A few weeks ago I met up with Rachel and Pippa in London. We watched as impeccably dressed ladies began to emerge from Russell Square tube station with DSLR cameras around their necks. If you see this phenomenon it can only mean one thing: there’s a blogger gathering happening somewhere in the near vacinity! This time it was all for the LDN Meetup Big Blogger Conference.
My good friend Lauren had been working her socks off for over six months to bring the event together, ably assisted by Abi and Jenny. They had chosen a stunning location, The Hotel Russell, which featured sparkling chandeliers, luxurious furnishings and marble all around.
We were signed in and shown to the conference rooms for a morning of workshops. Beautiful stationary and Jelly Belly Beans were provided (which I failed to open quietly during one of the talks).
The 3 hours flew by with three talks and we were sent PDF keynote packs to take home.
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| Img thanks to F/22 Photography |
After a nipping out for a spot of lunch we were back again for the afternoon’s relaxed brand exhibition. This was a chance to meet some both well established and up and coming beauty and fashion brands.
My first stop was to Bee Good. They offer natural skincare products such as facial cleansers and moisturisers which harness honey and beeswax. I spent a good 20 minutes chatting to Caroline who set up the company along with her husband Simon, an award winning bee keeper.
This brand epitomizes what I look for – good natural products with a heart and soul. They are proud to nurture and protect their most important workers – British Bees! The products also honour their English Countryside roots with scents such as lavender and wild water mint. Look out for a full review coming soon.
Keeping with the bee theme, I also visited Heaven Skincare by Deborah Mitchell who invented the ‘Bee Venom Mask’, purportedly botox in a jar.
I’m trialling this at the moment and have an exciting giveaway in store for you. (Note that I also made that sure that no bees are harmed in the making of this product!).
Jewellery Box had a beautiful display featuring attractive packaging and extremely affordable collections (some of my favourites were under £15). They kindly gifted everyone who visited their stand a box containing two items. If you follow me on instragram (which you can do here) you may spot my treasured arrow ring which I’ve been wearing non stop ever since!
With so much going on I had to be selective in who I spoke to, but here are a few more highlights:
The Parlour transformed Rachel and I’s hair into intricate up do’s and I got so many compliments about it! They are a boutique blow dry and bohemian braid bar (say that with your mouth full!) in Chiswick. For £30 you can get a beautiful blow dry with complimentary cocktails and a slice of cake, but on a Friday it’s only £20. Having become a convert to blow outs this year I’ll be taking them up on this offer!
I spent the majority of time just hanging out and having a good old natter with blogging friends old and new. It’s amazing to me that under a year ago I was shaking like a leaf attending my first event and now I recognise so many familiar faces that it’s somethings hard to get around to everyone. I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my Saturday than with this lovely lot.
I don’t go to events for the goodies bags, but just had to mention this one as I was amazed at the generosity. It was clear that the brands really wanted to engage with the blogging community and showered us with gift after gift. Since returning from the day it’s all been piled up in my hallway but I’m working my through it all. It’s a hard life sometimes….
If you are a blogger interested in attending events like this in London you can sign up for notifications via the Twitter account @LDNmeetup.
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