LouLouLand Is 17! - Wishing My Little Place On The Internet A Belated Happy Birthday

I know it's pretty obvious but over the last year or so but I've really struggled with blogging - As well as life and health getting in the way, I've struggled with engagement, and I've struggled with finding a place in this new era of quick and snappy content, but over the last month or so I've started to feel a little bit more positive about the whole thing.

Whilst I'm trying to engage more with short form platforms, I'm actually enjoying writing again, swatching products, and planning out posts, and that's what it should be about, not agonising over statistics, or constantly monitoring earnings and click throughs. That isn't to say that engagement and interaction doesn't matter, but it's not something that I'm going to stress about - you see so many influencers and content creators bragging about all the campaigns there getting but so many of us are just muddling along, keeping going not just for the 'freebies' and the £ but because we're doing something that we enjoy or even love!

17 Years ago yesterday I posted my first ever blog post, and to be honest I had no idea where it would lead me. I've worked with some amazing brands, gone to some fab events, and met some lovely people irl but above all it's given me and outlet and a purpose. Spending so much time cooped up indoors it's allowed me to escape from the everyday - it's given me something to focus on and to stop my brain turning to mush, and it's allowed me to feel part of something.

That's been even more apparent over the last couple of days by all of the lovely comments and messages I've received from people all over the world, lots of whom I've never met in person and would never have came into contact with without my blog or social media.

I guess what I'm trying to say as per usual is how grateful I am to every single person who has ever followed or subscribed to my blog or any of my social media channels, read a post, commented, or interacted in any way. I'm not saying that I wouldn't keep blogging without you but it certainly wouldn't be the same.

So thank you all for sticking with me and fingers crossed you all stick with me for another year, and if you're new welcome to my blog and I hope you'll like what you see and you'll subscribe for lots of beauty, fashion, lifestyle and 'real life' content x Thanks for being here and here's to another 17 years ;)

Sweet Sixteen - Happy Birthday LouLouLand, And Life Lately

It wouldn't be a birthday in the UK without a caterpillar cake, and whilst it's not my birthday, my baby aka my blog celebrates it's 16th birthday today eeek. When I clicked publish on that first post, I never thought that I would outlast so many of my favourite blogs, and still be churning out posts (all be it sporadically!) 16 years later, and what a 16 years it's been!

So much has changed in that time, not only in my own life but also in the worlds of fashion, beauty and of course social media. Blogging to be honest now is a bit passe, people, advertisers and brands, now seem to want faster, simpler content like Instagram and Tik Tok which I can completely understand, but whilst I do dabble in other mediums (check out the links in my sidebar), blogging is the place where I feel really at home, using all be it rambling words to express my feelings, views and frustrations, as I muddle through life. 

I'm not going to lie the last few years have been rough not only personally but also blogging wise. Although I am partially to blame, lack of engagement and lack of progression has all made me wonder if it's all worth while, but I still love writing and creating content, and blogging gives me an outlet and a place I can escape to when life gets a little bit too much. Not only that but my stats show that there are still some of you out there that continue to read my blog even when I haven't posted for an age, which is still pretty amazing to me and I really can't thank you enough.

So I guess the gist of this is that I'm not going away anytime soon, I'm trying not to look too far into the future (one of my very bad habits!) instead focusing more on the here and now, and despite several blips at the start of this year, LouLouLand will continue into 2023 and hopefully beyond that.

This year has had a slightly delayed start because, and yes this is the main reason, my mam ordered me a new bed as part of my Christmas present. My old one as you can see was well past it's best, and it was starting to interfere with my sleep, and my pain levels, so I asked for something practical from Santa. We managed to get a really good price on one in the after Christmas sales but we couldn't get it delivered till the end of January - annoying but on reflection it was the best thing that could have happened. My room had to basically be gutted, to get the old bed out and the new one in, and believe me it was hard work, especially for two people with chronic illness but the room was cleared, the bed base was removed and yes I ended up sleeping on a pretty wrecked mattress on the floor for about a week which did nothing for my back.

Eventually we got both the mattress and the bed frame outside for council collection, the new one arrived, and thankfully the fabulous delivery guys took it upstairs for us so it just needed minimal assembly, and voila, new Orla Kiely bedding, and a new duvet, and already my sleep had improved at least 90%, and my back feels less achey when I wake up - result!

Getting the bed back in was the main thing, but we're still unpacking boxes and try to find homes for all the shoe boxes that were under my bed, the furniture is all back in now but since I've decided to go through my belongings with a charity bag in hand as I'm bringing things back in, I've still got quite a way to go before every is back in and in it's correct place - arghhhhh! why is nothing in my world ever simple?

There is no question that I've been doing too much physical stuff so I'm seriously lacking in spoons at the moment hence I haven't really had the energy to do much of anything else, including blogging. That been said I do actually have a couple of posts that are just about ready to go up, so you'll hopefully see both of those next week and I can actually start 2023 properly.

