

NIP + FAB'S GLYCOLIC PADS AND CLEANSING FOAM | REVIEW

 Nip + Fab are a brand that have shot to the top of almost every blogger's skincare recommendation list in the last year or two, and so I HAD to give them a go. I was pretty much ecstatic when I found this pair of goodies under the Christmas tree from my sister way back on December 25th. This post has been a while in the making simply because I wanted to crack my serial skin care hoarding habit by using up some half used products before starting on these, and because I wanted to try them out for a good month or so before talking about them in detail. If you've read my March favourites post then you'll already know that the glycolic fix cleansing foam was one of my absolute favourites last month. 

Packaging

Both the glycolic fix cleansing foam and the glycolic fix daily cleansing pads come in a sturdy plastic tub and have a minimalist design. The packaging was actually my least favourite part of the products. I found that the moisture from the glycolic pads leaked from the tubs if I laid it on its side, which made it almost impossible to take them with me if I was travelling anywhere. As someone who's always visiting family all over the UK this became annoying very quickly. The hard plastic casing of the cleansing foam was equally annoying. You have to squeeze the tube to get the product out, but it's actually very hard to do so, especially if the joints in your hands are particularly weak like mine. This would work perfectly with a pump and I really hope that they repackage this one at some point!

Initial thoughts

I'm not going to lie, I fell TOTALLY in love in the first few days of using these products together. I start off by washing my face first thing in the morning with the glycolic fix cleansing foam, and use the daily pads at night between removing my makeup and putting on moisturiser. I've found that this is the best routine for me, but if you think you'd see better results by using them both together in the morning, then go for it! I mostly do is this way because using the wipes in the evening makes my face feel refreshed when I'm feeling waaay too tired or lazy to actually wash my face with water. 

My skin felt and looked a lot brighter within a couple of days, which made me feel totally wowed. Plus, adding the glycolic fix pads in to my evening routine ensured that I was removing ALL of my makeup, which obviously resulted in my pores being less clogged and my skin being clearer. 

Final opinion

Although I was super impressed at the start, I've come to realise that the Nip + Fab glycolic range is probably not the best one for my skin. I've got combination to dry skin, and the glycolic acid in this pair has been totally drying my skin out. Although it's been looking a lot more clear and fresh, it's been feeling REALLY tight. So, to counteract this, I've been following up both my morning and evening dose of it with Simple's light moisturiser to make sure I can actually wear makeup without my dry patches shining right through. I do have to say as well, that these products have totally reduced (almost eradicated even) the shine on my nose and forehead, which has been amazing. All in all, I probably would repurchase these products because of the clearing and radiating effect they have on my skin, and if you've got oily skin then I would definitely recommend giving these a whirl. 

I'm definitely going to be looking at some of Nip + Fab's other products more suited to my skin soon - do you guys have any recommendations for their products that are good for combination to dry skin?

DIY Date Night Jar | Nourish My Relationship

So I *may* have been meaning to post and make this since Valentines Day (whoops), but I've had so many exciting posts I wanted to share with you in the meantime that this got pushed back a little. Me and my boyfriend have been living together in halls and student houses with our friends for over three years now, and it's really easy to get stuck in the routine of doing separate things all day and then only coming together to eat dinner and sit in front of the TV for a couple of hours each evening.
So, I came up with a plan for a date night jar. We're going to dedicate one night a week as a date night, and pick something out at random each week to do together. Making this was actually really fun (almost a mini date in itself) as we sat together and each put some things we wanted to do more often or start doing in the jar. And before you ask, no, it isn't filled with 'those' kind of things *insert wink emoji*. 
We tried to make a whole range of things - some involving glamming up and heading out, but others coming at a more relaxed and cheaper pace. So, I thought I'd share how we made it and some of the things we've included  in case you're wanting to get out of the cohabiting rut too.
How to make one
Altogether this only cost me £2.85 which was an absolute bargain for something that's going to be taking pride of place on our mantelpiece. I simply grabbed the jar in Tiger and picked up some red card from Paperchase and we were good to go. If you really wanted to go wild with it, Paperchase have a whole rainbow of colours to choose from and you could make a really pretty multi-coloured jar! 
Once I got these home, we chopped the card up into small rectangles and got the sharpies out to begin writing our ideas down. This probably took about 15 minutes in total, and most of that was thinking time. 
Ideas to put in
Here's a handful of the ideas we came up with:
- Have popcorn and watch a film, cinema style at home - Watch the sun set - Make cocktails together - Go out to your favourite restaurant - Massages - No technology night - Xbox and wine night - Cook a roast together - Binge watch a new Netflix series with snacks
I really hope you liked this post - it's my first 'creative' one and I'm super excited to be sharing it with you! Have you made anything like this before? 

