Collective Beauty Haul - Models Own, Benefit, Avon, And More

Hey Guys x I'm back after a couple of days break and I'm back with another haul! I've been a bad girl and despite my promise to rein in on my spending it hasn't really happened. I've had a bad couple of weeks and when that happens I shop, You've already seen some of my most recent clothing and accessories buys but this post is all about beauty.

As well as my Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette I also placed a couple of Make Up Revolution orders, I know, I know but those special offers and new items dragged me in. I'm not actually going to show you what I got in this post instead I'm going to show you the products as I review them starting with some of the new brushes later on this week. Don't worry though I've still got plenty of things to show including a pretty big Avon haul.

The first thing that I got was from one of the sale catalogues - I always have a look through these first - they don't come with every brochure but they are worth a look if you're lucky enough to get one. I normally look at the nail polish but for a change my one sale purchase was a lipstick.

Last year I bought and loved the Color Trend Naughty Or Nice Lipstick in High Society (read my review here). I loved the fact that you got two shades in the one bullet so when I spotted them in the sale I decided to get another one this time in Two Timer.

Apologies that the swatch pictures aren't the best but this lipstick is all about contrasts - one one side you get a subtle, nice nude shade and on the other side you get a bright, naughty red. Both of these lipsticks are still available in the most recent sale brochure and on the website for just £2 each.

My name is Louise and I'm a sucker for a freebie and as a Valentines Day special Avon were giving a away a set of products all packaged in this super sweet, glittery, lip print pvc cosmetic bag.

All you had to do was buy one of the selected lip products - I'm still loving lip crayon, chubby stick type products so I went for one of the Ultra Colour Lip Crayons in Showstopper Pink, an amazing hot pink that will be ideal for summer.

As well as the cosmetic bag you also got a free nail polish and a lip gloss. There were several different options to choose from but thinking pink and trying to look ahead to summer I went for the Ultra Glazewear Lip Gloss in Pink Watermelon and the Nailwear Pro + Nail Enamel in Viva Pink.

I've accumulated a few of these glosses and crayons so I'm going to do a separate review and swatch post for you, and I'm sure that you'll see the nail polish in a summer nails of the day post.

Why can't I stop buying nail polish? Okay Viva Pink was technically a freebie but I couldn't resist ordering one of the Gel Finish Nail Enamel's in Sterling.

What can I say ? It was half price but it is such an unusual colour. It's a beautiful metallic, pewter silver packed full of sparkle. I'm going to hold my hands up and admit that I haven't actually tried the other polish I have in this formula so I don't know what it's like but the colour called to me.

Something else that called to me was the Models Own sale. I'm a regular patron of this almost annual event, and thankfully this year, there didn't seem to be any site crash issues and despite placing my order 3 days in I still managed to get everything that I wanted.

I tried not to go too crazy so I only ended up buying 5 polishes which were from left to right - Chrome Mauve, Chrome Indigo, Diamond Luxe Trillion Taupe, Diamond Luxe Asscher Blue, and Speckled Eggs Swan. Quite restrained I think ha ha but as I say I'm a sucker for an offer.

Another day, another nail polish and on a recent trip to Poundland I couldn't resist picking up another Make Up Gallery nail polish. I was so impressed with my first shade Mushroom Magic (read my review here), it was inevitable that I got another one, this time I went for  a dusky, purple, lilac rather unimaginatively named 25 Purple Rain.

I love my bargains, and at the moment I love my brows. After years of seeing my eyebrows as nothing more than a nuisance at last I'm starting to see them in a new lights and I'm really enjoying trying out some new brow products. My brow hairs are quite long so on occasions I've pulled out the scissors - not always the best thing to do so I got a pair of these from ebay.

Basically what they are is a set of brow scissors and a comb in one courtesy of one of my favourite Korean brands Etude House. Yes you can use nail scissors but the shape of these scissors and the attached comb mean it's both safer and easier to neaten them up and separate the stragglers. I paid just 99p including postage from this seller.

