bloomzy /

Video: Spirit of Summer Fair 2013


On Saturday I visited the Spirit of Summer Fair 2013 at the Olympia.
Stalls at the trade show featured fashion, food, jewellery and more.
It was my first time at the venue and I loved it.

I also wanted to present it to you in different way.
Many friends and bloggers have lead to me finally trying out video on the blog.
It doesn’t feature me personally right now, but I plan to get round to that eventually.
As for now, let me know what you think of me presenting events etc in this way.

You can follow me on YouTube here.
Make sure you watch in 720HD for the best version of the video.
Tickets were provided for me on behalf of Figleaves.

bloomzy /

Event: Make Your Own Pizza @ Pizza Express

Make Your Own Pizza Blogger Event, at Pizza Express

Last week Pizza Express were very brave and allowed 20-odd bloggers to make their own pizza.
I don’t think any of us had any clue where to begin, even so what we lacked in knowledge we made up for in enthusiasm. 
The special event was to mark the arrival of their new Summer menu, which is released today!
The Summer menu features some amazingly light and healthy options, as well as their classics.
This includes a Leggera pizza for less than 500 calories, and a salad for less than 300 calories!
Whether you’re watching what you eat or not, you have to admit that’s impressive.
We arrived and were seated with a drink from the bar and a menu to peruse.
I chatted with some of the other bloggers and nibbled on some sea salt almonds.
Everyone was very friendly and pretty eager to get down to the pizza making.
So we donned our hats & aprons and were shown step-by-step how to make our own Leggera pizza.
After shaping the dough and adding sauce, we were let lose to choose our toppings.
I choose a veggie friendly cheese, tomato and pesto selection.
About 20mins after being sent to the ovens, it was the moment of truth!
My pizza was delicious, if I do say so myself, and it also managed to fill me up.
Now as for the salad, I’m not a big salad fan, so when the new Leggera salad was put in front of me I was shockingly surprised. As well as lettuce it includes mozzarella, beetroot, butternut squash, cucumber and avocado. This salad isn’t just a few lettuce leaves and some dressing, it’s a masterpiece! Ok ok, so I didn’t eat the leaves but I demolished half a plate of the other stuff. I think Pizza Express has done really well in choosing these for their Summer menu – they’re light, healthy and won’t make you feel guilty. I also loved the addition of gluten-free bases/items to the menu, as it’s something I personally look for.
Will I be visiting Pizza Express this Summer? You bet! 
I’m trying to eat healthier lately so this will be a treat that I won’t feel bad about.
bloomzy /

Event: Benefit Fake Up

Benefit Event to promote their new concealer ‘Fake Up’

Last week I attended the final stop in the Benefit ‘Fake Up’ tour; London.
A bunch of bloggers joined together to learn all about the latest addition to the Benefit family.
I’m not going to say too much about ‘Fake Up’ as I have a review coming up on the blog this week.
The one thing I will tell you about it though, is that Fake Up is a new hydrated concealer that comes in 3 shades.
The event was held in the adorable Spitalfields store.
In attendance were the lovely PR and social media ladies and their head of make-up.
I thought it was lovely being able to meet the people I had been in contact with via email.
And of course it was wonderful to meet their head make-up, trend artist and brow artist – Lisa, who was amazing.
There were also demonstrations of the product, like how to get the best out of the concealer, and how to use the darker shades for contouring. Finally there was the chance to win various prizes throughout the night, and yours truly won my favourite mascara for answering the first question of the night!
I should also give a cheeky mention to the goodie bag, as I do feel that we were spoilt rotten.
We received a bag filled with one of each shade of Fake Up, so 3 in all, as well as the Hello Flawless compact (to celebrate it’s 1 year anniversary), which we were matched to at the event. I plan to review every product so keep an eye out!

Finally, I met some wonderful bloggers, so a big shout-out too all those lovely ladies!
Fake Up is officially launched in UK stores on 30th March.
bloomzy /

Event: Birchbox Champagne Afternoon Tea

Birchbox – Joliebox Champagne Afternoon Tea event

As soon as my plus-one and I walked through the doors we were giddy. I’d invited her to the Birchbox event as we both share a love for champagne and afternoon tea. It was held at The Soho Hotel, which is fashionably fancy, as is the drawing room which we were directed to. The tables were lined with cakes, sandwiches, biscuits and scones – with jam and cream, of course!

