Collaborative / Partnered Post - Coffee, Camping, Or Cat-Opoly ? Budget Friendly Activities To Do With Friends*

Over the last year or so, one of the things that I've really missed is spending time with my friends. Socially distanced coffee dates, and talking through a gap in the door just didn't cut it at all. Thankfully though, fingers crossed, with an increase in vaccinations, hopefully 2022 is the year when we can start spending more time with our families and friends.

I do enjoy a good coffee or ice cream date, or even a shopping trip with my friends but have you ever fancied doing something just that little bit different? Engaging in a specific task or activity with your friends is always a great time to bond and create memories. It is also great the chance to learn things together, to work as a team, and to have some fun along the way

As much as I'd love to go on a city break or to a luxury spa with my bestie, finances often get in the way, and some of activities and things that you'd love to do with you bestie are just too expensive to do on a regular basis. Whilst your saving up though for that luxury break though, you don't have to just stick to a cheap coffee date or an afternoon window shopping there are a few more budget friendly activities that you could try instead

Play Board Games

Sometimes looking back to the things you used to enjoy as a child can be a gateway to having fun as an adult. Once seen as a bit passé board games are trendy again with new versions of older games such as Monopoly ( Cat-Opoly anyone?) and Scrabble as well as newer game such as Catan flying off the shelves

In moments such as now when we're just starting to rejoin the real world again board games such as Chess, and Scrabble aren't just games - they stimulate your brain by encouraging you to solve problems, and to create winning strategies. Puzzle games and quiz games like Trivial Pursuit, will also get your brain working and create some healthy banter between friends, but remember it is just a game and you're supposed to be having fun so try not to take it too seriously ;)

Skating

Now this one isn't probably the cheapest option but it doesn't have to be expensive, and again it's returning to something that you probably enjoyed in your childhood, skating!

Obviously you could take a few lessons, but you don't need to, to have some fun, so grab yourself some skates and start moving! Whether you choose roller skates vs inline skates for exercise reasons, for enjoyment reasons or even practical reasons (I have the worst balance so I'm a retro roller girl!), the most important thing is you're getting out there and having some fun and who knows, if you really enjoy it, you could maybe join a roller derby team, or organise a roller disco, competing, networking and making new friends.

Learn Some Beauty Hacks

Next up, something close to me heart, and something for the less active amongst us, something that you can do alone or with friends is stick on a You Tube video, or open a blog and learn some beauty and fashion hacks.

Even if your circle of friends are not into the latest trends, you can guarantee that there is always something beauty or fashion wise that they've wanted to learn how to do. It could be how to style their hair, how to create a capsule wardrobe, how to apply false eyelashes, or how to contour.

Grab a few drinks and some snacks get creative and learn some beauty and fashion tricks together. There are millions of YouTube videos you can watch together and learn, so grab your make up, and give each other a make up, or even make your own, my best friend does my make up video. It doesn't matter if it goes wrong make up is all about having fun and it shouldn't be taken that seriously!

Go Camping

Now this one is another suggestion that could be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. I must admit the idea of being in a tent, cold and without a proper toilet slightly fills me full of horror, but I've been watching a few glamping and van life videos lately and the freedom of being out in the open definitely appeals!

If your friends love adventure and nature, then camping is the activity for you. It can be a cheap way to go away from home, bond with nature, unwind, and rest. If it's your first time then you can probably borrow the basics, and even with possible, camp site fees, you'll just need to pay extra for food and drinks, and transport, even one night away from the same four walls can make a real difference to your mood, and spending time with a friend with no real distractions sounds ideal and a great way to cement a relationship.

Road Trips

If you're lucky enough to have a car or you have a friend that does, then going on a road trip is another excellent potentially low budget activity that you can engage with your loved ones to have a good time. Obviously, all of you will need to budget for fuel, and for food and drink on the way, and some money for when you get to your destination but depending on where you're headed it doesn't need to be an expensive day out.

Even if you're just going to the seaside to eat ice cream, stick on some tunes, follow the rules of the road, and spend some quality time with friends or family

Spending quality time with friends and family and making memories doesn't have to be expensive, yes you can grab a coffee together but mix it up a bit as you can see here there are loads of new and different hobbies and activities that you can try to keep those relationships fresh.

