Arum Lilea’s Fourth Birthday

I can’t believe it but this week marks Arum Lilea’s fourth birthday.  Today I wanted to take a moment to reflect on this special little part of the internet that I call my own.  My life has changed so much since I first started Arum Lilea and yet somethings will forever remain the same.  When I started my blog back in 2011 I wanted it to be focused on style, beauty and travel and today Arum Lilea remains focused on those topics.  I love sharing daily outfit details to inspire other women to look a little bit differently at their wardrobe and put together a great outfit that will give them a great amount of confidence.  I love to share tips on makeup and skin care in my beauty section to provide women with reviews on which products are worth spending precious pennies on rather than having to go by trial and error themselves.  I also love sharing makeup tips because I love looking for new ideas for my makeup.  Travel will forever be my first true love and, whether local or international, I really love sharing my travel experiences.  From places to stay to where to eat, I find the whole experience of exploration so wonderful and I love using this blog as a platform to share it on.

Arum Lilea has documented momentous occasions in my life.  I shared my LLB graduation in this post.  I didn’t make it to my LLM graduation for having suffered a tremendous medical issue that I shared in this post.  I passed my board exams as I mentioned in this post.  

Through the years my hair has been extremely dark (seen here) and very light too (seen here).  I had the struggle of trying to make braces look glamorous (seen here) or awkwardly trying to smile without revealing them which was even worse (seen here).

Over three of the four years (last year I was bed-bound) I have travelled to ten countries and about 30 cities around the globe which I documented on Arum Lilea all along the way.  My favourite places to visit have been San Francisco (here), Zanzibar (here), Bavaria (here)   You can read all about my travels under my travel section. 

I have hosted 2 styling events, one for Mango (here) and another for Forever New (here).  I have been invited to some spectacular events (such as this one and this one) both in Johannesburg and in Cape Town too.  I have met so many incredible people and I have even made life-long friends all through this blogging world.  

I love meeting other bloggers and sharing our mutually love for blogging.  At the same time I also love meeting readers.  I love learn who is reading my blog and what they think about it/what they enjoy most.  My day is made when someone sends me a message saying that they really loved that particular day’s blog post.  I also love interaction with my readers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and I always make an effort to reply to each comment individually.

Last year I decided to take a leap of faith and expand into the realm of YouTube.  It is a different ball game entirely requiring different camera and editing skills to blogging but I absolutely love it.  I get so excited to film videos and produce content that is interesting and helpful to viewers.  At the moment I am filming beauty videos comprising of makeup tutorials and favourite beauty products as well as travel vlogs.  If you’d like to catch up on a few you can find them here.

Today I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported Arum Lilea whether you have been following my journey for years or you have only recently joined in on the fun.  If I had a virtual piece of cake I would share a slice with each and every one of you.  From the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you for all the kindness and love that you have shared.  It adds so much value to my life and I truly hope that this very girly corner of the internet contributes to ensuring you live a life as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.  I love you guys! x