Over the last month or so I've made a few visits to Boots and Superdrug, but generally I've left empty handed. In about 3 or 4 visits I only bought one thing but it was a beauty. A Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in 15 Seductive Pink.

I'm hoping to get a full review of this up at the weekend but you know me and baked blushers - it's love x

Something else that I'm planning to review for you is from a brand that is new to me Doll 10.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record and repeating myself for the billionth time I'm a bit of a QVC addict and one of the reasons why is that I love the fact that they sell so many hard to find beauty brands. Doll 10 is one of those brands, they're a US based brand headed by qualified doctor and former Mrs America, Doris Dalton. Although I've watched several Doll 10 hours I'd never placed but a recent one day one Today's Special Value offer changed all that. For around £31 I got 7 items, including the brands highly rated Hydra Fluid Foundation Drops and the Prescion Foundation Brush, and the BB Drops, as well as a concealer, a lipstick, a lipgloss and the most beautiful Hydra Gel Blush in Amour.

I admit it, I ordered this kit for the blusher - it's a cream, gel texture and it is beautiful -  I know it's probably a new brand for most of you too so I'm going to try and review of much of this kit as I can for you x

Something else that I ordered from QVC was Benefit Puff Off, QVC had the official UK launch of both this and Roller Lash but Puff Off was the thing that I really wanted and so far so good x I'm going to review it properly for you but both me and Mummy Lou are really liking this at the moment. I also got my Roller Lash mini free with Elle magazine so once the hypes died down a bit I might review it as part of my Sample Saturday series x

Phew that was a long and picture heavy post wasn't it x Although I've placed a few orders this week I  promise I'll hold off on the haul posts for a little while and get some reviews done instead ha ha x Thanks for reading and if you have any questions on any of my buys please leave me a comment x

Happy Birthday LouLouLand - Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 - A Review And Giveaway

It wouldn't be a birthday without a cake so thanks Mummy Lou for this sweetie covered special, shame I couldn't find the birthday candles and it's a bought one from Tesco crammed full of wheat and gluten, never mind I'm sure a tiny bit won't hurt :)

As well as cake it wouldn't be a birthday without presents and recently I broke away from my budget make up obsession and bought myself a few higher end things, a sort of a present to myself ha ha. I'm going to sure you a few things in tomorrows post but for reasons that will become apparent I thought I'd show you something that I bought and that I've been loving.

I don't know how many times I've said but I'm just not a matte eyeshadow fan, or at least I wasn't. So many times I've been disappointed with matte eye shadows, and their useless chalky, payoff but things have changed and brands such as Make Up Revolution have upped the ante when it comes to matte shadows, and recently I've started to appreciate the subtle, warm and natural look that you can get from a matte eyeshadow.

Since I wanted to treat myself to a little bit of something a little bit high end, I headed to Debenhams and had a little look at the Urban Decay counter. As much as I love Naked 3 I can't justify yet another shimmery nude palette, so I took the plunge, had a swatch and bought Urban Decay Naked Basics 2.

A lot smaller than it's shimmery cousins, the 2 Naked Basics palettes are all about the matte. More geared towards cooler nudes, and skin tones like my own, Naked Basics 2 comes in a small slightly rubberised, compact complete with a full sized mirror.

The compact contains 6 exclusive shades, that don't appear anywhere else in the Urban Decay range. Although this is very much a matte palette the first shade Skimp, is actually a demi matte and has a tiny, tiny bit of shimmer making an ideal highlight shade. The rest of the shades from left to right are Stark, Frisk, Cover, Primal and Undone.