I have no idea in all honesty what direction the blog is really going to go in this year but I'm going to try and live a bit more in the moment and post about what I want, when I want. I have lots of ideas flying around in my head about things that I want to do but as per usual it's about putting them into practise x So Happy Sweet Sixteen LouLouLand, it's been a journey and thanks to your support, and my own bloody mindedness, it's not over yet x 

Sleek Highlighting Palette In Solstice Giveaway Winner Announcement*

Hi Guys x Before I post my next Glossybox unboxing catch up tomorrow I thought I'd quickly announce the winner of my latest giveaway.

Last month I shared a very late unboxing of the March 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, and in that post I reviewed one of the items in the box and something that I already owned, the Sleek Highlighting Palette in Solstice, as nice as it is I didn't need another one so I ran a decided to give the new and box fresh one away to one of my lovely readers.

I only received 40 entries so everyone that entered had a really good chance of winning, alas there can only be one winner though and the reader that was randomly selected via Rafflecopter is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sarah Morris

Congratulations Sarah, I've sent you an email, and I'll get your palette and some other goodies sent out ASAP x 

Thanks to everyone who entered and if you weren't lucky enough to win this time around, don't worry I have a couple of high end giveaways planned including opportunities to win a Tarte gift set and a palette from HUDA Beauty so make sure you're following me on my blog and on all of my other social media channels for more chances to win in the future x

*This Post Contains An Added Affiliate Link

Tarte Overexposed Highlighter Kit Winners Revealed

Right it's the post that you've all been waiting for - it's time to reveal the two lucky winners of my Tarte Overexposed Highlighter Kit giveaway, I had nearly 300 entries but there can only be two winner and they are...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rachel I.

and

Laura C.

Congratulations Ladies! I will be contacting you via email asap for details. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry I have plenty more giveaways planned including another Tarte Cosmetics one which be launching soon x Thanks again to everyone that entered and thanks again for following and reading my blog xx 

Happy Birthday LouLouLand And Trimming My Stash - January 2019 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Surely there is no doubt in anybodies mind what a cake with candles means? A birthday of course! and whilst my own birthday is still a few months away, today is my blog's 12th birthday!

I can't quite believe that I've been sharing my thoughts with you for that long, as much as I love writing and blogging, I wouldn't still be here 12 years later if it wasn't for you guys. I haven't been the best or most consistent blogger over the years, but I've kept at  it and I'm still here rambling on and sharing my life and loves with you all, so I want to thank you all for all of your support and interactions over the years. I know that your time is precious, and that there are so many blogs out there that you could read, yet you choose to read mine, thank you x I really do appreciate every view, like, comment and share x 

As I've said before in 2019 , I'm going to try and pay back all of that support by trying to be a better and more consistent blogger. I have lots of posts planned, including  lots of reviews and a few giveaways, so I hope that you'll stick around for the foreseeable future, and maybe even for another 12 years ;)

Despite a promise to be a little bit more consistent, this post is a little late but does it really matter? I don't think so, so let's just get on with it x Now something that I've done for quite a few of those 12 years now, are my monthly Trimming My Stash posts. If you're a new reader, basically I have too many beauty products, and whilst my spending, and hauling has definitely slowed down of late, a few years ago now I decided to try and finish as many products as I could every month, and to keep a running total of just how many beauty products I could finish in a year. In the early days I just used to post a list but nowadays I go into a little more depth and share some mini reviews of all of my finished products

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Acid Daily Cleansing Pads - 60 Pads
The Body Shop Spiced Apple Shower Gel - 250ml
Primark PS... It's Oil Good! Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes
The Body Shop Spiced Apple Exfoliating Sugar Body Scrub - 250ml

Total - 4 Items 

Looking back at last months total, I've got to say that January 2019 wasn't the best of months. I only managed to finish a paltry 4 items, including a couple of shower and body products, and a couple of skincare items, but 4 products is sill better than nothing, and in all the years that I've been doing this I've definitely had worse months x 

1. Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Acid Daily Cleansing Pads - 60 Pads

First up a skin care product from Superdrug's hugely popular Naturally Radiant range. The screw top jar contains 60 fabric cleansing / toning pads. The pads are quite small and thin but they are double sided, and each side has a slightly different textures. The pads are soaked in a mixture of glycolic acid, fruit AHA's, aloe vera, and pro vitamin B5 and are designed to remove dead skin cells, and leave the skin brighter and fresher, all you do is wipe over the pads over cleansed skin, using the slightly rougher side, and then the smoother side.

Now I'd never tried these before, but I'm a firm fan of the Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Toner (read my thoughts here) and the solution that these pads are soaked in is pretty much identical. It has the same herbal / aftershave type scent, and they produce the same slight tingling sensations on the skin. My results after using these were also pretty similar, my skin looked clearer, my pores were less obvious and any hormonal spots that I had dried up really quickly.

So in theory I should love these as much as the toner, well despite having pretty much identical results I don't love these quite as much. The pads themselves are quite small and then, and although I love the different textures, I ended up using several pads to do my face and neck where as with the toner I only needed to use one cotton pad. I also found that no matter how tight the jar lid was, the pads still seemed to dry out, so much so in fact that the last couple of pads were pretty much bone dry.

