Saturday 31 December 2016

LouLouLand - 2016 - A Year In Review - Part 2 - July To December

Welcome to Part 2 of my blogging year in review x In this post I'm going to be looking back at some my favourite and most poignant blog posts from July to December 2016.

July 2016

July was a busy month post wise, I went shopping a lot and I shared a few reviews and a few nails of the day posts with you. I also tried out one of the newest beauty boxes on the market - QVC UK's Tili Beauty Box. Unboxing's are normally exclusive to my You Tube channel but I couldn't resist sharing this one with you one the blog as well. I've had both of the QVC Tili boxes to date now and I've loved both of them, I love trying new things and already I've found some things that I love, and some things that I will definitely consider repurchasing. I for one have my fingers tightly crossed that we'll see some more TILI (Try It Love) Boxes in 2017.


Speaking of new things, In 2016 one of the beauty ranges that I couldn't wait to try, was the Rosie For Autograph range for Marks & Spencer. M&S teamed up with supermodel Rosie Huntington Whitely to produce a make up range to rival any designer beauty brand on the market. The prices aren't the cheapest but I couldn't resist adding just one little thing to my make up collection, a Lip Glossy in Sweet Nothing Kisses x


I absolutely love this colour and it's something that I've worn an awful lot since I got it - you can find out more about it here x I'm definitely going to try and pick up a few more things from the Rosie For Autograph collection is 2017 but in the meantime I have another Lip Glossy in Supermodel Smile to try courtesy of the 2016 M&S Beauty Advent Calendar.


July also featured one of my last Foodie Friday posts of the year. I'm planning on doing some more Foodie Friday posts in 2017 and maybe some videos to, but in this last one,  I shared with you my interpretation of one of my favourite Hello Fresh recipes which I renamed my Lentil, Roasted Vegetable And Halloumi Salad


Don't forget to click on the Recipes tab above to check out all of the recipes that I've posted in my nearly 9 years of blogging.

August 2016

August was a pretty barren month in LouLouLand thanks to a bit of laptop breakage. The lid and screen on my Acer laptop completely snapped off, and instead of doing the sensible things and upgrading then and there, I sent it away to get fixed which took a few weeks. So for most of the month I was laptop less. Thankfully I did manage to get a few posts up including my final two posts for My Pure* and a couple of nails of the day posts, including this all be it edited to death, beauty from Nails Inc,


and I also posted a nails of the day from one of the newest nail brands on the market, Roxanne Campbell, and her beautiful shade Stormy Weather.


September 2016

From a barren month in August, to one of the hardest months of my life in September. On September the 11th 2016, I lost my beloved Godfather after a long period of ill health but thankfully peacefully after a short illness. As I said at the time, when you lose a parent like I did, if you're lucky enough, some people step up to the plate and try to take on that parental role, as well as my mum taking on the dad role too, I'm lucky enough to have uncles that care and I was lucky enough to have my Godmother. It's been a tough few months, but he will never be forgotten.


That news affected my whole month but I blogged a lot and tried to keep focused and again I shared a lot of posts with you including a haul or two,  another nails of the day from Roxanne Campbell* and a bargaintastic nails of the day from Primark.



The month of September will also go down in history, as the month when I lost my Benefit brows* virginity. I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Benefit counter in Debenhams in Intu Eldon Square, for a complimentary brow mapping, and brow wax and from that moment onwards I was a total convert. 2016 was the year when I actually started giving a damn about my brows and that was all thanks to Benefit. Find out what I got up to and what I bought here



September was also the month when my laptop gave up the ghost for good and I took the plunge and joined the Mac book generation. I've regretted it at times but I've gradually fallen in love with my silver, illuminated beauty even if I did end up losing a whole load of photos in the conversion process hmmm.

October 2016

October was another busy month on LouLouland as I temporarily got my blogging mojo back and enjoyed playing with my new mac book. October was a very home focused month on LouLouLand as I shared two home hauls with you - in the first one I lost my Tiger virginity, and bought some cute bits from ebay 



and in the second one I went crazy buying candles, home fragrances, pineapples and mood lighting.