What do you do when you meet up with your friends? Do you go for a meal, or shopping, or do you go a fitness class? Whatever you do I'd love to hear from you so let me know your favourite things to do with friends in the comments x

*Collaborative / Partnered Post

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

You Tube Hauling - Beauty, Jewellery And Accessories

I disappeared again, didn't I? I promised you some more posts and then I went AWOL again! I'm sorry that I haven't been the best blogger lately but if you follow me on Instagram or You Tube then you'll know that I haven't been completely absent from social media.

I've always tried to establish an all round social media presence, my aim is to make all of my channels work together, so if you see something on my Instagram, or on my Twitter or on my You Tube channel, then at some point it will probably pop up on my blog.

Although like many users I recently lost the ability to monetise my videos on You Tube, I still enjoy making them and having another mouthpiece for thoughts and ramblings, and dare I say it sometimes it's easier to make a video then it is to take and edit a kazillion pictures for a blog post!

It's always difficult to find content that other people will watch and hopefully enjoy, so at the moment I just seem to be sticking with the old tried and tested, hauls and unboxing videos. I definitely went to switch it up a bit though so I'd love to know what type of content you'd like to watch so please leave me your suggestions below x 

In the meantime though I've recently posted a couple of haul videos that I thought I share with you, the first one is a Dorothy Perkins haul which you can watch below or via this link. I recently took advantage of one of their 25% off everything weekends and picked up a few jewellery pieces, and a couple of pairs of cute socks, so have a watch and let me know your thoughts.

As well as a fashion based haul, I also recently uploaded a very, very late, post Christmas beauty sale haul. Yes I know we're now in April but better late then never eh? Yeah I was pretty ill over the Christmas period but I still managed to make a couple of online sale buys from Benefit, Clinique, Tarte and Marc Jacobs Beauty. You can watch my haul video below or via this link if you are on a mobile device.

Although a lot of the kits and the holiday sets that I talked about were limited editions, I still think that this video was worth sharing with you. Why? well a lot of the kits also contained a lot of permanent items and permanent shades some of which I'll be reviewing on the blog in the next month or so, and if you're a Tarte fan then make sure that you're following my blog because I might have bought a few extra sets to giveaway.

Again I hope you've found these videos useful, as I say I have quite a few reviews to come but if you have any questions on any of the items that I've mentioned in either of these videos then please leave me a comment below, and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel if you haven't already x 

A Budget Home, Lifestyle And Stationery Haul

I know that you guys all love a haul so as a special treat I'm sharing a bit of exclusive content with you. I don't know if you aware of it but I have a You Tube channel, where I mainly post unboxings, and haul videos. A lot of the time I make videos to accompany blog posts and vice versa, but every now and then I shoot a haul video exclusively for my You Tube followers. When I do that I sometimes feel a little bit guilty that some of my blog followers may be missing out so today I thought I'd one of my You Tube channel exclusive hauls with you.

Today it's a bargaintastic home, lifestyle and stationery haul from a variety of stores including Poundland, Tiger and Aldi, and the good news is that the most expensive item was just £5

If you're on a mobile device and you can't see this video please check it out via this link x If you have questions on any of the items that I bought then leave me a comment either below or on my You Tube channel and I'll get back to you x 

LouLouLand - 2016 - A Year In Review - Part 1 - January To June

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 

February also saw the first post in what would become Benefit Cosmetics love in. In 2016 I fell in love with Benefit Cosmetics all over again, and in February I reviewed the Benefit Cosmetics Do The Hoola Beyond Bronze Kit For Complexion, Lips And Eyes. 

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

*Press Samples Or Blog Events

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

Unboxing The First QVC UK Tili Beauty Box

If you're a regular watcher of my You Tube channel you'll know that I love beauty boxes. I love the element of surprise when you open the box and for me it feels a bit like Christmas - ripping open the packaging to see what goodies lie inside.

I personally love the surprise but unfortunately you do have to be prepared to be disappointed - you're not going to like everything in a box all the time and I know that the surprise element can put some people off. Thankfully though there are now ways that you can embrace the whole beauty box trend, and try new products without that unknown factor.