I think these are great for travel but I definitely prefer the liquid version. If you fancy trying these though they have an RRP of £5.99 but Superdrug often have offers on their own brand skincare, so you can usually get them either a bit cheaper are are part of a multi buy offer x

2. The Body Shop Spiced Apple Shower Gel - 250ml

Next up the first of two items from The Body Shop Spiced Apple festive collection from 2016 / 2017. Whilst my heart really belongs to their Glazed Apple range from 2014 / 2015, Spiced Apple also went down in history as one of my favourite ever holiday scents from The Body Shop.

It's just so mouthwateringly, edible, and combines the sweet, yet fruity tartness of apple, with cinnamon, and warming spices - it really is American style apple pie in a bottle! It does smell slightly strong in the bottle, but mix a small amount with water and the scent really comes to life as the gel produces a mountain of creamy bubbles.

Alas there were no apple based scents in The Body Shop 2018 festive inventory but fingers crossed they make another appearance in 2019, till then though I have a few bottles and tubs remaining to keep me clean and apple scented throughout 2019.

3. Primark PS... It's Oil Good! Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Now if you are a new reader, be prepared to see these quite regularly in my monthly empties post, I buy them in multiples, and they are a regular fixture in my beauty and hygiene routine. i don't tend to use them on my face that often but I do use them for general freshening up, cleaning make up packaging, and for cleaning up swatches after photographing make up swatches.

Containing lots of antibacterial tea tree, you can get these wipes in Primark at just £1 for 2 packs of 25 wipes.

4. The Body Shop Spiced Apple Exfoliating Sugar Body Scrub - 250ml

Finally another item from The Body Shop Spiced Apple range, and I feeling particularly sad about this because this was my last tub and this was probably my favourite product in the whole range :(

With that warming, cinnamon spiced apple scent, this scrub is perfect for those cold nights. It's crammed full of exfoliating sugar grains. It's nice and gritty but it's not too harsh, or scratchy, it gives you a nice thorough scrub, and it rinses away easily and dissolves when you add warm water, and it leaves the skin feeling super smooth. I don't really have anything else to say apart from please, please bring this back in 2019 The Body Shop !!!

So they were my January 2019 empties, not the best of starts to the year, but hopefully I can do a lot better from here on in x If you have any questions on any of the items that I finished then please leave me a comment below xx 

An Announcement On My You Tube Future, And An Unboxing Video

Next month my blog celebrates it's 12th birthday - sometimes it's hard to believe that I've been blogging for so long, I've seen some many amazing bloggers come and go in that time, but some how I've managed to keep at it and stick it out.

It hasn't always been an easy ride, in the last few years especially I've found it hard to stay motivated, and sometimes I've started to wonder if it's all worth while. Life and my health really have started to get in the way at times, and my blog has definitely suffered, posting has been sporadic at best and as a result, my blog hasn't grown in quite the way that I wanted it to. It's a vicious circle I guess, you don't post, you don't get views, you miss out on opportunities and you feel as though you've let people down, and as result you wonder if it's all worthwhile, and if it's worth ploughing energy that you don't really have into something that's on a downhill slide, so you don't post, and the circle continues.

The easiest option would be to give it up, but I don't want to do that, I've worked too damn hard to get as far as I have, and unlike a lot of people who've say they've fallen out of love with writing, I haven't, I still enjoy writing, using my brain a bit, and the whole blogging process, I want to keep going and despite the likelihood that life is still going to get in the way, in 2019 I want to be a better blogger and I want to push my blog on, like I know that I can. In order to do that though, I'm going to have to make some sacrifices, and unfortunately one of them is going to be my You Tube channel.

For 9 years now, I've regularly posted videos to my You Tube channel, I've posted everything from cat videos, to holiday snapshots, to unboxing's and hauls, and it's something that I've really enjoyed doing. Despite the odd nasty comment, I've really found that it's boosted my confidence, and it's given me another way to express myself. For whatever reason though my channel never really hit the heights that I wanted it too, and I found it incredibly difficult to grow any sort of following on You Tube, despite my own perceived failings in that sense though, I achieved enough views to earn a little bit of money from my videos, which was an added incentive to keep at it. Alas like so many small You Tubers policy changes meant that I lost the ability to monetise my videos, I wasn't earning a lot by any means but it as I say it gave me a reason to continue; Around the same time coincidental or not my views dropped like a stone and any form of interaction pretty much dried up.

I've gave it the benefit of the doubt for quite a few months now and I've kept at it, but given the time and the energy (that I don't really have) that it takes me to film, edit and upload even a short video, I've came to the conclusion that I could put both my time and my energy to better use. So after 9 years, I've decided at least in the short term to call it quits on You Tube. I've given it my best shot but at the end of the day I think the odds were always against me. I won't be deleting my You Tube channel so by all means stay subscribed and watch a few of my videos if you haven't already but for the foreseeable future I won't be posting any new videos.

