The Monday Piece - Bullring Bloggers Event

This week's Monday Piece is on the amazing Bullring Bloggers Event i attended last week. The Bullring in Birmingham is one of my fave local shopping centres as they have the most awesome selection of shops, including big department stores, like Selfridges and Debenhams, that are a one stop shop for all your fashion and beauty needs! At the event we were treated to Nando's, drinks, blogger cakes and goodies, plus it was a great opportunity to chat with different brands like Karen Millen, Folli Follie, Umberto Giannini and lots of beauty brands too like Clarins, Shu Uemura and Urban Decay. There were lots of products to try and lots to learn, which is always good for someone like me who is a bit of a make up and skincare novice! It's always great seeing the local blogging girls, so i had a great night. We were treated to some fab gifts and samples to test out, so i'll be popping those up in a blog post soon :).
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In Love With Fashion DIY Day

On Tuesday i popped down to London for a day of DIY fun with some sassy bloggers at In Love With Fashion HQ! We were greeted with cakes, sweeties and champagne, and were shown a table full of vintage Lee and Levis jeans ready for us to customise. There was also a huge choice of fabrics, accessories, studs, and other bits and bobs that we could use to jazz up the denim! I chose a pair of classic Lee jeans to cut up into shorts (thank you Gemma who cut them for me as i was scared!) - i chose a thick, heavy denim style that are also slightly 'baggy' so i can wear them low on my hips or high waisted, cinched in with a belt. I added gold spikey studs to the pockets and a crochet trim to the bottoms - i'll be wearing them in an outfit post soon so you can see them in all their glory!
I loveee them, they're ideal for Summer and will be awesome for festivals too! The other girls did an amazing job on their shorts, and added pink fluff and printed pockets - i think some of the styles will be available to buy online soon, so keep you eyes peeled if you fancy a pair yourself. The beautiful ladies at Love also gave us our own personalised tote bag and t-shirt, which was mega exciting and cute! It was such a fun day, so thank you to In Love with Fashion for inviting me :).
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The Monday Piece - Selfridges Birmingham Beauty Hall

This week's Monday Piece is on the fantastic new Beauty Hall at Selfridges Birmingham. Selfridges have recently launched a huge beauty campaign across their stores, named The Beauty Project, it's all about how people define beauty, what being beautiful is all about, and how to find beauty in everyone! You can find lots of beauty related things going on in your local Selfridges, from talks with professional make up artists, to skin care workshops, google hangouts and limited edition products - you can see the full timetable here.

On Wednesday night we were invited to a party at Selfridges Birmingham, to celebrate the launch of the new Beauty Hall in connection with The Beauty Project. We started with champagne on the balcony, and chatting with other guests, then were led downstairs to a staged area where we were told to wait for an important guest performance! The ladies told us all about The Beauty Hall and how it's the biggest luxury beauty department outside of London - you could instantly tell so much work had gone into it, and the staff were so positive, excited and proud to show it off. The performance then started and we were open mouth shocked when Kelis came out and started singing - dressed in a multicolour dress and big high heels, she looked incredible and sounded amazing! Strutting around the stage and being a general goddess, it was such a special performance - thank you Selfridges!

Following the beautiful Kelis, we were given time to browse the beauty hall and test out the products with some more champagne and yummy food - it's absolutely massive, and very glossy and new - featuring brands including Chanel, Illamasqua, Mac, Charlotte Tilbury and Jo Malone (and many more) it's a beauty lovers paradise. There's a dedicated area to perfume too, where you can find rare, exclusive brands as well as other well known fragrances. The Beauty Hall environment looks and feels so luxurious, plus there are lots of staff on hand to assist with any purchases or treatments. As well as beauty and fragrance, there are also hair and skin care stations, again with lots of exclusive products and treatments!

It was such an exciting evening, with surprises and treats to take away, The Beauty Hall at Selfridges Birmingham is not to be missed, and the Beauty Project is running nationwide until June 12th - please do check it out!
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Francesco Group Bloggers Event

Last Thursday i popped over to Birmingham to The Francesco Group Academy hairdressers for a bloggers evening, and had so much fun! Upon entering i was greeted with drinks and yummy strawberries, and introduced to the team, which was great as i'd got lost in the city wearing inappropriate footwear so couldn't wait to relax and get started - the salon smelt so good and was really smart and well laid out, with fresh flowers and an abundance of high end hair tools. I'd had my hair cut earlier that day, but it was fairly messy and hadn't been washed (lazy girl problems), so was excited when the organisers told me that i could have a treatment of my choice - hooray! I had the talented Melvin styling my hair, he washed it with some amazing smelling products, then gave me their new 'sleek blowdry', then finished the style by straightening my hair and making it super shiny and glossy. I loved it, my hair felt like silk and was the sleekest it's ever been!

