#BloggersBall 2016

You may remember last year I talked about visiting the Bloggers Festival in September run by the talented Scarlett London, so when an invite to the Bloggers Ball popped up for an invite to the ball of the year (I’m calling it that!) of course I said yes! Especially as my friend is selfishly (joking of course) having her wedding as the same day as this year’s Festival!

This year I took my sister Becca in tow with me, who I’ve been wanting to start blogging for a while – and she now is almost ready to go – I just need to make her a logo! We met up before on Oxford Street with the plan of having a gander at some high street Bridesmaid dress options, but alas, we barely made it out of Topshop and H&M, before heading for some lunch at Five Guys – a favourite for us both – then on to the ball. I’ve got a separate post of what I bought whilst in London that went up yesterday.

Unlike last year’s event where I got lots of snaps I really struggled this year as the location was different, At DSTRKT nightclub which was lovely inside but quite cramped with the hundreds of eager bloggers wanting to introduce them to brands meant it was much harder to have enough space of taking pictures of people’s stands. But a big thank you to the lovely brands we met on the day and the whopping pile of things I have been given to try. I’ll try to keep this run down as quick as possible – there’s a lot to get through, but you can expect reviews on a lot of what’s here in the not to distant future!

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Smooth Skin IPL

The first stand we stopped off at was at Smooth Skin IPL who had some of their machines available to try. I’ve always thought about IPL but it’s a bit of a luxury purchase which when you’ve got a wedding to pay for is a luxury I can’t currently afford. I was please to find when trying it that other than a light pulse of heat, that’s as painful as it gets – even my whimp of a little sister (sorry Becca!) didn’t think that it hurt. I took a leaflet away to do some more research before finding out when I got home that the competition I entered whilst there to win a machine unexpectedly actually happened! I haven’t received it yet, but it is on it’s way so expect a review over the coming months when I’ve had chance to try it out and see the effects.

Excuviance

Until the Bloggers Festival last year I hadn’t heard of Excuviance but after being given a full size of their clay face mask which I fell head-over-heels (and have sadly finished up a few weeks ago!) I was pleased to see them there again. This time I was given one of their Purifying Cleansers which I was delighted by designed to help balance oily skin – perfect for me as my skin seems to have only got worse as we’ve come into summer. This is such a generous size I must say too – much bigger than you’d normally expect for a full size cleanser.

Monin

 

A brand you’d normally associate with shots to jazz up your coffee – or maybe hot chocolate – we’re there demoing how infact they also make a perfect addition to add to your cocktails. I got a specially made vodka and chocolate cookie shot (a bit intense for an early saturday afternoon!) that was absolutely delicious. We were given a bottle of the Chocolate Cookie syrup and I’m looking forward to playing the role of a cocktail maker and experimenting at home!

Seed & Bean Chocolate

A brand which I’d tried before – their Sea Salt and Lime Chocolate is divine, we got to try out a few of their wide array of flavours and was given a bar to take away too! Ben’s counting his blessings as it’s a Mocha bar and I don’t like coffee, so he’s feeling pretty smug right now!

Roam & Relish

Launched literally on the day of the bloggers ball, was cured meats from the English Countryside, all the cows are grass fed for life making for an extra delicious taste – we got to try out their mouth-wateringly good pastrami and got given a pack to take away too!

Selfie Tanning

New-ish brand Selfie were there doing demos of their self-tanning range. I’ve never really been that “in-to” self tanning, but have always had it in my mind to do it. The demos and talk on this was pretty impressive and it’s with a patent-pending scent that doesn’t even have the slightest hint of that biscuitty scent you’d normally expect! Available from ASOS if you want to check it out!

Chin Up Mask

A product that I’ve never come across anything similar to before – or . I’m thinking of filming this as a review so you can see the results, but this is probably what you’d expect. A sheet type mask for you chin which is supposed to help you loose and lift your neck – coming with a tape measure to see what it’s like before and after.

Vatika

A totally new name to me, but if you’re from the middle East it’s a brand you’re likely to be familiar with being one of the most popular haircare brands over in that part of the world. I thought that would mean that they were only just launching here, but apparantly not being already available in Superdrug and Tescos – you have probably just never seen it like I. They picked out products specific to our hair problems, mine being dry and damaged due to ombre bleach damage, so I received a giant tub of their Egg Protein Hair Mask (which *spoiler alert* you’ll see this next week is INCREDIBLE) and a pomegranate body lotion too.

So…? Fragrances

The So Fragrances stand was like a time-warp back to mine and my sisters youth’s – as teenagers we both used different perfumes from the So…? Range and we were reunited with them. I think I’ve become a bit snobby over the years only ever staying at the higher end of the pricetags when it comes to perfumes but I was pleasently surprised by these. With a bottles of body spray and three perfumes (yep – three!) I have plenty to try out and rediscover.

Face Matters

I really enjoyed talking to the creator of Face Matters who was telling us a back history of her brand – and what she’s doing to help the wider community and give back. With a few samples of the products to try, it’s a brand I’m looking forward to trying these samples out from.

Just Beauty

An online store I hadn’t heard of previously – and such an amazing filled goodie bag from the gorgeous girlies @ Just Beauty – specialising in Gel polish brands Mylee and Blue Sky (which I already love!), they also showcased some of their other lines such as Orly, Carmex and I finally have some invisibobbles to try – yay!

TOAD Diaries      

I was lucky enough to win a TOAD Diaries diary to pick up at the Bloggers Festival last year, which has been a big help in keeping me organised this year (New Job + Daily Blogging + Wedding Planning & New Puppy is an exhausting Mix FYI!). I was lucky to win another this year. This time I designed my diary as a wedding planner – with a to-do list on one side and a weekly breakdown of dates for appointments and specific dates that I need to pay things by on the other.

Bravura

We had an interesting talk from the founder of Bravura – a company which gives advice on their range tailored to your skin care problems – I ended up with some 2% salicylic acid chemical peel which is supposed to be great for helping balancing oil control – and a brush to apply it with. I’ve not tried a proper chemical peel before so I’m looking forward to giving this a go.

Lipvir

The Lipvir stand was really fun – getting us to play games and do activities before getting to the end to talk about the products that they have. This is a cold sore prevention product – which long technical sciencey explanation short – means it stops any virus’ talking to the brain and the infection forming. We also got to pick a shade of Rimmel lipstick to have alongside the actual product too.

Bonprix

Bonprix were there showcasing some of the latest pieces, completely fit for summer. We picked out our favourite pieces – Becca’s some jazzy pastel trousers (she’s a patterned trousers kind of gal) and mine a monochrome maxi – which surprisingly did look long enough for me, so I’ll look that up as it’s a rarity for a 5ft 11 gal. You can browse the Bonprix collection here.

Scissorpic

One of our last stops of the day was at the Selfie Booth – or should I say Selfie Mirror from Scissorpic – a large touch screen mirror with a box full of props and great lighting? Bloggers dream! Going to be contacting these people for our wedding as Ben had been keen on the idea of having a selfie booth – but I’d been worried because space will be at a premium.

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Thanks to Becca for joining me – if you want to see what I bought before we headed to the ball – I had a lot to carry to the train – please click here, and you can sub to Becca’s blog early if you fancy by clicking, hopefully I can get her logo finished this week and give her a quick WordPress lowdown and she’ll be good to posting in no time!

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Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com