Hot Hair Blogger Event | London St Pancras

I got lost, as per usual, but when I eventually found the venue, St Pancras Renaissance hotel, I was suitably impressed. I always think of Kings Cross as being ‘just a transport hub’ with some cheap overnight places to stay on your way to somewhere else. Who knew that this beauty lay just around the corner? Gorgeously plush interiors and a grand exterior to boot – my kind of place.

Note to self: When attending an after work event, try to eat a little something before you go so you aren’t the only one accepting the canapes everytime they come past!

Oh who am I kidding? I was ALWAYS going to eat these! Little duck and beef blinis, salmon rolls and crispy bite sized pieces of cod? Mmm.

Hot Hair were our hosts for the evening. They offer an extensive collection of hairpieces and hair extensions and this event aimed to give us what we all want – fabulous hair!

Now I’ll be completely honest, I was in two minds about attending. I have never been confident or even competent at styling my own hair and the thought of using hairpieces struck the fear of god into me. Wouldn’t it look really obvious and, well, a bit fake??!! However this event sounded like the best way to try something like this for the first time so I decided to keep an open mind.

After enjoying some of the wine on tap (or in my case a less glamorous diet coke – damn you car!) and having a lovely little reunion with some of the girls that I met at the #nyLDNMeet, I was ushered over to one of the lovely Hot Hair ladies for a demo on how to create a simple ‘up do’.

My hair was not looking great at this point, sweaty tube journeys in rush hour tend to leave my hair limp and rather sorry for itself. She selected a curly brunette hairpiece for me and before I knew it said: “All done!”. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the makeover took 60 seconds! Here’s the before and after (apologies for the blurred photos, I don’t think that the person I roped into taking a few pictures could work out my camera!).

How was this done? Well my hair was swept into a simple side ponytail, then a ‘chopstick’ was inserted into it, before hooking and looping the hairpiece onto each end of the stick in one quick move! The hairpiece I am wearing is the Essential Wrap Scrunchie, £19. I was so surprised at the speed in which it was done and just how natural it looked – the colour was a really good match to my own.

All around me other girls were given similar 60 second makeovers with stunning results! Here are two of my favourites modelled by the lovely Katy and Xtine and top left is the back of my ‘do.
…now I say ‘girls’, but Adam from Mashion Meauty also had a go! Through his blog he tries to find out why girls are so crazy about hair and makeup. (I asked him whether he’s found the answer yet – “Nope!” was his reply… I’m not surprised!).

All of us in attendance had different hair lengths, colours and cuts so the fact that we each received an individual look really impressed me. Hot Hair offer a huge range to choose from too. There are versatile curly hairdos, long sleek ponytails or even half cap hair extensions which clip in under your real hair to give you tonnes of volume.

With our makeovers complete, the winners of the sponsor’s giveaway we had all entered were announced. I heard “and the winner of the Freeman UK hamper is Laura!” followed by a silence. “Oh that’s me!” I said and excitedly accepted the most ginourmous box of pampering goodies. I’m so excited to have a proper foot spa session over Easter now – let the pamper time commence! Katy and Nikita whom I’d spent much of the night talking to also won prizes, we must have been standing in a lucky spot.

Before we left we were each given a gift bag containing a whole host of goodies from brands such as Benefit, ELF and Concoction. I’m dying to get started on these, thank goodness Easter is approaching. More on that to come in a future post.

Funniest moment: When Barbie arrived! She had been shown to the wrong room and ended up quaffing Veuve Clicquot at a bridal event for a full hour before discovering that she should have been next door with us!
Biggest regret: Not making the same mistake as Barbie, supposedly the champagne was delicious!
Biggest surprise: How much I loved my new ‘do!
The ‘aww’ moment: When Lauren produced a little gift wrapped present to thank me for supporting her blog. (On the train home I unwrapped it to discover chocolates and nail polish – that girl gets me!!)

As an extra surprise, Hot Hair allowed us to keep the hairpieces used to style our hair, so I thought I’d demonstrate to you how simple it is to recreate the look at home. This is me straight in from work, tying my hair in a quick side ponytail loop, then wrapping my scrunchie hairpiece around it a few times. I didn’t even need the chopstick or hairpins, it’s that simple!

I don’t think I’d wear this for everyday as I think that would be a bit OTT, but for a wedding or date night this look would be perfect.

I’ve got to say, my perception of hairpieces has really changed after this. I no longer look at them with trepidation, the only question is which one do I experiment with next?!

A special thanks to Louise, Hot Hair’s marketing manager for hosting the event and for being just generally lovely; and to Michelle for inviting me to come along.

As mentioned above, Hot Hair generously gifted me with the hairpiece worn in this post, but all views expressed are my own and completely honest.

To find out more about Hot Hair, visit www.hothair.co.uk. You can also find them in Boots!