How I Really Use LTK (And Why It Changed the Way I Shop and Share)

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know I’m not someone who recommends something just because it looks good in a flat lay. When I started using LTK — formerly known as LikeToKnow.it — I genuinely wasn’t sure if it would stick. I’d seen other creators use it, scrolled through it myself as a shopper, and thought, okay, this is handy. But I didn’t fully understand the depth of it until I started building out my own profile and realizing how much it changed not just how I share things, but how I think about style, interiors, and everyday finds altogether.

So today I want to pull back the curtain a little. This is my honest, no-fluff guide to what LTK actually is, how I use it, why I love it as both a creator and a shopper, and what you can expect when you follow me over there. Whether you’ve been on LTK for years or you’ve never heard of it, I think there’s something here for you.

What Is LTK, and Why Does Everyone Keep Talking About It?

LTK is a shopping platform and app that connects content creators with their audiences in a way that’s actually useful. Instead of someone posting a photo and you having to frantically comment “link?” or reverse image search an item to death, LTK lets creators link every single product in a post directly. You tap the image, you see the items, you can buy them instantly or save them for later.

It sounds simple, and in a way it is. But the impact of that simplicity is enormous. Before platforms like LTK, the gap between “I love what she’s wearing” and “I actually know where to get it” was frustrating and wide. LTK bridges that gap in a genuinely elegant way.

For creators like me, it’s also a way to build something that lives beyond a single Instagram story or a TikTok that disappears in the scroll. My LTK profile is a curated, searchable, shoppable archive of everything I’ve loved and shared. That feels meaningful to me. It’s not just content — it’s a resource.

How I Started Using LTK

Honestly? I started out of curiosity. I’d been creating content for a while and wanted a better way to answer the constant stream of “where is that from?” messages I was getting. If you’re a content creator of any size, you know those messages are both the most flattering thing in the world and also slightly chaotic when you’re trying to track down a link you shared six weeks ago.

LTK gave me a central place to put everything. Instead of digging through old posts or trying to remember if I’d saved a link somewhere, I could just direct people to my LTK page and they’d find what they were looking for. That alone made it worth it.

But then something else happened. Building out my LTK profile made me more intentional about what I was sharing. When you know you’re going to link something, you think harder about whether it’s actually worth recommending. You consider quality, price point, whether it’s something you’d actually repurchase. LTK quietly raised my own standards for what I put out into the world.

What You’ll Find on My LTK Page

If you haven’t visited my LTK page yet, here’s a taste of what you can expect.

Fashion and personal style is the heart of it. I share everything from everyday outfits to pieces I’ve found that punch way above their price point. I’m a firm believer that great style doesn’t require a massive budget, so you’ll find a real mix — high street finds, the occasional splurge piece, vintage-inspired looks, and anything that catches my eye and genuinely earns a place in my wardrobe. I try to show things styled in a real way, not in a way that only works in a studio with perfect lighting and a professional photographer.

Home and interiors have become a huge part of what I share. I’ve always been obsessed with making a space feel personal and lived-in rather than like a showroom, and LTK has been such a good home for that content. I can link furniture, soft furnishings, candles, art prints, kitchen finds — all of it in one place. If you follow me for home inspo, you’ll find a lot to love over there.

Beauty and wellness rounds things out. I’m not a beauty guru, but I have strong opinions about the products I actually use and repurchase. Skincare, makeup, hair products — I share the things that have genuinely made a difference for me, and I try to be straightforward about what works and what didn’t quite deliver on its promises.

Why LTK Works Better Than Just a Link in Bio

I’ve tried all the alternatives. I’ve used link-in-bio tools, I’ve dropped links directly in Instagram captions (which, as we all know, Instagram doesn’t exactly love), I’ve pointed people to blog posts with product round-ups. All of those things have their place, and I still use some of them.

But LTK has an advantage that those other methods don’t: it’s built specifically for this purpose, and it’s built well. The app is intuitive in a way that makes shopping feel easy and even fun rather than like a task. You can save items to collections, get notifications when something you’ve saved goes on sale, and discover new creators who share your taste. It’s a whole ecosystem, not just a link aggregator.

For me as a creator, the analytics are genuinely useful too. I can see what resonates, what people are saving versus buying, and what kinds of content are actually helping people find things they love. That helps me create better content — content that’s more useful, more specific, and more aligned with what you actually want to see.

The Shopping Experience: What It’s Like to Use LTK as a Buyer

Let me flip this around for a moment, because if you’re reading this as a shopper rather than a creator, you might be wondering whether it’s worth downloading yet another app.

The short answer is yes, and here’s why.

LTK is fundamentally a discovery platform. If you follow creators whose taste you trust, your feed becomes a curated stream of genuinely good finds — things that have been tested, worn, tried, and approved by a real person rather than algorithmically generated based on what you’ve purchased before. There’s a warmth to it that traditional retail platforms just don’t have.

The sale alerts are a feature I genuinely use as a shopper myself. You know that feeling when you’ve been eyeing something for weeks and then you miss the sale? LTK largely solves that problem. Save the item, get the notification, actually make the decision with real information rather than either impulse buying or missing the window entirely.

Collections are another thing I love. Creators often organize their links into themed collections — holiday gift guides, summer wardrobe essentials, home office refresh, that kind of thing. It turns browsing into something closer to reading a really well-curated magazine, which I find endlessly enjoyable.