So now that my You Tube channel is officially on hold, hopefully now I can give my blog all the love, time, attention and energy that it deserves. A lot of the content that I produced for my You Tube channel such as favourites videos, and unboxings will translate pretty well into blog posts, so you can look forward to lots of new posts and different types of content, including some unboxing posts, the first of which should be live next week x In the meantime though don't forget to watch my You Tube back catalogue, and please have a little watch of my last video where I'm unboxing the December 2018 edition of Pink Parcel x You can watch below or via this link x



Thank you as per usual for watching, reading and for all your support x

The Beast From The East And Lypsyl Giveaway Winner Revealed*

Hey Guys x I hope you're all well, and that you're all keeping warm and cosy, and staying out of the wind and snow. The "beast from the east" has slammed into my little corner of Co Durham today with heavy snow falling for most of the day and freezing temperatures, and supposedly there is more to come!

I know we deal with bad weather incredibly badly in the UK compared to some countries but the snow and the cold can be deadly. I've tweeted a few links today from Centrepoint and Shelter on how to help homeless people in this weather so please take a look if you can but in the meantime take care of yourselves! Please, please don't go out if you don't need to, and if you do go out make sure to wrap up warm, and if you're taking the car make sure to take a shovel, some food and drink and a blanket in case you get stuck. it's better to be safe than sorry, so take notice of all of the local travel and weather reports and take care! 

On a slightly less serious note please don't forget to look after your skin in the bad weather, no matter how well you wrap up there will always be a bit of your skin exposed so make sure you use plenty of moisturiser, and don't forget the lip balm!

Speaking of lip balm (see what I did there ;) it's now time to announce the winner of my Valentines Day giveaway, and to find out which one of my lucky followers has won a Lypsyl Revitalising Cherry And Almond Lip Balm Stick*. Thanks to all of you for following and of course for entering unfortunately there can only be one winner, and the winner picked at random via Rafflecopter is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Margaret G.

Congratulations Margaret! I'll be sending you an email shortly to ask for your details. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry I have several more giveaways planned (cough, cough Tarte anyone ;) that you won't want to miss, so stay following, and keep your eyes peeled x

*Press Sample

Happy 11th Birthday LouLouLand !

Well there were times over the last 12 months that I didn't think that I would make it this far but I have and today my blog is celebrating it's 11th birthday.

About this time every year I normally write a post sharing some of my wisdom about blogging and what I've learnt over the last however many years. I don't really want to repeat myself too much so all I can say is that most of what I've learnt in the past 10 or so years still applies.

Over the last 12 months or so I've struggled on so many levels, and it's probably pretty obvious to most of you that I've struggled when it comes to blogging as well.

A lot of that has been to do with personal things and health issues but at times I've really felt as though that my blog has ran it's course.

There is no doubt that blogging has become harder and harder as time has gone on, there are so many bloggers out there now that you sometimes feel as though your getting lost in a sea of people with way more talent, charisma and presence than you will ever have.

I've talked on several occasions about finding your own niche, about going your own way, and doing your own thing, and not comparing yourself to others but I'm not going to lie it's easier said than done at times.

If you're lacking in the old self belief and self confidence thing it really doesn't take a lot to make you question on whether it's all worth while and whether any one would really care if you just hit the delete button and moved on! Then though, I look back at everything that's happened to me because of blogging and then I think yeah, I may not have kazillions of followers and get sent on press trips to the Maldives ;) but I'm doing pretty well thank you very much! I've worked with some amazing brands, I've met some lovely people and I've had so many lovely messages and emails over the years from readers that just makes it all worth while.

I guess what I'm trying to say is never give up on anything, look at how far you've come, how hard you've worked and what you've achieved so far. Obviously we all want to be right up there and be the best that we can be, but beating ourselves up and thinking that we're a failure because of a few numbers on a screen or because you don't get a cute package through the post or invited to the event of your dreams, isn't the way to go and that's the one piece of advice that I would give anyone who wants to be a blogger - don't use things like that to value your own self worth!

Although I'm finding myself using it more and more, I'm not a huge fan of the term small blogger, or small You Tuber, believe me when I say that there are way more of those then they are of the big boys! There are so many amazing bloggers and content producers out there that don't have a ton of subscribers and followers, and whilst I hope upon hope that they do get the recognition they deserve at the same time I really hope that even if they don't, they don't give up and they keep doing what they love, after all that's what it's all about at the end of the day.

I originally set my blog up to explore things that I love including fashion, beauty, food and home style, and whilst at time I've fallen out with the whole blogging thing, and the politics and stresses behind it at times, I haven't fell out of love with why I started blogging and maybe that is what's kept me going for 11 years.

