Vanity Claire | Birmingham Fashion and Beauty Blog

ClaireJuly 30, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Missguided Dogtooth Print Mini Dress

Hey homies,

As Claire is on holiday and I am tragically sitting at home and basically roasting in my room right now, I thought I’d take a couple of outfit snaps. I don’t know about all of you other grafters who do 9-5, but these last few weeks have been torture sitting at a desk crying about how hot it is and how there is no cider policy at work (e.g. cider is compulsory when it gets to 20+ degrees).

Thankfully, we can wear what we like to work so I have been whipping out my pasty white legs in the hope that I kill off my colleagues with moon blindness and I can go home. No luck so far.

Anywho, I bought this Missguided dress last week because I was off to a wedding at the weekend – I was meeting my boyfriends work pals for the first time, so I didn’t want to look like a massive tramp. This dress was my Friday outfit, as we were there from Friday – Sunday and I had to pretend not to be a tramp for THREE WHOLE DAYS. I wuv it, pastels are my fave and its surprisingly flattering even though its relatively bodycon. I can’t seem to find it onsite anymore though, which is odd.

I wore it with a fedora, which I robbed from Claire ages ago and haven’t had the heart to give it back to her. Pale girls need hats, because we unfortunately get burnt noses and accidentally look like Rudolph in July.

I popped on my big, round New Look sunnies to shade my eyeballs from the sun and a gold chain because gold chains make me happy.

Shoes-wise I have this pair of heeled trainer-y type fandangoes on my feet. I got them in Birmingham at a shop that none of you will have heard of, but you can find similar on Asos here.

I must be off to go and try and not melt.

Goodbye.

ClaireJuly 29, 2014

A Bloggers Guide To…Optimising Images for Search

AHOY HOY THERE.

In our most recent bloggers guide to SEO, we looked at no follow and follow links and how they apply to your blog. Today, we’re going to have a look at your blog’s images and how you can optimise them for search engines. HUZZAH AND CHEERS TO MERRY ENGLAND.

So, images are a HUGE part of blogging and most of us will try our best to take the nicest pictures as possible (if you are like us, then ‘try’ is the key word here). Not only are they a great way of drawing your readers in, but they’re equally as good for backing up your beauty review or showing how you would style your fresh new threads. Whether you have an amazing camera or try your best with your smartphone, most of us fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers will include some kind of images or photos into a post.

That’s all well and good, but taking lovely photos isn’t the only thing you should be thinking about when it comes to images on your blog. INTRIGUED?! You shouldn’t be, it’s actually quite boring…

Why should you optimise your images for search?

Optimising your images for search engines if a bit of an effort, but there is a very big and chunky reason why you should be bothered. Google’s tiny little robots can’t actually see image files. They read text, so if you haven’t tagged up your images properly, then they won’t know they’re there or they won’t know what to do with them.

But if you do tag up your images, there’s a huge opportunity for your blog’s pictures to appear in Google’s Image Search. Let’s all be honest with each other, if we’re looking for a hair dye review or foundation review, we often want to see results before reading on about the product. That’s why a lot of searchers head off to Image Search to have a nosey at whether a silver hair toner or whatevs actually works. While Google Image Search isn’t used as widely as regular Google, there’s a big opportunity there to get your images on the first page – and drive more people to your blog.

For example, here’s an image I tagged up properly in my Bleach London Awkward Peach Review that pops up on Google image search.

So…how do you actually optimise images for search engines?

As most of you fabulous bloggers will know, Google works on a keyword basis – i.e. if you type in a particular keyword, pages that are optimised well for that particular keyword will appear first. The same goes for images. If you label your picture ‘BlogImage.jpg’, search engines will rank that for ‘blog image’, rather than for ‘Lancome Foundation Review’, or whatever your blog post is about. So, the trick is to label your picture with the relevant keywords.

In WordPress, it’s pretty easy. When you add an image using your media library, there is an option to add a title, caption, alt text and description. It’s mainly the title and alt text that you want to focus on, as this will be the text that Google (or the search engine of your choice) will look at in particular. Label these to describe what your image is about. For example, if it is a picture of a pair of Topshop platform heels, then you will want your title or alt text to include that somewhere. If you don’t use WordPress, there should be a similar option in whatever content management system you use – just try and have a nosey about.