How I Decide What to Share (My Honest Process)

This is something I feel strongly about, so I want to be clear about it. Not everything I come across ends up on my LTK. I have a process, even if it’s an informal one.

First, I ask myself whether I actually like it. This sounds obvious, but it matters. The pressure in creator spaces to share everything you’re sent or everything that’s trending is real, and I try to resist it. If something doesn’t genuinely appeal to me, it doesn’t go on my page.

Second, I think about value. Is this priced fairly for what it is? Is there a better version at a different price point that I should be pointing people toward instead? I don’t want anyone spending money on something they’ll be disappointed with.

Third, I consider longevity. Fast fashion and disposable products are something I’ve been actively moving away from, so I tend to favor things that are made well, styled in a way that won’t feel dated in three months, and genuinely worth the investment of space in your wardrobe or home.

None of this makes me perfect, and I don’t claim to get it right every time. But it does mean that when something appears on my LTK, it’s there because I genuinely believe in it.

My Favorite Types of Content to Create for LTK

Over time, I’ve figured out which kinds of posts I enjoy making most, and they tend to be the ones that get the most engagement too — which makes sense, because genuine enthusiasm is readable.

Outfit of the day posts are a classic for a reason. There’s something deeply useful about seeing a full outfit assembled and linked, especially when it includes pieces across different price points. I try to make sure my OOTDs feel achievable and real, not aspirational in a way that leaves you feeling like you’d need an entirely different life to pull it off.

Before and after home content is something I’ve been doing more of, and the response has been lovely. Showing a corner of a room before and then after a small refresh — a new throw, different cushions, a plant, a repositioned mirror — makes the whole process feel accessible. You don’t need to renovate to transform a space. Sometimes you just need to look at it differently.

Seasonal round-ups are endlessly useful for both me and you. Whether it’s transitioning a wardrobe from summer to autumn, refreshing a living room for the colder months, or finding the right gifts for people who are impossible to buy for, a good round-up does a lot of work in one post.

Try-on hauls are another format I enjoy, particularly because they answer the questions people are always asking about fit, quality, and how something looks in real life versus on the model. There’s a directness to a try-on that I appreciate as a creator and that I know shoppers find genuinely helpful.

What Makes LTK Different From Other Shopping Platforms

There are other ways to shop online, obviously. There are other creator platforms. So what actually sets LTK apart?

I think it comes down to trust and community. When you follow someone on LTK, you’re following a person, not an algorithm. You know their taste, their lifestyle, their approach to things. You’ve probably watched them make choices that resonate with you, and that builds a kind of shorthand that makes their recommendations meaningful. “Ciara shared it” carries more weight than “customers also bought” because it’s coming from a real place.

The platform itself has also matured significantly. Early on, there were some friction points — the app felt a bit clunky, the discovery features weren’t as strong, and it could be hard to find creators outside your existing network. Those issues have largely been addressed, and now LTK feels genuinely competitive with the biggest names in shopping and social commerce. The integration across platforms, the ease of linking, the shopping cart functionality — it all works together smoothly.

LTK also spans a huge range of retailers. We’re talking everything from massive fast-fashion names to independent designers, luxury houses to high street staples. The breadth of what you can link means that I’m never stuck recommending something just because it happens to be available on one particular platform. I can shop the whole market and bring the best of it back to you.

How to Get the Most Out of Following Me on LTK

A few practical tips for making the most of it.

Download the app rather than just bookmarking the page in your browser. The app experience is meaningfully better — notifications work properly, the interface is cleaner, and saving items feels satisfying in a way that browser bookmarks never quite manage.

Turn on sale notifications for the items you save. This is low-effort and high reward. If you’ve been considering something and you’re waiting for the right moment, this feature makes sure you don’t miss it.

Browse my collections. I organize things thematically where I can, so if you’re looking for something specific — like ideas for a home office, or a capsule wardrobe for a particular season — there’s probably a collection for it.

Don’t hesitate to send me a message or leave a comment if you’re looking for something specific. I love those conversations, and they often turn into future posts. Your questions genuinely shape what I create.

Why I Think This Kind of Shopping and Sharing Actually Matters

I want to end on something a little more personal, because I think it’s worth saying.

The way we consume — clothes, interiors, beauty products, all of it — is changing. People are more thoughtful about it than they used to be. The era of mindlessly buying because an ad told you to is giving way to something more intentional: seeking out voices you trust, taking time to consider purchases, valuing things that last.

LTK, at its best, supports that shift. It puts real people — creators who are accountable to their audiences in a way that brands simply aren’t — at the center of the shopping experience. When I share something, I know you might actually buy it. That creates a kind of responsibility I take seriously. And when you buy something based on my recommendation and you love it, that feedback loop is one of the most genuinely gratifying parts of what I do.

I’m not here to fill your basket with impulse buys. I’m here to share the things that have made my life a little more beautiful, a little more comfortable, a little more joyful — and to help you find yours.

Come find me on LTK. I think you’ll like it over there.

You can follow my LTK page at ltk.com/ciara_odoherty — save this post so you can find it again later, and if you have any questions about specific products or want me to do a dedicated post on any category, drop it in the comments below. I read every single one.