These shadows are silky soft and so creamy, and as you can see the pigmentation is excellent. Despite the hype I never ever thought that I would buy a totally matte eyeshadow palette but I have to admit that I'm now a convert, and I've used this palette pretty much everyday since I got it. As you would expect from Urban Decay this palette isn't cheap but if your a matte eyeshadow fan you need it and if you still need to be convinced about matte eye shadows, this is definitely a one to try.Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 retails at £23 and is available from various retailers including Debenhams, House Of Fraser, Urban Decay, and  FeelUnique x

As I said at the beginning though it's all about presents and to celebrate my blogs 8th birthday I want to give one of you, my lovely readers, a present. So for your chance to win your very own Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette all you need to do is be a follower of my blog and fill in the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open worldwide and will end on the 15th March 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks again for reading and if you have any questions please leave me a comment x

Happy Birthday LouLouLand - Reflecting On 8 Years Of Blogging

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

A Little Fashion And Accessories Haul

Ever since I decided to post hauls as they happen it seems as though I've posted nothing but hauls, and believe it or not here's another one. This haul actually consists of a few clothing, accessory and jewellery buys that I've accumulated over the last month or so. I've also got a few beauty buys to show you but I'll show you those in a separate post.

I don't know about you but once you placed one order from a mail order catalogue you find that they are never off your back, and they continually offer you discount codes and free gifts until you give in and place another order. You know me I'm sucker for a bargain so when I was offered a free travel bag and a discount I couldn't resist placing an order with La Redoute.

There stuff can vary immensely in sizing and in quality so it's no surprise that I sent pretty much everything back. The only thing that I ended up keeping apart from the pretty useful pink and grey travel bag was this turn up sleeve, navy blue and white nautical t-shirt.

This t-shirt was originally £13 but I got it for £11.70. It also comes in an alternative colourway - navy blue with white stripes. It isn't the thickest t-shirt  that I've ever bought but everyone needs at least one stripey t-shirt in their wardrobe, and believe me I have more than one!

Another recent catalogue buy was this super cute, jumper from the brand Adore at Studio. I know that Studio is predominantly a Christmas catalogue but their website is worth a look all year round.

In a sort of oatmeal, marl knit, it features a Fox head design in silky soft, eyelash type yarn. I paid a bit more for it but it's now on sale at just £9.99.

The rest of my buys are all accessories and they're all from ebay. First up this almost pashmina like, gorgeous green, toned tartan scarf.

It was just £2.99 with 99p postage from this seller. Coming from Hong Kong it took a little while to arrive but it was worth the wait. Something else that was worth the wait was this cute turquoise and silver tone stretch bracelet.

This cute bracelet is ideal for stacking, and features some round circular turquoise (faux?) beads, divided by circular, engraved silver tone beads and various silver tone charms including a sun, dolphins, fish, a key, a hand and a star. It was just 99p including postage from this seller x 

The next thing that I got isn't really fashion but I guess it could count as an accessory - it's a key ring!

As I said in my recent Accessorize sale haul I love the whole concept of the lucky cat or Maneki Neko and of course I love Hello Kitty, so when I was looking for a new keyring for my house keys that was where I started searching. I thought this one was adorable and I love the fact that it actually contains little bells. Annoying as they are at times I hoping that it will help me keep an eye on my keys and maybe I won't lose them this time round! I actually paid less than it's currently being sold for but it's still not bad at £1.79 with 79p postage from this UK seller.

The final item is this post isn't really an accessory or a fashion item but I wanted to show you it and it probably fits in better here than it does in my up and coming beauty haul! 

It's another Minion :) No it's not a toy or mini figure, it's an 8GB Memory Stick :) I'm currently in the process of transferring my data from my old laptop to my new one and typically I couldn't find my flash drive so I bought a new one, and then I found my old one ha ha. Typical really but this one is a lot more fun than my boring grey and black one, Made of a rubber material, just pull his head off and stick him in the USB lol I got him from this seller and he was just £2.99 including postage x

Not the biggest haul I admit, but I got a couple of nice things, and a couple of bargains. My beauty haul post should be live  on Friday but in the meantime tomorrow is a bit of a special day on the blog so stay tuned for something exciting x 

A Little Primark Haul

Apologies that I'm a little late with this one, but a couple of weeks ago I ventured into Newcastle city centre for a meeting and as I had an hour or so to kill I went shopping. I didn't buy that much but I did buy a few things in Primark. Since I'm more of a mall girl I don't actually go into Newcastle that often now, but when I do I always head to the cities huge, 4 floor Primark. It's so big that I actually find it a bit overwhelming so I never end up buying a lot and this visit was no different.