The Alt Text

Seeing things like ‘alt’ and ‘text’ together makes it seem hugely complicated and gets you ready to be like NAH TA, WON’T BOTHER. It’s not actually that complicated though, and the alt text is what Google will look at and be like ‘ah, so that’s what your pic was all about’.

BUT…what’s the difference between alt text and title tags for images? Well, pretty simple really. Alt text does have an impact on SEO, whereas title tags don’t. Title tags are more important from a user perspective, and you will know if your image has a title if you roll over the image, and a little box pops up with the title in it. Alt tags will appear in the code and will be what Google will look at.

Just for a bit of clarification, WordPress will automatically put the title as what you have saved your image as. If you change the title to ‘Topshop Platform Heels’, that’s what they will put in your alt text too. You can check what your alt text is by switching to the plain text viewing option and looking out for this code:

Your alt text should include a short, key worded description of what your image is about.

The Image File Name

It’s important that you save your image using keywords too. That will further help Google to understand what your image is about. For example:

A quick note on this too – use dashes to separate your words rather than underscores. This is because Google sees dashes as word separators and underscores as word joiners. For example:

Stylingo-Fashion-Blog = Stylingo Fashion Blog

Stylingo_Fashion_Blog = StylingoFashionBlog

Naming your images properly is something that’s easy enough to do as you go along, and can really make a big difference to how your images are ranked.

The Image Title Tag

As mentioned above, the image title tag isn’t as important as your alt text but its useful to have as a hygiene factor and from a blog reader point of view. Most browsers (e.g. Chrome, Internet Explorer or Safari) will take your title tag to display to your users rather than your alt text, so make sure that you bear this in mind when you pop in your title text.

The Caption

There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether Google takes into account image captions or not, but I think it’s ultimately up to you as to whether you use the caption option. The caption will directly appear in your blog post, and most bloggers aren’t that keen on them. Personally, I wouldn’t bother with the caption because I don’t like the way it looks on our blog. It won’t negatively affect you if you decide not to put a caption in, so don’t worry too much about it.

The Description

If you use WordPress like we do, you will have noticed the description box and may have wondered what its for. There’s no SEO benefit for filling this in and it only appears in your media library as a way of helping you remember what each image was for. Don’t bother with it unless you particularly need to describe the picture to yourself, paha.

Resizing Your Images

As a final note, its really REALLY REALLY important that you resize massive images before you upload them into a blog post. While yes, most browsers will alter them to fit your screen, it could take basically forever to load. You might lose readers and then we will all cry together. No one likes a slow loading blog. NO ONE.

So chums, hopefully this has been a bit helpful in giving you a bit of insight into how you can make sure your images are optimised best for Google (or the search engine of your choice…)

If you have any questions, just drop us a comment and we will say NO LEAVE US ALONE.

ClaireJuly 27, 2014

July 2014 Haul: ASOS, Missguided & Primark

Do you ever have one of those months where you check your bank balance and actually consider alerting the authorities because you’re convinced SOMEONE must have swiped your card and gone on a spending spree? I did. As always though, I then looked in my wardrobe and realised that yes, a lunatic had indeed been on shopping spree… but that lunatic was me.

Non, je ne regrette rien.

Floral Shift Dress: River Island via ASOS / Sunflower Print Smock Dress: Motel Rocks*

I’ve been loving the ASOS sale this month, and this River Island dress was one of the beauties I picked up for my summer wardrobe for the mere price of £17 (down from £32). It comes quite long on me, so that teamed with the three-quarter sleeves and loose shift fit means that this is officially my new ‘grown up’ dress. Work meeting? I’ll wear this dress. Family meal? I’ll wear this dress. Want me to hang out with your nan? I’ll wear this dress (incidentally if anyone does want me to hang out with their nan then I genuinely will; I don’t have any grandparents left and really long for someone to do crosswords and bitch about young people with. Will bring my own Victoria sponge).

I was also lucky enough to WIN this beaut Motel dress last month from Yahoo Lifestyle‘s Twitter account, which I was super happy with. I don’t have the best luck with babydoll/smock dresses, but this one fits really nicely and isn’t as swampy as many that have come before it.

