28 Day #ChangeYourSkin Challenge with Kiehls & BeautyBulletin ~ First Impressions

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28 Day #ChangeYourSkin Challenge with Kiehls & BeautyBulletin ~ First Impressions

I am so excited to share this post with you all today as I have been selected to be part of the Kiehls & BeautyBulletin #ChangeYourSkin campaign. I am joining a small group of bloggers and influencers for the next 28 days & we will all be sharing our thoughts on the following 5 Kiehls products: 

  • Midnight Recovery Concentrate
  • Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate
  • Clearly CorrectiveTM Dark Spot Solution
  • Ultra Facial Cream (R355):
  • Ultra facial Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado
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Innisfree Cafe Seoul, South Korea

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Innisfree Cafe Seoul, South Korea

If you've been following this blog for any time at all, I'm sure you'll know have come across a post or two sharing my love for the Innisfree brand.

Innisfree is known as the first, original South Korean all-natural brand, and is one of the few Korean brands that use organic ingredients certified by France's ECOCERT organisation. All of it's packaging is recyclable, and the ingredients in it's products are natural and not filled with a million and one chemicals.

What I love most about Innisfree is the fact that their products are reasonably priced, and they WORK! There are so many amazing Korean skincare and makeup brands, but a lot of them look a lot better than they work. Korean packaging is incredibly cute and will have you buying all sorts of products just because they will look pretty on your dresser. 

You can imagine my delight when I found out that Innisfree has it's own cafe! There are two locations, one on Jeju Island (the home of Innisfree) and on in Seoul.

During the last weekend we spent in Korea (in case you're new around here, my husband and I spent 3 years living in South Korea and have only just returned home to South Africa) I was able to pop into the cafe and experience the beauty of Innisfreein it's 'cafe' form.

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Goodbye Korea!

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Farmboy and citygirl leave Korea south africans in South korea

I can't quite believe that Farmboy and I have been here in our little town in Korea for 3 years and that it is time for us to say goodbye. We have had a wonderful time living and teaching English in South Korea and have had so many adventures over the years (the biggest one was definitely rescuing a little black and brown ball of fluff who has grown into a most handsome wolf).

As we wrap up our final days (as of writing this we have 2 more days in Korea and will land in South Africa on Monday, 27th June) I wanted to leave you with a few of my previous posts to keep you entertained until I am back here on the blog.

We have had some complications with getting our dog, Shadow back home, and currently he is waiting to be allowed to board his flight back to South Africa. We aren't sure when that will be but have been told it could be on Monday (fingers crossed!). South Africa has really strict pet import policies, so not only does it cost $1000's (and yes, I literally mean thousands of US$) but animals are not allowed to fly with you on the plane but must fly as manifest cargo. So please keep little Shadow in your thoughts for the next few days as he waits to find out when he can fly. I am a bit of a wreck right now as he has to stay at a boarding kennel until his flight and I can't see him. We also have to pack up three years worth of stuff, fit it into two little suitcases and say goodbye to the town that has become out home. There have, and I'm sure will be, more than a few tears shed as we say our goodbyes.

So in the mean time, here's a bit more 'light reading' for you for the next little while.

See you soon,

x

Asia Travel Guides
BORNEO MALAYSIA TRAVEL GUIDE: Kota Kinabalu
Borneo Malaysia Travel Guide: Batang Ai Lake & the Hilton Longhouse Resort
Borneo Travel Guide: Kuching
The Philippines Travel Guide: El Nido
Philippines Travel Guide: Puerto Princessa
Bali & the Gili Islands Travel Guide
Jeju Island Travel Guide
Ubud, Bali Travel Guide
Malaysia Travel Guide and The Perhentian Islands
Vietnam Travel Guide
Shadow, our Korean rescue pup
Shadow The Korean Jindo at home in South Africa
Winter in Korea and our latest snow fall!
How to Groom a Shedding Jindo Dog - a guide for double coated dogs
Growing Up Jindo: A series of photographs documenting #ShadowTheJindo's first year
Rescuing a puppy in Korea
South West Coast Beaches in South Korea
#ShadowTheJindo likes to chew
Owning a Dog in Korea {Part 2} Health Check Ups & Vaccinations
Owning a Dog in Korea {Part 1} What you need to keep you and your pup happy.
ShadowTheKoreanJindo

Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder & Rice Shimmer Powder - Review

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Skinfood Buckwheat Loose Powder & Rice Shimmer Powder - Review

It's been a very long time since I bought anything from Skinfood. I think the last purchase I made was a repurchase of their signature Black Sugar Serum (and that was back in 2014!). South Korea is well known for their cutesy packaging and beautifully designed products, and more importantly, for how effective their products are. It takes just a moment of looking around at the women here to be able to see how beautifully cared for their skin is. A large reason their skin looks the way it does is because of protecting their faces (and every other body part) form the sun, but they also spend a lot of time and effort on their beauty routines (do you remember my post on the 10 Step Korean Skincare routine?).

There are so many Korean skincare and beauty brands, and each of them is associated with something unique. Etude House is know for it's very cutesy and girly packaging, Missha is seen as a higher end brand, Tony Moly is what all the school girls favor and Innsifree is seen as the Eco-friendly flagship brand. I always saw Skinfood as one of the cheaper brands, more so when it came to quality than actual price. Most of the products from Etude, Tony Moly and Skinfood are actually priced very similarly but from the look of their packaging, I wasn't really blown away.

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The Best Places to eat in Korea: Burger Bridge, Gwangju, South Korea

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The Best Places to eat in Korea: Burger Bridge, Gwangju, South Korea

After a second visit to this delightful burger place in Gwangju, I am 100% convinced that this will be one of the best you'll eat while in Korea. I'm talking real, homemade, grilled patties with plenty of extra toppings that will leave you with a very full stomach and a happy heart.

Burger Bridge is a small restaurant located on the other end of downtown Gwangju, near Mudeung Mountain 무등산. It's in the Chosun University area, a place filed with the trendiest cafes, bars and restaurants. It's quite nearby to Florida Cafe and Hertz Guesthouse (one of our favorite dog-friendly places to stay).

The best part about this place (apart from how good their burgers are and what good value for money they are) is their opening times! Most restaurants open closer to midday in Gwangju, which is a real pain if you wake up early like us. Burger Bridge is open from 10 am! The restaurant itself is small, but oh-so-charming, and the guys who run it are super friendly. You can tell they are proud of their burger joint!

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How to make Stock Photos work for your Brand + Beautiful Free Stock Photos for You!

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How to make Stock Photos work for your Brand + Beautiful Free Stock Photos for You!

You've downloaded every free stock image you can find, but you're still stuck with website & blog graphics you're not happy with.

You're tired of seeing the same stock images used in the same ways, everywhere you look.

You feel like the images out there don't fit your niche.

If you answered yes to any of the above, I hear you! I remember when I first started blogging (okay, to be honest it was way back when in the times before Pinterest and all the pretty that followed) and so my options for photographs to use on my blog were very limited. I basically had to either take my own photographs, or continue to use other peoples work (giving them credit of course). 

I wasn't a big fan of using other people's photos, because the photos I was using weren't being meant for stock photo use. I was simply 'borrowing' their photography skills by using their photos, and I wanted to become completely self sufficient and do everything myself. I am so glad that I was stubborn back then, because if I hadn't started taking my own blog photos, I wouldn't be where I am today, about to launch a whole business dedicated to creating visuals for small business owners and creatives!

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Our final few weeks in South Korea - A Daily Vlog by Farmboy

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Our final few weeks in South Korea - A Daily Vlog by tincabin

Today is the 6th of June, and in T-minus 20 days we will be boarding a flight that will take us back home to South Africa.

Farmboy and I have been living in Buan, a teeny tiny countryside town in South Korea for the past 3 years. We are about to wrap up our final teaching contract and head back home to sunny South Africa,

It's been an incredible adventure filled with all sorts of challenges and excitement (the biggest being the rescue of our Korean street pup, Shadow):

Over the past 3 years we have traveled to Bali, Vietnam, Malaysia, Borneo & India all while working a full time job teaching English. I've written travel guides to these countries as well as posts filled with photographs of each place. Click the images below to read and see more:

We have also spent many a weekend camping, something I never thought I would enjoy before I met Farmboy. You see, I really am a city girl, but somehow the inconvenience of toilets or showers pales in comparison to the beauty of the places we have camped in.

