The Oracle Christmas Event

A few weeks ago an email landed in my inbox that made me very excited. I was invited to a special Christmas event at the Oracle in Reading exclusively for bloggers. As soon as I saw what was in store for us, I knew that I had to go, so on a very rainy Tuesday I trekked into Reading to meet up with some fellow bloggers.

First stop for us was Browns Bar and Brasserie, which I had honestly never heard of before this event. Nestled on the Riverside in the Oracle this bar is very stylish, I walked in an immediately felt like I was in a Bar in New York. The other girls arrived, including our guide for the evening, Hayley. Bubbly was provided, which I unfortunately no longer drink, so I myself had an orange juice. Shortly after everyone arrive some canapés were provided, which were amazing! We had chicken and bacon croquettes, crackers and cheese, and my absolute favourite of the evening, home made pork scratchings that were very crunchy and unbelievably moreish. After getting to know each other a little bit and demolishing the nibbles we moved onto the next stop... Topshop.

When we arrived at Topshop we were shown their Christmas Party wear at the front of the store on the mannequins, and talked through the major trends for the season. Then we were shown into an exclusive area in the changing rooms and shown some pieces that they had pulled for us to have a look at. There was a great range of styles for us to look at, from interesting furs, to metallic knitwear, and even beautiful jewel tones. The lovely staff member from Topshop told us that one of the biggest trends this season is a mix and match of embellishments, such as buckles and sequins. I personally don't normally buy from Topshop, because I am always worried that they won't have anything that will fit me. However I did absolutely fall in love with one of their textiles which was a metallic gold knit, that honestly felt like it was a fine chain-mail... that's the only way I can think of to describe it. I just wish Topshop had clothing in my size because I would buy something made of that in a heartbeat. Once we were done in the fitting rooms we got too have a wander around the store and I did find a few more pieces that I was dying to add to my wardrobe, but again was disappointed to find that my size was not catered for. 

The final stop was at Kiko, a makeup brand that I know very little about, but after my experience with the girls in store, desperately want to get to know more. I had actually made a visit to the Kiko store before, back in February when I was looking for makeup for my finals with DFMA, and I purchased some eye-shadows but didn't venture too much further into the store. However when we walked in we were greeted by the sight of their beautiful Christmas range that the girls talked us through. I was honestly so impressed and I don't think I have ever seen such a large Christmas range from one brand. They had everything from fragrances, to lipsticks and nail polishes. All in lovely gift sets, just the right size to give to someone special for the holiday season. My personal favourite from the collection was the lipstick and lip-liner set priced at £10.90, perfect for someone who loves lipstick, or even someone who wants to start wearing more lipstick. Once the lovely staff had finished showing us the range they asked if any of us wanted to see any of the products more close up and in depth, and some of the girls leaped at the chance and got to have their makeup done. I couldn't resist getting some snaps of this, and I also couldn't resist swatching lipsticks on the back of my hand! I didn't end up buying a lipstick though and instead bought a lovely pink highlighter stick from the Christmas range for £6.90, as soon as I swatched it, I fell in love and just had to have it. Having had a proper look in Kiko now I know that as soon as I get some Christmas money I am on my way into reading to have a bit of a splurge!

All in all it was so lovely to meet some old and new faces and spend an evening in one of my favourite towns. Thanks to Frank PR for inviting me along, and Browns, Topshop and Kiko for deciding to host us. I already can't wait for my next trip into Reading.

South East Blogger Event @ Pizza Express

I have been waiting for this event to come along for so long, and yesterday was finally the day! This event was hosted by the lovely Jenny Cole of Ramblings of a Jaffa Cat. It was so nice to be able to attend an event that was only five minutes away from where I live... At 6pm I ventured over to Pizza Express in Basingstoke Festival Place who were kind enough to host the event. They provided us with drinks and even a yummy buffet with slices of pizza, and dough balls etc.

