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
Hi Guys x I hope you all had a lovely Christmas x It was a quiet one here in LouLouLand but it was a one filled with lots of love and precious family time. This year has been a sad and reflective one for me for so many reasons, and as a result I think my blog has suffered. I haven't been able to devote as much time and energy to it as I would have liked, and as much as I know I shouldn't have to apologise for that, I still feel as though I should.
Despite the fact that my posting has been a touch on the erratic side this year, I still managed to post quite a few pieces that I'm pretty pleased with, so in this post I'm going to take a little look back at 2016, both on a personal level and on a blogging level, and I'm going to share with you some of my favourite and most poignant blog posts of 2016. I've had to split this into two parts so here is Part 1 - January to June x
January 2016
The last few months of 2015 were a bit rough thanks to a very inflamed wisdom tooth, but thankfully in January the tooth said goodbye. Without going into two much graphic detail I shared my wisdom tooth removal experience with you, and I also talked about how even the smallest thing can knock you for 6 when you suffer from chronic illness.
There have been a few fabulous tooth fairy stories floating around on the internet this year, but seeing as I'm an adult the tooth fairy doesn't visit me anymore but thankfully my lovely Mummy took on the tooth fairy role and bought me a couple of things to cheer me up after my surgery.
She got me two of the exclusive QVC UK, Hello Kitty For OPI kits, and on the 24th January I shared pictures and swatches of those two kits with you. The first kit was a beautifully packaged 3D collectors box which contained 6 full sized lacquers and the second was a beautiful full size duo pack. I've posted a few nails of the days over the course of the year but there are still plenty more to come in 2016.
Recipes and Foodie Friday posts were a bit thin on the ground in 2016, but I started the year on a high by sharing one of my favourite quick meals, my version of Nigella Lawson's Eggs In Purgatory. Soft, quick, and warming and perfect for when you're short on energy and time x
February 2016
Although February is the shortest month, in 2016 it was my busiest blogging month and I posted more in February than I did in any other month of the year.
There was a nice assortment of posts including some hauls including some more Hello Kitty For OPI kits , some nails of the days, the start of yet another weight loss journey and my usual Trimming My Stash posts, and it was my birthday, No not my real birthday but in February I celebrated my blogging birthday and 9 years of LouLouLand - eek! I still can't believe that it been 9 years and I'm already looking forward to celebrating 10 years in February 2017.
To celebrate my 9th blogging birthday I held a little giveaway and I gave away what would become one of my favourite eyeshadow palettes of 2016, The Balm Nude Dude. Alas the giveaway ended a long while ago now, but this palette is still widely available, so don't forget to have a read of this post, and view some of the swatches for yourself x
I love Benefit's mini kits, either for travel or for trying out new products and this kit was no exception. It contains 6 pieces including a mini Hoola Bronzing Powder, a mini Dew The Hoola Liquid Bronzer and it's perfect for adding a bit of colour to your complexion all year round.
March 2016
March saw the appearance of another Foodie Friday post and this time I shared one of my favourite Hello Fresh recipes with you, Mexican Bean & Buckwheat Bake With Creme Fraiche, and I talked about using Buckwheat as a grain and how I use it instead of pasta, rice and cous cous.
I also dug out one of my Hello Kitty plushes out and shared a Hello Kitty For OPI Nails Of The Day with you, in the blackest of black shades, Never Have Too Mani Friends.
There were a few nail posts in March and in celebration of what was a very early Easter, I shared a Mini Egg themed manicure with you, using Models Own Speckled Egg in NP202 Swan, a lovely lilac shade, which is crammed full of matte black glitter x
In March I also talked about one of my best discoveries of 2015 and 2016 the RESEED* hair care system. This was quite an emotional post for me because I talked about my relationship with and experience of hair loss. Like so many treatments for hair loss, the RESEED system isn't the cheapest but it made a real difference to my hair. You can read my thoughts here x
April 2016
April was a busy month review wise, and in April I reviewed a few natural make up products from both Benecos and Lavera, for My Pure*. I also shared you a few hauls with you, including some beauty bits, and a Primark haul. Primark hauls were a real feature on both my blog and my you Tube channel in 2016 and they've proved really popular in both formats so that's definitely something that will be continuing in 2017.
Something else that I hope will be continuing in 2017, are the Intu Metrocentre Style Garden events*. I've been to quite a few of these now and I've loved every minute of them. April's even beautifully combined some of the centres best fashion and beauty offerings. I had a Giorgio Armani makeover, I tried some Liz Earle fragrances and thanks to the event I also ended up having a beautiful Kiehls facial and hand and arm massage, and I ended going on a little bit of a shopping spree which I ended up talking about much later in the year, see I told you I'd been a bad blogger ;)
In April I also shared a pretty large Beauty Haul with you, but unusually for me I just did it in video form and I didn't write an accompanying post to go with it. I utilised You Tube this was a lot in 2016, and I produced a lot of exclusive content that was just for my You Tube channel including favourites, lots of unboxings and some exclusive hauls like the one that you can see below. I've really enjoyed making videos in 2016, and I'm definitely going to be working harder to grow my You Tube channel in 2016 so make sure that you're subscribed x
April was also the month where I got messy, and slathered my hair in Lush Henna. Despite the fact that it's more than a little bit messy I'm a big fan of traditional henna hair dye. It leaves my hair in fabulous condition and I love the subtle wash of colour that it gives. So if you want a full demonstration and you want to see some pictures of me with a carrier bag on my head, don't forget to look back and read the post here x
May 2016
May is probably my favourite month of the year, probably because it's my birthday month! On the 15th I celebrated my 30 something th birthday and I shared an exclusive What I Got For My Birthday video with you x
I also shared a very rare outfit of the day post with you. I love my clothes but lately I've been really lacking in body confidence so outfit posts have been a little thin on the ground. I am hoping to get back on track and build up my confidence though so here's hoping that I can manage a few more in 2017. In the meantime though check out this post, to see a gorgeous bright floral Simply Be dress on mah body!