So you haven't got rid of me that easily! I'm still here and when I'm up to it I'm still going to be sharing my life and my loves with you, so thank you again and again for all of your support, and for all of  your lovely comments and messages over the years I really do appreciate it more than you will ever know x

PIXI + It's Judy Time Get The Look It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette Giveaway Winner Revealed

Just quick post for you today and it's the one that you've probably all been waiting for - Admittedly a little later than I'd intended but it's now time to announce the winner of my PIXI giveaway x 

I had over 500 entries for which I'm really grateful for so thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to check out my blog and my other social media channels x I really enjoyed reading all of your comments and finding out all of the lovely things that you were lucky enough to receive over the holidays, and after having a read through  I couldn't resist adding a few things to my own wishlist ;)

As much as I'd love to give a prize to you all though I can't and there can only be one winner, and using Rafflecopter, the lucky winner who will receive a PIXI + It's Judy Time Get The Look It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette and a NEXT Cosmetic Bag is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cheryl H.

Congratulations Cheryl, I will be in touch soon for your postal details. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time, don't worry there will be plenty more chances to win on LouLouLand in 2018. Thanks again to everyone who entered and thanks again for supporting my blog and my social media channels x

Life Lately, Social Media And Trimming My Stash - June 2017 Edition

Hey Guys? Remember Me? It's safe to say that when it comes to blogging, June was a little bit of a fail. I managed to upload quite a few videos to my You Tube channel but the words on the screen thing just didn't really happen for me last month.

I seemed to spend most of June in a weary, Fibro and ME induced foggy haze, I had the best of intentions to get out there and get things done but for most of the month neither my mind nor my my body would play ball.  As I say I managed to upload a few videos to my channel, and I was pretty active on Instagram, but the thanks to a lot of brain fog the words just wouldn't come, so I took a bit of time out, had lot of me time, and as a result I feel a little bit more refreshed.

I firmly believe that sometimes you do need to take a bit of time out, and spend some time concentrating on yourself and your own well being. Like a lot of bloggers I do feel guilty when I can't and don't post as frequently but I'm really trying to teach myself not to. I love my blog, my followers and the little space that I've created for myself online, but my blog is only part of me and my life, and sometimes as much as I love it, I just need to focus on the bits away from the camera and the screen. I've seen a few people saying that they'll stop following a blogger or a You Tuber if they don't post every single week, and I guess what I'm trying to say is for those people, no matter how "big" (I hate that term!) or small a blogger is they deserve to take time out and have some time away from it, we're are all but mere mortals and sometimes you need to say enough is enough, I need some R & R.

So I've had a mini blogging break, and whilst I can't guarantee that I won't be having another one in the near future, I'm back for now and I'm ready to get my blog on again, and since it's the 1st day of a new month, there is no better place to start than with a empties post x

Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes
Philosophy The Gingerbread Man Exfoliating Shower Gel - 473.1ml
Beauty Bible Face And Body Oil - 60ml
Dove Pure Care Dry Oil Non Greasy Conditioner - 50ml
Dove Pure Care Dry Oil Non Greasy Shampoo - 50ml

Total - 5 Items 

Hmm maybe it wasn't just my blogging mojo that disappeared in June! Again I had the best of intentions when it came to trimming my stash last month but it just didn't really happen. For the second month in a row I only managed to finish 5 items, and 5 very uninteresting items at that. 

1. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Yes, another packet of these, and believe me they only slipped into June's total by the skin of their teeth! There is pretty much nothing else that i can say about these that I haven't already said! They're cheap, they do what they say they do, and they are one of my holy grail products even if I don't really use them for their intended purpose, like most of these wipes that I've used up this packet were used mainly for swatch clean up and freshening up x 

2. Philosophy The Gingerbread Man Exfoliating Shower Gel - 473.1ml

Instead of swapping my Christmas shower products for more Spring and Summer themed ones, this year I've decided just to leave them in the shower and try and use them up. I love Philosophy's Gingerbread Man range, it doesn't smell particularly gingery to me, instead I get sugar, and warm spices from it, and even a little bit of cheap cola but I've used it for years and the scent just makes me think about Christmas. That said this isn't my favourite product in the range, I like a gritty, grainy scrubs, and this one is basically just a whole bunch of fine particles surrounded by a runny, brown shower gel. I love the scent but it doesn't look particular pleasant and it's just not scrubby enough for me.

3. Beauty Bible Face And Body Oil - 60ml

Next up a mystery product, and it's a product that I was sent last year from the team at The Beauty Bible. If you don't know what The Beauty Bible is then where have you been? Basically it's a series of books that are crammed full of beauty product reviews that are written by real women. All you need to do to take part is sign up to be a tester on their website, and if you're selected, you pay a small fee to cover postage, and administration (and to prove that you're committed to taking part), and then you'll receive a huge package of goodies to try out and review. I've done it a couple of times now, and I've discovered some really nice products because of it, the only thing is that you aren''t supposed to share the products that you tried on social media so all I can say is that this was a body and face oil, I loved it on the body, but it was a big thumbs down from me as a facial oil.

