A Pinterview with Lex from Talonted Lex— UK Pinner of the Year 2019
At the Pinterest UK Awards 2019, Lex was announced as one of the Pinners of the year. We got the opportunity to sit down with her to find out about her journey as a creator and how she found success on Pinterest.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your blog?
I’m Lex — 35, York-born, London-made. I’m a freelance Pinterest manager and coach and blogger. I have rosacea, so my blog focuses on skin positivity, confidence, and living with a skin condition.
How did you get started?
I originally started out as a nail blogger about 8 years ago. I’d been made redundant and moved down to London and didn’t know anyone so I sat in my room painting my nails and blogging just to stay sane! But it was only when I started blogging more openly about my skin (about 6 years ago) that my blog really started to take off. No one else was talking about their skin in that way and I realised that for many people I was a lifeline and a supportive resource that they couldn’t find anywhere else.
What are you currently saving?
My ‘Beautiful Skin’ board never fails to inspire me and just makes me so happy; I think my ‘Talonted Lex Manicures and Nail Art’ may have been the first board I ever created which makes it very special; and finally, my ‘Unwearable Lex’ board is where I share the unusual makeup looks that I do. I love wearing weird, bold, and bright makeup to take back the control of my appearance: rather than worrying about people staring at my skin, I make them stare for my lipstick choice instead!
What or who inspires you?
I find inspiration all over Pinterest. I like to keep my feed pretty diverse — I find that only following beauty brands and bloggers became very same-y and stale, and I’m much more likely to get ideas from unexpected places. For example, a grey cabinet with a peach interior inspired this makeup look as I just loved the way the colours looked together. I think scrolling and pinning anything that catches my eye is a great way to keep my brain ticking over!
When did you start to see success on your Pinterest profile?
I think it was about three years ago. I noticed traffic coming from Pinterest, from pins that readers had shared rather than content I’d uploaded myself and immediately realised that I could utilise it as another string to my blog’s bow. I had no idea that it would quickly become the biggest driver of traffic to my blog — I just wish I’d started years ago!
What’s the one thing you know about Pinterest that you think everyone should know?
I wish everyone knew that you can succeed on Pinterest no matter how many followers you have. You could have only 1 follower but if you’re offering a product or information people are interested in, if your keywords are well-targeted, and your imagery is clear, your content will do well.
What’s your top tip for success on Pinterest?
Keywords! There’s no point in a caption that says ‘DSC0179.jpg’ or ‘nice makeup’ — no one is searching for those terms (I hope…!) Think about the common search terms people would use to find your content and then use those phrases to craft well-thought-out and concise captions.
What are your Pintentions for 2020?
I am really excited to play around with Story Pins and Video Pins — it’s a little outside of my comfort zone but I think they are both really exciting and useful ways to share your content with users.
What does it mean to you to win Pinner of the year?
To be honest I am still waiting for it to sink in! It is such an incredible honour, Pinterest is not only my job but it’s also my favourite hobby and to be recognised by the Pinterest team is just unbelievable. I genuinely believe that Pinterest is the best thing that’s ever happened to my blog and I waffle about it to anyone who’ll listen given the opportunity, so to know that the love is reciprocal is wonderful!
Check out Lex’s Pinner of the Year blog post here and her Pinterest profile here.
Have a read of our Pinterview with our second Pinner of the year Tamsin from Cupful of Kale here.
Georgia — Pinterest UK Creator Specialist, currently Pinning Neon Lights.