An increasing number of companies are now releasing boxes where you can either choose your own content, or where you know exactly whats in the box before you place your order. The boxes in these cases or either one offs or the subscriptions are more flexible. That way though you can choose what you want to try and minimise the risks and the disappointment 

If that's the route you want to go down though, then there is a new box in town, and you can buy it exclusively from one of my favourite place to shop QVC UK. Tili stands for one their well used phrases Try It Love It, and that's exactly what their box is all about.

The first addition went on sale just over a week ago, and I ordered mine on launch day. The whole idea of Tili is to give customers, and beauty lovers the chance to try some of QVC's newest and best selling beauty products and brands. The website provides you with a full product listing, so you know exactly what your going to get before you checkout. This is the July box and you can see what was inside and my initial thoughts by watching the video below or if your on a mobile device, via this link

At just £20 and free postage I think this box, is pretty good value. The contents has a retail value of around £55 which seems about right - the Alpha H alone works out at about £15 ish, the Elemis Micellar Water retails at £6.90 direct from Elemis, and the full size Essie polish retails at around £7.99. I can't wait to try out some of the products in this kit and I'll definitely be picking up the next Tili box if I can get my hands on it x 

This box doesn't seem to be a monthly thing, in fact I don't think that the next one is released till October, so you're not tied to anything, just a warning though, it's way to easy to shop with QVC and one purchase will inevitably lead to another!. You can find out more about the Tili box and how to order via this link. What do you think of the Tili box? Do you like the flexibility and the knowledge? or do you like a surprise? Let me know and I'd love to know what subscription boxes you like, so hit me up with your recommendations, oh and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel for more unboxings, shopping and beauty content x 

A Very Late May Beauty Favourites Video

I'm late again but I've just uploaded my May beauty favourites video and I'd love it you'd take a look, either by watching the video below or by clicking on this link.

Products Mentioned 

Gatineau Tan Accelerating Lotion For Face And Body 

Lavera Fine Loose Mineral Powder - Transparent*

(Read my review here x)

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate**

Kiehls Rare Earth Pore Minimizing Lotion

Flat Top Face Brushes - Various Ebay Sellers

Jewellery From Ebay Seller - MandyMax1971

I hope you enjoyed this video and / or you found it useful, If you did please subscribe and if you have any questions on anything that I talked about then please leave me a comment x Thanks for reading and hopefully watching x 

*Press Sample

**On Counter Sample 

Birthday Pressie Haul - You Tube Video

Hi Guys x I hope you've all had a nice weekend, my week was pretty lousy but thankfully I had quite a productive weekend, and I managed to take lots of photographs, do a bit of product research and I also managed to film a couple of videos, including the reasons why I'm saying goodbye to Birchbox, and a little or should I say long! birthday pressie haul x

I admit it, it's a long one, but I received some lovely things this year that I really wanted to show you, I know I'm very lucky and truly blessed to have such an amazing family, and such loyal and thoughtful friends.

If you can't bare to listen to me rambling on for 25 minutes, I'll give you a few hints - The video contains a bit of everything, including a few clothing pieces from George, Bob Mackie, and Primark, some beautiful jewellery pieces from Lola Rose, some accessories from various places including Asda, and Accessorize, and some beauty bits from Benefit, Laura Geller and Tarte.

Again this isn't a to brag, it's just to show how grateful I am and to show you some of things that might pop up on my blog and my You Tube channel in the weeks and months to come x I'll only probably be reviewing the Benefit product ;) but I'm sure you'll see some of the clothing and jewellery pieces if you keep your eyes peeled x

Thanks for reading, and hopefully watching, and thank you again for the birthday wishes x 

A Collective Beauty Haul - Video

Hi Guys x I don't do this very often but today I've got a pretty epic haul video for you x I meant to do a proper haul post but since I want to review a couple of the items in this video I thought that this might be the best way to proceed x If you can't see the video below you can watch it via this link.