It's been so worth the few moments of being uncomfortable. Click the images below to read and see more about camping in Korea:

As we get ready to pack up our lives here (and as I attempt to take back every single item of Korean stationery and beauty products!), Farmboy has taken on the challenge of a daily vlog.

These videos are a really fun glimpse into our lives here in Korea, and they also take you behind the scenes of what life is really like here in Asia.

I hope you'll join us over on Youtube and that you like and subscribe if you enjoy the videos. Farmboy will be documenting these final few weeks as well as the whole process of taking Shadow home (dealing with the steps and processes of taking a dog from Korea to South Africa) and of course us fetching him on the other side after his stay in quarantine. 

Here is one of the vlogs from our weekend in Seoul, enjoy!

The #CGScreative June Photo Challenge - An Easy & Fun way to grow your Instagram Account

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The #CGScreative June Photo Challenge - An Easy & Fun way to grow your Instagram Account

Hi friend!

Today I'm so excited to tell you all about the latest CGScreative Photo Challenge that is happening over on Instagram for the month of June. You may remember the first photo challenge I did in April this year (which was a huge success with over 1200 submissions from people all over the world!). I received so many emails from the CGScreative community asking me if there would be another one, and so I am delighted to give a big resounding YES to that question! 

First, a little bit more on the purpose of this challenge: 

Instagram is all about ENGAGEMENT, it always has been and always will be. A lot of people have gotten rather upset about the algorithm changes that have been slowly rolling out since April, but I want to tell you it's not all bad news! 

Instagram now aims to show us the content it thinks we like, based on our previous actions (ie. our likes and comments). This means that it is now more important than ever to be liking and commenting on those accounts that you really love and want to follow, rather than engaging with accounts that you hope will follow you if you spam their feed enough

With the above in mind, I started the CGScreative Photo Challenge in April, and have brought it back again for June. The challenge is a fun way for us all to engage with one another in a genuine way, while helping each other get seen by more people. Doing this grows your own audience and following as well as everyone else's...it's basically a win-win situation!

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My Favourite Tools for Blogging - Awesome Programs, hosting, apps and software to help grow your blog

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My Favourite Tools for Blogging - Awesome Programs, hosting, apps and software to help grow your blog

I'm coming up to my 6th year of blogging (what?!) and so I can safely say I know a thing or two about tools that help you blog better. Most of what we need to know about growing our blogs can be found on Pineterest, right? This is all very well, and I don't know about you but whenever I head to Pinterest to search for blogging resources I get sucked into images of beautiful quotes, cute puppies and ways to save space in my home (tell me I'm not the only one?). 

So I thought I'd create this post for you, with a list of all the resources and tools I use when blogging. I've also created a useful printable cheatsheet of all these resources for you to print out to help you in your blogging journey. You can get your paws on this checklist in my *FREE* Resource Library (which is filled with stock photos and loads of other blog & biz resources) and which you can join below.

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Teapot Cafe in Jangseong (Jeongeup Countryside), South Korea - En Rogel Teapot Café

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Teapot Cafe in Jangseong (Jeongeup Countryside), South Korea - En Rogel Teapot Café

I have been wanting to visit the Enrogel Teapot Cafe ever since reading about it on Seoul State of Mind. When my friend Sam from There She Goes Again (you might recognise Sam as the stylist behind a lot of my styled photo shoots) recently took a trip there and I saw her photographs, I knew I had to make a plan to get there. Most of the weird and wonderful places to see in Korea are in Seoul. As I live way down south in a tiny little town called Buan, getting to Seoul is only really possible on the weekends.

I was delighted to find out that the teapot cafe is a mere 40 minute drive from Buan, and so I was able to go visit it one afternoon afternoon after school.

The cafe itself is actually just outside Jeongeup, which makes getting there quite easy as you can catch a train to Jeongeup and then from there a local bus. I am not sure of the exact route to take via public transport as I have a car (having a car in Korea is a real game changer especially if you have a dog here like we do).

