London Fashion Week Blogger Party // Bloggers Hangout

Morning guys :) 

I hope that you're all well?! 

It's pay day weekend for most of you (except me) and I bet y'all are going to do some serious shopping, *weeps into my comfort food*. 

Speaking of shopping, the past week was London Fashion Week, the most prestigious fashion event like... Ever. 

Anyway I was invited to go to the Bloggers Hangout 'London Fashion Week Party' down in Hoxton, London, Monday just gone. 

I love going to these events as you meet so many new bloggers' and brands and they are always so much fun. To be honest with you this is only the second one I had been to because in the past, these events have been on whilst I have been working. 

On the way down I was... And this is SO SAD, on route to go past Harry Styles house... And if you don't know already, I am majorly crushing on him right now, not in a 'fan girl' way but in a my stomach is in my mouth when I see him kinda way. Ha. *Covers eyes*. This girls got it bad. So yeah Papa Hutt pulled over and we just strolled by his house for like a second and then went back into the car. Later that night though... And I was GUTTED. I found out that he was in fact in bloody London that day too, I mean come on!!! The only day I am there he's back from LA and I freaking missed him by god damn seconds. I couldn't believe it. I was so near yet so frickin far. I could of cried. Ha ha. 

I won't put a picture up because it would be rude to, so you can have some of London instead. :)  

Now, I've got that off my chest. After my little detour we arrived in Hoxton to the studio the event was held in. 

The venue this time was pretty small compared to the last event, but it had more of an intimate feel to it. 

I wasn't aware that my little blogger friend Beth Chudley was going to the event too. When I saw on Twitter that she was going I was instantly more excited because I wasn't walking in on my own and I actually got to meet her after talking online for a while.Ha. She is sooooo lovely and dinky and very talented, go check out her blog here... http://littlecapsulewardrobe.com/

If I am completely honest with you I preferred the last event that they hosted as I found that this one was based more for the foodies and there were only a couple of beauty brands. :( 

We missed out on the Bloggers Hangout gift bags too which was a bummer.

Other than that I met some really nice brands and got gifted some lovely little products. I only really went to the stands that I was genuinely interested in because I felt I would get more out of it, rather than going round them all and wasting people's time. 

The first brand I went to see is Ark 'Age Aware Skincare'. This is a brand that I haven't actually heard of before and the lady I spoke to was really friendly and informative. Their brand is designed to "treat your skin through every day life stage with products that are suited to your skin's age-related needs'. 

I was gifted their 'pro remove, pre cleanse' oil. It's a unisex product that is put onto a dry face and massaged in to the skin and then you wet your face and emulsify the oil into a lather and then wash off. Its aim is to " prepare the skin for deeper cleansing for a perfectly flawless complexion.". It claims to remove waterproof makeup and also is effective as a shaving oil. 

The product contains a lot of natural ingredients and essential fatty acids. 

I have left it this long to put the post up because I wanted to test the products out and give you my first impressions. 

The oil has a signature smell and reminds me of petunia oil. It glides on the face nicely, for me it doesn't majorly lather up but it leaves my face feeling really clean and soft afterwards. I really like this product. I have had some breakouts so I am unsure whether that's just happened naturally or that the new products I am using are causing it. The more I use them, I guess I will find out. Ha. 


Next I went to see the Deborah Mitchell stand. I saw this brand at the last Bloggers Hangout event but didn't really get to talk to them as again it was so busy. The lady I spoke to was really nice and really paid attention to my skin needs and she then gifted me two of their full sized products to match those needs, which was really nice of her. 

She firstly gifted me their Heaven 'Cleanse & Foam Wash', which smells amazing. It contains Organic Mandarin (which is the main scent) and orange flower.

I use this after my Ark cleanse now and use it with my Magnitone. This has become my daily skin care routine. This product claims to be good for anti aging, firming, increase collagen levels, removes scars and removes pigmentation. 

I have only been using this for a week so it will be good to eventually see the effects. 