Well done if you watched it and made it to the end - I salute your perseverance but if you didn't watch it (shame on you lol) don't worry as I'll reviewing some of the products in it on my blog. Obviously I've already spoke about Benefit Dew The Hoola in a previous post so I won't be reviewing it again, but I will be reviewing the Benefit Porefessional Instant Wipe Off Masks, and the Rimmel Sculpting Powder at some point for you, and I'll also be showing the nail polishes in some up and coming nails of the day posts x

Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel and of course don't forget to follow my blog x

You Tube Changes And Glossybox August 2015 Unboxing

Hi everyone x If you follow me on twitter or any of my other social media accounts, then you'll probably already know that I've been a bit more active on You Tube lately. I got a new video camera for Christmas and to be honest bar the odd video it's sat unloved :( We all need to be loved so I've decided to be brave and throw a bit more of my heart and soul into my channel.

As per usual with me there are no guarantees, but I'm going to do my level best to upload videos on a much more regular basis than what I was. My blog still is and always will be my first love and I have some many posts planned that my head is spinning , but I'm going to be uploading a lot of exclusive content to my You Tube channel, including unboxings, some reviews, and much more.

I know You Tube isn't for everyone but I would love it if you would take some time out of your day to subscribe to my channel me and maybe watch some of my videos. I'm open to any constructive feedback and I'd love to know what you would like to see on my channel, so let me know x

You can find a link to my You Tube channel here x and if you like you can also watch my latest You Tube video, which is an unboxing and mini review of the UK August 2015 Glossybox.



Thanks for watching and hopefully for subscribing to my channel and I'll see you tomorrow on the blog with a very pretty beauty review that you won't want to miss xx

A Mini Home Haul And Lou On Beauty

Having spent most of the last week wandering around IKEA and building flat pack furniture you could say that I'm a little bit sick of houses and home renovations . After recent living room and bathroom changes, the house is still upside down and my plans for my own bedroom and my office space have been shoved right on the back burner. Their time will come though  and in the mean time instead of buying sensible things like more coat hangers, storage and paint, I will continue to buy pretty, if not necessarily practical things.

The bulk of this haul comes from H&M, and despite my need for prettiness and frippery, the first couple of things are pretty sensible, we'll always need bedding so I took advantage of the sale section on the website and ordered a few things.

A little while ago now I ordered a gorgeous lilac, grey botanical print duvet set (read about it here), I loved it and it's been on my bed almost constantly since I got it. In the sale section there were a few matching items so I decided to get them and build up my botanical print collection. The first thing that I got was a lovely, soft matching fleece blanket. It was £6 and although it's big enough to cover my double bed, it's quite warm so I think I'll be using it as a bed runner in the colder months.

As well as the fleece blanket I also got a couple extra pillowcases to match my duvet set, which were £3 each. Since I sleep with both a top and a bottom sheet, I don't change my duvet cover any where near as often as I change my sheets and pillowcases, so they were a good investment.

The next couple of H&M items were full price but I couldn't resist. It's a bit of thing at the moment to be a blogger and to be obsessed with pineapples, but I've loved pineapples for as long as I can remember. I love the taste and I love how they look, I had a soft toy pineapple when I was younger, and I was lucky enough to inherit my grandmas kitsch 1960's plastic, and glass pineapple ice bucket, so it's fair to say I've got history.

I bought the silver pineapple glass jar a little while ago (see it here) but when the gold version came back in stock I couldn't resist ordering it. The top and the bottom of the pineapple are slightly different shades of gold but it quite like it that. Unfortunately I can't find it online anymore but if it does come back into stock it was £7.99 and it actually a decent size so it's well worth the money.

Sticking with the pineapple theme my last H&M buy is also associated with this tasty tropical treat. This first appeared on the website quite a few months ago but it disappeared pretty much straight away and I thought I'd missed out. Thankfully it's now back in stock so I snapped it up as quickly as I could.

Quite a bit smaller than it's sparkly gold cousin, this white ceramic pineapple is actually a candle. With a removable lid, the bottom half of the pineapple contains a unscented candle. I'm not that bothered about the candle so I'm trying to think of a way to remove the wax without lighting it, so I an use it as a trinket box. This is £4.99 and it's currently available on the website.

My final purchase just for me was a cushion. Yes my cushion obsession strikes again and it's another blogger that's to blame. I'll let her off this time because I really do like it x Recently a lovely north east blogger Katie (follow her here if you haven't already) appeared on a local news programme, and in the background there was a fleeting glimpse of a cushion on her bed.

