My 2015 Highlights

To everyone who was in front of my lens this year, thank you. Thank you for your support and for your encouragement. I have grown so much as a photographer, and I have loved working with every single one of you.

Here are a few of my favourite photographs from client shoots , family adventures & from styled shoots where I've worked with teams of wonderful creatives.

Here's to many, many more shutter clicks from me.

Wishing you all a happy and safe festive season, and a very Happy New Year!

To a new year full of more challenges, more adventures and more smiles.

With love,

Roxy

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Help people find & connect with you on Disqus: Why you should update your Disqus profile

Are you a Disqus user? Do you use Disqus as your comment managing system on your blog or website? I've been using Disqus to manage my comments for the past 4 years and just LOVE the interface (and the fact that its FREE!) as well as how easy it is to leave comments on other peoples blogs. I also love how easy it is to track and reply to comments left my own blog. Before Disqus I was using the standard Blogger commenting system which was terrible at dealing with spam, and was just terrible with 'loosing' my comments. Disqus has made my life so much easier, and worked flawlessly when I was on Blogger and works perfectly with SquareSpace.

Apart from being a great system for storing and managing the comments on your blog, Disqus is a fabulous place to find and connect with other bloggers & readers. I haven't spent too much time delving into their voting system (you can recommend commetn discussions as well as 'upvote' comments) but what I do often is go through the comments on my site and click through to find the bloggers and lovely people who have taken the time to leave me a comment.

This is where I start pulling my hair out.

I can't tell you the number of times I've been left frustrated with people who make it so difficult for me to find and connect with them. Basically, if you don't update your Disqus profile and include links to your website & social media platforms, you are basically closing the door on future connections and possible business. And it's so easy to fix! 

If you're a blogger or business owner, you know how important it is to have all your links (website/facebook/twitter/instagram) in an easy to find place so that people can connect with you and ultimately contact you if they like what you are all about. If you don't provide them with your details how are they supposed to find you? The amount of time I have wasted copying and pasting Disqus usernames into Google, only to have to sift through hundreds of search results leaves me stone cold and ultimately I click away and forget about them. Not out of choice but out of frustration. 

So why not make it easy for people to find you. Disqus allows you to include your Facebook Account (at this stage only personal profiles can be connected), Twitter & Google accounts, as well as your website. Not only does this increase your chances of connecting with other like minded people, but it's great for SEO! The more your brand name and blog/business accounts are online, the more exposure your brand gets. It's basically free advertising.

So what are you waiting for?

Pop on over to your Disqus dashboard and get to customizing your profile. Change your name, avatar (the little picture that shows up when you leave a comment) & try to keep it consistent with your brand. Add in your links (under the 'Account' tab on the left hand side of your dashboard), write a quick blurb (biography) about who you are and what you do and then you're good to go! Drop a comment below once you've done so as I'd love to pop over to your site and leave you some social media love too.

Here's to helping you connect with more people, and to making your site easier to find for others.

Happy blogging!

Merry Christmas from Korea!

Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas from Korea. Thank you for all your support this year. I'm looking forward to starting the new year with a bang, as I have lots of exciting new projects lined up that I can't wait to share with you all.

Be safe and see you all again soon!

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Winter in Korea and our latest snow fall!

I have been complaining for the past few weeks about the lack of snow this Winter in Korea. Facebook kept reminding about all the snow we had here last year, and all we got was a measly few centimetres at the end of November. Well, the weather man finally heard my pleads for snow and we had a non-stop flurry of snowflakes which started last thursday afternoon and only let up Friday night, nearly a full day and night later.

While this was wonderful for me and my camera, it wasn't so great for my car. Poor Cherry (the VERY old red Matiz) had to spend the night at the bottom of the driveway after she failed (on more than one attempt) to get up the drive way to park. She spent the night under a tree and woke up to her handbrake and wheel frozen solid.  Farmboy and I spent a solid 15 minutes trying to pry her from that icy grip but to avail. Luckily the 1 degree increase in temperature during the day had thawed her a bit and we were able to get her started again...come on Cherry!

Here are some photographs from our early morning walk with Shadow, who simply adores being out in the snow. This will be one of the things we miss the most when we return to South Africa. 

7 Days of Beautiful Skin...#CGSFaceMaskChallenge

Last week I started up a fun Instagram challenge to help us combat the icy cold Korean wind and the havoc it wrecks on our skin. It's not just the outside elements that lead to dry skin, but even more so, it's the air-conditioners in our classrooms and apartments that leaves our skin feeling tight flaky.

I started a facemask challenge to make use of all those facemask most of us have lying around at home. I created the hahstag (#cgsfacemaskchallenge...the CGS stands for CityGirlSearching, the name of this blog) and then asked everyone to snap a photo of themselves with their face masks, and tag their photos with the hashtag for the challenge. I really didn't expect so many of my friends and followers to take up the challenge, and was blown away by all the photographs everyone uploaded. It was so much fun to see everyones different poses and to hear their views of the different face masks.

South Korea is famous for their 10 Step Beauty Routine (blog post to come soon!) and one of the steps that Korean women advocate is the use of a face (or rather, sheet) mask. You can buy these masks in every beauty store here in Korea, and they are so affordable, with prices ranging from W500 (+- US$.50) and upwards. The skincare stores here often have specials where you can pick up a pack of 10 for a few KRW1000. I used a mixture of masks from Innisfree (around W800 a pop) and my new favourite brand for sheet masks, Mamonde (each mask was about W1500). 

At the start of the challenge I was worried that I would end up breaking out from using a different mask every night, but that didn't happen at all! Instead, the few pimples I had from recently changing my skin care routine cleared up dramatically and my skin felt baby soft and full of moisture every morning! I was shocked! Before this challenge I had used a sheet mask maybe once a month or so, but after using them every night for the past week I think I am going to start using them regularly, at least 3 or 4 times a week. I was worried about the time it would take to apply the masks, but after the second day I was in a good routine and simply popped one on at night, carried in with whatever I was doing (watching series, doing he washing, eating dinner) and then took it off just before bed. 