It was also a busy month press sample wise, and I reviewed a beautiful facial oil from Beuti* and some fabulous cruelty free brushes from L.A.B. 2*



I also had a lot of fun at the Autumn / Winter Intu Metrocentre Style Garden event* where I fell in love with lots and lots of clothes, home wear and handbags, and I was thoroughly spoilt by the entire  Intu Metrocentre team and in particular by Aspinal London and Thomas Sabo x




In October I also shared with you yet another Primark haul, and I also shared a high end beauty haul with you, where I showed you some of the beauty bits that I'd bought over the last few months including some Style Garden influenced Kiehls and Giorgio Armani purchases as well as some OPI, Tarte and Nails Inc pieces.




My final post pick of October 2016 is a NYX haul and review post featuring a blusher, some eyeshadows, and some lip things. I'm so pleased that we can now buy NYX on the UK high street now and I'll definitely be picking up some more bits in 2017.




November 2016

November was a quiet month on LouLouLand as life got in the way again, but I'm pretty proud of the three posts that I've picked out to summarise the month. It's all about the make up and in November I was lucky enough to review a couple of pieces from the amazing Joan Collins' Timeless Beauty range.


The first product that I reviewed was one of her beautifully packaged nail lacquers in the shade Helene*, a beautiful blue based red. Red nails just scream glamour, and even on my short nails, this colour looked incredible. 


Although I'm not usually the type to match my lipstick with my nail polish, I also reviewed one of the beautiful Joan Collins Divine Lips Lipsticks in the shade Amanda*. I'm not usually a red lip fan but as I say this was the year when I tried to branch out a bit and try some new things. This shade is simply stunning, it's a warm red that I think would suit a lot of skin tones x Click here to read all about it



Next up more make up and this time some bits that I bought myself from the fabulous KIKO Milano store in Intu Eldon Square. KIKO are definitely one of my brands of the moment and in this haul I shared some of my newest pieces with you including some eye shadows, cheek colours, nail polishes, and a lipstick x 





If you're a KIKO fan they I would try and check out their sale if you can x I only picked up a couple of things but they had some lovely things and some fab offers x I might stick up a post or a video next week if I can xx

December 2016

December is supposed to be one of the happiest and jolliest months of the year but for me it started off in the worst way. On 3rd December my beautiful Persian Jasper left us and crossed rainbow bridge. It's so hard to believe that it's been nearly a month since we lost him. I miss and think about him everyday and the house feels just a little bit quieter without him. So in December I shared with you both my love and sadness, and my feeling and experiences of losing a much loved pet x


I didn't post as much as I would have liked in December for a few reasons but I did manage to share a couple of hauls with you including a Royal Quays Outlet Beauty Haul, which features some Wet N Wild, some Clarins and a few bits from The Body Shop, 




and I also shared a tiny Primark haul with you and a home and home fragrance haul with you featuring NEXT, Yankee Candles and Boohoo.







So that was 2016 in review, a lot of down downs, and a few ups, and lots of beauty, fashion and lifestyle content thrown in. I hope that whether you're a new or a longtime reader that you've enjoyed this little look back at 2016 and I hope it's left you wanting more.


I'm hoping to be less of a flake in 2017 and I'm really going to try and push my blog on and try and get it to where I feel it should be and where I want it to be. My blog definitely didn't grow as much as I would have liked in 2016 and although life does get in the way at times, I only have myself to blame. Still I was given a huge boost this month when I hit a crazy 1,000,000 all time page views. Not only is that an amazing figure for little old me, but it was a major confidence boost, when I was feeling a little bit down about my blog, and it future. So for 2017 the aim is onwards and upwards, I have lots of plans and aims this year and I'm going to do my damnedest to achieve them all x Thanks again to all of you for following and reading I really do appreciate it more than you will ever know x Thanks for reading both of these posts, and I will see you next year (eek) with some new posts that you won't want to miss x

*Press Samples Or Blog Events

3 comments:

  1. The KIKO blush looks amazing!!

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  2. So many things happen in one year! Probably what I liked most of my year is that I graduated from college, it was a crazy year but very beautiful, I hope this 2017 is much better, Happy New Year!

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  3. What a year!! I hope you have a wonderful happy new year xo

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