#LOVEIWOOT Manchester Event

I was lucky enough to attend the #LOVEIWOOT event in Manchester on Wednesday night. IWOOT, or I Want One of Those, is a website that specialises in quirky and fun gifts. The event was held in the lovely Propertea by the Manchester Cathedral (which I am definitely going to go back and visit!)

I went to the event with Rebecca from The Lucky Rainbow and when we arrived we were given a lovely bubbly cocktail and a Selfie Stick! Talk about being spoiled. On the tables surrounding us were loads of different gifts, from big to small, something to suit everyone. The atmosphere was lovely and relaxed and the IWOOT and Propertea people were willing to stop and chat to you.

IWOOT had a competition to picture your top 3 gifts for men and top 3 gifts for women. I had fun looking at all the products and picking out my favourites. I chose these 3 below for my gifts for men (though I based it around what my boyfriend would like).

From left to right: Microwave Popcorn Maker, Tetris Light and Chilli Hamper

For the gifts for her, I picked them based on what I’d like! It was hard to whittle it down to three items as I kinda wanted everything!

From left to right: Gummy Candy Maker, Old School Camera box and mug, Greeting Card Kit

The Selfie Stick was brilliant to have, it was fun seeing people taking selfies all around the room and laughing about it! Rebecca and I were so excited when we got it to work the first time! Also how pleased am I about those heart shaped scones? Thanks Rebecca for letting me use the picture!

            

I had a great night at the #LOVEIWOOT event and I think I’ll be getting future gifts from there as there is so much to choose from!

Preloved Vintage Fair Event

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Preloved Vintage Fair Event Monday night. Preloved is a website that allows you to buy and sell second hand items. This really appeals to me, ever since I was little my Nana used to bring me to charity shops, I love scouring them, I used to find cool items of clothing for really cheap when I was a teenager! My favourite thing to get second hand though is books.

The Vintage Fair was at Night & Day Cafe in Manchester, which really suited the vintage vibe of the night. There was racks of clothing from Oxfam Originals (situation opposite Night & Day), other stands selling all sorts from teddies to jewellery to records and books. You could also buy cupcakes, pots of jam and chutneys and things like cushions and bags made out of the cutest vintage inspired fabrics from WhatGoesAroundStore! There was also vintage hair demos and music until 11pm.

 

For bloggers, the event started at 7, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and a goodie bag. I went along with Rebecca from The Lucky Rainbow (and it was great to meet her again!) and the place packed out really quickly. We got chatting to some people we knew, both in person and online, and it was nice to finally put faces to some of the people who’s blogs I have been reading. Amongst the people I got to talk to our Emma from Miss Pond, Sue from Susan Styles You, Lily Kitten (who I had chatted to before at Essence event), and Cat Girl Blogs. I really wish we’d had name badges as there was several others I thought I recognized from the Manchester Bloggers Facebook but I didn’t want to embarrass myself in case I was wrong!

 

Due to my 6am work starts, I was too tired to stay very long but I would have loved to have gotten my hair done and to listen to the band, it looked like it would have been one hell of a good Monday night! Especially with the cocktail bar (I do love a cocktail!). The goodie bag was really nice too, in it we got a small pot of jam, some fudge, soap, bath salts and mini sewing kits.

Thank you Preloved for inviting me along, I really enjoyed it and hopefully next time I’ll be able to hang about more!

Essence UK Manchester Launch Event

I had the great pleasure of being invited to the Essence UK Manchester launch in the Northern Quarter. I could tell before even walking through the door of the event that it would be amazing! Essence and Flipside PR put on a pretty amazing event! There were tables laid out with products for you to play with and try. There was a 2m Essence stand fully stocked with all the products, ripe for the taking. There was amazing goody bags, nibbles and drinks and the chance to get your nails done by The Pamper Puff Girls and get your make up done by Nadira MakeUp. I could seriously gush for days about it!

Before and after!

I’ve used Essence while living in Ireland, though mainly the nail polishes and treatments, so I was looking forward to trying other products, especially face products, at the event. We had a small presentation, outlying that all the products cost on average £2 (lowest was 99p and highest was £3.99), that Essence is cosmetic leader in 11 European countries and available all over the world. They like to keep the prices low, to encourage people of all ages to try new looks and have but this doesn’t mean they’re low quality (and this is something I definitely stand by after using Essence for years). To keep things interesting, they change 50% of the products every year, introducing new trends and colours (they are bang on trend with their Colour & Go nail polish in Purple Sugar, which is on trend for the Pantone Colour of the Year in Radiant Orchid).

I’m so excited that Essence has finally arrived in UK. When I moved here from Ireland in November,  I knew it was going to be one of the things I missed the most! I stocked up in March when I was last back but my local stand is tiny and I didn’t get everything I wanted. We got to visit the store in the Manchester Arndale Centre after the event and the stand is 3 times bigger than the one back home! It’s massive and jammed packed with everything and the girls working there are lovely too.

Pictures from Arndale Centre Shop, including Limited Edition Collections

If you haven’t had the pleasure of using Essence products before, what are you waiting for! They’re available in Westfields Shepards Bush and Manchester Arndale Centre and there will be stands in Wilkos stores from July. Thank you once again to Essence UK and Flipside PR for the fantastic event, I had lots of fun meeting new bloggers and trying out the products.

Some of the tables at the event, as well as the yummy treats!

Jam packed goodie bag!