My skin definitely looks brighter and I have no more annoying flaky bits of skin around my nose area. Another thing I have noticed is that my foundation and BB cream no longer 'sits' on top of my skin, but rather sinks in properly like it's supposed to. I was having to use a primer to prevent the foundation from streaking and and sitting in my pores, but now it goes on effortlessly and looks far more natural. I was even able to use a BB cream I had long ago cast aside because it was so thick and I was never able to get it to blend into my skin. These sheet masks are just the best thing!

Thank you to all the ladies below who took part in this challenge. I hope you all had as much fun as I did and that your skin loved the masks too. I think this needs to be an ongoing challenge, especially in winter!

iskhan dog food: Where to buy Grain Free Dog Food in Korea

Owning a dog in Korea has had it's challenges, one of them being trying to find a good quality, grain-free dog food that doesn't cost the earth. I am so happy to say that I have found a local Korean brand of dog food that is great quality at a fantastic price.

If you're looking for a really good site that reviews god food, head over to Dog Food Advisor. They rank dog foods from 1 to 5 star, and recommend feeding your dog food that is over 4 stars and above. Dog Food Advisor do thorough testing and have all the info you need to know more about the different brands of dog food.

Why Grain Free dog food? 

Grain-free dog food has become a trend in the dog food industry (just like the term 'Organic' is for human food). Even though a lot of companies are jumping on the bandwagon to market their food as grain free (and charge a fortune!) I do choose to feed my dog a grain free food. Most of the popular (ie cheap) supermarket brands of dog food contain a lot of nasty fillers in their formulations. This means that you think you are buying a good quality food with lots of natural ingredients, when instead the proteins are last on the ingredient list, with a filler like corn being at the top of the list. Not only are a lot of dogs allergic to wheat (just like a lot of people) but there are lots of other nasty things inside those cheap foods. That's why I choose to feed Shadow a grain free formula. Another plus to grain free, high quality food is that your dogs waste is a lot smaller, 'tidier' and less smelly. If your dog is eating a poor quality food with lots of fillers, they tend to have those huge, smelly poo's as their bodies aren't absorbing the good stuff from the food (because there isn't much goodness actually in the food).  The smaller and more 'compact' your pups poo, the more nutrients he is absorbing. That's a good way to see if the food you are feeding your dog is good for him/her.

Where to buy dog food in Korea

So the next biggest challenge, after finding a dog food you think will be suitable for you dog, is to find out if it's available in Korea. A lot of brands ARE available in Korea but you WILL pay a fortune for them, due to the high cost of companies importing and shipping them into Korea. A lot of vets and big pet stores stock the higher quality brands, and the big marts like Emart & Lotte Mart sometimes stock certain brands too. But as I don't stay anywhere near any one of those kind of stores I have had to buy online. 

Before I found out about Iskhan, I was buying Taste Of the Wild online. Taste of The Wild is one of the brands of grain-free, high quality food that is recommended by a lot of dog owners. TOW (Taste of the Wild) is an American brand, and so the prices here in Korea are sky high. I fed Shadow the Salmon & Sweet Potato puppy formula for the first year which cost me W90 000 for a 13.5kg bag which lasted about 2 - 3 months. I just accepted that if I wanted to feed him a good quality food, it was going to cost more. I did also try the Kirkland Signature Nature's Domain brand from Costco (which I had read is actually made by the same company as Taste Of the Wild and supposedly has a very similar formulation) but I wasn't a big fan of it. It was just about half the price (about W40 000 for a 15kg bag) but we don't stay anywhere near a Costco, and the one trip we did to Costco to track down the food, they didn't have any in stock. So I reverted to paying the exorbitant cost of TOW. 

Another problem I have with dog food is that my dog is an incredibly fussy eater. I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't like the food, or whether we was just being a typical Jindo. Jindo dogs are known for being picky eaters, choosing to eat and not eat at will. A lot of JIndo owners free feed their dogs (ie leave a bowl of food out for the dog to help themselves to) as they generally don't over eat and will only eat when they are hungry. Shadow would often go the whole day and night without eating anything. I learned not to worry that he was sick, and just leave his food out for him to nibble on. I did also try adding all kinds of tasty treats, bribing him to eat his food. But that just got ridiculous. The amount of time I spent boiling bones, cooking broth and fussing over adding coconut oil and other treats to his food was just crazy. When he was about 5 months old he would wolf down his food, so much so that we had to get him a special bowl to make him eat slower. Once he got to about 8 months he started being picky, refusing to eat unless his food was covered in coconut oil, or smothered in broth and meaty chunks. 

I thought Shadow was in great condition while eating TOW. I thought his coat was shiny and soft, and that he generally looked healthy. That was until I met up with a friend and her husky and I touched her husky's gorgeous coat. It was silky smooth, softer than my own hair. I couldn't get over how amazing her dogs coat was. I asked her what she was feeding her, and how much it cost. She told me she was feeding her husky Iskhan Performance and that it only costs about W40 000 for a 15kg bag. She then helped me order it right away and I've just received our second order.

I am so happy to report that Shadow loves the Iskhan food. He still sometimes won't finish the entire bowl but he is now ALWAYS at least interested in his food and waits in his room at meal times (something he didn't do with the TOW). His coat is incredibly soft and shiny, his eyes bright and clear and he has filled out and has stopped looking like he has an eating problem. I am very happy with the food and highly recommend it. It's also great to support a local Korean company, rather than buying from imported brands. 

Iskhan is made by Daehan Feed Co & ere is a little blurb about Iskhan from their website:

NEW ISKHAN - Holistic Pet Food with fresh deboned chicken meat and superior natural ingredients.

"NEW ISKHAN" product is made with superior natural ingredients such as fresh deboned chicken meat, flaxseed, kelp meal, fructo-oligosaccharides etc to give your dog healthy skin, a shiny coat, clear eyes and overall good health while reducing wastes.

