So I went to my first big blogger event!
This is something you guys wanted to see more of on my blog so after plenty of requests I attended BlogConLDN 2017.
Blogger events are not something I have managed to get into yet which surprises a lot of you but I guess my anxiety holds me back a bit, I don't like public transport and I cannot drive, I also don't like large gatherings and I am terrible at meeting new people.
If I am to go to a planned event, even if its just going round a friends house for a movie night, I have to work myself up for it and prepare mentally for an exhausting evening of trying to socialise.
I'm just a lone wolf, an introvert and a lot of people can't understand that but we are all different.
Going to London where BlogCon was held was a big step for me and also a 12 hour journey there and back (we opted for the coach) which was something I wasn't looking forward to but I was super excited for the actual event so I pulled myself together and went for it.
I was sent my complimentary ticket by the lovely Scarlett Dixon of Scarlett London.
Scarlett actually organised the whole event!
I cannot believe at just 23 she put together a whole blogger event and it's not her first. Now that is a successful #GirlBoss if I ever did see one.
Then there is me, almost 25 and scared to go to London.*eye roll*
Although not surprising after yesterdays events. My heart goes out to everyone affected! <3
But this place is an escape from anxiety so let's move on.
Although not surprising after yesterdays events. My heart goes out to everyone affected! <3
But this place is an escape from anxiety so let's move on.
We had worked together on a Jewellery Box collaboration in the past so I was excited to meet her.
I dragged Elliot along with me because I was no way in hell going on my own.
However, there were quite a lot of brave bloggers who went alone and enjoyed their day and I think that's a very independent thing to do. 10/10 for you guys!
The night before I was super nervous and busy trying to organise everything ready for our day trip.
I didn't manage to fall asleep until 2am which was unfortunate as my alarm went off just 2 hours later and I had to get ready.
I did my hair and make-up with no natural daylight but as far as I could see it looked good so I was all set to go.
I wore my Motel Rocks Moonchild dress with a gold skirt over it from TK Maxx.
I threw on my Jane Norman leather jacket and teamed it with some Doc Martens, a H&M bowler hat and a River Island sequin bag.
I wanted to get a really nice outfit of the day photo whilst I was in London but it was all so rushed I never got the chance.
I wore my Motel Rocks Moonchild dress with a gold skirt over it from TK Maxx.
I threw on my Jane Norman leather jacket and teamed it with some Doc Martens, a H&M bowler hat and a River Island sequin bag.
I wanted to get a really nice outfit of the day photo whilst I was in London but it was all so rushed I never got the chance.
We jumped in a taxi and then on a coach which to be honest wasn't too bad.
It took 5 and a half hours to get there but it was split with breaks so we got there feeling relatively fresh.
We didn't arrive in London until 1.00 and the event had started at 12.00 so we went straight to the QEII centre which was situated opposite Westminster Abbey.
On our way we went by Buckingham Palace and enjoyed the views. So many beautiful pink blossom trees!
There was a hugeeeee queue outside and I was like 'Omg, by the time we get in, it will be finished!'
Then I realised that was for a different event. I wonder how many other bloggers did that too?
Probably just me.
We were directed to the second floor and there it was.
It was smaller than I imagined. I had imagined a whole Clothes Show Live scenario but it was a nice sized room! And set out very well. I guess it was my first blogger event so I didn't know what to expect and I knew over 400 people were going.
There were lots of stalls with various brands. There was no kind of greeting team that I could see that told you how it worked which could be a little confusing if you have never attended a blogger event. However, we did pick it up pretty quickly.
We just started to the left and walked around, approaching all the stalls to find out more about the brands.
The whole time there were little talks from different people in the blogosphere on small tables where you could sit and listen to different peoples advice.
I had seen the timetables beforehand and so I had a list of ones I wanted to join in on but unfortunately it was so so busy that I couldn't actually hear the people speaking or get close enough to hear so I didn't manage to attend any of the chats which was an awful shame and the thing I was most excited about. So instead we walked around all the stalls to network.
