a little roundup #1

You may or may not have noticed I've been quiet on my blog the past week or so, which is actually a rather regular occurrence but I really do have legit excuses! I've got some exciting news & a few things to share with you all so here is my little roundup of what's been going on!
001. I'm moving back up North!! If you know me or follow me on Twitter/Instagram then you might know that I've been living down South for the past 3 years. I've been lucky enough to experience life in London for 2 of those years & for the past 12 months I've been living in Milton Keynes with Dom. I've been dying to move back up North closer to our family & friends for a while now but due to work commitments etc etc it wasn't able to happen! Finally everything has started to come together & it's now just a case of packing up our little flat at the end of June to start our new lives back in the North West of England. I know most people would love the chance to live in London or close to it, but after 3 years & a sad looking bank balance the time has come to wave goodbye!
002. I'm currently staying up North as it was Dom's Birthday on Monday we decided to have a week off work & spend time with our family & friends. We go back home tomorrow ready for our final month of living down South! We've had the nicest time & it's really made me realise how lucky we are to be surrounded by such supportive people (: 003. A little treat for you all, Graze are offering my readers a free box of yummy snacks. I always love to receive a Graze box in the post, you get to pick what kind of snacks you like, there's over 100 to choose from so you'll be spoilt for choice! Your hand-picked box of snacks is then sent to you in the post for free & can even be delivered to you at work! If you'd like a free box on me click the image above or this link! You do have to sign up to get your free box, which involves entering card details but I can promise you they don't take a payment from you until the next box is sent, which allows you to order your free box then cancel straight after. That way you won't need to pay anything, although 3.99 isn't bad a box of hand picked snacks delivered to your door! I don't think I could pick a favourite from the huge range of snacks available but he Honeycomb Flapjack looks absolutely delicious! *heart eyed emoji* - Graze also do Breakfast boxes & boxes specifically for kids now too! Let me know what snacks you'd like to receive from Graze & what style of box you picked!

004. This week has literally consisted of cake, cake & more cake. I've had lots of catching up to do, meeting up with old & new friends in cute cafes eating cupcakes & having coffee has been perfect & I only wish I could do it everyday! As I mentioned above it was also Dom's Birthday so of course there was lots of cake involved then too & I even had some pug cupcakes made for him! Today I met up with Abi, my best blogging buddy for lunch in our favourite tearoom & we had a good chat about anything & everything!
005. Cosmo Blogger Awards. I didn't really consider entering my blog this year as I still don't feel established enough & I'm not new enough to enter into the new blogger categories. However Abi mentioned it wouldn't harm having a go so now my loulabeth is up for nominations. If you enjoy my blog it would mean the absolute world to me if you could spare a few seconds of your day to nominate me under 'Best Established Beauty Blog'. Tilly pug hugs available to all of those who nominate me ;)
006. I might start doing these posts more regularly? It's a way to share what I've been up to & keep y'all in the loop a bit more! It's also sort of a summary of everything & anything I needed & sometimes it's just what I need to do before I go back into blogging. I always feel like if theres been a little gap between posts that I should do a catch up style post to get everything of my mind!
How has your week been!?
L x

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Kemples Makeup Bag Essentials

Myself and the lovely Laura who runs this beautiful blog decided it was about time to collaborate. Just like the YouTubers do but in blog post form. I think its great to support each other and help each other out, working on collaborations will help us come up with great new ideas for blog posts. To start our collaboration off we have decided to pick out our make up essentials from our make up bags. Knowing me and Laura we probably will have the same taste in make up, head over to my blog to see her version of this blog post. Loulabeth - My Make up Essentials.

Revlon 24 Hour Foundation: This has to be my favourite drug store foundation, I have tried out so many other foundations and only go back to a handful of them. This one has the quality of a high end £30 foundation and it glides onto my skin perfectly. It is the perfect shade for me with no orange tinge to it, I cannot stand it when my foundation looks off colour or uneven. I think you have to start with the perfect base to get an amazing made up look. This foundation for me is perfection in a bottle, I definitely will repurchase this product. 

Benefit Cosmetics: I love benefit, they have incredible products out at the moment. They always seem to get every product right, which is great. I recently was lucky enough to go to a Benefit event to see the launch of their new push up liner, this product sits firmly in my beauty essentials. I also am a huge fan of the Gimme Brow which perfects my make up look by helping have the perfect eyebrows. I then love to use the They're Real mascara, which is incredible.  

Collection Concealer:  I am a huge fan of this concealer, the hype is totally worth it. It hides everything I want to hide and works well with my foundation. I love to use this on days when I want to wear small amounts of make up just to hide a few things. I love the quality and this product has been part of my make up bag for a couple years now.