Iskhan has a lot of different formulations (they are numbered 1 - 4 with #1 being for young puppies and 4 being for older dogs) and I have just seen on their website that they also make a grain-free cat food formula too. I fed Shadow the Junior formula, and have just ordered the adult range, Performance, pictured above:

I also like that they include English descriptions on their packaging, with their ingredient list being in English too. Here is a link find for Iskhan on Gmarket (click here). It's listed at W50 000 for the 15kg bag of Performance (adult formulation). I have a Korean friend help me order it from a company Wellcares. I just send them a a text message with my address and they send me their bank details to pay and then they send it to me. It's not much cheaper than Gmarket (I pay W43 000 for the 15kg Performance) and would suggest using Gmarket unless you have a Korean friend to help you order each time. 

Here are some photographs of the Junior formula packaging so you can see the entire ingredient list. This is what I started Shadow on. He is now around 18 months old and as my order of Performance just arrived, that's what I will switch him to now.

Just a note when switching food, make sure to start off slowly with the new food. If you feed your dog a cup of food, start off with 1/4 of new food, and 3/4 of his old food. After a few days slowly increase the amount of new food and decrease their old food. The whole process should take about 2 weeks to transition them and let their tummies adjust to the new food. If you don't transition slowly your dog will have a very sick stomach and you'll probably have to deal with a lot of diarrhea until their bodies adjust to the new food. This is natural, but can be avoided by going slow.

I hope you found this post helpful. Click the images below to read my other posts on owning a dog in Korea: 

Why you need a 'START HERE' page for your blog

Have you ever clicked a link for something on Pinterest, and then been redirected to the home page or blog of that site only to have no idea what you're looking at? So many times I get lost on blogs, looking for something in particular that I saw on Pinterest, only to give up a few seconds later and click away. You may think your blog is incredibly user friendly, but that's because you designed it and know where everything lives.

If someone was visiting your blog for the first time, would they know, just from the first few seconds, what it is you do and what you offer or sell? It's so hard to look at our own blogs objectively, so why not make it super easy for people to find their way around your site by adding a START HERE page (see image below):

Your Start Here page is another opportunity (just like your About Page & Home Landing Page if you choose to have one) for you to tell your readers what is is you do, and to give them a brief summary of your business or blog. I use my Start Here page as a place to show my blog categories, and as a way to have people sign up for a particular email. I am starting a new email list of people interested in improving their photography for their blog or business, and so use this page as a place for them to sign up. Some people use their Start Here page to sum up their previous blog posts, to answer FAQ's or to share more about themselves.

A few months ago I found a platform called Peek that allows you to submit your website to a panel of random testers who visit your site and answer specific questions about your sites usability. Once you enter your web address and email address up (it's free!) you are then sent a 5 minute video of people testing out your site, their first impressions and their answers to a few questions about the functionality of your site as well as whether you can improve on anything. 

My site was sent first to an older gentleman who really had no idea what I was writing about. At first I was so frustrated watching him make his way around my blog, but then I realised that my site was confusing. He thought the beauty reviews I did were for products I actually sold, and kept trying to find where to buy them. As the first blog post he saw when he clicked on my site was a review for a beauty product, he thought I was a selling skincare & makeup.

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PRO TIP: Your latest Blog Posts conveys a lot to your readers and can influence their decision to stay or leave your site

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I was happy to see he was actually interested in buying the product after my review, but I was disheartened as I soon realised he had no idea what my site was all about. At that time I even had a Home or Landing page set up, but as I use a lot of images in my design, it took so long for the Home page to show the images that he quickly clicked straight to my blog. I realised very quickly that you need to assume everyone who arrives at your blog (whether they are first time visitors or returning visitors) needs clear instructions about where to click and where to find information...

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PRO TIP: This is why SEARCH BARS are so important in your blog design!

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The next person to view my site was a young woman who clearly was a blogger herself. She immediately found her way to my blog and my about page, and proceeded to navigate my site with ease. As much as she liked the functionality and white space of my blog design, she did comment on how long the images were taking to load and that she found it rather frustrating. I have since learned to decrease the size of the images I upload, in the hopes that the loading time doesn't scare off my visitors!

So, by implementing a 'Start Here' page on your blog, you are giving your readers one more place to be able to find out about you and what you can offer them. It also helps them to learn how to navigate your site, and in turn, will make them more likely to stick around and come back.

I am STILL tweaking my blog design (that's why I love SquareSpace so much as I am able to customise so much without having to know ANY code) and I think I will continue to tweak the functionality of it as I go along. I have just added a Home/Landing page back to my site (see image above). SquareSpace gives you the option to add easy-to-customize landing pages to your site in just a few minutes.  I have chosen to introduce a landing page because I have been told me that this site has so many different things going on that some of my visitors feel rather overwhelmed and unsure of where to start when they first arrive. We can't assume everyone who lands up on our site will be a well seasoned blogger. 

Do you have a Start Here page on your blog? Have you ever tried a user testing site before? How do you feel about your sites functionality and user-friendliness? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!  

#TeaWithRoxy: My new LIVE weekly Periscope Series

Hello everyone!

I have been having so much fun on Periscope (click here to read the post I did last week on what Periscope is all about and how to use it to grow your blog or business). I want to share MEANINGFUL content with you guys, as opposed to just showcasing random streams of my dog and my Christmas Tree (although I will still be including a few of these as they are fun and a lot of you seem to really enjoy them). 

Incase you're new to the whole Periscope thing, Pericope is a free app (available on both IOS & Android) that allows you to live stream video footage. Not only can you live stream your own content, but you can also watch other peoples content, and share you support by giving 'hearts' while commenting & asking questions. It may seem a bit creepy and weird (and yes there are a few strange people on there) but it's a fantastic way to build engagement as well as me create real, live time relationships with people. I've met so many new blogging friends in the last 2 weeks and I can't wait to continue to engage with all of you through this exciting new platform.

