This website is written by Valentina Chirico. This is obvious, but who is she? Who am I? No time for philosophical questions, that’s enough talk.
I’m Valentina Chirico, an expat online editor and UGC/digital creator born in Southern Italy. Today, I’m somewhere between London and Bedfordshire.
How Blogging Happened
I’ve been online since 2009 under the pseudonym of Valens. It was October 2009 when I launched my first beauty blog, ‘Valens… per voi’. In the early ’00s, blogging was for cool kids with big ideas or time to spend, so I created my space to support my career as a beauty advisor. That adventure started in 2007 and lasted a decade.
In 2016, over a coffee with my area manager, I was sporting a Miró-inspired nail art, and that fortunate manicure earned me a new and exciting opportunity: educational workshops for my company. Meanwhile, I started to write for established websites, first as a co-author for the luxury e-zine Alpi Fashion Magazine; then, later that year, for Fabulousity, as a green beauty blogger and Twitter manager.
How My Expat Life Happened
2016 was a year of great achievements. I was awarded a BA in Archaeology and History of Arts from the University of Naples ‘Federico II’. Then life got a bit boring.
In 2017, after a short stay in a tiny sea village, I moved abroad to study Egyptology at the University of Birmingham. I was living in student accommodation when I envisioned something new and, on an inspired whim late at night, I launched a new blog: Italian Memories.
In 2018, I stepped into fashion ghostwriting, and I fully endorsed my academic affiliation with the UoB by writing for the official University of Birmingham PG Recruitment Blog.
In December 2019, I got my MA in Egyptology with a research project on the so-called ‘seven sacred oils’ in Egyptian funerary beliefs.
Let’s skip the pandemically mad years and let’s teleport us to Spring 2021, when I got my most exciting role as the Editor-in-Chief for the British fashion event company FashionsFinest: from Vallo to attending the London Fashion Week… life has been a bubbly sip.
2022-2024 – after moving down in London, I had a new start and complete transformation. SEO and marketing copywriting took up all my days as I entered the StickyEyes/Reprise/IPG Mediabrand world. In
2025: my corporate experience is now over, and I don’t mind it! I currently put all my time, craft and passion into UGC and technical studies. My future is all mine. A brand new life.
I’m passionate about foreign languages, like Korean, (mind) travelling, coding and video editing. I combine some of my passions and old studies into my writings. I enjoy video making and editing, especially when I can’t sleep at night.
Although I loved my time in Bham and working as an extra in the city’s surroundings, I’m ready for my next big adventure!