On top of that Jenny organised for a couple of company's to be at the event to speak with us. First up was Bee Good, a company all about skin care made from naturally sourced bee products. They had testers of everything there so we could try everything that we wanted to take a look at, and the lovely lady from Bee Good talked us through everything. My favourite product was definitely the Raspberry and White Chocolate lip balm, it smells seriously good. As soon as I get paid this month I am putting that straight into my basket!

Also the lovely ladies from Lush Basingstoke were there, so I got to see Lush two nights in a row! This time the girls (Katy and Zoe) brought a small selection of the Christmas collection for us to take a look at and we were even able to buy a few products if we wanted to. Despite having spent £70 on Sunday in Lush, I did pick myself up a Golden Wonder Bath Bomb, and as a thank you the girls gave me two bath bombs for free.

As well as product demonstrations Jenny had worked incredibly hard to get some brilliant raffle prizes. All proceeds for the raffle went to the charity Mind, who are a charity representing mental health, something which I personally have had experience with in recent years. Unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to win this time, but it didn't bother me as I know my money is going to a good cause, and honestly it was just nice to be in the company of like minded people. Everyone who attended was so lovely and we all had a great long chat about blogging, something that I can't really do with my 'real life' friends...

The cherry on the cake of the evening was the fact that Jenny had managed to put together some lovely goody bags for us to bring home.

This included the following:

• Life Tonics tote bag and two drinks
• Bill's Restaurant Strawberry Jam
• Cheerz Polaroid Voucher
• Champneys Guilford Face Mask
• Dream Dots Voucher
• Witch Skincare Samples
• Bee Good Sample
• Lush Basingstoke Luxury Pud Bath Bomb and Dashing Santa Bath Bomb (as mentioned above)

Honestly I was so surprised to receive anything and it was a lovely surprise that Jenny put together for us. All in all I had a really fun night, met some lovely ladies, and I already can't wait for the next Basingstoke event!

Basingstoke Lush: Summer Blogger Event!

I was lucky enough to be invited along to the first ever Lush blogger event in Basingstoke, and it was all about being Summer Ready! There were seven bloggers in total, myself, Hannah, Sophie, Katie, Angi, Sam, and Dawn, so it was nice to meet some local girls! I was also surprised to see Ryan working in the Basingstoke store, as I first met him in the Reading store at some of their blogger events, which you can read about here and here. 

Here are all the products that we talked through:

• The Sunblock: This clever little block is designed to be used in the shower and is SPF10 to give you that initial protection from the harmful UV rays! However you can also use it as you would one of the Lush massage bars and rub it into your skin after showering. It comes in a block of three, so you have three applications worth in the one block.
• Sesame Suntan Lotion: This product smells so ridiculously good that I almost want to eat it... If you are a fan of peanut butter then you will love this lotion. It has SPF 10 and can be reapplied throughout the day.
• Powdered Sunshine: This product seems seriously strange to me, it's a powder that you use like a suntan lotion... and it has SPF15!!! How ridiculous is that? 
• Million Dollar Moisturiser: I have heard about this product before, but I never realised that it was also SPF30! I know that when I'm going out into the sun I always forget to worry about my face, so having an SPF in my moisturiser would be really good for me.
• Ocean Salt Body Scrub: I was assured that this product it amazing as a body scrub, the sea salt is perfect for getting rid of all your horrible dead skin!
• Sea Salt Hair Spray: We were given an amazing demonstration of this product by the lovely Zoe. She showed how you can use the salt spray to put volume in your hair, and how it can also be used to achieve those perfect beachy waves!
• Sunnyside Bubble Bar: This little guy is seriously delicious, busting with loads of orange scents, and it's covered in gold glitter, turning your bath water into literal sunshine!
• Big Blue Bath Bomb: With sea salt and seaweed, this bath bomb turns your water into the sea, well a much more relaxing and better smelling version of the sea anyway...

We were also lucky enough to be able to make our own little Big Blue to take home with us... It's always great fun when you get to make your own bath bombs at the Lush events, and it's always so satisfying watching it bubble away knowing that you have made it yourself!!

To top it all off at the end of the night we were given a goody bag packed full of products, if you want to see what we got in those then check the video out below!

