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Lucy’s hobby leads to beauty blog award

A creative final-year student at º£½ÇÖ±²¥ has won an award for her beauty and lifestyle blog at the Northern Blog Awards.

Lucy Morris, 22, won the Best Beauty Blog award for ‘Just Lucy’s Life’ – a blog she has been writing for over three years alongside her studies. The winners, chosen by a panel of judges and a public vote, were revealed at a glamorous ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Lucy was both astonished and delighted to receive the accolade.

'In order to be shortlisted at the Northern Blog Awards, people have to nominate you. That in itself felt amazing that someone liked my blog enough to nominate me for an award,' Lucy said.

'It sounds cliché but I honestly was not expecting to win. I was just happy to be nominated initially, but I feel so honoured that my blog stood out above the rest.

'I knew the ceremony would be an amazing night whatever the outcome, but I couldn’t believe it when my blog name was called out. I was so surprised, but it was the most amazing, heart-warming feeling.'

The self-proclaimed ‘make-up obsessed’ student decided to set up her own blog after becoming inspired by well-known beauty blogger, Zoella.

'I first got into blogging after I saw Zoella’s work. I thought to myself, I’d love to do what she does, because it looked like so much fun,' Lucy explained.

'It was always my intention to blog about beauty products because that is my main passion, but I called my blog ‘Just Lucy’s Life’ so I could also talk about lifestyle topics and make my blog more personal.'

Lucy, who grew up in Yarm, has just recently started the final year of her media studies degree at º£½ÇÖ±²¥, and she credits the course with helping to improve her blogging skills.

She said: 'My course has definitely helped me develop as a blogger. Before I started my degree I had a blog but didn’t really know where to go with it. Now, I’m a lot more business-minded and the quality of my content has improved massively, which has in turn helped me build my online following.

'In the past month I’ve secured collaborations with two of my favourite brands, Benefit and Boohoo, and I’ve also done a sponsored post with Panasonic which is huge for me and really shows how far I’ve come since the first year of my degree.'

For Lucy, blogging is a hobby that she one day hopes may turn into a job, but for now she is happy finding a creative outlet by doing something she loves.

Lucy added: 'I like that my course is showing me different sides to the media industry and is helping me decide which aspects I might like to pursue.

'In the future I hope to carry on blogging, and you never know, it could turn into a career for me. However, if it doesn’t then I hope to work in media, possibly in public relations in the beauty industry.

'I would like to keep my blog as a hobby as not only is it my passion, but the blogging community is amazing to be a part of. Blogging has opened so many doors, including new friendships, so I’m hoping it can continue to do that for me.'