I would definitely say the whole event was more female-orientated. Lots of fashion and beauty stalls which was great for me as that is my passion and what I like to blog about so the whole day was going to be super interesting for me getting to know new brands and organise possible collaborations. I work with a lot of brands and so this was a great way for me to socialise with likewise bloggers and brands.
However, there were a few male bloggers there who probably didn't find it so helpful. There were certainly stalls that weren't just aimed at females but not a massive amount. Elliot enjoyed the day and got into the spirit but there were not a lot of things for him to get excited about.
There were also goody bags on the sides to take home with you. They were in the cutest white bags with Scarlett written on them. I bet she was so excited about that, I know I would be. People walking all over London advertising your name.
There were lots of goodies inside such as hair dye, cocktail mixers, teeth whitening kits and toothpaste, foot sizers, Alflorex, Tri balm and protein powder. Most things both Elliot and I could use so we grabbed one each, after all he did pay for a ticket and could use the protein powders :)
So which brands were there?
Off the top of my head (I didn't get to visit every single stall)
Exuviance
Exuviance are a skincare brand who were giving us bloggers free mini consultations and offering specific advice for our skin types. I thought this was a fantastic idea! I was genuinely intrigued to get some tips for my acne prone skin and Exuviance are dermatology specialists so getting advice from them was trusted advice.
One thing I was not expecting was to walk away with some full sized freebies targeted specifically for me. Very generous of Exuviance indeed!
I got the purifying cleansing gel which is a lovely texture and lathers really well leaving you fresh and clean.
I got the rejuvenating treatment masque which I wasn't too big a fan of. It is really thick and hard to apply, you have to do it quickly before it sets and then it didn't peel off well at all so I just ended up washing it off. HOWEVER, my skin felt great afterwards soooo.
And then I got the evening restorative complex which is a nice soothing cream that leaves you soft and refreshed.
Thanks Exuviance!
Green Cola
This looks very very similar to the Coca-Cola brand we all know and love but it's not.
Green Cola is its own brand I believe?
It's healthy! It's diabetic friendly and has 0 sugars, 0 carbs, 0 fat, 0 saturates and only 0.12g of sodium.
A healthier alternative to the sugar filled very unhealthy coke!
Dynabar
Dynabar were actually holding a competition at their stall. They wanted to know if you could tell which of the 3 chocolate bars was their protein bar.
Their aim is to make a protein bar that tastes just as good as any luxury chocolate bar.
They blindfolded you and made you taste them all and honestly I would never have guessed which one was the protein bar. Apparently it was the second one that tasted just like a lion bar.
It was really tasty! We spoke about a possible collaboration too as it would fit in well with my gaining weight diet. Protein has been my best friend lately so why not collab with a protein brand. They said they also have other products that could help me with that so that's exciting!
Lipivir
Lipivir's stall was really cute. They had little cupcakes there for a start!
But you took a photo in their square hold-up frame with some funny props like moustaches and top-hats and then you were entered for a raffle to win prizes. I won a Lipivur and lipbalm set and Elliot won a lipstick holder case (which he obviously really wanted) so he gave it me.
Lipivir is a cream which stops coldsores in its tracks. I don't personally suffer with these but it is always handy to have things like that in your medical cupboard. You never know when you might need it!
Sexy Hair
Sexy hair had a stall with a large variety of hair products. There weren't really many people queuing to find out more and to be honest it's probably because at the start there were no freebie bags and everyone seemed to want the freebie stalls.
I went over to find out more. They sold those magibobbles and I had seen a lot of hype about these so I was curious to know what was so special about them and they had lovely pastel colours too!
They also had a mini hairdryer that packed a powerful punch! The lady running the stall was lovely and complimented my hair too. She offered me a sample of the blow dry volumizing gel which apparently reduces your blowdry time and gives you A LOTTA volume (which I need) so we shall see.
She also gave me a pack of the bobbles. I can now understand what all the fuss was about. They are great! Easy to put in, sit lovely, don't feel like you're wearing a bobble. I will swear by these now!