They also gave me the Heaven 'Peppermint Clarifying Hydeogel'. 

This contains, peppermint, spearmint, lavender and coconut. 

It is really soothing and I put this on my face after I have cleansed. You can use this as a primer too under your makeup. That's cool. 

I told the lady that I have been getting breakouts so she gave me this to help calm down my skin after cleansing as this acts as a toner. It closes pores, is great for pale skin and apparently it helps with morning sickness. This obviously won't affect me, but preggo ladies out their, this could a the product for you. 

I am liking these products a lot at the moment especially the gel. I think I like gel formulas as for me they seem to have more substance. 


I then moved on to the food area's as the beauty was basically over. One stand that caught my eye was PopKakery. They are a brand who make products that are gluten free, which is awesome. Their range includes gluten free cake pops, brownies, marshmallows and cookies. 

I was given a cake pop to try which is one of their best sellers. I swear down, it was one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. It tasted amazing. 

The only thing I wasn't keen on was the fact that palm oil is used in this product. I am against animal cruelty and I know they test palm oil out on animals, so that did put me off a bit. Other than that the product is beautifully presented, the concept is great and they bloody taste amazing. 

Other products I tried was from a brand called Get Buzzing who produce 100% natural nut free flapkjack bars. 

These were really nice, I particularly liked the date and seed one that I was given. 

Other brands I tried was Cocktail Mania. They served alcoholic cocktails and they were amazing!!! It literally tasted like there was no alcohol in it. I tried the passion fruit one. 

I tried out Coconuts natural 'Mint Choc Chip' ice cream that's made out of natural ingredients and raw chocolate. 

And finally I grabbed some samples of the Bluebird Tea Co tea bags. I didn't try any there so thought I would at home. I haven't actually got around to trying them yet but they had a lot of varieties. I picked up 'Ginerbread Chai' and ' Skinny Minny'. I picked up the gingerbread one because who doesn't love that taste. I don't know how it's going to taste within a tea but I am hoping it's going to be great. The second one I picked up because it claims to boost your metabolism (score) and calms you stomach. This sounds like something I need. 

I was there for about an hour and then left as my interests lie in beauty and fashion, but it was nice to try out new things and meet new brands. I had a real nice time and it's great that these events are available, especially for us smaller bloggers' who want to get involved but can't in the bigger events in and around London. 

I'll leave you with some of the pictures I took on the way home out of my car window, driving at 60mph. :) 

Thanks for reading and I will see you in my next post. 

Love

L 

X 

Bloggers London Fashion Week #BLFW // My first ever event!!

Afternoon :) 

So on Monday (just gone) I traveled from the Shire to London taaaaawn to attend my first ever blogger's event. 

It was held at the Oxo Tower (2nd floor) right next to the River Thames, hosted by The Bloggers Hangout. 

It took me a good few hours to get down there and MAN weren't there a lot of A-hole drivers on the motorway. At one point I didn't think I was going to make it, it was THAT BAD!!! 

Yeah, so, the dress code was to be all in black, which is pretty easy for me as 90% of my wardrobe is black. :D I was booked as a photographer for the event which I was extremely grateful for, so I was all equipped with my IPhone and my DSLR. I tend to wear my hair in a side plait most of the time until it grows to the length I am happy with. This time though I wanted to change the style up a bit so I started with a french plait and then proceeded onto a 'pull-through' braid. (I will insert a picture below). I kept to my usual day look of a smokey eye and I was practically done :) 

Typically, my name wasn't on the list as 'LEYA', so the security guard at the event couldn't find me. There was however a 'Leah' which I gathered was me. It was 12 pm when we were all allowed in and I was SO tired as I had been up at 5.30 am. Zonked. 

The room was mainly white and it was filled with lots of different brands and companies eager to show everyone their products and to inform us about their companies. It had a chilled and relaxed atmosphere which was nice because I was pretty anxious. I talked to A LOT of people that day and everyone was lovely. There was music playing by a live DJ and drinks were being served. It was very classy and Instagramable. <- I know that isn't a word. :D 

I didn't realise there was a 'gifting' room where brands gift you their products to try out and possibly review so I hit that room last. It was nice finding out about companies that I haven't heard of before and to try their products out. 