4. Dove Pure Care Dry Oil Non Greasy Conditioner - 50ml

5. Dove Pure Care Dry Oil Non Greasy Shampoo - 50ml

Finally two products that came in successive Pink Parcel's and they are hair products from Dove. After a period of relative stability my hair problems returned with a vengeance and the only thing that seems to have helped has been to load it up with as much moisture as possible - I've been layering on the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer, and the hair oils, and I've been trying out a few different moisturising shampoos and conditioners. If you look at the Boots website these two Dove products for dull and dry hair have some amazing reviews, and even though these were just travel sizes I can see why. Not only do they smell great, with a fresh and clean scent, but both of these products left my hair feeling smoother, and more manageable, and thanks to the dry oil ingredients, unlike some other oil rich products that I've tried they didn't leave my hair feeling greasy, heavy or lank. I literally have a drawer full of shampoos, conditioners and hair products to use up, but if I was on the lookout for a new shampoo and conditioner I would definitely consider repurchasing both of these products, and if you have hair that needs a little bit of love then this range is definitely worth a try.

So bar a couple of shopping trips, my ongoing weight loss journey, and an afternoon tea, this post has pretty much summed up June in LouLouLand, My aims for July? lots of self care, lots of blogging, a bit of You Tube (check out my channel if you haven't already), a bit of Instagram and hopefully lots more empties x Whatever I do and whatever you do, I hope that July is a good month for all of us x Thanks for reading x 

Illamsaqua Extinct Go Nude Lip Kit Winner Revealed

Just a quick post for you today and for one of you it's going to be a good one, because today I'm announcing the winner of my 10th blogging birthday, Illamasqua giveaway x

I've really enjoyed reading through your comments, and suggestions on what you would like to see on the blog and I'm definitely going to be taking some, if not all of your suggestions on board as I try to take the blog forward in 2017, so thanks again for all of your feedback xx

I had over 700 entries and as much as want to give you all a prize to thank you for your support over the last 10 years, there can only be one winner, and the winner, picked randomly via Rafflecopter is

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ashley Bree Perez

Congratulations Ashley x Can you please send an email with your postal address to louloulanduk@gmail.com as soon as possible and I'll get your prize sent out to you x 

You know what I'm going to say now I guess, but the same thing I always say still applies, don't worry if you weren't lucky enough to win this time, I have several more giveaways coming soon. There probably won't be another big one till around May time, but I do have a few smaller home, and beauty ones to come so make sure you're still following for a chance to win x Thanks for reading and of course thank you for following and for your continued support x 

"I'm At A Place Called Vertigo" And It Hasn't Been Fun!

Well this little ditty from U2, pretty much says it all. Although I've still been uploading fairly regularly to my You Tube channel (thanks to an en block recording day!), I've been AWOL from the blog for a couple of weeks now, thanks to, at least in part, you've guessed it vertigo!

No not the U2 song, or even the Hitchcock's film noir,  but a horrible illness that makes you feel sick and dizzy. My mum was poorly first but I didn't think too much of it, she has a history of vertigo, but then I started feeling dizzy and that was that, a trip to the doctors, the diagnosis of a possible virus, and a box of prescription pills later, I thought I was feeling better, so on Tuesday I went on a long planned shopping trip with my Godmother and her friend, and then it came back with a vengeance.

Couple that with a fibro and CFS flare, and I've spent the last three days in bed, in a slighty blurry, not quite there haze,  believe me feeling like you've got a hangover when you haven't even had a drink is not fun! At last though I'm starting to see the light at the end of yet another long, dark tunnel and I'm starting feel less drowsy, and less woozy.

So from Monday I will be back posting regularly again with plenty more hauls, beauty reviews and who knows what else, and I'll also be announcing the winner of my Illamasqua giveaway, so make sure you keep checking back to see if you're a winner.

Until then though thank you for reading and following and I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, and I will see you next week with some new posts x

Happy 10th Birthday LouLouLand! - Reflecting On 10 Years Of Blogging

You can't celebrate a birthday without cake, but unfortunately for me or should I say unfortunately for my stomach, all I could get my hands was these yummy and super sweet Tesco cupcakes.

It isn't my birthday of course, but it's the 10th birthday of something that's slowly become to define me, and become a part of me, my blog! It's hard to believe that 10 years ago today I made the decision to sign up to blogspot and I decided to start sharing my life and my loves online.

Since I started celebrating my blogging birthday I've posted quite a few of these Happy Birthday posts now and they all say something pretty similar - I usually talk about how much blogging has changed over the years, and how grateful I am for all of the opportunities that have came my way, and to be honest today, my feelings are exactly the same. I've been very lucky over the years, I've worked with some amazing brands and I've met some lovely people ,all through farting about on the Internet as one of my relatives describes it!

As I've said before though, blogging really has become my lifeline, it's given me something to focus on and something to do when various aspects of my life on turmoil, it's helped me meet new people, it's helped me learn lots of new skills, and I'm now lucky enough to class as a part time job.