As a blogger and photographer, I want to do more for you than just show you the behind the scenes of my life. I want to stream useful content that helps you and gives you the inspiration you need to actually do what you've been dreaming about doing. And so, I'd like to introduce you to my new Periscope series; #TeaWithRoxy.

I want this to be a a daily series (I am going to stream at the same time, Monday to Friday) with a different theme or topic each week. That's the plan, but I will be listening to you and your feedback and that will guide me as to whether it will continue to be a daily series or perhaps a weekly series if that's what you'd prefer. I am really excited for the first week's topic, as it's going to be all about blogging!

Here is the schedule for this week, starting tomorrow (Monday 14th December). I have tried to pick a time that will work for the majority of my readers who are all over the world, but if it doesn't work for you don't worry! The great thing about Periscope is it keeps your broadcast for 24 hours, so if you miss it, you're able to go back and re-watch it.

• Monday 14th - Blogging: Where to Begin (I'll be talking about blogging platforms and which ones I love and use)
• Tuesday 15th - Making your blog pop (I'll be talking about what I use to make my blog graphics and some tips and tricks to help you create yours)
• Wednesday 16th - Pro Tips (I'll be sharing with you some of the favourite tools that I use to make my blogging life a lot easier)
• Thursday 17th - Make or Break (I'll be talking about your 'About' page and why you need one, as well as how to make yours awesome!)
• Friday 18th - Q & A (I'll be wrapping up the series as well as answering any questions you may have about blogging)

If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, all you have to do it download the app (it's FREE!), make a quick profile (you don't have to get too fancy with this, but try and include profile photo so I can see who you are) and then find and follow me @ROXYHUTTON. As soon as you follow me you'll get a notification of when I go live so you know when to pop on and start watching.

Like I said before, you'll be able to watch the replay for up to 24 hours after I have broadcast the stream, so don't worry if you can't make the time slot. 

I am so excited to have you all be a part of this series, and I can't wait to help you take your blog to the next level. Come and join an exciting community of likeminded people who want you to succeed with your goals. 

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Want to make sure you never miss out on blogging or photography posts and freebies? Then make sure you subscribe to my Blogging & Photography email list by clicking the image below:

Innisfree Peony Perfume Room Diffuser

Today I want to share with you a short post on this delightful room diffuser from Innisfree. I picked this up during their 50% sale last month (oh just in case you see read this post today Friday 11th December) Innisfree are currently having their 30% off monthly sale. Not quite as good as the half price sale, but still a sale giving you a few extra pennies in your pocket for Christmas shopping. 

Innisfree is one of my absolute favorite Korean Beauty Brands (you can see just how much I love them by looking at my Beauty page...I've got 'one or two' Innisfree reviews on there hehe). 

This review is of the Peony Perfumed Diffuser. When I was in store, I also really like the Fig (I think I might need to add that to my Christmas List!) which has a very fresh and clean smell.

When choosing a perfume diffuser, I was worried that about the fragrance being very over powering, but it's very subtle. It gives the room it's placed in a very soft fragrance that lingers, without leaving you feeling sick from the sweetness. Another great one I would recommend is the Lemon scented diffuser. It would make a good kitchen (or even bathroom) addition.

Here is the Korean blurb about this diffuser from the Innisfree website:

 The diffuser is sold separately from the reed stick, which comes in 3 different versions - the basic reed stick (this I the one I have), the twig , and the flower . The flower is very pretty but I'm not sure how well it work to diffuse. 

The perfumed diffuser costs 20,000 Won, and the reed stick's price depends on which version you buy. The basic reed stick is 2,000 Won for a pack of 10, the twig version is 4,000 Won, and the flower is 5,000 Won. 

And it doesn't hurt that the bottle is so beautiful to look at, as is the design of each and everything I've ever bought at Innisfree.

Do you own a room diffuser? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. 

How to get your first 1k followers on Instagram (+ 2 Free Printables!)

I've been on Instagram for about 3 years now, and have only seen any kind of noticeable growth in my following in the last 6 months. I KNOW how frustrating it is to put so much effort and time into something, and then receive the bare minimum amount of engagement (especially when you know that at least half of those likes come from family and your best friends!). It took me a long time to get where I am today (and I'm still a baby in the big bad world of Instagram!) but I want to encourage you on your journey, wherever you may be right now.

While there is no secret, overnight trick to go from 0 - 1000 over night, today I want to share with you my strategies over the past year which got me to my first 1k.

1. Start tracking your numbers

First things first. Grab a pen and paper (or even better, print out the free stats tracker I made just for you...it's waiting for you in The #CGScreative Resource Library) and write down exactly where you are right now. It doesn't matter if you have 5 followers on Instagram or 5000. You need to start somewhere and today is a good a day as any to begin YOUR journey.

I have also included place for you to write down your stats for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & your email list. It makes life easier having all your social media stats in one handy place. Then keep adding your stats every month (or even every few weeks). When I first started tracking my stats, I counted all numbers every week. It was very encouraging to see the numbers slowly creep up. I have included space for the 12 months of the year on the free printable above, but you can print a many as you need if you want to do it by week instead of month.

2. Write down your goals

As with any journey you need to know where you are going. You write down your 'dream' numbers and keep them small and easily attainable, or you can shoot for the stars and write down something outrageous. Don't get disheartened if you don't reach this number in a week, a month or even a year. The point of this exercise is to know where you are heading and where you want to be. You can put a date a date on your goals, but I find this doesn't end up motivating me, and I end up feeling like a failure if I haven't reached my goals by a certain date. I like to keep my goals open ended, as I want to keep growing and not stop what I'm doing even when I hit a target. Here's a free goal tracker printable to help you. You can write down whatever goals you have for your social media channels; things like hosting a giveaway/joining group boards on Pinterest are great goals to start growing your channels too.

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3. Hashtags, Hashtags, Hashtags!

Hashtags WILL help you grow your following by making sure your photographs show up on searches. Before you tag your photo, think about what your photograph is showing/telling people. You want to make sure you use the right hashtags so that the right people find your feed. If you're little unsure of where to start, read this post on using different hashtags.