2016 was definitely the year when I tried to be a little bit more experimental with lip colour, and in May I was lucky enough to be able to try out a berry toned lip colour from Smashbox. This is the Smashbox Be Legendary Long Wear Lip Lacquer in Currant and I love it! Find out why in this post x
June 2016
Ah June half way through the year, and the official start of summer! At the start of the month, I celebrated one of my best friends birthday with ice cream sundaes at Lickety Split in Seaham, and a home fragrance inspired shopping trip. This haul post was a sign of things to come, and 2016 was officially the year when I went candle daft, check out this post for some beautiful smellies from Yankee Candles, Village Candles, M&S, and Poundland.
I also shared a few beauty reviews with you from the likes of Kiehls*, and Lavera* and I also shared with you my love / hate relationship with Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Beyond Mascara. I love the effect but sometime it just turns into a clagg fest. I'll definitely continue to buy but in my opinion always have a lash comb at the ready you can read my thoughts here x
So that was LouLouLand 2016 from January to June in review, don't forget to let me know your thoughts below and don't forget to read Part 2 which should be up soon x
On the 12th February 2007, I clicked publish and uploaded my very first post on this blog. It was just an introduction to my blog but if you'd asked me then if I'd still be here 8 years later and I'd have experienced so much because of blogging, I'd never have believed you.
Less than an a year earlier I'd been diagnosed with ME / CFS and my life had turned upside down, I had to give up my job, and although I didn't know it at the time my social life was pretty much over. In the years before I got ill I'd posted on the handbag.com forums and over the years I'd got to know some of my fellow posters quite well, changes to the chat boards and the site meant that a few of us started to look for different outlets and as a result my blog was born.
It became a place where I could escape, rant and explore some of my passions and some of my irritations. For the first two years I posted sporadically but in 2009 I started to take my blog more seriously and made it a bigger part of my life.
Over the years it's became more and more important to me, long term illness can be a very lonely existence, and I've lost a lot of real life friends over the years but through my blog I have made so many online and "real friends" Bloggers have come and gone over the years but I'm lucky that so many of those handbag.com ladies are still around too, including Yinka from Vex In The City, Frankie from Love Audrey, Emma from They Grow So Quick and Sadie from Butterfly Wings and many others.
It isn't just cyber friends though, I've also been lucky enough to meet quite a number of my fellow North East bloggers some of whom I now consider as friends. It's pretty scary walking into a room when you don't know anyone but when you can leave that room with your self confidence sky high, that yes I did it feeling! and with the knowledge that you've met some lovely people, you've come a long way.
It hasn't always been a bed of roses though, personal issues have often got in the way, haters gonna hate, and with some of the ways that blogging has changed over the years. I would be lying if I said I hadn't felt like giving it up at times.
When I first started blogging people blogged for themselves, if people read your blog it was a bonus, There was no GFC, there was no Bloglovin, there was the favourite or the bookmark button and that was it! Followers didn't matter then but if you want to push your blog on in 2015 followers no matter what anyone says ARE important. Over the years I've gotten frustrated that my blog doesn't have as many followers as some, it's hard not to when you've been around this long, but it's something I'm learning to live with and I'm grateful to all of my followers though and it still surprises me at times that anyone reads what I write. My blog is my baby though and I want it to be successful. Success takes time though and that's something that's important to remember when you first start blogging, the majority of blogs need to time to grow and maybe mine is a just a slow burner :)
I really cant complain though, over the years my blog has grown steadily and I've been lucky enough to work with some fantastic brands and some lovely people. Sometimes I've had to pinch myself in disbelief at how lucky I've been but I don't think it's down to luck it's down to hard work! I wouldn't like to think how many hours I've spent working on this blog over the years, from writing, to photography, editing and research, it all takes time, and when your permanently exhausted and woolly headed even putting up the simplest post can make you feel like you've climbed Everest.
So given my 8 years of experience what advice would I give new bloggers? Well, do it for the right reasons - there is so much talk now about people starting blogs purely to get freebies! If you going to do that, erm here's some advice. Don't! Admittedly times have changed but it probably took 3 or 4 years at least before I was sent anything. It doesn't, and shouldn't happen over night, it's very easy to blog without getting freebies blog about a product you own and like, or talk about something that your passionate about - you need to build your blog, post consistantly, and build an audience and then fingers crossed brands will start to notice you - it takes time and effort on your part, and you need to work hard and be patient.
Another thing I would say is please, please try and blog for yourself. It's tempting to write what other people want you, and design your blog based on what people say in a bloggers chat but please try not too. There is nothing wrong with being an individual and going your own way. It your blog and it's your rules, and that's something I've always tried to stick to, yes you want people to read what you write so there is always a bit of compromise but be yourself and enjoy what you do x
So where now? Well a bit more of the same I think and maybe something a bit different, I'm feeling re-energised after a couple of meh years and I'm ready to take LouLouLand on the next leg of it's journey. I love and appreciate every single one of you and especially those of you who've been with me since the early days x Thanks for being there and here's to 8 more years x