Layered Cami & Beach Cover Up: both Primark

I popped into Primark for some ‘holiday bits’ (yep that old excuse) recently and had to pick up this coral cami. I have the same style in a floral/jungle print and I absolutely love the way it sits so couldn’t resist this version too. For only £6 it’s fantastico value for money. I also found this crochet, tassled vest top which is perfect as a beach cover up (actually something holiday-related, huzzah!). This was only £10 and they also did it in black, so I’m considering sneaking back for that one before my holiday on Tuesday. Because… well, why wouldn’t you?!

I also picked up these 3 pairs of shoesies from Primark. Both of the sandals were £4 I believe, and the nude heels were a crazy good £13.

Watermelon Crop: New Look /Tropical Print Crop: Missguided

Like it or not, watermelons are sexy now thanks to Beyoncé. Fruit print is all over the joint this S/S so I couldn’t say no to this little crop tee in New Look, especially as it was a mere £5.99. As it’s summer, my crop top game is of course on, so this little palm print beauty also found its way into a recent Missguided order. It’s scuba material, obviously (rumour has it everything is made from scuba material at Missguided, even the staplers and the staff), so has a really nice, flattering fit.

The same Missguided order saw me pick up this scuba frill crop top and scuba midi skirt, which I featured in this recent pastel OOTD so I won’t waffle on about them anymore (on a side note, mmmm waffles).

Crop Tee: Brave Soul via ASOS /Floral Sweat: Pull&Bear via ASOS

ANOTHER trip to the ASOS sale saw me pick up these 2 sale babies. I like the Brave Soul top because of its exceptionally subtle nod towards wealth (nobody will ever know that I was only able to fill my petrol tank halfway because I was so broke before payday, shhhh) and the Pull&Bear one will be lovely as we head into slightly chillier months. These were £10 and £6 respectively.

Bardot Body: Motel Rocks via ASOS

And the final purchase of the ASOS sale, and the month, was this Motel body which was £25 down to £12. Surely the sheer amount of bargains I acquired this month make this all totally acceptable, right? And if we think about the amount of money I’ve saved in the sales then, er, this is all basically free. Ah, the warped logic of a lunatic/blogger.

What do you all think of this haul? And what have you been buying lately?

ClaireJuly 25, 2014

Currently Watching: eBay Wishlist #6

Floral Trousers / Cleated Sole Platform / Rose Print Kimono/ Studded Bumbag/Mesh Swimsuit / Palm Print Bralet

Hey hey everybody, it’s Cleopatra, coming atcha. Not really, just Claire again (sorry). I realised we haven’t done an eBay wishlist for months and knew that this had to be rectified as I have loads of fit bits in my watching list at the moment, and it would frankly be cruel to not share them with you. Once I’d gathered them all together I realised this is a very summery wishlist, so if you still have a festival or holiday to go to this year then I’mma hook you up.

The trousers and kimono are both from the same overseas seller, and they have SO many nice things. The prices are frankly ridiculous – the kimono, for example, is £4.26. Yes, four pounds and twenty-six pence! With prices like that, it’s definitely worth the wait of a couple weeks for delivery – and whatever I’ve had from Chinese sellers so far has always been good quality. Accessories-wise, I’m loving these white cleated sole platforms (obviously – who isn’t?!) and the studded bumbag was one that I wanted for Wireless festival a few weeks ago (but I accidentally spent all of my money on houmous before the weekend so couldn’t afford it, sob). I’m off on holiday in FOUR DAYS so it’s a little late for me to order this mesh insert swimsuit but I think it’s absolutely beautiful, and it would also be super flattering for those not quite brave enough to fully flash their stomach. And finally we have the palm print bralet, which is so perfect for summer it almost causes a tear to come to my eye.

What do you all think of this eBay wishlist?

ClaireJuly 24, 2014

Battle of the Hair Oils: Cheap vs Pricey

Good day to you fabulous people

Today I am bringing all of you excellent humans a hair care review. I really love hair products, and while my hair looks monumentally rubbish pretty much all the time, there’s nothing I like more than trying out something new on my head. Hair oils are something I desperately need. As most of you Stylingo followers will know, I tend to change my hair colour quite a lot. While I really like doing this, my hair quality does not like it quite so much. Hence the hair oils and me desperately screaming at them to save my terrible hair.

I’ve been trailing a couple of new oils for the past month or two, at completely opposite ends of the price spectrum. As resident blogging tramps, Claire and I do love a bargain and we like to run around with joy and happiness when we find a good product for cheaper than an expensive alternative. So, I’ve been testing out the Lee Stafford Ubuntu Oils from Africa Repair Oil and the Macadamia Oil Extract Treatment. No prizes for guessing which was the pricier oil.