4. Be Social & Share the Love

If someone takes the time to comment on your photo, make sure to first reply to that comment, and then take a minute to head on over to their profile. If you like what you see, leave them a comment or two, or at the very least go and show their feed some love by liking some of their photographs. If you aren't actively engaging with other people, you're missing out on creating real, authentic connections with potential clients and potential business/blogging buddies. Think about your own feed. When someone simply likes one photo, how many times do you click on over to their feed? But think about when someone likes 5, 10, 20 of your images? How does that make you feel? Okay, it can sometimes feel like they are being a little spammy, but if they comment on your images as well as like them, chances are they genuinely enjoy what you are putting out there. So why not return the favor? It will increase your chances of being remembered by your followers as someone who is genuine and authentic, ie. they are more likely to then click over to your blog and read your content.

When you like an image on Instagram, that person gets a notification. If they have a big following, changes are they get so many notifications that your little like fades into the abyss. If you go and like 10 of their images, your name will appear 10 times in their notifications, making you stand out. I know that I click on profiles that leave me lots of likes (and I definitely click on profiles that leave comments). So why not use this to your advantage and make people want to click on your profile and follow you to see more.

5. Be Consistent with your brand

This step is the most important. Maintaining a consistent feed is what will help you stand out amongst the million of other users out there. Branding is a whole other kettle of fish, but on a basic level, if you want to convey your brand (whether that is the brand you are growing for your blog business or even just your own personal brand of who you are) you need to be consistent. 

When I first started using Instagram I was all about the Valencia filter; you know that brown, sepia filter that gave a vintage edge to every photo? That was all very well and good, but since then my own style has developed into something more feminine, clean and pretty. I now use a white (or at least a light) background for all my photographs and put more thought into what I want to share. If you are serious about growing your brand, you need to think hard about the image you want to convey to your followers. 

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about I want to share with you what happened to my Instagram followers a earlier this year.

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At the beginning of May this year (2015)  I decided to take Instagram seriously. I wanted to use it as a tool to grow my blog, not just as a place to share photos of my dog. I started styling my photographs, using a white background, and just putting a bit more thought into my images. I also started to introduce more of my own photography work (you can see this in below image on the left). Slowly, I started gaining lots of new followers. By the end of July I had gained about 200 new, actively engaging followers. 

Then I went on holiday to Borneo. 

I wanted to share the exciting places we were seeing and things we were doing with my readers. I changed the hashtags I was using to fit in with travel, and even though I was getting more likes on my photographs, I lost nearly 50 followers in 2 weeks. I had no idea what was going on. Yes, Instagram does go through purges where they delete inactive & spam accounts, but to loose so many people had to mean that my followers weren't interested in what I was posting.

You see, people were following CityGirlSearching the lifestyle blogger who posted photographs of makeup, stationery and other pretty things. They hadn't chosen to follow CityGirlSearching the global traveler who posted photographs of beaches & exotic foods. 

It was hard to realise how fickle people can be, and to see such a decline in followers when I thought I was posting interesting new content. I realised I had to start thinking about my Instagram account as an extension of my brand, and not as a personal account. 

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Lots of bloggers I follow have ended up creating multiple Instagram accounts to use for different purposes and I have been contemplating doing the same. They have one account for their blog or business, and another one to share personal photographs for family and friends. Right now I have enough social media channels to juggle without adding in a personal IG account, but it is something you may want to consider to help streamline your brand.

There are a number of free apps to tell you how many people follow/unfollow you but I have just found they make me feel horrible about Instagram. I downloaded Trackgram which has a paid and free features, and I found it took all the love out of Instagram for me. When I actively see who has un-followed me, it makes me want to unfollow them, regardless of whether I like their Instagram account or not.It leaves a bad taste in my mouth being able to see who un-follows me, and it has made me feel very negative towards certain bloggers who I used to love and admire. So I would say us it with caution, or rather, don't use it all. You don't need to be reminded who exactly un follows you, you can get a broad overview of this yourself by looking at your Instagram numbers on your profile yourself.

I hope this post inspired you to tackle the big bad world of Instagram! If you have any questions about it, please feel free to leave me a comment below, I promise to get back to you.

An afternoon in the Damyang Countryside

I spent the day in and around Gwangju this weekend, and ended up at the Damyang House for an afternoon stroll with a great group of fellow rescue dog owners. Sean & Jo-Jo own the gorgeous Damyang House, a beautiful (dog friendly) holiday home for rent in the surrounding Gwangju countryside. You can find out more about renting the Damyang House on Airbnb by clicking here. 

Sean & Jo-Jo often arrange get togethers at their dog friendly rental holiday home, and I was very happy to be able to join in this past weekend. Having a dog in Korea isn't easy, especially when your dog dwarfs 90% of the other Korean dogs, and so to be able to go a place that gave him plenty of space to run around and socialise with other dogs is a real treat. 

Sean & Jo-Jo own two rescue dogs, Soonie & Gauda (the small black and tan & the regal looking white pup) and we were joined by Meg & Ben who own Millie (the little, long haired black and white rescue dog) and their friend Ryan. I also met a lovely Korean lady, Jiseong, who brought along her two little Maltese rescues, Coco & Gucci. Of course, Shadow (the big black and tan Jindo mix) was a bit of a handful for the smaller dogs who weren't too interested in his playful advances, giving him a run for his money through the mud and farm lands. He had a ball regardless, none too phased by the barking and chasing he received when he tried to get too playful with them. 

November in a nutshell

November wizzed past in the blink of an eye and looking back at my photographs I realised it was one of my most photographed months of the year. Instead of leaving my photos sitting in digital storage, I wanted to share some of them here with you. I have posted a few of them on Facebook, but I know that a lot of what get's posted on Facebook business pages get's lost amongst everything else.