The cafe is located in just outside Jangseon village , which is between Jeongeup & Gwangju and is actually quite near the famous Baekyangsa Temple in Naejangsan National Park. Naejangsan is particularly famous for its display of Autumn leaves, and Baekyangsa temple is a very special place to visit during Autumn.

We visited the teapot cafe at the end of Spring, and must have just missed the cherry blossoms. We were able to catch a glimpse of the end of the blossoms, but from the little we could still see of the blossoms, it must have been magnificent during full bloom. The drive itself from Buan to Jangseon is beautiful, and well worth an afternoon drive if you have a car.

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Beautiful Free stock photos for bloggers and business owners

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Beautiful Free stock photos for bloggers and business owners

When I first started blogging back in 2010 (6 years ago...eeek!) I used to shamelessly copy and paste images from We Heart It, which was kind of the OG of the visual world before Pinterest came along. I had no idea about copy-write (in fact, I couldn't even really spell that word properly) never mind understand the legal ramifications of using someone else's work without giving them full credit.

It wasn't until 2012 when I came across an article from a blogger who had been sued for a HUGE amount of money after using someones photograph on her blog. The blogger had actually given the photographer credit in her blog post, but she hadn't asked him for permission to re-post his image and so she ended up going to court and was found guilty of intellectual property theft! Can you imagine being charged with a criminal offense for using an image on your blog? Madness!

I was terrified after reading that blog post and promptly set out to learn how to take my own photographs so as not to have to worry about image copy-right ever again! I ended up falling in love with photography, and have since gone onto to freelance and now go under the title 'professional photographer'. I understand that not everyone has the time, or the desire, to pursue photography full time, especially if their interests lie somewhere else, in writing for example or making or drawing or painting. This is where stock photographs come in and this is where I wave a little (pink) flag that says I've got you covered and have FREE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHS JUST FOR YOU!

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BORNEO MALAYSIA TRAVEL GUIDE: Kota Kinabalu

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BORNEO MALAYSIA TRAVEL GUIDE: Kota Kinabalu

Welcome to Part 3 of my Borneo Travel Guide. My husband and I spent two weeks exploring Malaysian Borneo in July 2015. We had a great time, and would definitely recommend it. We had a few ups and downs, mainly due to the environmental damage we saw pretty much everywhere, it was terribly sad to see so much deforestation. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I was traveling with anyone else, but Farmboy was an environmental consultant is his former life and so was more aware than me (I thought there was a lot of green but what I thought was natural vegetation was 9 times out of 10 palm oil plantations). We also knew very little about Borneo (apart from the fact that it is one of the last places where you can see Orangutan in their natural habitat), and actually ended up deciding to go there because it had the cheapest flights and seemed like a very unique holiday destination. 

You may be thinking of heading to Borneo soon (or sometime in the future) so to help you plan your trip, I have put together this travel guide, as well as some tips from our stay. Please keep in mind that my husband and I may travel very differently to you, and have different likes and preferences for things. I prefer the more luxurious path, while Farmboy would stay in a hammock for the entire trip if it was up to him. So we plan accordingly, and of course, try to stick to the budget.

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#FromBlog2Biz My journey from Blogger to Business Owner: Let's start at the very beginning

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#FromBlog2Biz My journey from Blogger to Business Owner: Let's start at the very beginning

Hi everyone!

In case you're new around these parts and have stumbled across this blog series, I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Roxy and I am the blogger, photographer, planner, crafter, maker, designer and general busy-bee behind CityGirlSearching. I am South African, but have been living in South Korea with my husband and rescue pup (Shadow, who yes, has his own # and Instagram account and FB page because that's what you do these days) for the past 3/technically 4 years.

We are about to wrap up our final contract and will be heading home to South Africa at the end of June...yippeee!

In this series #FromBlog2Biz, I am going to be sharing with you my journey from blogger to business owner. In this post (Part 1) I want to share with you my blogging journey so far (it's been a good number of years) and to set the scene for you for where I am at right now and how I have been making money from my blog and how I plan to monetize moving forward from here.

I do hope you'll join me on this journey as I share with what I've done so far, what has worked and what hasn't. It's going to be an awesome adventure so let's get started right away.

