Manchester Meet Up 17.02.14

Image from http://www.fairygobmother.com/

On Monday 17th of February, apologies for the lateness of this post, I attended a blogger meet up which was hosted by a gorgeous Georgie. The event was held at Font Bar Fallowfield, Manchester. (Little did we know – there were two Font Bars in Manchester. Guess what – we ended up at the wrong one!)

Before the meet up, I had arranged to meet up with Rachael, Fran and Kelsey to get something to eat. We all agreed on Wagamama as the other girls have never eaten there and I had only been once before. I chose Chicken and Prawn Cha Han which is delicious. We all had a lovely meal and it was great to catch up as we hadn't seen each other for a few months.

After the meal, we met up with Cat and headed to Font. I only knew of one Font Bar so we headed to the one near Oxford Road train station. We arrived just before the event was due to start but there wasn't a blogger in sight! It took us a few minutes before we checked the email as we thought we may have the wrong date. We soon realised it said Fallowfield and we definitely wasn't in Fallowfield. We quickly phoned a taxi to take us to the right one and arrived fashionably late! We went upstairs to meet Georgie and the other bloggers before heading to the bar to get a cocktail (mocktail in my case). Cocktails are £2 in Font which is dangerously cheap but super delicious!

Image from http://www.kelseydawnblogs.com/

Image from http://www.fromrachaelclaire.blogspot.co.uk/

Image from http://www.kelseydawnblogs.com/

To break the ice, Georgie had arranged to play higher or lower with giant playing cards. This was fantastic and totally unique for blogger meet up. There was also a raffle which was £2 for a strip. The money raised was for a local animal shelter which is a great cause. I was lucky enough to win a mini facial at The 8th Day along with Kelsey. Hopefully we can go together and have a pamper day.

Image from http://www.fairygobmother.com/

Georgie had also arranged for Ron to come along who is a magician, specialising in up close and personal card tricks. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the TGI Friday's event last November. His card tricks are amazing and they blow my mind. I would love to have him perform at our wedding but I'm not sure we can afford it.

Image from http://www.fairygobmother.com/

Image from http://www.fairygobmother.com/

Image from http://www.kelseydawnblogs.com/

We were very lucky to leave with a goody bag filled with goodies from Lush, Diptyque, Schwarzkopf and The 8th Day. Thank you to the bands who were involved, thank you to Font for allowing us to have the meet up and thank you to Georgie for hosting a great meet up.

Rachel x

Lost In Lipstick

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#SheffieldMeetUp

On Saturday 18th May, I went to the #SheffieldMeetUp which was organised by Rachel, Caroline and Charlotte. The event was actually in Meadowhall, somewhere I had never been to before but luckily there was a train from Manchester Picadilly that took me directly to Meadowhall. On first impressions, I was so impressed of Meadowhall. From the train station, I just followed a tunnel and ended up in the shopping centre. It meant I had less chance of getting lost! Plus Rachel had arranged for Claire to meet anyone that didn't know where they were going. Thank you!

I bumped into Frances (http://francescassandra.blogspot.co.uk/) on the way and along with Claire, headed to Handmade Burger Co (http://handmadeburger.co.uk/). Even though it was very busy and there was a queue outside, they very kindly let us use a section of the restaurant for the meet up. I was quite early to the event and the girls were still setting up but they showed us to our seats where a massive goodie bag with our name on was waiting for us. 

Handmade Burger Co were extremely generous and all the bloggers that attended received a complimentary burger, side and a refillable drink. I chose the cheese and bacon BBQ beef burger along with chips. I can honestly say it was the nicest burger I have ever had! I was disappointed to find out there isn't one in Manchester but I have since found out there are plans in the pipeline to build one in Manchester! Yay! I cannot wait to take the fiancé as we both love burgers! 

Before, during and after our meal, we had the opportunity to socialise with some other bloggers. Sitting on my table was the lovely Abby (http://www.un-observed.com/), Frances and Jen (http://www.bowsbanglesandbakes.com/). I was apprehensive beforehand as I was going to the event on my own and I didn't know anyone else going but everyone I spoke to was so lovely and I'm so glad I went. 

Once we had finished our food and chatted about blogging to fellow bloggers, we had a little bit of time for shopping before it was time to head to Lush. We popped in Boots, Superdrug and obviously Primark! The lovely people at Lush Meadowhall had agreed to give us mini workshops in groups. We had the chance to play with FUN, which is like playdough for your body and hair! We had fun moulding it into different shapes and it smells delicious. We also had a chance to look at the new Emotional Brilliance range which is so bright and colourful. Lush were super generous and we got a goodie bag with a few products in. Thank you Lush Meadowhall! 

I had such a brilliant day, totally worth travelling 2 hours for! Thanks again to Rachel, Charlotte and Caroline for organising the successful meet up. Thank you to Handmade Burger Co for providing our base and our lunch - I cannot wait until I can visit you in Manchester! Thank you to Lush Meadowhall and all the other companies that had provided goodies for our goodie bags. 

I met so many lovely bloggers, I hope I keep in contact with them. I'm sure I'll see them at future events and meet ups. Make sure you check out their blogs (links above).

Did you attend the #SheffieldMeetUp? Leave a link to your blog post below and I will have a read. 

Rachel x
Lost In Lipstick

#NorthMeetUp

On Sunday 7th April, I attended the highly anticipated #NorthMeetUp organised by Emma from EmTalks. As soon as I heard about the event, I contacted Em and I was very lucky to get a place as there were only space for 50 bloggers. The event was held at Revolution Deansgate in Manchester. It was great to see a big blogger event being organised up North. I've only been blogging since September last year but I know most events are held in London.

Image from Katie at Gold Dust

Image from Em at EmTalks

I met lots of lovely bloggers there including Katie from Gold Dust, who I had previously met briefly at the Harvey Nichols Beauty Bloggers event back in November. I also met Kelsey from Kelsey Dawn, Emma from Glossy Boutique, Bobbi from Beauty By Bobbi, Nafisah from Bamblings of Naffy, Nikki from Beauty Shaker (who gave out the fabulous Anne Semonin goodie bags and actually works where I go on holiday nearly every year! Small world!) and obviously Em as she organised it!

A lot of hard work and organisation had gone into the event. I want to say a massive thank you to Em as I had a truly fantastic day and met some amazing bloggers. We had our own private room upstairs and we all felt like VIPs. Em had arranged for eyebrow technicians, fake tanners, nail artists and make up artists to be there. There were giveaways throughout the day and I won a Neom Hand Lotion! Some amazing brands sponsored the meet up. There were talks from Xen-Tan, Glam Glow and Arbonne. I think a few more were arranged but it was very noisy and there wasn't a microphone so it was very difficult to hear.

Em had arranged with Revolution for us to have 2 for 1 cocktails and cupcakes and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts were supplied all day! We were well and truly spoilt! Seeing all the bloggers with their fancy cameras, only made me want one even more! But I have no money. I'll have to pop one on my Christmas list this year and hope Santa brings me one. I even had 'business cards' made to hand out but completely forgot to give any out! Ha!

We walked away with so many goodies. I actually struggled on the train. Luckily, it was only a short journey. It's amazing to see how many brands wanted to sponsor a North event. Em did an amazing job at organising and putting on this amazing event. Hopefully, I can attend another event she organises in the future. She definitely has a talent!

I am planning to review a lot of the products that we received in our goodie bags. Unfortunately, the weather up North doesn't allow for good photos! I think I need to invest in some daylight bulbs (I know nothing about this, please help!)

Rachel x

Lost In Lipstick