Valentine’s Day — A Note on Loving Yourself

When I originally started my blog, I never planned for it to become such a big part of my life. My very first post, titled The Beginning, was not about my goal to become a blogger and share my life with you. Instead, I wrote about my first trip as a “real journalist” (I was fresh out of college) — and to me, blogging was an easy way to stay in touch with friends and family while I was working abroad. But life happens, and of course, my Internet access was extremely limited when I was in Uganda, so live-blogging was virtually impossible. So when I came home, I began the slow and tedious process of going through my footage and updating you as I went.

Soon thereafter, I started sharing photos from other trips and eventually, my travel blog was born. But it wasn’t until about six months ago that I started sharing images of myself — and ultimately, my own story.

My blog has evolved into a collection of ideas about things that inspire me, whether it be people I meet, places I see or how I observe the world around me. I’ve always strived to be brutally honest with both my readers and myself, and sharing my own story (and showing photos of myself), is often the hardest part about being a blogger. My life isn’t perfect and I have my share of insecurities about it, my work and my self-image.

But this post isn’t about negativity! Like I said, my blog is focused on things that inspire me — and I hope in turn, inspire you. I’ve been thinking a lot about beauty and self-image lately, and while I don’t have the key to feeling beautiful every single day, I do know that it’s more about how you feel than how you look.

I’ve had three experiences with the on-demand beauty service app Bella, and while I’ve said it before, my favorite part about the app is how every single person associated with it cares about not only making you look good — but making sure you feel good on the inside. From the first minute that my Bella stylist (the incredibly talented Ariel Vega) showed up, I felt like everyone on the team truly cared about making sure I was happy and felt good about my shoot (and myself).

It was so much fun getting glammed up for the first half of my shoot, but at the end of the day, my favorite photos came from the more casual portion that we shot inside my apartment. I’m normally a jeans and combat boots sort of girl, and I love that I was able to pull the first sweater and jeans out of my closet that I could find, and within minutes, Tutti del Monte had me giggling upside down on my couch. I love how the photos of me laughing look so carefree, unguarded and candid. I hadn’t met Tutti before, but she made me feel so at ease and (with the boost of self-confidence from Bella): beautiful.

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For more information on Bella, visit wearebella.com.
To download the free app, search for “Bella on demand” in the app store.
Exclusively for my readers, get 15% off your service if you mention my name. 

And of course, a major thanks to:
Bella for providing my hair & make-up
My wonderful photographer, Tutti del Monte

♡

This post is the last in a series of three. Read the first and second posts, respectively.

Kelley Louise is a travel + lifestyle blogger and model.
You can read more of her thoughts on The Culture Collective.
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