 

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#FromBlog2Biz - Come and join My Journey from blogger to business owner as I take you behind the scenes of my business journey

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#FromBlog2Biz Journey From Blogger to Creative Business Owner

Dear friend.

I have lots of big changes coming up in the next few months. The first of of those big changes being my move back to South Africa after being here in Korea for a total of 4 years. Farmboy and I are headed back to sunny SA at the end of June with our pup #ShadowTheJindo (in case you were wondering what was going to happen to him).

Our plan, after returning here to Korea after a year living in Daejeon in 2010, was always to spend 3 years traveling as much as we could (click here to see our travel guides for places like Borneo, Vietnam, Bali and so many more!!) saving as much as we could, and just enjoying our first few years of marriage together. It's been an amazing adventure so far and we have loved ever day of the past 3 years.

Throughout this time, and actually going all the way back to 2010, I have been an avid blogger, sharing photographs of our lives, useful information on everything from rescuing a dog in Korea to how to take better photographs for your blog. And so, armed with nearly 6 years of blogging 'wisdom' I am embarking on a new adventure...to turn this blog into a full time business! 

You can read the other parts of this journey here:

Blog
#FromBlog2Biz How to make money from your blog
#FromBlog2Biz My journey from Blogger to Business Owner: Let's start at the very beginning
#FromBlog2Biz - Come and join My Journey from blogger to business owner as I take you behind the scenes of my business journey

I am going to be using the #FromBlog2Biz hashtag for all social media posts (because who doesn't love a personalised hashtag, right?!) and by doing this I hope to make it easy for you to follow along on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter.

#Blog2Biz journey from blogger to business owner

It's a journey I am equal parts squealing with excitement over and absolutely terrified about. I have had a few smaller businesses over the past 6 years; my stationery store, freelance social media services, a vintage collectables store at the I Heart Market in Durban, South Africa and my photography.

I am still in the beginning stages of this journey and will begin my first post RIGHT back at the start...ie December 2015 and my thoughts and ideas and processes that have led me to be where I am today, and have shaped my ideas going forward. I have been wanting to document this journey in some way, and thought I'd do so here on the blog so that you can follow along. 

I'm going to be sharing with you everything I've done so far, what has worked, what hasn't worked and what I plan to do moving forward. EEEK! I am rather nervous about all of this, blogging about makeup reviews and sharing my photography portfolio is far less scary than sharing what I've had success with and what I've failed at.

If this journey sounds like something you'd like to be a part of/learn from/watch from a distance, please do leave me a comment below. I haven't quite decided on the format for this series yet (I am thinking about doing a mix of videos, live streaming on Periscope, emails and blog posts). This is why I've created the mailing list below for you to join and I would love for you to be a part of this adventure with me.

The #Blog2Biz mail list (which you can join below) is where I'll be letting you know the exact format for this series (whether I'll be creating videos, when/if I'll be on Periscope etc), as well as it being a place that to connect with you all. By joining, you'll also be able to gain access to the #CGScreative Resource library which is filled with loads of blogging resources, printables and what has made my list famous...beautiful stock photographs for you to use to grow your blog. 

Simply pop your email in the box below to join us & click the little check box  if you aren't already a CGScreative member and want to get access the resource library

If you too have been wanting to make money from your blog, turn your passion into a business or want to read more about all the nitty gritty details of what goes on behind the scenes of a blog turned business, then make sure you enter your email below.

I am SO excited to share in this journey with you! From the wins to the losses, the successes to the failures...Here's to the start of the journey!

x

A beginners guide to Blog Photography & Styling - What you need to get started

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A beginners guide to Blog Photography & Styling - What you need to get started

I've been blogging for about 6 years now, and I do so because I genuinely love providing free, useful content for people. This blog is not a diary showcasing my life but rather I hope that it is a platform for you to learn new things (like my blogging tips, travel guides and posts about owning a dog in Korea) as well as a place to be inspired (by my travel posts, recipes and my photography). 

One thing that I have learned from all these years of tapping away at my keyboard is that the images on your blog can make or break your brand. 

These days technology has advanced so much, there really is no excuse for anyone to have poor quality images on their blog. This doesn't mean you have to own the fanciest camera on the market, your cellphone/ipad/tablet will work just fine.