Johnny Loves Rosie
This stall was Instagram goals. I saw a lot of people getting nice flatlays of it for their Instagram accounts. I was in a bit of a world of my own that day and didn't even think to take photos for this blog post! Which has annoyed me really because that would have been super helpful for you guys,
however there was a photographer going round from Thetford Photography and he took plenty so I shall attach the link to those photos here.
Thank god I wasn't in any of the photos because I looked rough that day which was annoying. My eyes were bloodshot form minimal sleep, my back was hunched from my heavy bag so I looked like Quasimodo and my hair had dropped all it's curls so I wasn't really in the mood for photos.
Anyway, Johnny Loves Rosie do the nicest products! Monogrammed products are very stylish at the moment and everybody wants something personalised. They had the cutest tan clutch which you could apply your initials on.
If you left a business card (which I intended to do anyway) you were automatically entered into their competition to win the tan clutch!
They also gave me some face tattoos ready for festival season!
Mashooq
Mashooq were promoting their deep penetrating hair oil. This sounded perfect for me. Apparently if you apply this to your hair before any chemicals such as hair dye this will protect it.
I dye my hair every 8 weeks so it is certainly chemically damaged
It's great for dry ends too. The lady advised me to use a very small amount and work my way up as it can make your hair look very greasy if you use too much.
The Good Guru
I had heard a lot about The Good Guru from Fashion Mumblr so I was excited to visit their stall.
They told me about the selection of products that they do and gave me a discount code too which is nice. They do a range of superfood tablets, oats and proteins which are all things I've been using lately so I'm excited to try the powders I got in my Scarlett goody bag!
We have also been emailing back and forth so a possible collaboration is on the cards.
Cute Nutrition
Cute Nutrition are a female based protein company that I have been following on Instagram for a while. They just do the most amazing flavours of protein! Strawberry Daiquiri, Pornstar Martini!
Most protein companies do the basic chocolate, vanilla, banana and strawberry so I like seeing all the unique flavours.
I left my business card and they started following me on Instagram so who knows, maybe a future collaboration?
Chi Chi London
I had recently worked with Chi Chi London when they sent me one of their lovely black capes.
I'm also considering buying my bridesmaid dresses from Chi Chi London so when I saw they had two rails of their stunning dresses for you to browse through I got very excited.
They didn't have the dresses I had been looking at but the dresses that were there were truly beautiful.
They had goody bags but I picked up an empty one (typical Stace) and then they also had a competition going on but I didn't enter as it was super busy. Not surprising that the stall was busy as it was so beautifully set up.
Trek America
This was a stall I considered not visiting as I don't travel. It took me a lot to get to London, never mind America but I was here to learn about new brands and just because I might not be interested, doesn't mean you guys wouldn't be.
I went and had a really long chat with the lovely lady at the stall. She told me how they take a small group of bloggers to America every so often, sometimes for 10 days sometimes for 80. They get upto lots of activities and basically explore America which sounds like the dream.
I said to Elliot that if I was offered the opportunity I would probably force myself to go because how often do you get given an opportunity like that? I would be a fool to say no!
It looks so amazing, it's something I would love to do in the future for sure.
The lady also told me she was a blogger too so we swapped blog URLs and this is hers here if you want to check it out, I really really love it!
There were actually lots of other stalls however some of them were so busy I really didn't have time to visit them properly! Plus we were stuck for time as I had to leave for a PR meeting with Jess from OGX!
Busy day for Stace!
Whilst I was there I got to meet Scarlett herself and thank her for everything.
She really was the loveliest lady! Very inspirational too. There is no way I could ever pull something like this off!
We had a little chat about her trip to Miami and then I spotted other bloggers that I follow such as Megan Elizabeth so we all had a little photo.
Scarlett's dress was from Chi Chi London and just beautiful!
You can also read her blog here!
The whole experience was fantastic. I felt like I learnt a lot and discovered new brands.
I organised possible collaborations and networked with other bloggers.