Loving cushions like I do, I tweeted her and asked her where it was from and the answer was Tesco. Needing it then and there I didn't want to take the risk of trailing up to my local Tesco Express so I had a look online and there it was, and it was in the sale for just £6. Unfortunately it's sold out online now but it's definitely worth having a look in a larger store if you're interested.

It's just a plain white cotton style cushion, with a black trim, a pink frame print and the words "Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful" in black. The words are so poignant and so, so very true. Words can really hurt and I've been told all my life by idiots that I'm ugly because of my facial paralysis and whilst I'm never going to be conventionally beautiful (is anyone?), my imperfections make me who I am, in fact at one point I debated changing my blog name to Imperfect Beauty to reflect the real me.
At the risk of sounding big headed, I am beautiful inside and out, I'm a good person and so what if my face is a bit lop sided, and my tummy is a bit bigger than a supermodels, we should accept people, their flaws, and their quirks as a given.

Argh that got a bit heavy didn't it, never mind for a bit of light relief though you can watch this little video that I made to show you all of the items in this haul x Don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel if you haven't already x



There is one little item that I didn't feature in the video because it's something that me and Mummy Lou paid for together. I don't want to go into too much detail but we haven't had the best of times lately. I'm not really going to put too much on the blog if I can help it but be all means keep an eye on my twitter (I'm @LouLou699) if you want to keep up to date. We're both feeling a little fragile though and for us candles are a nice way to relax so we decided to treat ourselves to this Yankee Candle gift set.

The Cafe Culture collection from Yankee Candles contains some of the nicest fragrances that they've released in a long time. Whilst we both enjoy floral fragrances and I don't mind fresh scents on occasions, our real love is foodie fragrances. As the name would suggest Cafe Culture is all about the posh cafe experience. This embossed tin box contains 3 small jars that burn for around 25 - 40 hours each. The 3 fragrances are Cappuccino Truffle, which has a gorgeous creamy coffee and chocolate scent; Pain Au Raisin, a combination of buttered dough, cinnamon, and juicy brandy soaked raisins and finally Tarte Tatin, a combination of apple, sugar, spices, and buttery pastry. We got the set from this seller at Amazon and it was just £14.99 including postage x

Yummy we haven't burnt them yet but the smell when you open the tin is incredible. The intention was to buy the small jars, to help us decide which of the larger jars to buy, but at this rate I can see us buying all 3. I love my Yankee Candles and I'm really looking forward to seeing some more yummy scents in the upcoming Christmas collections.

So that was my mini home haul and a bit of an emotional outpouring all in one x Gotta love hormones haven't you ;) Thanks for reading, don't forget to watch the video and if you have any questions please let me know xx

A Belated Birthday Haul And Some Mini Book Reviews - Sali Hughes And Fleur De Force

I'm almost embarrassed to post this but I did promise that I'd show you some of the things that I got for my birthday. Life got in the way unfortunately but way back in May I celebrated my birthday x As per usual I was very, very spoiled by my amazing friends and family and I'm eternally grateful to have them. Since so much time has passed though  instead of doing a proper post I thought I'd do a couple of videos to show you my pressies x

I'm going to be doing a full review of the Benefit Do The Hoola kit in the next few weeks, and I'm going to be doing a video review of the Laura Geller Life In Rose kit, so make sure following both my blog and my You Tube channel x

As well as the things that you can see in the videos I also got a few other bits and pieces, including some Lush items, some money, some jewellery, lots of sweeties and some beauty books - Sali Hughes - Pretty Honest, and The Glam Guide by Fleur De Force. 

I would thoroughly recommend the Sali Hughes book to anyone who has any interest in beauty, whilst I don't agree with everything in it, I love her no nonsense attitude and after reading it I really felt as though I'd learnt something. It covers everything from skin care, to make up, to salon etiquette and beauty and illness.