In this post I'm going to be sharing with you what I use to style & take photographs for my blog. 

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Lorryn Smit Photography - Custom Creative Styled Photographer Photo Shoot

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Lorryn Smit Custom Creative Headshots Brand Styled Photoshoot by Roxy Hutton of CGScreative-05.png

Earlier this year I was contacted by Lorryn Smit from Lorryn Smit Photography. Lorryn wanted to book me for my signature styled photo-shoots, as she wanted photographs taken to showcase her and her photography business.

Lorryn is a fellow South African photographer, based here in South Korea who specialises in weddings and engagements. I was honoured to be contacted by her as I have been an avid admirer of her work for a long time.

Lorryn wanted me to capture her in a very natural setting, while she was actually doing her own photo shoot. It was almost a photography inception kind of setting, with me behind my lens, capturing her behind her lens. It was a lot of fun and I so enjoyed being 'behind-the-scenes' of a fellow photographer at work.

If you feel a little shy in front of the camera (let's be honest, who doesn't!) then having your photographs taken while you do something that you love and are passionate about is a wonderful way to produce natural photographs that show of the real you. You can find out more about my styled shoots and how to book me by clicking here.

We started off in Lorryn's home and studio in Gwangju where I was able to get some more styled, lifestyle shots of her workspace, and then we headed off a coffee shop downtown. After a quick coffee (and Lorryn touching base with her actual clients) we headed off to the Asian Culture Complex to make use of the beautiful winter light, before finishing off at a gorgeous pine forest.

A big thank you to Aimee Klass of Aimee Klass Makeup who did Lorryn's hair and makeup for this shoot.

Thank you for picking me to capture these photographs of you Lorryn. I had so much fun working with you and being a part of your photography journey too. You are incredibly talented and I look forward to seeing of your beautiful work.

You can find & connect with Lorryn at the following places:

Website: http://www.lorrynsmitphotography.com/

Facebook: Lorryn Smit Photography

Instagram: Lorryn Smit Photography

If you'd like to have some photographs taken for your business or blog (I LOVE photographing fellow bloggers and creating images for you to use to promote your work and services) then head on over to my Hire Me page (click here) where you can read more about my booking process and my rates.

More Styled Photo Shoots
Previous Client Work: Bespoke Brand Photography for Travel Blog - Live Learn Venture
Lorryn Smit Photography - Custom Creative Styled Photographer Photo Shoot
High Street Fashion Inspired Styled Photo-Shoot in Buan, South Korea
Bridal Inspired Fairytale Styled Photo Shoot in Buan, South Korea
Forest Fairy Styled Shoot in Buan, South Korea
Korean Wild Flower Wedding Inspiration Styled Shoot
Alysha & The Blossoms....A Spring Styled Shoot
Dominique & the Snow
Jacques & Susan Maternity Shoot...Imsil, South Korea.
Vintage Fashion Shoot in Buan, South Korea
Blueberry Picking Styled Photoshoot
Late afternoon beach picnic Styled Photoshoot
Korean Temple Styled Photoshoot
Korean Spring Flower Crown Styled Shoot

Art In Island - Dog Friendly Wooden Cabin in Gangwon-Do, South Korea

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Art In Island - Dog Friendly Wooden Cabin in Gangwon-Do, South Korea

It only took us 3 years, but we finally found the perfect little wooden cabin in the mountains here in Korea. And the best part, they are dog friendly (not just in the cabin, but in the surrounding campsite too!). I am always looking for get away places here in Korea, and even before having a dog and needing to worry about places that would allow him, I hadn't found much in terms of 'western style' cabins that didn't cost the earth. Stumbling upon Art In Island was one of the highlights of our stay here in Korea, and the place itself exceeded all of our expectations.

Art In Island is a delightful little corner of the Korean countryside, surrounded by mountains and a river (great for fishing!) and great for hiking and exploring too. As you can see from the photos below, we headed to the cabin in winter (the snow made everything magical) but I can tell that this place would be just as wonderful in all seasons.