It really did do me the world of good going, not only whilst I was there but when I got home,
I got involved with the Twitter chat and gained a whole new bunch of followers and I followed a whole new bunch of bloggers.
I didn't think about the after effects but I now understand why attending blogger events is important.
I'm looking forward to filling up my schedule with many more!
I hope you all enjoyed seeing what I got upto at my first blogger event!
Speak soon,
Exuviance
Exuviance are a skincare brand who were giving us bloggers free mini consultations and offering specific advice for our skin types. I thought this was a fantastic idea! I was genuinely intrigued to get some tips for my acne prone skin and Exuviance are dermatology specialists so getting advice from them was trusted advice.
One thing I was not expecting was to walk away with some full sized freebies targeted specifically for me. Very generous of Exuviance indeed!
I got the purifying cleansing gel which is a lovely texture and lathers really well leaving you fresh and clean.
I got the rejuvenating treatment masque which I wasn't too big a fan of. It is really thick and hard to apply, you have to do it quickly before it sets and then it didn't peel off well at all so I just ended up washing it off. HOWEVER, my skin felt great afterwards soooo.
And then I got the evening restorative complex which is a nice soothing cream that leaves you soft and refreshed.
Thanks Exuviance!
Green Cola
This looks very very similar to the Coca-Cola brand we all know and love but it's not.
Green Cola is its own brand I believe?
It's healthy! It's diabetic friendly and has 0 sugars, 0 carbs, 0 fat, 0 saturates and only 0.12g of sodium.
A healthier alternative to the sugar filled very unhealthy coke!
Dynabar
Dynabar were actually holding a competition at their stall. They wanted to know if you could tell which of the 3 chocolate bars was their protein bar.
Their aim is to make a protein bar that tastes just as good as any luxury chocolate bar.
They blindfolded you and made you taste them all and honestly I would never have guessed which one was the protein bar. Apparently it was the second one that tasted just like a lion bar.
It was really tasty! We spoke about a possible collaboration too as it would fit in well with my gaining weight diet. Protein has been my best friend lately so why not collab with a protein brand. They said they also have other products that could help me with that so that's exciting!
Lipivir
Lipivir's stall was really cute. They had little cupcakes there for a start!
But you took a photo in their square hold-up frame with some funny props like moustaches and top-hats and then you were entered for a raffle to win prizes. I won a Lipivur and lipbalm set and Elliot won a lipstick holder case (which he obviously really wanted) so he gave it me.
Lipivir is a cream which stops coldsores in its tracks. I don't personally suffer with these but it is always handy to have things like that in your medical cupboard. You never know when you might need it!
Sexy Hair
I went over to find out more. They sold those magibobbles and I had seen a lot of hype about these so I was curious to know what was so special about them and they had lovely pastel colours too!
They also had a mini hairdryer that packed a powerful punch! The lady running the stall was lovely and complimented my hair too. She offered me a sample of the blow dry volumizing gel which apparently reduces your blowdry time and gives you A LOTTA volume (which I need) so we shall see.
She also gave me a pack of the bobbles. I can now understand what all the fuss was about. They are great! Easy to put in, sit lovely, don't feel like you're wearing a bobble. I will swear by these now!
Johnny Loves Rosie
This stall was Instagram goals. I saw a lot of people getting nice flatlays of it for their Instagram accounts. I was in a bit of a world of my own that day and didn't even think to take photos for this blog post! Which has annoyed me really because that would have been super helpful for you guys,
however there was a photographer going round from Thetford Photography and he took plenty so I shall attach the link to those photos here.
Thank god I wasn't in any of the photos because I looked rough that day which was annoying. My eyes were bloodshot form minimal sleep, my back was hunched from my heavy bag so I looked like Quasimodo and my hair had dropped all it's curls so I wasn't really in the mood for photos.
Anyway, Johnny Loves Rosie do the nicest products! Monogrammed products are very stylish at the moment and everybody wants something personalised. They had the cutest tan clutch which you could apply your initials on.
If you left a business card (which I intended to do anyway) you were automatically entered into their competition to win the tan clutch!
