Molly Smyth is a fashion and lifestyle influencer, based in Melbourne, Australia.

Working in the fashion industry by day, she shares her fashion and beauty choices, inspirational images, styling tips and daily adventures with her followers on Instagram. 

We chatted with Molly about the importance of self-care, how to (somehow) balance life and work, and what it's like to be an influencer. 

You’re a successful Instagram blogger and influencer. Tell us a little more about what you do.

Thank you so much for your kind words, I’m not sure about ‘successful’ — I still think I have a lot of learning and hard work to do until I can use that word!

After studying fashion and textile merchandising, I worked full-time in planning, until I recently decided to focus on what I actually love doing, which is creating content and blogging.

I have just launched a website where I have a blog and soon-to-be store, which I am really excited about.

What does self-care mean to you personally?

Taking care of myself means keeping my worries and stresses from taking over, so I can really focus on what’s important to me. It’s important to trade in those concerns for happiness and do the things I love, for myself. It’s okay to be selfish every now and then.

There’s been a rise in self-care awareness in recent times, why do you think that is?

I think times are changing and people are talking more about things that matter to them, and things that in the past they might have felt ashamed about.

One of these is things is mental illness. We are now trying to help everyone understand that it’s okay not to be okay, and that talking about it is important.

This being said, I think we are realising that we need to take care of ourselves, not only physically, but mentally as well.

As an influencer, sharing your personal life is part of the job. How do you balance work and personal life, especially in a field where they probably often merge?

I have actually had a lot of people I know suggest I start up a ‘personal’ Instagram account so they don’t have to follow my ‘influencer’ account.

The thing is, my Instagram account is who I am. What I post on my page is what I love and what I enjoy doing. Just like everyone else I post images that are a highlight of what’s happened in my day. 

The most difficult part of balancing this with my personal life is that I find it hard to stay off my phone when I need to relax, because I feel like I always have to be on it for my job.

What would you say are the impacts of neglecting self-care?

For me personally it would be fatigue, stress and anxiety. It is so easy to neglect taking care of ourselves because we get stuck in our busy weekly work routines, which leads us to feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.

We noticed that skincare is something you seem super passionate about. How does skincare factor into your self-care routine?

Skincare is so important to me. Looking after my skin is the second most important self-care practice, after taking care of my mind. I have always been super interested in learning about it but it was only a year or so ago that I knew I needed to invest more time in learning about what’s best for me and my skin. I was really stressed and it was showing through my skin.

I went to a skin clinician to help me achieve my skin goal, this being glowing vibrant skin that I don’t feel self-conscious about. I do my skincare routine morning and night, and also do skincare treatments monthly, either a derma sweep or microdermabrasion.

What would be your top 5 self-care tips?

I am a big believer in taking time for yourself daily. My top five self-care tips would be:

1. Changing my mind-set — there is nothing worse than being in a bad mood from something that happened that I have no control over.
2. I do yoga and meditation classes quite regularly and this helps clear my mind and focus on what’s really important.
3. I love to exercise on a daily basis, but I also listen to my body when it’s telling me to take a rest day.
4. Catching up with friends regularly and keeping those important relationships in my life.
5. Listening to music, or doing at home facials and face masks also really help me to relax and nourish my mind.

What’s your favourite Celia Loves candle fragrance?

That’s probably the hardest question to answer! They are all so beautiful and smell delicious. The gardenia scented candle would have to be my favourite — it’s my most favourite scent ever.