The cabin owned by the most friendly man, Hao, who was great to communicate with before and during our stay. He replied instantly to all my messages and both him and the local manager went out of their way to make sure we had a comfortable stay. Hao speaks perfect English and really was wonderful to communicate with, even though he lives in Seoul, he often visits the cabin and is a great guy to hang out with and get to know. And the fact that he was so friendly to our dog, Shadow, made us like him even more!

If you own a dog here in Korea, you'll know just how hard it is to find dog friendly accommodation, especially if you own a 'large' breed dog. This cabin was everything we hoped it would be and will definitely be going back before we leave Korea.

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Introducing the #BeautifyYourBlog Handbook for Bloggers

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Introducing the #BeautifyYourBlog Handbook for Bloggers

I recently created and launched #BeautifyYourBlog an easy to follow, free online course for bloggers. Alongside this course, I created a handbook which I'd love to share more of with you today.

Making your blog look it's shiny best can be a difficult process...But it doesn't have to be.

When I first started blogging, I wish I had had someone show me the ins and outs of branding and what it means to build a brand around your blog.

I fumbled my way through the first 4 years of blogging, making so many changes and wasting so much time creating graphics for my blog that really didn't fit my style.

If someone had given me this handbook when I first started blogging, it would have saved me so much frustration, not to mention time.  

This Handbook goes through the how's and the why's of branding your blog and most importantly, it shows you how you can do it yourself.

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Why I switched from Mailchimp to Convertkit - Email marketing for beginners

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Why I switched from Mailchimp to Convertkit - Email marketing for beginners

When I first started CityGirlSearching back in 2012 I didn't have the first clue about email marketing never mind how to even write a newsletter. But, it seemed to be what you did as a blogger, plonk a widget in your side bar with the title 'Sign up to my Newsletter'. I have no idea how I managed to get over 200 people to subscribe to my 'newsletter' because there really wasn't anything to get excited about in my emails.  

In 3.5 years I managed to collect about 200 subscribers and send out about 5 emails to those people. I really had no idea what I was doing, but it seemed like 'the thing' to do and so I did it too. I sent out a few emails with my latest blog posts (again, because this seemed like something bloggers should do) and I sent a couple of emails with coupon codes for my stationery store. I wasn't engaging with my readers, and I felt bad every time I sent an email because I felt like I was spamming people. It didn't even occur to me that people voluntarily gave me their email addresses because they wanted to hear from me.

This is a long post, so grab your cup of coffee and let's dive into the nitty gritty of why I made the switch from Mailchimp to Convertkit, and why it's been one of the best business investments I've made.

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Camping in Spring in Korea - Hadong Riverbed camping, a dog friendly camping location

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Camping in Spring in Korea - Hadong Riverbed camping, a dog friendly camping location

This camping trip was a rather fun adventure as we met up with old & new friends alike. Stephanie & Ryan (the bloggers and youtubers behind the delightful travel blog The Hedgers Abroad) joined us from Yeosu. You might recognise Stephanie from some of my styled photo-shoots I've featured here on the blog...she has been my muse for a little while now (click here to see those styled shoots).  

I was also excited to meet up with Megan & Scott from the awesome travel blog; Bobo & Chichi. Megan and I started up an online friendship a few months ago and it was wonderful to meet up in person. Scott creates the most amazing hyper-lapse videos of their adventures all over Korea, you should definitely head on over and take a look. 

I also got to meet up with another fellow South African whom I have been connecting with via Facebook and it was great to share stories and laughs with her and her boyfriend around the fire. Even though it got terribly windy, this great group of people made the camping trip a real adventure. And of course my pup, Shadow, had a wonderful time being surrounded by dog-loving people (something he doesn't find too often here in Korea being a 'big, scary dog').

If you have a dog, this 'style' of camping is perfect for you. We do make sure to keep a long rope and clips in the car just in case we do come across issues with having him off lead, but this has yet to be a problem. I wouldn't advise letting your pup have free reign of an open space if they haven't had much experience being off lead before. As we live in a small town here in Korea and have a car, Shadow is off lead pretty much all the time. His recall is pretty good (not always!) and he generally stays near us. If you're looking for more posts on owning a dog here in Korea then click here, I've written some posts I think you might like. 

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