November was the month of leaves as Autumn slowly drew to a close and my mom was here visiting us and got to experience a real Korean Autumn. We also had our first snow towards the end of the month, and have yet to have any since. Let's hope it comes back so we can have a white Christmas! Having my mom visit was the highlight of the year, as was each and every single cup of tea (and boy oh boy did we drink a lot of tea!). 

So here is November in Korea, in a nutshell. 

Enjoy!

x

English Science Camp And Activities for kids - VOLCANOES

I taught a rather fun science English camp to different groups of students at the end of last year. I wanted something that was very hands on for the kids, while being fun and educational. I did these lessons with both elementary and middle schoolers and all my kids loved these experiments. We made exploding volcanoes and did the Egg drop experiment. This post will be focused on...

Volcanoes

I started the lesson by having my students in groups of 4. I gave each group a picture of a volcano that I had cut up into small pieces. I placed the picture facedown and then told them they had to put the pieces of the puzzle together and the first team to do it would be the winner.

Then we went over a very basic power point presentation showing the different parts of the volcano and completed a worksheet (I found the worksheet on Waygook, an incredible research, free rich website aimed at teachers here in South Korea). 

Then we set about making our volcanoes. I found all the ingredients that I needed at my local mart:

Ingredients for the Volcano

Vinegar

Oil

Flour

Dish Soap

Baking Soda

Water

Salt (try to use buy a ground salt...I learnt this lesson from the No Cook Play Dough recipe I did last year, course salt is horrible when making clay!)

Water based paints (i found these at the back of my English room)

Bottles (for the structure of your volcano)

How to Make the Volcano

For the dough a.k.a. the outside of the volcano

- In a large bowl mix together 3 cups of flour, 1 cup oil, 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup of water. Keep mixing! Add more flour, salt, oil as needed.

- Add paint and keep mixing and kneading until fully absorbed

Building your Volcano

-Tape down your bottle onto a plastic plate or piece of cardboard (this is very important and the volcano will make a lot of mess when you ignite it).

-Using bits of clay, build up your volcano. Make sure to leave the top open for the volcano to explode out of.

Making your Volcano Explode

-Now the fun part! Fill the bottle 3/4 full of hot water (be careful as the plastic bottle will melt if boiling water is used).

-Add 1/4 cup dish soap & 2 Tbs baking soda

-Add red paint/food colouring

-When you are ready, add 1 cup of vinegar and watch the volcano erupt!

It's best to do the erupting outside as these volcanoes tend to make quite a big mess. Make sure to come back for the second part of my Science camp, The Egg Drop Experiment!

Periscope & Blogging: Using Periscope to Grow your Blog

Hello. My name is Roxy, and I'm a Periscope addict.

I downloaded the live streaming app on Sunday night, and feel rather sheepish to say I have put myself out there, in live time, at least twice a day. It's only Wednesday and the fact that I have 11 broadcasts in 4 days is rather crazy. I had no idea that it would be so addictive, and SO MUCH FUN. I starting 'scoping' (yes, that's a thing) on a whim and hadn't put much thought into it but I have realised it's potential as a powerful tool for bloggers & business owners.

So what is Periscope?

Periscope is an app (recently purchased by Twitter) which lets you live video stream from your smart phone or tablet. It also lets your audience engage with you through a chat system, that you can respond to in real time. Viewers can also give you 'hearts', much like the Facebook 'like' button, if they agree with you or are enjoying what your are saying or doing.

Your 'scopes are available for 24 hours before they are deleted. This means viewers can catch up anything they missed, and new viewers can watch you if they missed your broadcast. People can still give you hearts on the replay, which then get added to your overall heart count. The more hearts you get during a broadcast, the more chance you have of being featured. But please don't be that person who spends their entire time online begging for hearts, that's just not cool.

Here is a snap shot of my profile. Even though I only have a small following so far, I have received loads and loads of hearts...I told you there were nice people out there. Also, make sure you utilise your profile space well. When you first create your profile, you can choose to log in with Twitter. If you do this, it will automatically upload your twitter profile. Just like twitter, Periscope has a limit on the amount of characters you can use in your profile. Use them wisely and tell people what it is you do and why they should be interested in following you. 

What I have loved so much about Periscope is the fact that it's live, real, and not staged/edited/rehearsed like youtube videos. This means you literally just press a button, and you're live! There is no editing, no hours spent making a studio etc it's literally you and your phone and your viewers. This means people can ask you questions right then and there and you can answer them on the spot. 

As with any social platform, there will always be the trolls (those people who have nothing better to do than to write obscene comments and just be generally annoying) but it's super easy to block people with a swipe of the screen.

There are A LOT of Russians on Periscope, as well as many Eastern Europeans who ask me things in their language and I have no idea what they are saying, but for the most part I have had really nice people join me for my 'scopes'. 

How can Periscope Help Grow your Blog?

There are so many ways that Periscope can be used as a tool to help you grow your blog audience and readership, as well as a tool for growing the rest of your social media platforms. Here is a screen shot of my blog stats for the past month. 

I usually hit a spike in traffic on days when I publish a blog post. I published a blog post on the 30th November but yesterday (1st December) I did not. And yet I saw a HUGE jump in traffic from my average of 377 page views a day, I got 539 yesterday. That's nearly double the amount. 

The only thing I did different? I placed a white board behind me while I was 'scoping which had my website & Instagram profiles written on it. Nothing fancy, literally a piece of white foam board with my details quickly scribbled on it. 

So you can see the potential right? 

I am really excited to delve deeper into Periscope and to start using it to grow my blog and my online stationery store.

Live streaming can be very daunting. The first 'scope I did I really had no idea what I was doing. I was in my pyjamas, in bed, with the camera facing my dog for most of the time, answering questions people were asking me about life in South Korea. The most asked questions was definitely 'Where are you from' as people were trying to work out my accent. But on that 'scope alone (ie the first one I ever did) I had nearly 300 people watch me. I had no makeup on, there was nothing interesting about my background, it was literally me in bed, drinking tea, and my dog sleeping on the floor. Now imagine I was doing something interesting like putting on makeup, walking around the streets in Korea, showing off items in my stationery store, imagine how many people would join me then?

