Hi everyone and welcome back to The Influencer Blog! First of all we would just like to say a massive THANK YOU for 500 followers on Instagram! It’s been amazing to see our platform grow into the most wonderful community - full of support and love. Keep your eyes peeled for an exciting post coming soon to our Instagram to celebrate reaching this
milestone.
For today’s post, we will be introducing you to Ketrina Teresa (@ketrina_teresa on Instagram) who likes to celebrate all things real on Instagram, which we are totally here for.
Ketrina is a 26 year old primary school teacher from Bournemouth, and is hoping to use the school summer holidays to focus on her fashion and lifestyle blog as well as continue to post the amazing content she already does on her social media platforms.
When we first discovered Ketrina’s Instagram her “insta vs. reality” really caught our eye, and we loved the idea behind it to smash social media stigmas.
Ketrina said: “Well the first ‘Insta’ vs ‘Reality’ post that I did was actually about my Psoriasis - which if people don’t know is an autoimmune, chronic skin condition (with no cure as of yet) which causes red, dry and itchy scaly patches on your skin. I remember being on a walk with one of my colleagues who has scarring from her teen acne and she was saying how flawless my skin is and how she wishes hers was like mine. I’ve been given compliments about my skin so often, which is super lovely and I really appreciate the love, but it always came with people putting themselves down i.e. your skin is amazing, mine is horrible, and this genuinely makes me feel so sad for my friends etc. Luckily for me, my psoriasis is on my scalp and neck, so I can hide it with my hair but it made me think, so many people think I have this incredible skin because my skin condition can be hidden and that is basically what social media does. Ketrina continued:
On socials, people will also comment saying that I have lovely skin or a great figure of whatever it may be and they think what a lucky girl, my skin/body is this and that. At the end of the day, people are seeing what we choose to show them so that same day, I decided to post about my Psoriasis (then later my body) to show my colleague and anyone else that actually we ALL have hang ups and insecurities but we just have to own them.“
Ketrina's body posi vibes on her social media is something we all aspire to feel like about ourselves, but Ketrina has not always felt this way - it's a journey.
Ketrina said: "I lost some weight at the beginning of the year which obviously gave me some confidence but then it made me think that confidence is massively down to mindset, it’s very much a brain game. Even though I had lost weight, I was still having to buy clothes which varied from size 10 up to size 16, so I had made myself feel like utter rubbish when I was ‘bigger’ because of my sizes and now I was still having to wear those sizes but all of a sudden I was okay with it?
"I also had some time when I thought about how I would never look at someone who was bigger or smaller than me and think ‘Ewww she’s so fat/skinny’ so why was I thinking like that about myself? So I decided to start loving myself irregardless of how I looked, what I weighed or what size I was. But it very much is the beginning of my self and body love journey and I know I have a long way to go!" said Ketrina.
We absolutely love this attitude. No matter what size you are, we ALL have our insecurities - and most of the time we think the worst of ourselves in our own heads, and this is probably not what other people think about us at all.
Ketrina will be continuing to post her amazing body posi and uplifiting content for the forseeable, with the aim to give people confidence and make people feel good about themselves. However, she still adores her teaching job and can't see herself moving away from this position - but would love to be a 'small influencer' in the future. If she carries on making this amazing content, we can see her being more than a 'small' influencer.
Like most of us, Ketrina loves a bargain! Hands up if you can relate! She still manages to put together some gorgeous looks.
"I honestly shop anywhere but I am one of those people who HATES buying something at full price - I love love love a sale or finding discount codes online (or in desperate times stealing my brothers student card)! My go to affordable places to shop are definitely Primark, Asos and New Look. I love River Island, Miss Selfridge and Zara when they have sales. Then my all time faves are Bershka, Stradivarius and Pull and Bear as when living in Spain is when I really upped my style and that was thanks to these Spanish shops!
I did like shopping in places like NastyGal and PrettyLittleThing but with fast fashion being a significant contributor to environmental and human damage, I am trying to shop with sustainable fashion brands wherever possible whilst keeping it affordable for my means and lifestyle (always important to buy in your means - even if you feel your clothes are out of fashion and realistically you can’t afford a whole new wardrobe- upcycle what you have)." said Ketrina.
One tip that Ketrina has for your own social media platform is to follow relatable people and fill your feed with inspiration.
Ketrina said: "I had a full cull session and unfollowed all accounts that made me feel bad about myself (not down to the content creator but their content might have triggered me to feel down or to have low self esteem) and swapped them for accounts that make me feel uplifted and inspired! I tend to follow accounts that show people who look like me - i.e. midsize, plus size and just normal bodies. I also follow people who give off a positive and down to earth energy and promote equality, kindness and love on their feeds!"
Some of her fave bloggers to follow are: @mikzazon, @charlotteemilyprice, @karinairby, @themeganedit, @savannasievers, @ayeshapi , @jesselleking, @kendall_leigh96.
We just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Ketrina for being a part of The Influencer Blog and being SO open and honest with us - you are a star.
Go check out Ketrina's Instagram feed here: https://www.instagram.com/ketrina_teresa/
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