One of the biggest assets of the Newcastle's, Primark is it's home department, I'm a bit obsessed with home wear at the minute, and especially cushions (I have a cushion wishlist! Sad?) and I couldn't resist picking up this kitty cat cushion. It's made of a wool mix felt, and it was just £6.

They also had an owl version and some lovely duvet sets but I reined myself in and headed to the sales racks. As per usual there was a lot of tat but I saw this top and I couldn't quite decide if I loved it or hated it.

I picked up and put it down twice before I decided that I had to have it. I think it's a love / hate piece but I'm a big fan of gaudy, 70's type floral prints so eventually I put it in my basket. It's made of a scuba type fabric and it's covered in a slightly, blurred digital rose and floral print, in shades of green and cream. It was reduced from to £10 to £5.

Big Floral and 70's style prints are huge at the minute and I could easily have bought a few more and I definitely feel like a return trip, but on the day I was super good and bought only one other clothing item.

Minions! These strange yellow things always make me smile and I can't wait to see the Minion movie when it's released later this year. This was £6.

I had a good look through both the beauty and jewellery section but there was nothing that I really wanted, and since the shoes were also out due to my damaged toe, the final thing I bought was a pack of the £1 Opia hair bobbles in brown and cream tones. I've reviewed there hair bobbles here and I swear by them. They're cheap and they don't tug on your hair like metal bobbles. I've bought packs and packs of these over the years, and I'm sure I'll continue to buy them, I just wish my cat Tallulah didn't love them as much as I do!

Since I'm trying to get back into You Tube I've also filmed a little haul video for you x I'd really appreciate if you'd take look and I'll love you for ever if you subscribe to my channel x

I'm seriously planning another Primark trip in the next few weeks, so if you've seen anything fabulous or worth picking up I'd love to hear from you x Thanks for reading x 

A Review Of The New CID Cosmetics - i-cheek Blusher Trio In Pink

If you've been reading this blog for while now you'll know that I'm a bit of a QVC fan. I've been posting about my guilty pleasure since my blog first began in 2007 and I'm still talking about it nearly 8 years later. Yes I know it's a bit naff but as times progressed QVC has became one of the most trusted brands in the UK and one of the first places to go to for hard to find beauty brands.

I love their approach to beauty, not only do you find things that you can't get elsewhere, but due to their influence and buying power you can also pick up some great value products and sets. Quite a while ago now (I'm talking about 15 months or more!) I bought a bumper set of products from British brand New CID Cosmetics for less than £40. The trouble is though when you have as much make up as I do, you tend to forget about things and unfortunately that's what happened with this kit. Thanks to a recent blogger event with Paul Mitchell though and a Christmas gift from Mummy Lou , this brand is now firmly back on my agenda.

My current obsession is with blusher and the kit that I got came with an i-cheek Blusher Trio in Pink. Packaged in an almost pearlised, white rectangular compact with a mirrored insert, you get a full sized mirror, and 3, 2.5g powder blushers. The colours look a little bit washed out here but the first shade is a cool toned, bright almost Barbie Pink, the second shade is a very pale, white pink, highlighting shade, and the third shade is a softer, slightly warmer toned pink.

All of the blushers are soft to the touch, and the pigmentation is pretty good. Even though two of the shades are relatively matte they don't feel chalky or powdery in any way.

The two blush shades and the highlight shades blend nicely into the skin, and despite the brightness of the colours they all give quite a natural, flush to the skin. Thanks to the winter light you probably aren't going to see too much difference between these two sets of picture, but these ones show the first two shades in the compact 

and these pictures show the second and third shades - the highlight and the warmer, more neutral pink.