In my third 'scope I had my husband and friend join me while we ate baked apples and drank tea. I named the broadcast  Apple Pudding & Zombie Brains as we were about to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead (every time you go live you give your broadcast a title so people can read what your 'scope will be about...ie make it interesting!).Within 5 minutes we were TRENDING! This means that out of all the thousands of people online, our broadcast went to the top of the list! And we weren't doing anything other than eating food and talking about Zombies.

Some tips of what to talk about on Periscope.

So apart from talking about zombies and eating, there are lots of other things I'd suggest doing on Periscope. Things that can be used for actually growing your blog or business. Periscope is not like the other social media platforms. It's also not supposed to be scripted, it's supposed to be raw and real. Here are some things you can use it for if you're a blogger or business owner:

1. Q & A session.

Ask your viewers to ask you questions. Talk about where you are, what you do, what you blog about and let the conversation happen naturally. You'll be surprised how many people will be interested in knowing what you just ate/what your favorite colour is or why you chose to paint your nails electric blue.

2. Behind the Scenes

Use Periscope to show your viewers some behind the scenes footage of where you work. If you have a work studio where you put together stationery orders/take photographs/package orders/cook/teach show your viewers. It's always interesting seeing the other side of the creative scene. The side where everything is a mess, people will be able to relate to you and you'll be showing people a much more authentic side to you and your business.

3. Show off your pets

If baring your face to the whole wide world terrifies you then why not start by sharing your pets? Everyone loves animals, so why not share with the world your furry friend. I was amazed at how many people were interesting in seeing my dog, I even had requests from viewers to bring him on camera. 

4. Show off your products

Do you sell physical products? Show them to your viewers, ask them which ones they like best. Show them how they can use your products and how your products can be used around the house. This gives people a much more in depth look into what you're selling, making them more inclined to buy from you.

5. Show off your talents (or what you love doing)

Do you love baking? Are you an illustrator? Put on some music and invite people to watch you draw/cook/bake/paint your nails. It gives you something to do rather than staring into the screen blankly and people can enjoy your broadcast and still ask you questions.

Some general Periscope Tips

• When you download Periscope, spend some time customising your profile. Include a link to your website/blog/online store and use an eye catching profile picture to help you stand out.
• Spend a few minutes watching other people to get a better idea of what to do and what not to do.
• The first thing you point your camera at when you start broadcasting will be the thumbnail for your 'scope. Make sure your camera is pointed at something interesting and eye catching. You can even make use of your branding/logo here to build up your brand. Your camera will, by default, be pointing away from you. This is why you should use a placeholder image (like your logo) or point your phone at something interesting rather than having it pointing at a blank wall while you wait to be able to turn the camera around. The blank wall will then be what people see when the scroll through their feed. 
• Use interesting titles for your broadcast. Your title is super important as it is the first thing people will see when scrolling through the feed. Use emoticons and capital letters to draw attention.
• Ask people to share your 'scope with their followers. You'd be surprised how many people will do this. It's really easy to do and just involved swiping to the right (for IOS ro swiping up for Android users).
• Greet people as they join your stream. It's polite and helps them feel appreciated.
• Follow other users and share the love by giving them hearts. 
• Double tapping your screen while broadcasting changes the direction of your camera, so you can show people your face (if you want to) and you can show people what you are looking at. 

Most importantly have fun. Periscope is meant to be a fun platform for engaging with people. Don't get so caught up in trying to sell your blog/product that you forget about your audience and why they are there. People want to be entertained (and I don't mean the dodgy way here) so be real, be you and just relax. My first scope I was a shivering wreck, I couldn't even keep the phone straight as I was shaking so much. Within a few minutes I realised that it didn't matter if I said the wrong things. It takes a little while to warm up, so play some music in the background, and just have a good time.

Come and find me on Periscope (@RoxyHutton) and join in the fun.

Klairs Vitamin Drop Vitamin C Serum Review - Currently Testing

For the past few days I have been trying a very exciting new addition to the Dear Klairs range of beauty products. Dear Klairs is a Korean beauty brand established in 2010 in Seoul, South Korea, and what I love most about them is that they do not test on animals! I have tried out a number of their products (courtesy of WishTrend) and have been most impressed with them.

Here are my own (always honest) reviews for the products I have tried out so far.

Just click on the images below to see the full post:

You can shop for the Klairs range of products on WishTrend, a Korean beauty platform which stocks lots and lots of Korean Beauty brands.  A little bonus for my readers, by using this code 052313605 you'll get $5 off your first order. 

I am currently testing out the much talked about Klairs Vitamin Drop (which you can buy as a set along with my favourite BB cream, the Klairs Supple Illuminating BB Cream for only $34 on WishTrend) .

And now back to the review.

So what's all the fuss about Vitamin C I hear you say?

Now I'm no scientist, just a lowly ol' beauty blogger with a love for any and all things beauty, and so I enlisted the help of Korean Beauty Guru blogger Charlotte from Soko Glam to help me out here. 

Many studies have proved that Vitamin C (a.k.a. ascorbic acid or l-ascorbic acid) is one of the most effective ways to help fade pigmentation -- those pesky brown spots from sun damage or even uneven skin tone from acne scarring.

It also improves the overall health of your skin by protecting it from free radical damage! Think of it as an anti-aging shield for your skin so you’re not only reducing what damage has already been done, but also preventing future damage.

To understand the science behind Vitamin C, let me breakdown how and why pigmentation occurs:

UVA/UVB, pollution, and smoking create free radicals that destroy your DNA -- and skin cells. Sorry for the dramatics - but it’s true. Free radicals suck!

The result? Premature aging: mainly brown spots and wrinkles (and a bunch of other health problems besides).

Antioxidants help slow down/eliminate free radicals, so that’s why it’s important to include them in your diet and most importantly for your skin, apply them topically!

And you guessed it, the best of the best for the skin is...Vitamin C.  You can read the full article by clicking here.