The last few years have been hard for me personally in a lot of ways, and unfortunately I feel as though my blog has suffered, I haven't spent as much time and effort on it as I would have liked, and as I've said previously my posting and my content has suffered, but you're still here and you're still with me. So I want to say a huge, huge thank you to every single person out there that's read or followed my blog over, and I'd also like to say a huge thank you to the brands and companies that I've worked with, and I'd also liked to thank all of my follow blogging friends both new and old, if it hadn't been for all of your support and encouragement there is no way I would still be prattling on 10 years after that first not very exciting post x

After a couple of frustrating months I'm just about ready to get back to where I want to be - I have lots and lots of plans and ideas for the future and I'm looking forward to my blogging future with both optimism and enthusiasm. As I say I can't thank you all enough for your support so as a way of expressing my gratitude I will be hosting another high end beauty giveaway on the blog which should be live in the next few days x So Merci Beaucoup again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend xx

Real Techniques Your Picks Berlin Brush Set Winner Revealed

Hi Guys x I hope you all had a lovely weekend, I know I'm a little bit late but it's now to time to announce the winner of my Real Techniques giveaway! I had over 2,000 entries and I've really enjoyed reading through some of your new years resolutions and I'm definitely going to take aboard some of your blog post suggestions in 2017.

Alas there can only be one winner, and the winner picked at random from Rafflecopter is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deborah Smith

AKA kungfupidge21 on Instagram

Congratulations Deborah x If you can send your address details to louloulanduk@gmail.com  before this Saturday, then I'll post your prize out to you next week x

If you weren't lucky enough to win this time round don't despair, this weekend marks my 10th blogging anniversary and I may be hosting another high end giveaway on Sunday that you won't want to miss if x Thanks again for all of your entries, and of course for all of your follows, comments and support xx

I'm Back - Changes And A Life Update

Hi Guys x After a little break I'm back again x I want to start off this post with a huge thank you to all of you for your tweets, Facebook messages and emails regarding the passing of my godfather. I've really appreciated all of your thoughts and kind words and it really has helped me over the last fortnight.

It's been a rough few weeks with lots of sadness, and tears but as a family we've also shared a lot of happy memories and we've renewed a lot of relationships, as we came together to celebrate my godfathers life. Things won't be easy as we start to move forward and there will be a lot of hard days and changes ahead but we'll deal with them together, as an extended family.

I really needed to take some time away from the blog and I'm pleased that I did, but after a week or so's break I was ready and raring to go again, so on Saturday I turned on my laptop on to do some work on the blog and on my You Tube channel, and them WHAM, a black screen and then the message Unable To Boot Device, Hard Drive Not Found! Argh! If you follow me on twitter you'll know that this happened a couple of weeks ago but thankfully it righted itself and I was able to back up all of my photos and my videos just in case it all went belly up again, and predictably it did.

This time though there was no going back and instead of throwing good money after bad, I decided to take the plunge and buy something new instead of getting my Acer repaired yet again! Thanks to my own hard work and my amazing family I was able to get myself a shiny new MacBook Pro!

I'm not going to lie, the switch from Windows to Apple, has been a little harder than I anticipated. As well as getting used to a whole new system, my backups didn't go quite to plan, so i now have 3000 photos to sort through, and my videos are all saved in the wrong format so I need to convert them and get to grips with iMovie at the same time. What have I done!!!

I've managed to edit and upload a video today with only a minor issue with the end titles so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I've also managed to edit some photographs and install a few programmes so fingers crossed it won't take too long to get used to it, and hopefully I'll be an Apple convert before I know it!

So at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm back again and this time I'm back for good. I'm still going to have illness nightmares and lots of family time but I think it's about time I showed my little old blog and my You Tube channel, the love they deserve!. I'll start off gently tomorrow with a nails of the day post, but then I'll be getting back on track with plenty of hauls, and some beauty reviews. Thank you as per usual for all of your support, and for taking the time to read my blog, watch my videos or even to read my tweets or to look at my Instagram or Snapchat pictures x Don't forget to let me know what you'd like to see on the blog or any of my other social media channels - I really do appreciate your input x Thanks for reading x

The Balm Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palette Winner Revealed

I hope you're all on the edge of your seats and hanging on to every word that you're reading, because it's the moment that you've all been waiting for! It time to announce the winner of my 9th Blog Birthday giveaway!

It wasn't the most popular giveaway than I've ever held :( but I still received over 1500 entries. Thanks to every single one of you that entered. I've really enjoyed reading through your comments, and I'll definitely be taking a lot of your post suggestions on board, finances permitting ;) Unfortunately there can only be one winner and that winner, who was drawn randomly via Rafflecopter is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bryanna S 

Congratulations Bryanna x I'll be sending you an email shortly asking for your details x Thanks again to all of you that entered and I'm only sorry I couldn't give you all a prize. I have plenty more giveaways planned though including some nail polish giveaways and I since I hit 1000 Bloglovin followers during the course of this giveaway, I might hold a giveaway to celebrate that too :) So stay following, and reading for more chances to win.

Happy Birthday LouLouLand - What 9 Years Of Blogging Teaches You

It might be missing a candle or 9 but you can't celebrate a birthday without a cake. It isn't my birthday though it's my blogs. On the 12th February 2007, LouLouLand was born. I published my first post on this little old blog of mine and 9 years later I'm still here.

There have been a lot of changes over the years, but I think that my blog has stood the test of time. It's changed with me but at it's core it's still the same and still my place to escape and explore some of the things that I love.

