Looking Back and Looking Forward

Well 2011 was an interesting year wasn't it. It started off on a bit of a low with a hospital stay and my first ever broken bone, and continued with several more illness nightmares boo. On the beauty front though I had a good year I bought, received and tried lots of brilliant product, and some not so good ones, always the way though, you have to find a bit of coal before you find the gems (yes I admit it I'm addicted to Smurfs Village!)

Like every other year in 2011 I had a few aims and things I wanted to achieve, some I managed some I didn't, first up something I didn't do so well at my spending diet

December - Not Counted
November - Not Counted
October - Not Counted
September - £8.98 - £31.02 Under
August - £52.74 - £12.74 Over
July - £22.46+++++ Very Bad
June - £43.01 +++ Way Over
May - £140.63 ++++++ Very Bad
April - £122.90 - £82.90 Over :(
March - £87.57 - £47.57 Over :(
February - £5.82 - £34.18 Under :)
January - £9.41 - £30.59 Under :)
 
As you can see looking at the year as a whole, it was a bit of a fail, I did have 3 months where I managed to stay under my £40 limit so all wasn't lost - the overwhelming conclusion though is must try harder! So that's what I'm going to do 2012 will see the continuation of my spending diet / monthly spends, again I'll be trying to stick to a £40 monthly limit - I'll be honest though and say that January may already be a bit of a fail, mainly due to the release of Urban Decay Naked 2, and the return of my little laptop and online shopping access, no matter I'll still keep a record for you and I'll try my damnedest not to go crazy. I really want to try and save a bit of money this year so I'm definitely going to need a willpower boost.. Which brings me to my next 2011 challenge trimming my stash. We'll start by looking a December
 
Superdrug 20 Nourishing Nail Polish Remover Pads
L'Oreal Elvive Nourishing Cream Shampoo 250ml
Mark Hill Gorgeous Brunette Leave In Conditioner 75ml
Total - 3 Items
 
Yeah, December on the whole wasn't a vintage month, I finished just 3 little items. This pretty much summed up an average year generally, I only managed to finish 126 items
 
December - 3 Items
November - 9 Items
October - 29 Items
September - 11 Items
August - 9 Items
July - 8 Items
June - 12 Items
May - 7 Items
April - 11 Items
March - 16 Items
February - 7 Items
January - 4 Items
Total - 126 Items
 
Don't get me wrong I still managed to finish a product roughly every 3 days but it was still majorly down on 2010's total of 182 items! Never mind I'm still pretty pleased with how I did especially since I managed to finish Project 10 Pan during that time. Needless to say this is something else that I'm going to be continuing with in 2012, I got a whole load more make up and smellies for Christmas, so yet again the stash is at super scary levels. Thankfully January has started well and I already have a little pile of empties - I'll be taking pics of all my January empties so you can see how I'm doing despite that the  I can even see the spectre of Project 10 Pan looming on the horizon, I'll keep you posted on when that's going to start ;)
 
So that was my year but what do I have in mind for 2012 well more of the same and a bit more besides - my first priority is to try and catch up on a few posts, alas some on my coming soons will have to bite the dust as I've lost photos that I simply cant replicate, other posts will just be longer in coming I'd been taking photos for months for certain posts and it's all gone - sob! Second priority is a general one to get more organised, that means more ebays, and a pile of shredding that will probably reach the moon - my head is too fuzzy to deal with confusion I need to get sorted. Thirdly I need to focus on me a bit, I sometimes get too wrapped up in other people and other things I'm starting the year with a few medical appointments to sort out some worrying new symptoms so I need to put me back as priority. That won't be too Mummy Lou's detriment though, she is due to have an operation at the beginning of February, so I'm going to need all the energy I have to care for her, me and the fur babies, so if I go a bit quiet again you'll know why x Finally I need to tackle my weight, there are lots of reasons why I gain weight and why it's hard for me to lose it but I can't use that as an excuse, I need to try and find something that works for me - again that's something I'll keep you posted on .
 
So that was 2011 and that is hopefully 2012, I've really appreciated the kind words and support from you guys over the last 12 months I know I go off on tangents and I can be a whinging moo cow on occasions but you guys have stuck with me and for that I will be eternally grateful - LouLouLand isn't just a beauty and fashion blog, it's about LouLou and I really appreciate you for realising that x I'd love to know if you have any aims or resolutions for 2012, please let me know in the comments and I'll see you tomorrow  with a few pics from Christmas and New Year xx