Restaurant Review | Las Iguanas

I'm currently effectively obsessed with South American food, so Las Iguanas has become a firm favourite in my restaurant repertoire. Nachos are treats from the gods, and in my mind a restaurant is only as good as its nachos (true story). So, when I got some good news recently, me and the boyfriend headed out to Las Iguanas to try a whole range of goodies. Although the restaurant was busy, we had managed to make a booking just a few hours before so didn't have to queue up. Unfortunately we were seated in a really dark corner so the lighting wasn't as great as I would have liked for photos, but we still received great service throughout the meal.
Here's what we picked:
Cocktails:
I decided I was going to try as many cocktails as possible for you guys and I may have failed a tad - not drinking for a while + three cocktails meant I was fairly KO'ed. BUT, I did get to give four a whirl for you, even if I didn't manage to finish them. 
Strawberry Red (Malibu, strawberry liqueur, lemon & cranberry juices & lemonade.)
This is probably my all-time favourite Las Iguanas cocktail. It's not too sweet, and not too bitter. Plus strawberry flavoured anything is pretty much a winner in my books. 
Vanilla Mai Tai (Havana Club Especial rum, Absolut Vanilla vodka, lime juice, almond syrup & bitters.)
This is one of Las Iguanas' new cocktails this season, but was actually my least favourite of the four. I found it a little too strong and bitter for my liking - I like a good amount of mixer!
Pink Passion Fruit (Pink Pigeon vanilla rum, apricot liqueur, Funkin passion fruit purée, vanilla sugar & pineapple juice.)
This was basically heaven - tropical flavours with vanilla and an extra dose of sweetness, mmmmm. Even my passion fruit hating boyfriend enjoyed this one!
Pisco Power (ABA Pisco, Funkin guava purée, agave, apple & lime juices)
This was recommended to us by a friend and is another of Las Iguanas' new cocktails. Cocktails rarely seem to contain apple juice, but this was so tasty I think they definitely ought to more often!
Food
Now onto my favourite part. A few years ago I would have hated to have a meal at Las Iguanas - spice was my worst nightmare, but now I pretty much fantasise about some of the dishes here on a weekly basis.
Taco Sharing Tray   Me and my boyfriend got this to share as a starter (be warned - it's fairly large!). You get to choose three taco fillings, so we got the braised lamb, chipotle chicken and shredded beef. With this you get a small bowl of salsa and one of salad as well as 6 or 7 wraps. Our one disappointment with this was how little salad you got, but the meat was very well seasoned. My personal favourite was the beef - I would definitely recommend giving it a go!
Nachos
If nachos are on a menu, there's a 99% chance I'll order them, so I couldn't give these a miss. I opted for a standard topping of cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream (NOM). These were fairly standard nachos for a fairly standard price, so I was hardly wowed, but they did the job.
Pato Taquito
This is honestly what dreams are made of. If you only want to try one thing at Las Iguanas you NEED to give this a whirl! It's roasted duck with caramelised onion in a soft tortilla accompanied by cranberry salsa and oh my word it is tasty. I couldn't finish my meal, so took this home with me and it totally passed the test of still being tasty for the next day's lunch!

All in all I had a fab time at Las Iguanas with good service and yummy food. We didn't have to wait too long for anything (bar the bill - it always seems to be the way, right?!) and I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you're a fan of South American food!
*This post was not sponsored, it simply contains my honest review of the food, drinks and service we received on a busy Saturday night*
Have you been? What would you recommend?

