I've been working the odd day and this always leads to me ruminating. Sitting in a room in silence for a couple of hours with only your thoughts for company will do that to you! Lately I've been musing on how difficult it can be to write a consumer blog in January. Particularly with the financial climate as it.
Blogging is a lot of fun but I find I struggle to write for the sake of it. My blogging mojo hasn't gone exactly, it's just not there everyday like it usually is and I think a lot of this is because I'm not buying as much. Spring collections don't often grab me and I am making a concerted effort to cut back (I'm sure I'll make up for this a bit at IMATS). I tend to want to focus more on skin care at this time of year and, as I'm sure you know, testing skin care products for review is time consuming so there are never more than a handful of those posts each month.
When I announced my eyeshadow no-buy, I noticed that a lot of other people were talking about cutting back and starting project 10 pans etc. I think it's a natural part of the annual cycle that people tend to tighten their belts in January after the onslaught of Christmas. This ebb in blogging mojo is probably part of the natural cycle too. I've been writing this blog for almost two years now and you definitely start to see patterns in your desire to write and general blogging enthusiasm. I've noticed it elsewhere too, I think it's hard to write with consistent momentum year-round.
Even when I have things I could write about, if I don't feel in the mood writing can be like pulling teeth and I'm sure it comes across as a reader too. I have noticed that I seem especially critical in January: just looking over my posts from the last couple of weeks I've moaned about a BB Cream, an Hourglass brush, the cost of Caudalie, been lacklustre about a Bionic mascara and whinged about the very popular Tangle Teezer. That is a whole lot of moaning! I'm bound to have to come back and eat humble pie on at least one count once Spring arrives and returns my good spirits.
I think that's enough of my thoughtfulness for today. What do you think, do you experience a slump in enthusiasm in January, either it's in terms of blogging or buying? Or am I just a moody old mare that probably needs to invest in a S.A.D. lamp? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