We arrived early and were greeted by the lovely team behind Birchbox and Joliebox. We were shown samples of October’s Joliebox, whilst waiters offered us salmon sandwiches and champagne. I loved the effort that the team went towards to greet and have a proper talk with everyone, not just a 5min chat. I knew quite a bit about Joliebox but I was really interested in finding out more about Birchbox, an American monthly beauty sample box company which are now moving into the European market, hence the event.

We even got to meet Katia Beauchamp, one of Birchbox’s co-founders – an incredibly funny, intelligent and gorgeous lady – definitely a power woman if I did ever meet one. I thought having some of the American team there was a really great edition to the event and showed just how passionate they are about making it here in Europe. Although I won’t lie, the highlight of the event were the ornately decorated (and incredibly yummy) biscuits! I think we can all expect big things from Birchbox once it’s launched in the UK – I can’t wait!

Birchbox UK will be launching in January 2013.
Joliebox will now be merging with Birchbox and becoming Birchbox UK.

bloomzy /

Event: Avène & Klorane Bloggers Breakfast

Avène and Klorane Bloggers Breakfast

When I was invited to the Avène and Klorane Bloggers Breakfast I was so excited. I fell in love with Klorane’s dry shampoo earlier this year, and I am a big fan of pretty much all of Avène’s products. The breakfast was held at the gorgeous Delaunay Grand European Cafe Restaurant, in Aldwych – by Covent Garden. The breakfast itself was delicious and there were plenty of yummy treats to choose between, although the mini-pastries were my favourite – I think Sascha of Beauty Geek UK agreed with me on that too. However, the stars of the show were of course, the array of products by Klorane and Avène.

I was introduced to Klorane’s shampoo and conditioners, as well as being given some advice on which product would be best suited for my hair/needs. For me it was Pomegranate (for coloured hair). Also on show were 3 shampoos that will be released early next year into John Lewis stores – more on that at a later date. If you haven’t come across Klorane’s shampoo & conditioners before, they have them for every kind of hair type, and they all smell gorgeous!

I like to think I know my Avène products, just because I’m such a fan…and because I’ve bought so many. I was wrong though, which was actually a nice surprise as I was introduced to some new products I didn’t know about. In particular the Antirougeurs range caught my eye as it offers a variety of products to help combat skin redness. I hadn’t heard of the range, or seen it in any French pharmacies so I was very interested in finding out more. I’m hoping I can get my hands on some soon to review for you all!

You can find my previous posts on Klorane here, and Avène here.

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Rekorderlig Winter Forest Bar

Some of you will know by now of my love for Sweden and Rekorderlig.
So you can imagine how excited I was to be invited to the Rekorderlig Winter Forest Bar.
Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery has been transformed into a Swedish Winter cider experience.
Walking in, you’re greeted by pine tress and a floor scattered with leaves – it genuinely feels like you’re in a forest.
The pop-up itself includes a bar, tapas style food, live music courtesy of a DJ, and an amazing atmosphere. 
You’re welcomed with a Rekorderlig tasting palette, which includes 4 of their flavours and a tasty treat!
The bar serves all of the Rekorderlig flavours, and some specially made Rekorderlig cocktails, which are lovely.
You can also try out some Scandanavian food (see menus above) – the Elk sausage roll was my favourite.
I loved the whole event – so much so that I bought tickets so I could go twice!
It’s a great experience, and a wonderful retreat from the hectic streets of London.
The tasting palette alone is worth more than the £5 ticket price, so it’s also worth your money.
The cider, food and music were perfect and it has made me love Rekorderlig (& Sweden) even more!
The Rekorderlig Winter Forest Bar pop-up is only open until 6th November!
Head to 91 Brick Lane (Truman Brewery) after 8pm to grab tickets on the door.
Tickets are sold-out online!
bloomzy /

Event: Fourth Avenue Jewellery Lounge Opening

Collections at the new Fourth Avenue Jewellery Lounge in Norwich
The end of September saw the opening of a new jewellery store in Norwich and luckily I was invited.
For the event I was joined by the lovely Sian and we had a great time mingling and chatting with the staff.
The event was more like a private party, with a DJ, champagne, canapés and some gorgeous, wonderful people.
Fourth Avenue carries a select number of jewellery designers, all of whom fit the feel of the store perfectly.
Some of which include; Swarovski, Phantasya, ChloBo and Thomas Sabo. A couple of these brands were new to me (ChloBo & Phantasya) but I fell in love with their collections as well as old favourites Swarovski and Thomas Sabo. The store is as luxurious as it is glamorous, and the staff help to add to the atmosphere with their knowledge of the brands.
You can find Fourth Avenue on Twitter here, and their new website here.