[[ Dani, Emily, Lindsey and I ]]
The day started by piling into a taxi with Liloo (AKA 'Le Petit Jardin de Liloo'), Jen (AKA 'Mizz Worthy'), Lindsey (AKA 'Beautifully Addicted To'), Emily (AKA 'Sparkle and Shade') and Dani (AKA 'Giddy Princess') and arriving at The Loft in time to have a chat and some delicious mulled wine before the venue got packed to the rafters with beauty bloggers, photographers, organisers, stylists, 'online journalists'...
[[ Suzy Makin with Ruth of 'Ruth's Reflections' and May of 'May Loves Makeup' ]]
The lessons in flirting by 'flirt guru' Elizabeth Clarke were hilarious. I wish I could write up half the things she said, but I'd rather keep this blog (relatively) clean!. Never before have I heard the phrase 'TITS AND TEETH' yelled with so much vigour. Other lessons included how to give off an aura of self confidence by the way you present yourself, given by the bubbly, cheery ex catwalk model Suzy Makin. It was funny to notice how many people started strutting around (shoulders back, chest out) after her talks!
There was also what I thought was a great presentation on photography by Carlo Nicora. This was an excellent idea; so many ladies have great cameras but no idea of how to use them to their best. A few people came up to ask me about their cameras, too! Maybe the chunky DSLR clasped in my hand was a bit of a sign haha :)
[[ Stylist working his magic ]]
Dotted around were six stands where you could have your hair styled by one of the Aussie team. Each stand was dedicated to a different hair 'tribe' and decorated accordingly, 'Miracle Moist' with a mermaid background, 'Luscious Long' with Rapunzel, 'Frizz Miracle' with the Mad Hatter and so on. Practically everyone had gorgeous, curled princess hair by the end of the night! I didn't get mine styled since it's practically impossible to make a part shaven head look pretty and I didn't fancy anything wild :/ Ah well!
[[ A lady having her makeover ]]
The middle of the hall housed rows of 'market stalls' manned by beauty bloggers who were offering manicures, make overs, baked goodies, contests and little amigurumi animals. It was interesting to see what everyone had to offer, but I think the stalls were a little lost among everything else. Maybe if there were more stands and they were the key feature - like a proper market - they'd have seemed more...relevant? But placed between two speakers with microphones, the loud hum of hair dryers and general buzz of beauty bloggers they became a little nondescript. I wasn't the only one who thought this - I felt quite sorry for the ladies running the stalls!
[[ Aussie's latest products in the goodie bag, thanks to Emily for not finding approaching Santa at the bar awkward haha ]]
All in all, I had excellent fun! It was so bizarre meeting and seeing 'internet people' whos blogs I read all the time in person! Thanks to - Liloo for inviting me, Jen, Emily, Dani and Lindsey for milling around with me, Aussie for running the event, stylists for your stamina and talent, the key speakers for your presentations, all the market stall holders for your skills and patience, Aussie mascots for being generally lovely, bar staff for not going insane and everyone who attended for being fabulous :)
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