Fleur's book on the other hand is everything that I thought it would be. I've watched and enjoyed Fleur's videos for a long time, and this is an  easy to read book, that seems to embody Fleur and the variety of her videos. The Glam Guide  covers everything from beauty, and fashion to lifestyle content including food, relationships, self confidence, and blogging and You Tube advice. Unlike some of the other You Tuber books I think that Fleur's book is pitched perfectly for readers of all ages, I'm in my 30's and I enjoyed reading it x I loved the illustrations and I'm definitely going to be giving some of her recipes a try x 

Apologies again that this post has taken so long but if you have any questions on any of the goodies that I received please leave me a comment xx

January 2015 Favourites

I know it's nearly the end of February but I've just got round to uploading my January Favourites video. Slapped wrists I know, but I thought you might like to watch it x 

Product Mentioned 

Collection / Collection 2000 Colour Match Foundation - Ivory 1 

Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP  Naked Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette 

(You can read my review here x )

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File

(My holy grail nail file ! You can read a full review and product rave here)

Elemis Pro Radiance Hand And Nail Cream

*Skin Blossom Therapeutic Bath Soak

(I've reviewed this product too - check my review out here x)

Prada Candy Florale Eau De Toilette 

I've already reviewed the majority of the products in this video for you but if you would like to see a review of either the hand cream or the the foundation then leave me a comment and let me know x 

No reviews of the Prada Candy Florale  though lol if you watch this video you'll know that describing fragrance isn't my strong point ha ha. Fragrance is such a personal thing and it so hard to describe a scent in the majority of cases unless you're an expert but I know I like it and that''s the main thing! 

I'm a bit of a fragrance junkie though so I'm thinking of doing an updated perfume collection video x Don''t worry though I will do my research this time round haha x Let me know if that is something that you would like to watch and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel for more inane ramblings x 

Thanks for reading and watching and I'll see you tomorrow with a review xx

(*Sample) 

Happy New Year - Reflections, Looking Ahead And My Goals For 2015

Happy New Year Everyone x  I hope you all had a fabulous New Years Eve what ever you did x Mine was quiet, me and Mummy Lou spent the evening eating, drinking and reflecting on the year gone by.

2014 was a tough year in a lot of ways, my health issues continued and in some ways worsened, my godmother had an accident and broke several bones, and both my mum and my godfather are set for surgery and hospital stays in the New Year, but we're all still here and we're still battling on.

My health issues have affected my blog a lot more than I would have liked over the last 12 months and as a result my blog hasn't moved on as much in 2014 as I would have liked. I didn't post as much as regularly as I could have done and I wasn't happy with the quality or variety of some of my posts, at time it all felt a bit samey.

It wasn't all negative when it came to the blog though - last week I hit 700,000 all time blog views,  Thank You so much it's an amazing feat which I'm unbelievably proud of, and it really shows how far that I've come. I also attended quite a few blogger events last year which I really enjoyed - I'm still quite a shy person and if you'd asked me a few years ago if I could walk into a room full of people I barely knew and feel pretty comfortable I would never have believed you. Blogging has made such a difference in helping me get some form of independence back. It's given me something to focus on other than my illness, and it's helped me to meet so many new people.

Unlike some people who've hidden their blogs from their friends and family I've always been open with mine. My friends and family might not always understand some of the things that I do or I talk about but they've always been 100% supportive. For Christmas my lovely mum treat me to two things that are hopefully going to make blogging and social media a little bit easier for me in 2015 -  a shiny new laptop and quite fabulously a video camera.

My aim in 2014 was to expand both my blog and my You Tube channel, but as you've probably already gathered that didn't really happen. Hopefully my new camera and some new lighting will enable me to make more and better quality videos, and hopefully a speedier laptop will make all of those blogging tasks such as photo editing and drafting much easier.

So what can you expect from my blog and You Tube in 2015? Well  I want my blog  and my You Tube channel to grow and to improve. I've listened to and read your comments over the last few months and the majority of you want to see more beauty reviews. Your wish is my command and whilst my blog is still about a bit of everything, beauty will definitely dominate in 2015. I'm also going to try and do a few more outfit and fashion posts, and a few more home related, food and lifestyle posts to mix it up a bit. I'm also hoping to post more regularly too, and of course there will be some more giveaways. I've already asked this question in my recent giveaway post but there is any specific post that you would like to read please let me know x

You Tube wise, monthly favourites will resume, and I will eventually get round to doing my much requested room tour post. I'm also planning on doing a few tags, an updated what's in my bag and maybe an updated perfume collection video. Again if there are any videos that you would like to see than please leave me a comment and I'll do my best once I get to grips with my camera x

Away from blogging and You Tube I'm not big and resolutions but I do have a few personal goals that I'm going to try and focus on that I'm going to share with you.

