haul culture + finding your niche

This is a post I've had sitting in my drafts for some time - I have been debating posting this, and generally I don't like stepping outside the box and discussing Bloggers as a wider issue - mostly because I feel like it inevitably rocks a few boats.

However I've recently realised that I just don't care upsetting people that much - and I wanted to talk about two topics that have become my main gripes with this little bubble we've created for ourselves: the haul culture that we have created, and this drive to find your 'niche'.

Let's start with this culture of 'hauling'... If you look back in the Uncia + Tigris archives (please don't, those posts are awful! haha), you'll see that I used to be a beauty blogger. I even ventured into the world of beauty youtube, and had some relative success in that arena, before packing it in and realising it wasn't for me. I kept up with the blogging, though, for several years: I was a bit mad about it. I used to do friends makeups for parties and proms, and did a bit of work at college for photo shoots and stuff, and I sort of felt like that justified the amount of makeup I had.

It was a weird thing, though, because even though I knew I had a ridiculous amount of makeup, I felt like I never had enough, there was always the newest thing I felt I had to buy - my favourite makeup artist or YouTuber was recommending it, it had to be good! I look back then and I realise how naive I was, I didn't realise that all those YouTuber's and makeup artists are paid, sponsored, or given products for free. I felt like I had to have designer bags, shoes, clothes, sunglasses, makeup, because all the blogs and things I read had them too. I used to go to London and spend £200 on makeup, because I felt like I needed it all, or get my dad to buy me all of the newest MAC collection on his trip abroad.. I justified it by lying to myself, saying that I needed it I wanted to become a makeup artist, or that I wanted to share in on my blog (which was getting popular, but not by that much). I was spending it just to flash about in a new haul video or post, and it was ridiculous, really.

I think it was when I was in my first or second year at university, I realised the money I was spending on that kind of stuff was stupid, and it gradually faded out. I'm still sort of ashamed at the amount of makeup I own now, as I know I'll never use it all. I try and give it away to friends that I think will use it, or my mum to try and convince her to wear lipstick (never works). Even still, though, I get the urge to spend. I was in London recently and I literally had to walk away from the shops, because I was going to buy stuff for the sake of it! I actually left the city that day, with only a few pens from Muji in my bag, and it felt amazing!

I remember reading this post by Michelle from a little while ago now, and thinking that she was exactly spot on, and I felt so much better that I wasn't alone in this way of thinking. These days, I try to be a lot more savvy with my purchases. I rarely buy things on a whim, I research products properly, outside of paid advertisements on some pretty coloured youtube channels. I try and use stuff up, only buy new mascaras or foundations when I've run out, and although I do have a lipstick vice, I am getting better in that arena. I didn't like that desperate need to keep up - what was I trying to keep up with and why? Obviously, if you are super passionate about beauty products, have the funds and the love to buy everything, then there's nothing wrong with that, I would just suggest caution...!

This brings me nicely to the topic of finding your niche. I had a bit of a crisis, when I decided that beauty blogging, in it's current form, was not for me. What was I then? Was I a food blogger, or a craft and knitting blogger? At the time, I had an allotment and spent a lot of time outdoors, I was also studying art and had a real passion for that... I was at a lost end. If you look back through my archives, you can probably see my phases!

Which leads me to where I am now... It's taken a long time, but I'm finally happy with what I post here. It's completely me, completely honest, and I don't have to spend a penny on it, if I don't want to. And really, it's only recently that I've discovered that I am a true lifestyle blogger. Essentially, I have no niche! If you came here hoping for a how-to-guide to what you should be blogging about, er, sorry? As I have been blogging for so long, I have noticed that there is this real trend of blogs become identical. Same photos, same style, same bloody marble trays and peonies! The same churning out of content, like 75+ 'Blog post ideas', etc.

I just think there is less individuality about these days - I always find it so refreshing when I see blogs that I think are really unique! I follow a few super cutesy blogs, all dyed pink hair and kawaii images, and some dark, all-black wearing goth bloggers, hippy wannabes and wanderlust filled travellers, stay at home mums and career driven bloggers... But the one thing they'll probably have in common is a uniqueness - they do something different and step outside this cookie-cutter blogger image that saturates the market these days.

If you've found your niche - good for you! But if you haven't - don't worry, you might never find it. I am finally happy with the little space my blog has become, but it's taken me six years of blogging to get to this point.

I hope this makes sense, and if you want to start a discussion in the comments, please do - I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you have a niche, or have you ever felt the need to buy something, just to keep up with your favourite blog?

Some great posts I've read on similar topics, that have inspired this one:

• Haul Couture by Michelle
• Things I wish I'd known when I started blogging by Lorna
• Why Bloggers do not need a niche by Becky
• The current state of blogging by Hayley