Lee Stafford’s Ubuntu Oils from Africa – Oil Treatment Review

Right, I didn’t actually buy this bad boy myself (we got it in the Company Blogger Awards goodie bag, huzzah), but if you wanted to do so it would cost you around £10.99. I don’t know about y’all, but I would not pay virtually £11 for a tiny bottle of hair oil. I am aware that its not really the most expensive thing in the world ever, but still DOES IT LOOK LIKE I AM MADE OF MONEY?! I struggle to have more that 20p left in my bank account at the end of the month and that’s just bills bills bills. So, I think that this might be a bit on the pricey side, but is it any good?

Well, yes. Like all Lee Stafford products, it smells amazing – that is, if you can still smell while wrinkling your nose at this HoRRiFic NonSeNse. I like popping it in my hair even when its not feeling particularly dry just because it smells so delishy. In terms of being an oil treatment for dry and damaged hair though, I haven’t really noticed a huge amount of difference. My hair feels a bit softer, but not really anything hugely dramatic. To be fair to Lee, this oil doesn’t claim to be a dry/damaged hair product – it’s meant to protect your hair from colour fade. But in all honesty, you buy an oil for making your hair softy and nice so that is what I will judge it on.

Macadamia Oil Extract Hair Treatment Review

I picked up this bad boy on a whim from Savers and it cost me a grand old 99p. Not even her Maj would shake her head at a 99p hair oil, lets all be honest about things. If you’re thinking ‘Lauren, you are a raging idiot, this will be like putting petrol on your hair’ you are wrong.

For the price, it’s a really good oil treatment and I like to pop a few drops in after I’ve washed my hair. It doesn’t smell anywhere as nice as the Lee Stafford oil, but I do notice that it makes my hair a lot softer and more manageable than the Ubuntu Oils ever really did.

My only beef with the Macadamia Oil product is that it is a lot weightier than the Lee Stafford – you REALLY don’t want to put too much in your hair, because you will look like Severus Snape and Voldy will kill you. You can be a bit more oil happy with the Lee Stafford because its not as heavy – which can be nice as there is less room for disaster.

Which one would I repurchase?

Well, to be honest, I would rebuy the Macadamia Oil Treatment because I can scrape together a pound (not yet that tragic). While I wouldn’t buy the Lee Stafford Ubuntu Oils oil treatment, I wouldn’t say no if someone decided to give it to me for free (greedy, I know). I do like it, it’s just that a 50ml bottle of oil isn’t worth £11 in my eyeballs. And that is what I have to say.

Have you used any hair oils? What do you recommend?

ClaireJuly 23, 2014

Holiday Diet Review: GoNutrition, Eat Water & Nakd Bars

Ahoy there pals! So we have something a little different for you today, as I’m going to blabbering on about the recent diet that I’ve been on in preparation for my holiday. I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or hot water and lemon if we’re being really healthy), but I’ve been using a few products that I for one was really interested in prior to my diet so I thought I’d share my experiences of them in case others are curious too.

I have a few disclaimers as I know this can be a bit of a controversial subject, but in the interest of not boring you to death in the first few minutes, I have popped these at the bottom of the entry for y’all. Now that I feel comfortable enough that nobody is going to sue me, here is a breakdown of what I’ve been eating on a typical day:

Breakfast: Protein Shake

Okay, if you’re anything like me then you’re probably sick to death of hearing the word ‘protein’, as every single gym bore on your Twitter probably harps on about it at least 8 times a day (as a side note, people, STOP UPLOADING PHOTOS OF YOUR SHAKERS. Nobody – I repeat, nobody – cares). With that being said though, protein shakes are something I’ve been enjoying for around 18 months now. I initially started off having them after the gym as they’re most commonly used, but I then moved to having them for breakfast occasionally too. Some protein shakes can be crazily high in calories for those who are trying to bulk, but if you get a diet option then these can be around 100-250 calories per serving.

I’ve previously used one by a brand called PhD, but GoNutrition recently sent me their Go Diet Whey* to try out so that’s what I’ve been having lately. I have the Triple Chocolate flavour which is honestly delicious – very smooth and creamy when mixed with water. You can use milk if you want your shake to be a bit thicker, or add oats to really bulk it up. I find it just fine with water though.