Goals For 2015

1. Stop comparing myself to others! Why do we do this? Someone will always be better than you at something, prettier than you, cleverer than you. It only depresses you - I need to concentrate on me and my positives rather than bothering about other people so much

2. Use and wear what I buy  - Looking back at last years haul posts I bought so much stuff. Do I really need another nude eyeshadow palette, another blue nail polish, and yet another black or white vest - quite frankly no. Trimming My Stash is going to continue and I'm going to make a huge effort to cut down on my spending and buying so much of the same stuff.

3. Be more organised - I make this resolution / set this goal every year but this needs to be the year that I actually do it. I need to be tidier, and I need to clear out my clutter. I dread to think just how much time I've wasted looking for things I've mislaid and how much stress its caused me.

4. Food - I did so well on my healthy eating plan at the beginning of last year that it goes without saying that in 2015 I'll be trying to do more of the same. My aims are 3 meals a day, healthier snacks and to try and do a bit more exercises and physical activity.

5. Sleep - My illness plays havoc with my sleeping patterns but at times I don't think I help myself. My aim for 2015 is to make it into bed before midnight, to cut down on social media late at night, to cut out the afternoon naps and to try and get up at a sensible time no matter how useless I feel or how badly I've slept.

6. Switch off the laptop, the iPad and my iPhone for one day a week - This is a pretty big one but like most of us communication and social media plays such a huge role in my life that sometime I neglect other things. On those days I'm planning to spend time doing other things that I enjoy, reading, watching films or craft and spending  more time with my family.

Like any year I'm expecting 2015 to have it's ups and downs, life's like that and nothing ever goes to plan, but in the majority of cases we are in charge of out own destiny, and I'm going to do my level best to make 2015 my best and most successful year ever x Happy New Year and here's hoping it's a good one for all of us x

Birthday Haul :)

Hey Everyone - This post is a little later than I intended but it's all about what I got for my birthday x I debated whether to do it as a normal post but instead I've decided to split it into a few videos instead -  that way if your interested you can watch them and if you not, or you see these types of posts as bragging, then you can click the X and move on xx You can also find the videos here and here.





You'll probably end up seeing all of the nail polishes and nail treatments reviewed at some time on the blog anyways, and I'm also going to try and review all the Make Up Revolution products that I received too, ahead of their eventual launch into Superdrug, so even if you don't watch it you won't miss out x

I'm also going to try and be brave and I'm going to try and do a few outfit of the days with some of the clothing, shoes and accessories that I received - I got lots of summery things that I'm hopefully going to get some wear out of over the next few months.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully for watching and don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel too xx

A Very Tiny Little Superdrug Haul

First up an apology for the lack of posts I am still feeling a bit yuck but don't worry I'm getting there and I'm planning lots of posts for next week and onwards x Yesterday though I managed to drag my aching body to my nearest local town with a Superdrug - the object of the exercise was to pick up a bottle of Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia nail polish a simple task, yes? Well no, they had a delivery on Wednesday they put them on the shelves and they were gone by 3pm, so yesterday they had none left boooo I must own this nail polish, never mind I'll try again next week. I did pick up a few nail polishes though including this Barry M Nail Paint in NP 319

It's a new introduction and it's a silver foil I can't wait to give this ago, I also got two of the new 2True Limited Edition Crystal Nail Polishes

Shade 3 is a gorgeous sparkly peacock turquoise colour and Shade 4 is a gorgeous spaerkly purple /pink :)

I also picked up this Rimmel Glam Eyes HD Quad Eye Shadow in 004 Green Park

I love the Union Jack design of the compact and I love the olive green shades

I think these are a bit steep at £6.99 but I liked the packaging  I've made a little haul video which you might be interested in - it's also a bit of a You Tube update which you may find interesting


Any questions or comments, or if you'd like any reviews please let me know xx