We were also given the opportunity to have a colour consultation, something i'd not had before, where we were told what skin type we were (i'm cool), and what colour clothes and accessories work best with our skin tone - it was so interesting and i learned a lot about what colours are good and bad for me, and what hair and make up colours are most suited to us. It was fab to have such a personal experience, and might have opened my eyes to a few more colours other than black! Before leaving i was given some Wella Professional products to try out, including a leave in conditioner, misting spray oil that i now can't live without, and a detangler for my knotty tresses - i've been using the products for the last week and have seen some great results. It was an awesome evening and i definitely recommend Francesco Group salons, if only i could have Melvin every day to work his magic! I've added some pictures below, Chloe had her hair cut and styled, and Hayley had her fringe trimmed, they both looked amazing!
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All Francesco Group details can be found, here.

The Club and Spa Nail Bar at The Cube

On Thursday i was invited to The Club and Spa at The Cube in Birmingham where the new Laurent Perrier Champagne Nail Bar has recently opened, for an evening of manicures and champagne - what a combination! I attended with lovely blogger Charlotte who writes LilMissChickas so it was destined to be a fun night! We were greeted by the amazing Sunny who showed us around the luxurious Spa and gym facilities. The whole building smells so good, and feels peaceful as soon as you walk in - the aromatherapy oils are ideal if you need some chill out time, and there are multiple treatment rooms whether you're after a massage, mud mask, or salt halotherapy. My favourite area had to be the vitality pool, with water falls, heated water and jacuzzi bubbles it's right up my street - I also loved the hanging pods where you climb in with a blanket and just hang from the ceiling! As well as the Spa there's also a big, fully equipped Gym full of weights and work out machines, great if you're into keeping fit!

After experiencing the Spa and Gym it was time to sit down with some Laurent Perrier and get our nails done, i had the ever so cute and lovely Madison doing my nails who was so charming and helpful. I chose a pastel pinky shade of gel polish designed to last 7-10 days, and Charlotte chose a dark glossy blood red, we munched on gelly babies, olives and strawberries whilst being pampered and it was awesome! There's a huge variety of colours to choose from, and they also offer nail extensions too. It's a great place to go to with friends or family, and even better if you'd like to treat someone.
If you're savvy with your spending, The Cube and Spa often have special discounts and vouchers available (it's worth every penny), alternatively membership prices are really reasonable and there are so many facilities to use! If you live in the Midlands it's definitely worth a visit and i would love to return soon for a full day of Spa fun :).
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Full details about The Club and Spa at The Cube can be found here.

We Are Fashion Event - Merry Hill March 2014

It's no secret that i'm Westfield Merry Hill's biggest fan, it's local to me and full of shops that i always pop into to get my fashion fix - River Island, Topshop, Primark - as well as little boutiques that have unique and designer finds! A few weeks ago i attended the Spring/Summer 2014 Preview which was leading up to the big We Are Fashion event that took place this weekend. If you're a local like me you may have seen the very chic, trendy Merry Hill adverts on the TV featuring some of the fab new bits they have for this and next season, i'd seen the ad and was excited (as always) to head over for some shopping and mooching (and maybe a yummy jacket potato from Spud U Like!).

The event was buzzing and full of eager shoppers, there were discount booklets being handed out for shops like Vero Moda and New Look, and prizes and competitions too. I popped over to the fashion show to have a look at the sassy, dancing models showing off the centre's stock who were throwing some impressive shapes on the revolving stage - i loved the pastel coloured light knitwear and easy going outfits! Merry Hill kindly treated me to a voucher so i bought these amazing chunky, cleated sole sandals in Primark for only £14, there's a massive selection of shoes available right now so head on down if you want a Summer bargain - i also picked up a bikini and top which i'll show soon. As always, it was a fantastic event, thank you Merry Hill!
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*Full details of Westfield Merry Hill can be found here*

Merry Hill took some beautiful snaps of the event so i've included them below, photo credit here.

The Monday Piece - Bricoleur Events Masquerade Ball

This week's Monday Piece is on the Bricoleur Events Masquerade ball i attended last Tuesday evening! Bricoleur Events is a charity organisation created by a group of students from Birmingham Uni who are currently raising money for Birmingham Children's Hospital. They invited me down last week with a group of other babealicious bloggers for a night of fun, fashion, and mask wearing. The event was held at Nuvo, a swanky cocktail bar/club on Brindley Place, we were greeted by a half naked man which was interesting, then had drinks at the bar before watching the fashion show featuring some fab designs and pieces ready for Summer. There was also a huge raffle where lots of prizes were handed out, as well as a photo booth and henna tattoos. Everyone looked amazing in their smart outfits and masquerade attire, i've included some snaps below of the night so you can have a look - i wore a long, tight, backless navy velvet dress but failed to take any pictures, oops, but there is one at the end of me actually smiling, teeth and everything! It was a great night for an even better cause!
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Thank you to Bricoleur Events for lending me these photos, credit here.