They also gave me some face tattoos ready for festival season!
Mashooq
Mashooq were promoting their deep penetrating hair oil. This sounded perfect for me. Apparently if you apply this to your hair before any chemicals such as hair dye this will protect it.
I dye my hair every 8 weeks so it is certainly chemically damaged
It's great for dry ends too. The lady advised me to use a very small amount and work my way up as it can make your hair look very greasy if you use too much.
The Good Guru
I had heard a lot about The Good Guru from Fashion Mumblr so I was excited to visit their stall.
They told me about the selection of products that they do and gave me a discount code too which is nice. They do a range of superfood tablets, oats and proteins which are all things I've been using lately so I'm excited to try the powders I got in my Scarlett goody bag!
We have also been emailing back and forth so a possible collaboration is on the cards.
Cute Nutrition
Cute Nutrition are a female based protein company that I have been following on Instagram for a while. They just do the most amazing flavours of protein! Strawberry Daiquiri, Pornstar Martini!
Most protein companies do the basic chocolate, vanilla, banana and strawberry so I like seeing all the unique flavours.
I left my business card and they started following me on Instagram so who knows, maybe a future collaboration?
Chi Chi London
I had recently worked with Chi Chi London when they sent me one of their lovely black capes.
I'm also considering buying my bridesmaid dresses from Chi Chi London so when I saw they had two rails of their stunning dresses for you to browse through I got very excited.
They didn't have the dresses I had been looking at but the dresses that were there were truly beautiful.
They had goody bags but I picked up an empty one (typical Stace) and then they also had a competition going on but I didn't enter as it was super busy. Not surprising that the stall was busy as it was so beautifully set up.
Trek America
This was a stall I considered not visiting as I don't travel. It took me a lot to get to London, never mind America but I was here to learn about new brands and just because I might not be interested, doesn't mean you guys wouldn't be.
I went and had a really long chat with the lovely lady at the stall. She told me how they take a small group of bloggers to America every so often, sometimes for 10 days sometimes for 80. They get upto lots of activities and basically explore America which sounds like the dream.
I said to Elliot that if I was offered the opportunity I would probably force myself to go because how often do you get given an opportunity like that? I would be a fool to say no!
It looks so amazing, it's something I would love to do in the future for sure.
The lady also told me she was a blogger too so we swapped blog URLs and this is hers here if you want to check it out, I really really love it!
There were actually lots of other stalls however some of them were so busy I really didn't have time to visit them properly! Plus we were stuck for time as I had to leave for a PR meeting with Jess from OGX!
Busy day for Stace!
Whilst I was there I got to meet Scarlett herself and thank her for everything.
She really was the loveliest lady! Very inspirational too. There is no way I could ever pull something like this off!
We had a little chat about her trip to Miami and then I spotted other bloggers that I follow such as Megan Elizabeth so we all had a little photo.
Scarlett's dress was from Chi Chi London and just beautiful!
You can also read her blog here!
The whole experience was fantastic. I felt like I learnt a lot and discovered new brands.
I organised possible collaborations and networked with other bloggers.
It really did do me the world of good going, not only whilst I was there but when I got home,
I got involved with the Twitter chat and gained a whole new bunch of followers and I followed a whole new bunch of bloggers.
I didn't think about the after effects but I now understand why attending blogger events is important.
I'm looking forward to filling up my schedule with many more!
I hope you all enjoyed seeing what I got upto at my first blogger event!
Speak soon,
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What a wonderful experience for you. You were so brave too. You look SO lovely in your gorgeous outfit choice. I'm glad your first blogger event was a good one with some lovely freebies! It's really reasurring to read about your social anxieties and other worries as I'm very much the same way! You did very well to get there and enjoy the day. What a day to be proud of. Xx Best wishes to you xx
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Hi Amelia! I only just saw this comment! So sorry! I loved the event and have been to more since so I have come a long way and I'm forever travelling back and forth to London now! In fact I'm there right now :') hope you're well lovely! xxx
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