Five Years Later it’s Time to Say Goodbye

Five years ago I started BeautyinBudgetBlog. Five years. I didn’t know then what it would become. I don’t know if I would be any good at blogging. I didn’t know anything about product photography. I didn’t know if anyone would actually read it. And I didn’t know how important it would be to me. All I knew was that I loved makeup, and I wanted to talk about it.

Back then, it seemed like all the bloggers and Youtubers were talking about mid-range and high-end makeup, but very few people cared about drugstore. Here is what I put in the “About” section to describe BiBB. “My goal with this blog is to help you find awesome products that are also reasonably priced.  I like luxury products as much as the next girl, but not all of us are either willing or able to spend major bucks on our beauty items and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.  There have been huge advances in what is available in drugstores and online over the last few years, and the products are often comparable to items many times their price.  I hope that this blog serves as proof that you don’t have to spend a fortune to look like a million bucks.” I think, five years later, that I can say that I accomplished what I started. It is so hard to tell what is worth spending our money on, and that was my primary goal.  I have gotten countless comments over the years with people telling me that this blog has saved them money and introduced them to products that they never would have considered otherwise.  I’ve gotten comments from women who had given up on makeup, but now have a renewed interest thanks to the blog.  Best of all, I’ve gotten comments from people who feel more beautiful and confident as a result of playing with techniques and products that they have discovered through this blog, and I could not think of a better compliment. I am so happy that I have had a positive impact on someone’s life, even in a small way.

It still amazes me that people from countries that I hadn’t even heard of have read my blog. I can’t believe how many comments I have received over the years, and all the people I have been able to interact with. I can’t believe that any of you cared what I had to say and took my opinion seriously. Thank you so much for all of the support you have given me. When I think about the connections that I have made and the feedback that I have gotten, I am blown away and humbled by the consistent love and support that I have been shown. It is what I am going to miss the most now, as I say goodbye.

Five years is the longest that I have ever worked on any single project in my entire life.  I am so proud of what I have done here with this blog. My writing and my photography have both improved so much, I and I feel like I have been able to consistently put out really solid, high-quality information. But it is definitely time to go. I don’t feel like I have anything else to say about beauty. It was a difficult decision to come to, and one that I have been wrestling with for about a year and a half. I thought about quitting when I moved from NC to CA, but I just couldn’t walk away. BiBB had become such a huge part of my life. Finally, I decided that I simply don’t feel as passionate about beauty blogging as I once did, and it’s time for me to focus on other projects. I have been slowly weaning myself off the blog by posting less and less throughout 2016. Now that I’ve reached this milestone, it’s time to officially say goodbye. Five years is a really good run.

I am not deleting this blog, or anything like that. I’ll keep BiBB in its current state, but I won’t be posting anymore. I do plan to keep up my writing, just not here. Some of you may remember that I started a personal blog in 2012. I wanted a place that I could talk about non-beauty subjects, but I could not keep up with regularly posting to two blogs at the same time, so this one took precedence. However, now that I am retiring BiBB, I plan to start posting over there again. If you want to keep up with me and read more of my writing, check out Defies Description.

Thank you for coming with me on this journey. It’s been a hell of a ride.