I recently raved about my experience using the Innisfree Whitening Pore Serum with pretty drastic before and after photos (click here) and so have really interested in knowing more about Vitamin C. 

This Vitamin Drop serum from Klairs contains a 5% concentration of Vitamin C, meaning it is perfect for even the most sensitive of skins. As a rule of thumb, the higher the Vitamin C concentration, the more likely it will cause sensitivity. For those first time users of Vitamin C (like myself), the 5% contained in The Klairs Vitamin Drop serum is the prefect place to start. 

As Vitamin C is highly de-stablilized by Oxygen & light, it is usually kept in dark coloured bottles and it is advised to store it in a cool dark place. What is great about the Klairs Vitamin Drop is that has been stablilized and therefore has a longer shelf life. That's why it is packaged in such a pretty clear bottle. You can see the full ingredient list below:

I have only been using it for a few days so I can't speak on the effectiveness yet.

What I have noticed so far in the few days of use is a faint, warm sensation when applied to the skin. Nothing unpleasant, it actually feels like I am applying a warm towel to my skin. I have also noticed that my skin is being purged (small pimples are coming to the surface that were obviously waiting for the right moment to pop up). I was very worried about this and though perhaps I was having a bad reaction to the product, but have since realised it's normal.

I apply the serum after cleansing, toning and applying essence. I leave it on for about 10 minutes before applying my eye cream, day/night cream and sun cream. I have noticed that my skin is a lot more mattified since I added this serum into my routine, and I have also been very pleasantly surprised to notice that I no longer have flaky skin on my nose area. I am very excited to see more results and will report back after a few more weeks of use.

You can buy the Klairs Vitamin Drop serum on Wishtrend for $17.25 by clicking the button below.

I have also recently added the much talked about Misha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence & Toner to my skin care routine and will be making a video on them very soon. 

{This review and all the reviews on my blog are honest and my own personal experience with the product. Please note this post contains affiliate links which means that should you purchase something though one of these links I receive a very small commission}

Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Powder Fit {Video Review}

I was most pleasantly surprised when I tried out this BB cream. I had read really great things about it online, but reviews only go so far and I always worry about BB creams making my skin look ghostly pale. Luckily this is not the case for this BB cream. With a lovely powdery scent, and a wonderful powder finish, this BB cream has crept into my heart and my makeup table, finding it's way as a close contender for my favourite Klairs Supple Illuminating BB Cream. 

One thing (and it really is only a small gripe) is with the white tube. White and foundation don't go together vey well. I took these photographs after only using this BB cream once, and I got foundation smudges on the side of the tube. That's why my tube looks a little dirty. That problem is easily solved if you use a Foundation brush though!

Here is a little video review I made of this product, as well as a quick tutorial showing you how I made up my face after using the Precious Mineral Cotton Fit BB cream.

You get 60g of product in each tube, so it's going to last you a long, long time. As you can see, the easy to use dispenser gives you just enough product for an even application. In the photographs below you can see just how seamlessly the product glides into my skin.

I would say one layer will give you medium coverage, but this BB cream is very build-able. One more pump and you would have a high coverage foundation with all the other great properties of BB creams (sun protection, moisture & cover).

The Precious Mineral BB Cream Cotton Fit only comes in 3 shades; 

No. 2 Light Beige

No. 13 Natural Beige

No.25 Honey Beige

I chose the middle shade, Natural Beige and it's perfect for my Olive skin. It is currently winter here in Korea and my skintone has faded slightly, but I am usually MAC NW 25.

Have you tried this BB cream before? What did you think? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. 

How to Make your own Dried Apples

Apples are currently in season here in Korea, which means we are able to buy them without the usual $10 a pop price tag that that comes with them at any other time of the year. The apples used in this blog post were bought from a little farm stall near Naejangsan National Park.  

These dried apples were made with a dehydrator we were given by Farmboy's school, (here is a link to buying them on Gmarket) but you can easily do the same thing using your oven. 

It takes a while for the apples to get really soft and chewy (anything from 12 - 24 hours) but it's definitely worth the wait, and using a dehydrator instead of an oven will make your life easier. If you want them to be crunchy instead of chewy, then leave them in for even longer.

So far we have dried apples, pears (these have been the best so far!) and persimmons (another fruit that is also currently in season) and I plan on trying to make doggy snacks out of chicken breasts for our pup #ShadowTheJindo. I am also going to try my hand at making Biltong (the South African equivalent of Beef Jerkey) so let me know in the comments below if you can recommend any great recipes for Biltong!

If you have a dehydrator, the process is very simple.

1. Peel your fruit.

2. Chop/Cut/Core your fruit into small pieces. If you want to make apple rings then you will need to get hold of an apple corer. I was only able to find an apple corer than also slices (the green thing pictured below).

3. Place your fruit pieces as close together as possible, without actually having any of the pieces touch each other.

4. Turn on and adjust the temperature if your dehydrator has a temperature control switch. Turn up your dehydrator the the highest temperature (the higher the temperature the faster the fruit will dry out).

5. Leave for 24 - 48 hours. The first batch of fruit (pictured in this post) was only dehydrated over nights (about 15 hours) and so the apples were still quite soft and squidgy. We made another batch using persimmons and left those over night and the following day and they came out crunchy and delicious. I definitely recommend leaving them as long as possible.

6. Place the dried fruit in airtight container. You can use an ordinary ziplock bag and a straw to suck out all the air. Store in a cool, dark place. Your fruit will keep for a good couple of months (although ours doesn't last longer than a few days as we eat it all!).

Thanks to a friends suggestion, we just finished a batch of dried apples covered in cinnamon. Out whole house smells like Christmas and those apple pieces were absolutely amazing! Experiment with different spices, you can't really go too wrong.

If you don't have a dehydrator you can theoretically use your oven, but I'm not sure whether you'd actually want to leave your oven on overnight while you're sleeping? It is possible with the oven, but using a dehydrator is much easier. You can buy a dehydrator like ours on Gmarket (click here) for about W30 000.