Lush Christmas Goodie Bag

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Lush Christmas/Halloween event in Reading, and I had a completely awesome time, which you can read about here. At the time I wrote that we got given a Goodie Bag. and I think it's about time that I shared what I got given, so feel free to watch the video below. If you don't want to watch the video I have also put a list of all the products in the video below.  I just wanted to add a massive thank you to Reading Lush for having me, and entertaining us with a wonderful evening, also for my goodie bag, you guys are seriously awesome!

Products mentioned in the video:

1. Northern Lights Bath Bomb (I bought this one myself)
2. Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar (I bought this one myself)
3. Christmas Penguin Bubble Bar (Gifted)
4. So White Bath Bomb (Gifted)
5. Butterbear Bath Bomb (Made at the event)
6. Cinders Bath Bomb (Made at the event)
7. So White Shower Gel (Gifted)
8. Snowman Fun (Gifted)
9. Santa's Lip Scrub (Gifted)
10. Santa Baby Lip Tint (Gifted)

Lush Halloween and Christmas 2014

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to attend the Lush Reading Halloween and Christmas Blogger Event, you can check out their Twitter here. I had been invited to an event last year but couldn't attend due to my car accident, so I was glad to finally make it to one. As you can see above we were spoiled with some lovely sparkling apple cider in glasses with raspberries. There was also sparkling lemon water, cranberry juice, and a lightly spiced tea on offer. As well as biscuits and chocolates!

We spent some time going through all of the Halloween and Christmas products, and I am in love with each and every one of them. I'm so glad that Lush releases Halloween products, as I find at this time of year Halloween often get's overshadowed by Christmas, and Halloween is my favourite time of year!

I was surprised by the sheer amount of products that we went through, this is only a small handful that I managed to capture pictures of. I realise most of these are bath bombs/melts, but those are my favourite Lush products, hence why I took a lot of photos of them. I really don't think there was a single product there that I saw and didn't like the smell of, another reason why I love Lush.

After passing all the products around and smelling them, we were all absolutely covered in glitter, but there was even more glitter to come!

We were also introduced to the Christmas Edition of Lush's Fun, which is a snowman building kit! It's carrot scented, and comes with all the colours you need to make your own little snowman. We were split into teams and given an allotted amount of time (the running time of 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman' from Frozen), and we had to make our own little snowman. I think ours look's slightly sinister...

We were also lucky enough to get hands on, and make TWO Lush products. The Cinders Bath Bomb, which features popping candy, and the Butterbear which has cocoa butter to nourish your skin! I have to admit it was pretty fascinating getting to see how the products are made, and it's exciting to know that I will be using something that I have made!

I honestly love all of the products that we saw and smelt, but there were definitely a few stand outs for me, and trust me it was hard to pick.

First up had to be the Northern Lights bath bomb. This one is similar to the Sparkler bath bomb and is baton shaped. It creates this amazing display of blue, purple and pink, and it smells really good. As the name suggests it's inspired by the Aurora Borealis. I couldn't resist picking one of these up after the event, and I'm saving it for a special occasion. 

This little guy is The Christmas Hedgehog, and who could really resist the cuteness. He is a bubble bar and he is too adorable. To be honest I never really thought of Hedgehogs as being Christmassy, but I certainly do now!

via

This one actually took me by surprise, as I am not a fan of soap, which is why when I go to Lush I normally just walk past it. I won't be doing that any more, this soap has changed my mind. This is Yog Nog, a vegan take on a classic Egg Nog, although I'm not entirely 100% on what Egg Nog smells like, this soap smells like heaven. I don't know how to describe the scent, it's a touch of cinnamon and creamy goodness that screams Christmas to me. I honestly have not stopped thinking about this soap since leaving the event on Wednesday, I have to have it.

Finally to top the night off we got given a goody bag with a couple of random products from the Halloween/Christmas collection, which I will be doing a video about shortly so watch this space!

I just want to say a massive thank you Lush Reading for putting on an awesome night and making us ladies all feel welcome, I can't wait to see you all at the next event. Let me know in the comments which Lush Christmas product you are dying to try!