As much as I love blogging and writing posts, I love reading other people’s blogs just a much. I wouldn’t have even started this little space all those years ago had it not been for the handful of blogs I read on a daily basis. Those blogs provided me with some of my favorite recipes, advice and tips about dating, and the best beauty hacks for a then, 20-something year old me.
Flash forward 10 years and blogging has evolved so much. Now there’s no shortage of people recycling each other’s look and content. Posts with no originality are getting hundreds of thousands of likes while others that are a million times more authentic, well-written, or unique are hardly seen because of algorithms and saturation. In the overwhelming sea of blogs and Instagram, I’ve got my tried and true well-known favorites like Cristin Cooper, Kathleen Barnes, and Mallory Ervin. But despite the number of people with 100,000+ followers, some of my most favorite influencers are those you might not even be following. And if you’re not, you need to jump on that follow train because they’re giving all those other gals a run for their money.
Ashlee at Cobalt Chronicles
Travel, beauty, fashion, and even finances…Cobalt Chronicles has it all. Ashlee is so adorable, down to earth, and she just got married! You have to check out her wedding pictures from the Bahamas (and her honeymoon in Hawaii). It looked absolutely terrible with all that sunshine, blue skies, and ocean 🙂 Her recent posts and Instastories on clean beauty products finally pushed me to make smarter and safer choices with my skincare routine, something I had put off for forever. As if she’s not busy enough, in addition to Cobalt Chronicles, Ashlee’s also an attorney and runs her own business, Contracts for Creatives.
Holly at Holly’s Housewife Life
If you want to know all things beauty and face masks then Holly is your girl. From drugstore scores to Sephora favorites, Holly tries out products at every price point and isn’t afraid to give you her honest opinion on how they work. Her Instastories are some of my favorites to watch and she is as real as they come. Did I mention she also does Face Mask Friday and if you’re lucky she makes her husband do them with her 🙂 Holly’s also expecting her third baby later this year and I can’t wait to find out if it’s a boy or girl!
Christina at North Carolina Charm
Christina’s blog was one of the first ones I ever read and I haven’t stopped since. I can’t tell you how many of her recipes and DIYs I’ve made over the years. If you’re a mom who works outside the home, you’ll definitely want to check out her work wardrobe which is fashionable but also budget friendly. Christina’s also not afraid to open up and get personal. Her honesty through some of life’s toughest moments including her double mastectomy and the recent loss of her father is so real and refreshing. Plus, who doesn’t love a girl who throws herself a Ta-ta to the Ta Ta’s Party!
Jehava at Only Girl 4 Boyz
I wasn’t sure if I should still include Jehava in this group considering her recent post, Dear White Moms: What I Need You to Know, went viral and thousands of women flock to her site every day. Besides friendship and marriage, Jehava also shares about travel, motherhood, and the behind the scenes of blogging for all you bloggers out there. Her kind heart and incredible faith are apparent in her daily Instastories and as a fellow boy mom, I find myself relating to her musings of living in a house filled with boys.
Stephanie at Olive and Tate
There’s a million things to love about Stephanie over at Olive and Tate. She’s funny, down to earth, and she made the most epic cheese board of all time. She’s also not afraid to have a glass of wine as her dinner and she survived a baby with colic. She deserves all.the.things. Although you don’t need another reason to love her, she recently posted PHOTOS AND VIDEOS of herself in SWIMSUITS, so women everywhere could see exactly what they looked like on a real body. Now that’s a true hero.