This blusher compact contains 3 very wearable shades, with decent pigmentation and wear time, but whilst I'm happy to have it in my collection it's not something I would consider purchasing on it's own. Why? well unfortunately the price plays a big part - this palette currently retails at £24, which really puts the price of the kit that I ordered into perspective! Yes I know you can pay more than this for just the one blusher but in today's current climate, with such a wide variety of high quality, budget products on the market, the price seems to be just a bit high for what it is. It's a nice trio but it just doesn't seem that special or unusual enough to justify the price, and instead I'd rather put my money towards one of the brands fabulous i-glow powders. New CID Cosmetics i-cheek Blusher Trio comes in both Pink and Coral and retails at £24 from the New CID Cosmetics website. Have you ever tried anything from New CID Cosmetics? I'd love to hear your recommendations x 

Foodie Friday - Quorn Fillets In A Chunky Mediterranean Vegetable Sauce

Hey Guys x Welcome to the return of Foodie Friday x I had a bit of a break after Christmas where I got well and truly foodied out but I'm back now with a yummy vegetarian recipe. I'm not that great at naming recipes and whilst I'm not convinced that this one is entirely accurate, the olives and the aniseed flavour of the fennel seeds do give it a Mediterranean holiday feel.

Quorn Fillets In A Chunky Mediterranean Vegetable Sauce

4 x Plain Quorn Fillets

A Few Squirts Of Fry Light 

Or

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic - Crushed

2 Red Or White Onions

1 Red Or Yellow Pepper

150g Button Mushrooms

Handful Black Olives

1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds

Or 

A Dash Of Pernod / Ouzo Or Any Other Aniseed Liqueur

1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes

Salt And Black Pepper To Taste

1. Remove Your Quorn Fillets From The Freezer.There isn't any need to defrost them as they do cook from frozen but this just makes it easy to separate them. 

2. Add your oil or Fry Light into a large saute pan and add the crushed garlic. Chop your onions into half moons and add them to the pan and cook for a few minutes. I'm using red onions here which usually take a little bit longer to cook.

3. If your using fennel seeds crush them in a pestle and mortar, or you can always put them into a freezer bag and hit them with a hammer or a tin can ;) They don't have to be really fine you just want to break them up enough to release the flavours. 

4. Chop your pepper into thin strips, and add the chopped pepper  and the fennel seeds, or the aniseed liqueur to the pan, add a tiny little bit of water and cook for about 5 minutes.

5. Then slice the mushrooms and halve the olives and add them to the pan. I love black olives in this dish for the colour and the flavour but you can use whatever you like or whatever you have Here I'm using a combination of black and green olives. Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes till the mushrooms start to soften.

6. Add a full can of chopped tomatoes to the pan, and about half a can full of water.

7. Stir it together and then add the Quorn fillets.  As they cook they will take on all the fabulous vegetable and aniseed flavours.

Give the pan a bit of a stir to make sure the fillets are covered in sauce and cook for at least 30 minutes, till as much of the liquid is absorbed as possible.

8. I have to say mine took around an hour to get to this stage, The Quorn fillets are cooked through, the sauce and the vegetables have reduced down and darkened, 

I'm serving mine here with roasted sweet potato but you could serve this with rice, pasta or even a baked potato.

For such a simple dish it has great flavour, the reduction of the vegetables almost intensifies their flavour, the fennel seeds give the dish an amazing flavour and aroma, and the Quorn fillets take on all of the flavours.  I know olives and fennel seeds aren't to everyone's taste but I do think they make this dish. If you wanted to leave them out you could always  replace them with a bit of chilli or even with some Italian herbs. If you don't want to use the Quorn fillets you could use, meat or vegetarian sausages and of course you could also use chicken breasts.

This recipe was initially a bit of an experiment for me using a few leftovers but it's rapidly became a real favourite, that uses simple ingredients and requires very little effort. I'd love to know if you try this so let me know if you do xx