100 Instagram Post Ideas

Foodie posts:
1.) A fruit-topped smoothie bowl
2.) A fruit platter
3.) A homemade curry
4.) A pancake stack
5.) A mezze board
6.) Homemade nachos
7.) Your latest baking experiment
8.) Homemade juice
9.) Your favourite family recipe
10.) Fruit parfait in a jar
11.) Nicecream (vegan banana ice cream)
12.) Detox water
13.) Oatmeal recipe
13.) Fruit salad
14.) Fruit kebabs
15.) Homemade soup
16.) Milkshake
17.) Cocktails
18.) Meal out at a restaurant
19.) Homemade sushi
20.) Hot chocolate
21.) Homemade pizza
22.) Recipe from a new cook book
23.) Deliciously Ella recipe 
24.) Breakfast on the go
25.) Macarons
26.) Cupcakes
27.) Avocado on toast
28.) Poached eggs on toast
29.) Brunch with the girls
30.) Doughnuts


Beauty posts
1.) FOTD
2.) Beauty haul
3.) Favourite makeup item of the week
4.) MAC lipstick collection
5.) Lipstick swatches
6.) Brush collection
7.) Morning skincare routine
8.) Evening skincare routine
9.) Face mask time!
10.) New haircut
11.) Manicure
12.) Product of the week
13.) Everyday makeup
14.) Dutch/French braids
15.) Disney character inspired makeup
16.) Contour palette
17.) LUSH bath
18.) Favourite hair products
19.) Makeup bag
20.) New beauty release
21.) Favourite perfume
22.) Debenhams/House of Fraser/Selfridges beauty counter
23.) Moisturiser collection
24.) Andddd pout!
25.) High end makeup collection
26.) Drugstore makeup collection



Lifestyle posts
1.) Flowers
2.) Your favourite plant
3.) Tea in your favourite mug
4.) Current setup
5.) Stationary haul
6.) QOTD
7.) Your pet
8.) Blogger of the week
9.) Pretty landscape
10.) Inspirational graffiti
11.) Colourful houses
12.) Pretty notebooks
13.) Favourite candle
14.) Holiday snaps
15.) Yoga poses
16.) Gym selfie
17.) Polaroids
18.) Pretty bedspread
19.) Starbucks cup
20.) Magazine pile
21.) Your desk space
22.) Old buildings
23.) Afternoon tea
24.) Currently reading
25.) Sunset
26.) WCW
27.) Bullet journal
28.) Cactus



Fashion posts
1.) OOTD
2.) What I wore
3.) Layout of outfit plan
4.) New shoes
5.) Festival-inspired outfit
6.) Disney-inspired outfit
7.) Bikini time!
8.) Fashion wishlist
9.) '90s choker and sunnies combo
10.) Gym gear
11.) New bag
12.) Favourite accessories
13.) Floppy hat selfie
14.) Watch closeup
15.) Slogan tee
16.) Novelty socks


What would you add?

Review of The Body Shop's Ginger Anti Dandruff Shampoo | Nourish My Hair

Today's post is all a bit TMI, so bear with me. For about as long as I can remember, I've suffered from dandruff. At some times it was more severe than at others, but I finally seem to have it under a good level of control. I used Head & Shoulders shampoos for YEARS and had absolutely no idea how harsh these products were on my hair or scalp. If you don't know what I'm talking about and still use it, then google it (some of their products are so harsh that people use them to strip dye from their hair!). 
Anyway, moving on from the negatives, I now do an overnight hair oil mask once a week and opt for more natural shampoos to keep dandruff and a sore scalp at bay. The oil ensures that my scalp gets a deep moistening, so it is less likely to flake, and the fewer nasties that are in my shampoos makes it less likely for my scalp to get irritated. 
So, this brings us on to The Body Shop's Ginger Anti-Dandruff Shampoo. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that The Body Shop features quite frequently on my beauty posts, as I love a few of their fruity scents, and their skincare products are often spot-on. Annoyingly, this shampoo is one of my least favourite products in terms of scent. Give me an apple-y shampoo, or even a magnolia one (mmmmm) any day over this one. If you've ever tried lemon and ginger tea, or even smelt raw ginger, then you'll have an idea of exactly what this shampoo smells like. The main way to get around this, I've found, is to use a pleasanter smelling conditioner - it totally masks the scent so that you can't smell it post-wash. However, if, unlike me, you find the scent of ginger pleasing and stimulating, then you'll have no problem!
Now on to how this shampoo actually works. Unlike some other more natural shampoos I've tried in the past, this one lathers up perfectly fine. Whilst using it I've been utterly flake free, and I haven't even found any pesky little flakes floating around after a couple of days of not washing it. Although it clearly worked well in nourishing my scalp, it was a little drying, so I found that combining it with a fair amount of conditioner (I use the V05 Revive Me Daily one) was necessary to stop my dyed hair from drying out.
So there we have it: if you're struggling with dandruff definitely give this a whirl. This is the first shampoo from The Body Shop that I've actually tried, so I'm really tempted to pick up another soon.
Have you tried any of The Body Shop's shampoos? What did you think?

