Only because everyone else is doing it, and I owe you all a new post...

So on Twitter, a lot of the lovely bloggers have been posting "Things I Learned from Beauty Blogging" posts and tweets. It's interesting to see what everyone has to say about this topic. When I got started on MakeupAlley almost four years ago, I never expected that I would eventually become a respected blogger and voice in the online beauty community. The fact that anyone reads what I write, buys what I recommend, likes the makeup I do on myself...it blows my mind every single day and truly humbles me. I am appreciative every single day for the friendships that my psychotic love of makeup has created, and the opportunities I have been given because of my silly writing.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and here's my list of what I learned from blogging:

1. Whatever I thought was expensive four years ago, I think is cheap now. I remember that when I was a freshman in college (before I joined MakeupAlley) I thought that Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer was crazy expensive at $40. Now I'm in love with Le Metier de Beaute's $125 tinted moisturizer. What!?
2. A bunny can never have enough taupe eyeshadows. My taupe collection is definitely somewhere in the triple digits. I am afraid to count.
3. Expanding on #2, taupe is the most diverse color in existence. Oh, the taupe rainbow is a glorious, glorious thing. Grey-taupe, mauve-taupe, brown-taupe, purple-taupe...I WANT THEM ALL!
4. There really is no such thing as a Holy Grail product when you're a blogger - you will always find something you love a little more. Sad, but so true.
5. You will, though, become obsessed with a few makeup lines and it'll be hard to deviate from them. Mine?: Paul and Joe Beaute, NARS, Bobbi Brown, Edward Bess. Also, we can now add Le Metier de Beaute to that.
6. MAC is not the end-all, be-all of makeup. I am glad I learned this early on.
7. Blogging is a full-time job, whether we'd like to admit it or not (and regardless of whether we actually make any profit from it). I feel irresponsible if I haven't signed onto Twitter in a few hours, I hate that I rarely update this blog, etc. I write for three blogs, plus I'm on Twitter, and MakeupAlley still, and I have a Reading List on Blogger of 50+ blogs (and that doesn't include people who are on WordPress, etc.). Being a beauty blogger has become a lifestyle choice for me. It was a hobby when I started, but that was years ago. Now I feel a responsibility to myself, to everyone out there, to beauty companies, etc. to keep writing. I have no idea how long I'll be able to keep this up for, but I intend on doing it until I can't anymore.
8. To expand on #7, the only (somewhat) unsavory side-effect of blogging is a loss of anonymity. Posting pictures of my face, and giving readers a general knowledge of my location, has lead to me being recognized while out more often than I'd care to admit. It happens at least once every time I go shopping. While I appreciate it immensely (OH MY GOD, YOU ALL READ MY CRAP?!), there's part of me that is slightly creeped out by it. I don't know - what do you think about this?
9. Eventually, your makeup collection will outgrow its storage. And then it'll outgrow your room. Eventually, it will eat you.
10. Nothing brightens my day like makeup. When I am down, all it takes for me is to put my face on, or buy a new product, and BAM! I feel instantly uplifted. Makeup reminds me to take time for myself, to remember that I am beautiful and unique and fluffy. On my darkest days, makeup and blogging keeps me afloat!

Please share what you've learned with me! I'd love to read your thoughts =)