Bourjois Bronzer: This product has been seen around the blogosphere may times, the hype yet again totally worth it. It gives me the perfect colour for this lovely weather we are having at the moment. When this finishes it defiantly will be repurchased to sit firmly in my make up bag. 

Balance Me: This face cream I use just before applying my make up, it is light enough to use just before application of foundation. It dries super fast which is always a bonus. It plumps and smooths my skin for the perfect base to work off. I tend to have dry skin so using this helps to keep my make up looking great all day. If you have sensitive skin this would be perfect for you too.

www.kemples.blogspot.co.uk 

L x

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i went into boots for one thing...

Powder. Powder was all I needed to go into Boots for. I promised myself I would walk in, grab my powder, head straight to the tills & then walk out. Somehow I ended up in the skincare section as I suddenly remembered I needed more Garnier Micellar Water which lead me to spot an offer on Soap & Glory products. I obviously couldn't resist a third off the 'No Clogs Allowed' & so into the basket that went! Heading over to the makeup aisles in search of a powder obviously didn't go quite to plan either & ended up with an extra two products that I didn't really need. I noticed Revlon products had £3 off which of course gave me the excuse to pick up the PhotoReady Primer. When something is slightly cheaper than usual it's just too good to say no to isn't it!? The final thing I ended up getting was another L'Oreal SuperLiner. Now I do already have quite a stash of eyeliners to get through, but the SuperLiner's are my absolute fave & since Tilly pug ran off & hid the one I'm currently using I just had to buy another didn't I! And that is how I waved goodbye to the best part of £40, it's just so easy to get caught up in all the exciting products & offers!
Boots, you get me every time with your appealing offers, my bank balance is not happy right now... Please tell me I'm not the only one that walks into Boots for ONE thing & ends up coming out with a bag full of treats!?
L x

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5 things: to do when you need cheering up

(You can tell I was meant to type up this post ages ago by the fact that I used the February issue of Company magazine, queen of procrastination right here!) We all have bad days & often need a little treat or two to cheer ourselves up again, usually I end up wasting my day in bed moping around & being miserable but I'm trying my hardest to snap out of this & do something more productive. 
001: Bake cakes. Who doesn't love cake? Well if you don't then you're crazy. In my opinion home made fairy cakes taste so much better than shop bought cake & there is nothing nicer than your house smelling of freshly baked cakes. I have to admit cake is my ultimate comfort food & it only takes 20 minutes or so to throw a batch together!
002: Read a magazine or a book. It's not often I give myself time to read much anymore. Sometimes it's great to escape into a good book or flick through a trashy magazine to distract you from your real life worries! I'm currently reading 'The Fault in Our Stars' which is actually kinda sad, but it draws you in & I can't put it down at the mo!
003: Go for a walk.  If you can find the energy to pick yourself up then you'll be amazed at how great you feel after a walk in the fresh air. Even if it's a quick 5 minute walk to the local shops, it's better than nothing & will do you the world of good. In the past you would find me slouching around in bed, literally waiting for it to be evening so I could go back to sleep but once I forced myself to actually leave the house & see the world I already felt 100 times better. Now I have little Tilly pug I'm always out & about with her, discovering new places I didn't know existed & feeling excited to show Dom our new favourite route!
004: Plan something. Sometimes we just need something to look forward to & if you've nothing planned the future can seem boring. Recently money hasn't been on my side & I've had to cut back on spending, which has made it really hard to make plans. Dom & I make sure we get a little treat once a week, even if it's just a bottle of wine or a chippy tea. That way I know that if I'm having a bad week I've got a little treat coming my way very soon! Of course it's even more exciting if you can make plans for something like a trip away & recently I've had a few things come along. Next weekend we are going home to see our family up North which I am looking forward to so much, it's hard being hundreds of miles away from familiar faces & knowing we get to see them all soon is the best feeling! I'm also having Abi (Kemples) to come stay in June as we are going to a blogger event in London. There will be lots of shopping, makeup chat & maybe even a couple of cocktails too!
005: Write a list. Lists always help. Feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to do can be the worst thing & often makes me ignore whatever I need to get done until the very last minute which then sends me into a huge panic. I'm a huge list lover though & I find it really helps to break down tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks to ensure I complete everything I need to do. Being organised helps to reduce my anxiety & panic attacks & often when I'm having a bad day it's because I've been ridiculously unorganised! 
Of course there are a million & one other ways to turn your day from bad to good but these are just my little quick fixes if I need to put a smile back on my face! What do you do when you need to cheer yourself up?
L x

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