My favourite brand by far was 'With Love Lilly' and they are a mother & daughter owned company who create and make to fit, lingerie. The pieces that they make are adorable, unique and so feminine. They are so unique and beautiful, as soon as I saw the rail with them all on I shot straight over to them. They weren't gifting that day as their products are made to fit but a few minutes after I had left, the mum came over and gave me one of the bra's I loved as a gift from herself and her daughter. I was so shocked as I wasn't expecting that at all and I was so thankful. I liked a lot of their products so I didn't know until I got home on which one I was gifted. 

This one is out in October and I am in LOVE with it.  

How beautiful is this bra. Sorry for the revealing picture but it was too cute not to show!!

The event had some great beauty brands there, I love nail polish and there were two brands there that I hadn't heard of that I really liked and then there was good old Barry M. 

The two brands are 'Little Ondine' and 'True Brit'. Little Ondine pride themselves on the fact that their polishes are "composed of natural resin, organic colourants and water". That means no nasty polish smell!! I really liked this idea as it is nicer for your nail and not so harsh. And apparently their polish just peels off. I am yet to try the product but it sounds really good. 

True Brit have a similar stance on what the polish components consist of. Their product is "exclusively blended with Natural Flower Oils, Vitamin E, Elderflower and Rose. It sounds so luxurious".

Two really nice brands. I cannot wait to try the products I was given. 

As far as skin care goes, there were a couple of brands that gifted me and those were 'Kleem Organics' and 'Heaven by Deborah Mitchell' 

Kleem Organics gave me a Vitamin C Serum that is an all-in-one anti-aging product that smells of oranges. It reminded me of the Vitamin C range in The Body Shop. The texture of the serum is so soft and doesn't leave a sticky residue. The product is also cruelty free and not tested on animals which is AMAZING, as everyone knows I am against testing on animals. I can't wait to use this product properly. 

Heaven by Deborah Mitchell is a brand that is currently being used by the Royal Family, Camilla in particular. I have never heard of this brand before but it seems like a luxury brand one of which I can imagine being quite pricey. I haven't got any leaflets about the product but they are cute.

A brand called Miglio Designer Jewellery had some beautiful pieces on show too, I especially loved the rose gold finish products. 

Oooohhh another brand I like is Berrywhite Organic drinks. Their product contains organic fruits with white tea and herbal extracts. They are sugar free too. I dislike sugar free drinks as they have that nasty aftertaste but these drinks don't. I had a taste of the blueberry and pomegranate sparkling drink and I really liked it. They also gave me some products to take home and try. 

Pudology were also there and I used to deal with the company at my old place of work. They started following me on Twitter, where I realised that their products are gluten and dairy free which I was really happy about. Lucy Wager who is the director had a lovely chat with me about the company when I asked her some questions. I tried the Millionaire pudding and it was awesome. I expected it to taste horrible because it was 'free' from a lot of things but it just tasted like a normal pudding but without all of the crap. I need to buy this product!!!

Other brands that were there included: 

Halo hair extensions

Fleur of England - A lingerie brand

Motel Rocks

Pixi

Paul & Joe 

Magnitone

Barry M 

Maison Ves- Candle Company

The rest of the day

My gifts

I got gifted so much <3

I missed the fashion catwalk as I had to leave early due to the fact I had a hospital appointment for a scan early the next morning and papa Hutt was driving. I would like to say a massive thank you to The Bloggers Hangout for booking me as a photographer for the event and for the goody bag at the end too. They organised and put on a cracking event and I loved every minute of it. 

Also a massive thank you to the Oxo Tower for letting all us bloggers into your venue for the day and a HUGE thank you to all the brands that gifted me and who I spoke to. 

I hope you like this post and I can't wait for the next event.

L <3