GoNutrition also sent me a host of other goodies as you can see in that picture too – they stock everything from protein mousse and protein cookies to protein balls (ooer)(they’re actually crunchy snacks, minds out of the gutter people). I also wolfed these down over a couple of days, which wasn’t strictly great for my low calorie plan as they’re not diet products – but who can resist protein balls?!

Lunch & Dinner: Eat Water’s Slim Pasta, Rice and Noodles

I’ve been wanting to try the Eat Water range for AGES. For those who haven’t heard of it before, the range – that includes noodles, pasta and rice – is made from none of those things really, but actually from “Juroat, a secret recipe made from a blend of Konjac flour and special oat fibre”. They’re essentially fake noodles/pasta/rice that have a teeny tiny amount of the calories of the real stuff.

As I said, I’d always been intrigued but had been put off by the price tag (one packet can cost you over £2 at Holland and Barrett and you only get 1-2 servings out of that). Eventually though, I decided I just needed it in my life and so I placed an order from Amazon which worked out slightly cheaper – they do mixed packs like this one that contains a variety for you to try.

Personally I am a FULL convert to Eat Water. The pasta is probably the one I like least – there’s nothing unpleasant about the taste, but the texture is a bit rubbery so you know you’re not eating pasta. However, if you always have it on your fork along with the tuna or quorn or whatever you’re eating it with, as well as a healthy dose of your chosen sauce, then it’s absolutely fine. The rice and noodles I both liked a LOT. The rice just basically tastes of nothing, which I also find true of real rice, but helps to bulk up a boring bit of chicken substantially. And the noodles are also absolutely fine in stir fries. All three felt just like regular carbs to me and kept me as full. WIN.

Snacks: Fruit & Nakd bars

I’m a snacker and need to eat at least every 3 hours before I start gnawing at my own hand. Between meals I’ve been munching on fruit (bananas, strawberries and blueberries if you’re super curious) and my new obsession, Nakd bars. These are gluten free bars just made up of mushed up fruits and nuts. One of my friends tried them and said they tasted like cardboard, but I disagree – maybe I just like cardboard, who knows?

And thus concludes the overview of my recent holiday diet. I have to be completely useless now and say that I don’t own any scales so have no idea if I’ve actually lost any weight, but lowering my carb intake before my holiday has definitely got me feeling a bit happier about braving the bikini!

Have any of you tried any of these products? What are your holiday diet tips? Let me know in the comments below!

(Now onto those boring disclaimers…)

Firstly, I’ve purposely used the word ‘diet’ here as opposed to dressing it up as ‘healthy eating’ or anything like that – this is because my main focus the last few weeks has been cutting my calories down and limiting my carb intake in preparation for my holiday. I’m therefore aware it’s a little extreme for long-term use and it’s not what a lot of people would deem ‘healthy’ or would want to promote.
Secondly, this is simply what works for me and I’m not able to say whether it would work for others.
It’s also worth noting that I’m smaller than your average homosapian, being only round 5’2, plus lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle (read: I sit on my butt a lot) so generally I need fewer calories than the average person anyway.
Don’t sue me, fanks!

ClaireJuly 21, 2014

Prom Accessories with New Look #2

There is nothing better than a nice pair of heels and a fancy bag is there? In fact, I’ve been mooning over shoes and bags for the past FOUR DAYS trying to decide what to buy for a weekend away on Friday (no luck yet, boo). Anywho, so I was clearly hugely excited when New Look contacted me and Claire to have a little style up of some accessories from their prom accessories selection.

I was on my holibobs in South Africa when they did, so Claire picked these two beautiful bits out for me! I absolutely love them, and I’ve been hankering after a glittery bag for, I kid you not, years.

So, in Claire’s prom post, she chatted about her tragic prom outfits but I can tell you here and now, they were nothing on mine. At my GCSE prom, I thought it would be a nice idea to get my mum to make my dress. She used to be a wedding dress maker, so she knows what she’s doing around a sewing machine. Unfortunately, she was also making a couple of wedding dresses at the time and I basically forced her to make my dress like she was a poor sweat shop worker. I also chose the dress to be in some kind of horrific pale green satin (VOM AND VOM) and fancied myself something fit when I got some eyeshadow to match.