How to create your own blogger media kit

About a month ago a brand that I was considering collaborating with asked me for my media kit. My immediate reaction was 'well fuck, I don't have one'. Obviously I could hardly email them back to tell them that, so all of a sudden I was thrust into an emergency mission to create my own media kit. I had no time to ask anyone to create one for me, or to do masses of research into how to sort one out. Naturally I headed to twitter and Pinterest (my new love) to discover how other bloggers had made them.
In case you're wondering what the heck a media kit is, it's basically a document in which you showcase your blog brand to PRs, potential advertisement clients and potential blog collaborators. You effectively need one if you want to get serious about blogging, or want to start monetizing your blog. 
Foolishly when I printed my media kit out for this post I used the web version of the image rather than the printable version *pats self on back sarcastically*, so I promise you that it does actually look a lot better than this when viewed online, or printed with the correct version. You can find the online version in my Contact section. 
I didn't want to spend a lot of money making my media kit. In fact I didn't want to spend a penny. So, I headed to Canva to create my media kit. Canva has a whole variety of free to use templates, backgrounds and images to help you create almost anything. Since making my media kit I've actually used the site to create a Youtube thumbnail and a couple of pinterest-worthy images for blog posts. All in all, using this site it probably took me about an hour and a half to two hours to create my finished piece.
Now we come to the really tricky part: what to include. Here's a list of things I think you need if you want to make an effective and memorable media kit that PR brands can use to quickly assess whether your sponsored posts fees are acceptable and whether they want to get on board with collaborating with you. 
1.) A design that resonates with your blog brand. Use a similar (if not the same) colour scheme, and try to include your blog header if you can. Immediately the person reading it will then be able to recognise precisely who you are and what you are representing.
2.) A picture either of yourself or that sums up your blog. Potential sponsors want to know that there's a 'real' person behind the brand, someone they can connect with. A picture of yourself is a good way to ensure this.
3.) Information about your blog: when it started, why it started, and the ethos/business idea behind it. It's useful for people to know how long the blog has been about, how you've developed it over the time it has been in existence and what your hopes for the future are. This shows that you've thought seriously about your blog brand and have tracked its course of progress over its lifespan.
4.) Your sponsorship policies. State exactly what someone can expect from sponsoring you. Set disclaimers as to what types of sponsorship you accept, what determines whether a sponsorship application will be accepted and what the sponsor can expect for your flat fee. You can also include your sponsorship fee. I simply chose not to because I would like to discuss the possibility for a sponsorship personally with a brand before them demanding a sponsorship slot on my blog for the fee I have stated in my media kit.
5.) Recent blog statistics. I would definitely make sure to keep these updated on a monthly basis - Canva is a good site to use to create your media kit because it is simple to edit text on it. You don't want a potential sponsor to come along and get disillusioned with the notion of sponsoring you because your five month old blog statistics are too low for them. I've included my monthly average pageviews and users for the past three months, how my statistics have improved during this period and my social media statistics. It's important to use Google Analytics for these, as other trackers, especially the one on blogger can be incredibly inaccurate. 
6.) Previous brands you have worked with. This is simply a chance to showcase your previous work, and let PRs know that you have experience in collaborating with brands.
I hope this was useful! I'm currently offering you the chance to have your media kit created by me for £15 if you feel it is too much of a challenge! If you want to do so simply email me at the email address in my contact section
Is there anything you would add?