It hasn't always been a bed of roses though and  I've fallen in and out of love with blogging more than once over the years but at the moment I'm enjoying the opportunities and challenges that it brings and I think I've finally found my niche.

Nowadays blogging seems to be all about statistics, followers, events, and press packs, it's a far cry from those early days when there was no such thing as Google Friend Connect, and SEO. We've come a long, long way since then, and it's amazing that the internet has changed so much and given bloggers, You Tubers, and armchair journalists so many amazing opportunities and so much recognition, but for some us maybe it's only increased the pressure

I am eternally grateful for all the opportunities that blogging has brought me but sometimes I wonder if some of us are losing the love.  It's great to have lots of followers, fab to receive press samples, and amazing to get invited to events but it shouldn't be the bee all and end all. It's great to have blogging aims and ambitions but please, please enjoy what you do, enjoy writing, enjoy taking photographs, and don't be disheartened if the numbers don't climb and the invites don't rush in.

I've spent a huge part of the last couple of years comparing myself to other people, obsessing over my follower count, and contemplating why I haven't been invited to certain blog events but I need to build a bridge and get over it. If you love what you do why should somebody elses approval matter. I might not have as a many followers are some other bloggers who've been around for as long as I have but I love and appreciate the ones that I do have. Yes an invite, some press samples, or a new follower can make you feel better about your blog but when things don't go the way you hoped, don't let it get you down x

It's taken 9 years but at last I'm starting to feel comfortable in my online home, yes I might feel the pressure and have spells of negativity, and self doubt but that's me. So many blogs have been and gone in those 9 years but if there was an award for longevity you never know,  I might win it. I'm still here writing rambly posts, and struggling with bad light, and I'm determined to still be around this time next year to celebrate the big 10. Thanks to all of you for being there and don't forget to enter my 9th anniversary giveaway x

My Little Box Diary Winner Revealed

Hi Guys x Just a quick little post for you today and for one of you it will be good one. My, My Little Box Diary Giveaway ended at midnight,so I thought I'd try and get the winner up ASAP. I had a lot more entries than expected, so thank you all for taking the time out to enter, and to follow my blog and all my other social media channels. I really enjoyed reading about your new years resolutions and you've definitely given my a few goals that I could maybe try and achieve myself in 2016 - good luck to all of you and I have that you all achieve you goals and your dreams. Unfortunately there can only be one winner though and that winner picked at random via Rafflecopter is....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jennifer Haden

Congratulations Jennifer x  I will be sending you an email shortly x  Jennifer won by following me on Instagram so always remember to utilise as many entry options as possible. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry I may have a review post and an early blogging birthday giveaway going up this weekend, so stay following for the chance to win a prize you'll really want to win x

Charlotte Tilbury Giveaway Winner Announced

Hi Guys x I hope you've all had a good start to the week x I know it's been the first week back at school or work for most of you so I hope it hasn't been too awful x Even if it has though, I'm about to hopefully make one of you very happy :) Festive giveaways are a bit of tradition on LouLouLand and this year I decided to giveaway the gorgeous Lipstick Charm set from Charlotte Tilbury. Well my giveaway finished on Sunday, and I had nearly 2,500 entries x I really enjoyed reading about what your all looking forward too from graduations, to new homes, jobs, and even babiesx  Thank you so much for sharing but there can only be one winner, and that winner picked randomly via Rafflecopter is....


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Holly Jade C

Congratulations Holly, I've sent you an email, so if you can send me your postal address I'll get your prize sent out ASAP.

If you weren't luck enough to win this time round don't worry, as well as writing normal blog post which obviously I love doing, I also love hosting giveaways so I *might* have picked up something for another one which will be going live quite soon ;) All I'll say is that it's something that I got for Christmas and it's something that I think a lot of you will love x Have a little watch of the final part of my What I Got For Christmas video series and see if you can guess what it is x 

Thanks for watching, reading and entering and of course thanks for subscribing, following and interacting x 

Nails Inc - Tate Giveaway Winners Announced

Hi Guys x I hope you've all had a good week so far x I've been a busy bee this week hanging curtains, taking photographs and finishing my Christmas shopping. I'm currently attempting to put together an artificial Christmas tree - frustrating as hell and I need a break so I thought I'd take a couple of minutes out to pick the winners of my recent Nails Inc giveaway. I have two bottles to giveaway so using Rafflecopter I picked two winners who are....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sarah Louise

And 

Melissa Lee

Congratulations ladies x I've sent you both an email so please send me your details asap and I'll get your prizes sent out to you before Christmas x 

If you couldn't enter this time round or you weren't lucky enough to win this tie round don't worry x My big Christmas giveaway launches this Saturday and although it's just the one prize believe me this is something that you will want to win x So make sure your following all of my social media channels for more chances to win x I've been a bit quiet on the blog this week but I've uploaded two videos to my You Tube channel and a couple of pictures to Instagram, so you'll always find me somewhere on the interweb x Thanks for reading and of course for following xx