My sixth form prom was a little better, with a relatively normal monochrome chiffon skater dress. It had these cream applique roses on the top, but unfortunately I decided to match and got shoes with cream roses on too. There is such a thing as too much matching. It wasn’t matching in a cool co-rd way but rather a ‘I hunted through the Trafford Centre for these shoes that are the exact same colour and aren’t actually nice’ kind of way.

Shoes: New Look* | Bag: New Look* | Dress: Missguided | Hair Extensions: Dirty Looks*

P.S. WHY ARE MY LEGS SO PALE AND WIDE. I’M BLAMING THE ANGLE.

I wish I had worn something a bit more like this to my two proms! I may have looked less like an actual raving lunatic. I love the dress, which I bought from Missguided a few months ago. While I do love it with my whole tiny hear, unfortunately I never have any occasions to wear it to (hint, need a 17 year old boyfriend to take me to prom). It goes perfectly with the New Look bag and I think the shoes work pretty well too! While these are marketed as prom accessories by the folks at New Look, I think they’re pretty banging for night out wear and also for any fancy occasion you might be hauling your fine ass to.

Thanks again to the lovely folks at New Look for sending these goodies over, and I am very excited to sit in my room in my fancy dress for the next 30+ years BECAUSE I WILL NEVER HAVE A FANCY OCCASION TO GO TO EVER AGAIN.

What do you think of these New Look accessories?

ClaireJuly 17, 2014

Outfit of the Day: ASOS Swing Dress & Chunky Sandals

Dress: ASOS Petite / Chain: eBay / Shoes: Primark

Hello you super sexy people. Following on from Lauren’s ‘blogger tips’ post yesterday on the mystery that is Do-Follow and No-Follow Links I’m back today with the much more superficial stuff, i.e. here’s me in a pretty dress with legs like Wotsits (it’s better to be orange than pale, am I right or am I RIGHT?) (Tumbleweed…)

I recently placed a pretty hefty order with ASOS after realising that I have zero clothes I actually wanted to wear in public, and this dress is one of the bargains that I managed to pick up from the sale. How much did I pay? Just TEN ENGLISH POUNDS. Sassy.

These Primark sandals have NOT been off my feet since I bought them weeks ago, which yes may be disgusting, but can you really blame me when they’re so absolutely perfect? I’m almost tempted to buy another pair for when these inevitably fall apart, but I dunno if that’s the behaviour of a straight up lunatic. Also, how cute is this bracelet that my sister picked me up from her holibobs? I think it’s meant to ward off bad luck, which I could definitely do with lately after smashing my hallway mirror to smithereens. I know, what am I like.

What do you all think of this outfit? Let me know in the comments below!

ClaireJuly 16, 2014

A Bloggers Guide To…NoFollow vs DoFollow Links

Hehe. Me and Claire aren’t really SEO experts (we save that title for the lunatics we work with that seem to think SEO is a fulfilling hobby), but we do know a thing or two about the murky world of search (why not go and have a nosey at our SEO tips for bloggers post for the cold hard proof, homegirls).

So, we’ve decided to put together a little bloggers guide to some of the questions we see pop up on Facebook and Twitter about SEO and making sure that your website is tip-top from a search engine point of view. Hopefully, they will help to clear up some of the quezzies us fashion and beauty bloggers have about our blogs.

In our first Bloggers Guide, we’re going to have a look at…

NoFollow vs DoFollow Links

Dofollow and no followlinks have been hot topics in the blogger groups that I’m part of on Facebook, and I’m sure that you might have seen people talking about them on Twitter too. There’s actually quite a big difference between the two. While they would look the same to your average blog visitor, the real difference is how they look to Google (or the search engine of your choice, but who uses Bing really).

HOLD UP…

For those who want a bit of clarification, links are one of the ways that Google uses to decide where to put your blog in the merry old search engine rankings. If a really good website or blog links to your blog, then Google will say to itself ‘GUT GOTT, this blog must be brilliant, I will rank it number one for ‘bad bitch blog’ (erm…that’s kind of how it works). In recent years, Google have put more weight onto good quality links, rather than the quantity of links your blog has. So, if a site like ASOS provide a link to your blog, its likely to give your search engine rankings a boost. If 1000 really wubbish websites give you a link to your blog, your blog might get flagged for being really wubbish too.

