A guide to the regifting etiquette

The C-word has started being used a lot more recently, and I can’t say that I like it…
I’m talking about that festive holiday in December, of course. I just can’t bring myself to say the word yet!
I personally think it’s way too early to be talking about and planning for this holiday already. For God’s sake, we only just entered November!
The fact that they started promoting the C-word chocolates and wrapping paper in the supermarkets in September already is wrong, oh so wrong!
Do you agree?

But since it’s now out in the open, I thought I’d sneak in a post related to this festive season, which shouldn’t yet be mentioned. Although, my excuse is that this is relevant to any gift giving, such as birthdays and other occasions as well. Let’s talk about regifting!

Regifting is simply gifting something to someone, that you once got as a gift from someone else. A bit cheeky yes. Can you admit you’ve ever done it? I think we all have at some point!

Although regifting is a thrifty way of getting through those expensive holidays where gift swapping is expected, it’s a very sensitive subject, and if you’re going to do it there are certain regifting etiquettes you have to follow.

For example – keep track of who your original gift came from, and make sure that you regift it to someone who doesn’t know that person. I mean, you don’t want to get caught…

Another important thing to think about is that you never ever regift something from your partner or close friends – they might ask why you’re not wearing/using the gift a few months down the line, and what will be your excuse then? Hopefully, you feel confident enough in these relationships that you can simply ask to swap a gift if you don’t like it.

For more tips and tricks on regifting, have a look at the infographic below.

Good luck not getting caught! ;)

Top 5 rules of Regifting is an infographic that was produced by Gumtree

Love is in the air - Worldwide perfume giveaway

We’ve all heard the theory about people falling in love with each other because of the other person’s scent, but does this only apply to pheromones, or do bottled fragrances count as well? 

They say scents by themselves don’t necessarily make us fall in love with someone, but they trigger our emotions.

Do you have a favourite scent that makes your heart flutter? I personally absolutely love one of the male fragrances from Yves Saint Laurent. I mean, oh my! That aftershave is just divine, and I think any man who put that on would make me go wild!

Haha! Jokes aside… I have a nice surprise for you lovely readers – IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME!

I’ve teamed up with Beauty Base to treat one lucky reader to a fragrance set from Salvatore Ferragamo consisting of a 30ml Eau de Parfum, and a matching body lotion – worth around £60 if you were to buy these two products separately. The fragrance in question is Signorina Eleganza, which as you probably can guess is meant for women.

The Signorina Eleganza set by Salvatore Ferragamo is a tribute to elegance and sophistication and is a luxurious fragrance that celebrates feminine grace and seduction.

It’s a quite heavy and intense scent that is described as ‘fresh head notes of grapefruit and pear being a vivacious and stimulating introduction. Almond powder and golden osmanthus petals create a delicate yet intense heart, adding a touch of indulgent luxury. The base notes of patchouli and white leather create a dry-down effect that leaves a luscious, lingering scent on the skin.’

For a chance to win this luxurious fragrance set by Salvatore Ferragamo, simply enter via the different options in the Rafflecopter widget below. The more options you enter by, the higher the chancce to win.

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blogging tips to boost your stats and readership

Fashion Infatuation is well over 4 years old now, and to be honest with you I didn’t have a clue what I was doing in the beginning. I didn’t know how to get my own domain name, I didn’t know how to gain followers, nor how to promote my posts... I didn’t even feel comfortable taking photos of myself for outfit posts, and didn’t actually start doing this until way after my blog was set up!

Fashion Infatuation has grown naturally over the years, but I wish I had known back then how to really boost my blog.

Below are some tips and tricks to fellow bloggers out there, and they will hopefully be extra helpful to new bloggers.

Domain

When you first set up your blog, make sure you buy your own domain name as soon as possible if this is something you want to have. If you get your own domain or change your domain after a while, you’ll lose all stats that you’ve built up, and your blog will go back down to zero - meaning it won't appear in as many Google searches and less people will find their way to your blog.

Design

When it comes to design, make sure it’s clear and easy to navigate. There’s nothing worse than a cluttered blog, as this is the opposite to user friendly, and your visitors might find it off-putting. Many bloggers opt for clean lines and lots of white, and focus on taking really professional photos for their posts, which spices up the blog design in their own way. Clean lines are also a better option for the mobile version of your blog.

Logo and business cards
With your design you probably came up with a logo as well. Make sure it's one you're happy with and that you can see yourself using for a while, as this is great for business cards and other material. The simpler the logo, the better! I ordered my 2 sided business cards from StressFreePrint, and I absolutely love them! They're perfect to keep in your wallet, and hand out to fellow bloggers at events, or just sneakily leave in posh bars for people to see... ;) 

Gaining readers

This is an obvious one, but to gain more readers you're best off creating fan pages on Facebook and Twitter. Even if you don’t like these platforms, they are after all the most popular ones, and your blog will benefit from it in the long run. Just make sure you update them regularly with posts, pictures and statuses.

Twitter

When it comes to Twitter, try to get involved in conversations, and monitor and use hashtags relevant to your blog niche.

Some great ones to monitor and use if you’re a fashion or beauty blogger are #fbloggers (fashion bloggers) and #bbloggers (beauty bloggers).

Also, keep an eye on #bloggerswanted and #bloggerrequest for opportunities to collaborate with brands.

Comments

Talk to other bloggers! Just like you want people to comment on your blog, have a browse around for similar blogs to yours and comment away!

If you leave your link in the comment it will also help your blog’s visibility and SEO stats. But don’t go all spammy on people!

SEO

Optimise your blog SEO wise, so that it shows up in more Google search results, which will lead to an increase in readers, and which could also result in more brand collaborations.

Below is a short list of a few simple ways of doing this without being an SEO genius;

Blogpost title – Think about what people tend to search for on Google. They won’t search for ‘Post 165’ or ‘A rainy day’, but you’ll get more search hits by optimising your post title and really explaining what your post is about. For example; ‘How to dress in layers for the Autumn season’.

Keywords – Similar to the above point, think about what people search for online, and try to use these keywords or key terms in your post content. Rather than describing your dress as just ‘dress’, use all possible terms to describe it. For example ‘mint green 3/4 sleeve bodycon midi dress’.

Link to old posts – When you’ve blogged for a while, try to refer back to older posts in the new posts you’re writing, and link to these posts through relevant keywords, such as ‘skinny jeans’, etc.

Add category tags – Tag your posts with relevant categories. Don’t use too many, but try to stick to generic ones that will be relevant to many of your posts. For example ‘fashion’, ‘beauty’, ‘makeup tutorials’, ‘outfit posts’ etc.

Alt tags on photos – Before you hit publish on the post you just wrote, right click on your post photos and add alt tags. This helps Google understand what your photos are actually of, and they'll show up in more search results.