On the flip side, the links you give to brands, companies or other websites from your blog will give them a boost too. Google’s Guidelines are very specific on how you should link to other brands or websites, so it’s worth having a read about what it recommended and what is not. But how does all of this apply to ‘dofollow links’ and ‘nofollow links’?

What is a ‘dofollow’ link when its at home?

So, because Google looks at links as a way of determining the quality of a website, their little computer robots will ‘follow’ links to and from a website to decide where to rank your blog. If the links you provide are ‘dofollow’, Google will do just that – they’ll take into account the link you have provided or received.

As a blog owner, you’ll be keen to get high quality dofollow links to your blog because that will help you rank better in the search engine results pages (aka SERPs if you fancy getting techie). It’s also one of the reasons why brands and companies you might work with may sometimes ask for a link in a blog post you write.

How do you know if a link is ‘do follow’?

If you write your blog in WordPress or Blogger and use their content toolbar to add in links, its likely that these will automatically be ‘dofollow’. However, if you want to check, head into the ‘plain text’ viewing option. If your link is dofollow, it will likely look something like this in code:

<a href=”http://www.vanityclaire.co.uk>Stylingo</a>

You can also specify if you want a link to be dofollow, but the standard link HTML above will always be dofollow unless you tell Google otherwise. This is what it would look like if you want to tell Google it’s a do follow:

<a href=”http://www.vanityclaire.co.uk rel=”dofollow”>Stylingo</a>

What are the don’ts of a ‘do follow’?

This is a subject that’s widely debated and it can be a tricky one. The main thing to remember is that do follow links must be editorially given. It’s against Google’s guidelines to accept payment in return for a do follow link. For example, if you have a guest post or sponsored post on your website with a link to the brand and you have labelled that post as ‘Sponsored’, Google will think that your blog is violating its guidelines.

Whether or not you give a brand or website a dofollow link is usually a case of common sense. If a company directly says “I will give you £100 if you do follow link to my really good viagra website’, it’s usually a good idea to say no. But if you love a brand and they send you a product that you would have written about anyway on your blog, then there shouldn’t be any harm in giving that brand a dofollow link.

The key is everything in moderation and Google will quickly pick up if your beauty blog is writing a load of sponsored posts about how to lose 4 stone in 2 days, greyhound betting and trouser snake operations.

What about those pesky ‘nofollow’ links?

As you might have gathered, nofollow links are the exact opposite to do follow links. Instead of following a link like the real life stalker Google is, search engines will – in theory – put less weight onto it.

When should you use a no follow link?

Nofollow links are best used when you don’t particularly want Google to associate your blog with the website you’re linking to. It may be that the website is a bit spammy or downright rude, but a nofollow link will make sure that Google doesn’t connect your blog with that dodgy site.

If you do accept payment for a sponsored post, then the links you provide to the brand or website in question should be no follow. Don’t be surprised if a brand or website isn’t too interested after you tell them that the link will need to be nofollow. While, of course, you will know that its against Google’s guidelines for them to ask you to give them a dofollow in return for payment – it’s unfortunately still relatively common practice with some brands to do so. The best thing to do is say NO THANK YOU SIR, and move on with your life.

If you do decide to accept payment for a dofollow link, you won’t be arrested and killed by Google hitmen. It’s common practice for bloggers to put ‘sponsored post’ or ‘this is a paid for post’ at the end of a post that has been paid for, which is a way of staying in line with advertising standards. It can be surprising then, when brands might ask you to remove those words. The reason why they sometimes ask this is because this will red flag to Google that the link has been paid for. This can have implications for both the brand and your blog too. We’re not saying that this is right, but it is something that does happen and something that is useful to be aware of. It’s up to you as a blogger to decide what is appropriate for you and your blog!

The fact is, do follow links are valuable to brands. While no follow links aren’t useless (we’ll get onto that in a mo), they’re not always what brands are after.

How do you know if a link is ‘nofollow’?

If you want to make a link ‘nofollow’, you will need to switch over to your plain text editor again and use this HTML code around the link:

<a href=”http://www.vanityclaire.co.uk rel=”nofollow”>Stylingo</a>

Are nofollow links any use at all?

You might be thinking, “if dofollow links are so great, why would anyone be bovved about no follow links?”. On the surface, they look a bit like Solange compared to Beyonce (i.e. relatively rubbish). BUT there are actually a lot of benefits to a nofollow.

Firstly, it’s worth remembering the primary purpose of a link – to let people know that you like a website and that you would like them to visit that website too. While they may have little impact on SEO, no follow links can still drive traffic to your blog or the brand you’re linking to (for example, all links you leave in the comments section of other blogs are nofollow, but they will still drive some traffic to your blog).

There have recently been articles too about whether Google take into account nofollow links, and whether they will start doing so in the future. As with most Google updates, it’s usually difficult to predict what they’re going to do too far in the future. However, it’s worth noting that spamming nofollow links can get you into trouble, just as spamming dofollow links would.

Also, a well placed link on a relevant blog post or website can drive traffic to your blog. Increased traffic can help you rank better, and a nofollow link could lead to dofollow links as more people find out about your blog, read your content and generally become fans of your face.

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H Foundation | Review

Dear readers, it finally happened. After months – or possibly years – of saying “I really need to stop being such a tramp and buy myself a decent foundation”, I finally did it. Despite my bank balance looking uber depressing, I read some reviews, made my decision, and then took myself off to Boots to pick up the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24 Hour foundation.

After a bit of umming and ahhing and dibbing and dabbing with the counter woman, we eventually decided my best match was the shade 01 Beige Albatre. 010 Beige Porcelain was also a good match for me, but as I was having a pale day and usually am more ~~orange~~ tanned we opted for the slightly darker of the 2. There are an impressive 18 shades to choose from, so I think everyone should be able to find the perfect match.

I steadied my nerves as I handed over my £28.50, trying not to think about how many cocktails that could buy me during happy hour (answer: 8, with £4.50 left over for my taxi home) and instead focused on how pretty the packaging was and how super fancy I felt.

Now, onto the review! So as I said the packaging is pretty beaut, with a frosted glass bottle, sturdy lid and pump (which I was happy to see, as I am not tolerating that MAC crap where they make you fork out extra for the pump) so you know you’re dealing with a higher end product from the off. Once poured out, the consistency is creamy and quite thick, in keeping with the foundation’s claims of being super long-lasting.

According to Lancome, “Teint Idole Ultra 24H remains retouch-free, providing a flawless looking, even complexion with a velvety-smooth, shine-free finish.” As I’m a working bird, longevity is one of the main things I look for in all of my makeup – and of course looking flawless (for the first time ever) wouldn’t be too bad either. I first applied the foundation before a night out and I have to confess that as I first started to buff it in I thought ‘oh…is this it?’ I think in my head I had the assumption that paying nearly £30 for something would mean the foundation would do everything for me – act as a base, conceal all blemishes, cure world hunger… you know, the usual.

I admit now this might have been slightly ambitious of me, and to be honest there was nothing wrong with the coverage or feel of the product. It’s generally regarded as a full coverage foundation, but I would say it’s more medium if you go for just one layer. However, it’s really easily buildable and so once I blended a bit more in around my t-zone it definitely took a fuller coverage effect.

Before / After

As you can see from the above photo that was taken without concealer, powder or any other type of wizardry, it completely evened out my skin tone and gave a lovely matte finish. But where the foundation REALLY impressed me was indeed it’s staying power. As I was getting ready for said night out, my room was an utter sweatbox and after I had put my heated rollers in I thought to myself what an utter boob I had been applying my makeup first, and that I was deffo going to have a to re-apply.

And then. I looked in the mirror. And I gasped. My base was still perfect. It had not budged. I was not shiny. I did not look like the complete sweaty pig-mess that I felt. I wanted to run around my room doing a lap of victory, having finally found a makeup product that delivers on its promises.

I’ve now been using the foundation for over a week, and can honestly say that it hasn’t disappointed me at all. It holds up unbelievably well during the working day, and I can even get away without powdering my nose, never mind having to reapply any foundation or concealer. I’ve heard other people say that they find the finish to be quite dewy, but for me it definitely delivers on its matte promise – this is probably down to different skin types, so it might be worth you trying out a sample first if you can. Overall though, this foundation fully delivers on all of its claims for me, and I am really impressed.

For dragging me from the slums and finally making me a convert to high-end foundation, Lancome, I salute you.

Have any of you tried this foundation? What did you think?!

NoFollow vs DoFollow Links

HOLD UP…

What is a ‘dofollow’ link when its at home?

What about those pesky ‘nofollow’ links?

Further Reading