Selfridges Spring/Summer 2013 Bloggers Preview

Isn't December just manic??? I have been so busy collecting top class blog content that I haven't had enough time to actually write the posts! Anyway, it is the thought that counts right? And it is better late than never, so here we go...

On December 5th I was lucky enough to have the afternoon booked off work as annual leave, so I hopped on a train and headed to Birmingham's Selfridges Spring/Summer 2013 Preview for bloggers. I attended the same event last year simply because I invited myself when a fellow blogger had to cancel. Last year was fantastic fun and I met some brilliant girls, so I knew it would soon become and annual must-do. 

*My face-of-the-day was pretty simple to be honest... I did a more pronounced brow than usual, put on more mascara, my MAC Frankly Scarlett blusher, MAC New York Apply lippy in the Frost finish and when I noticed I had a nasty zit to the left of my nose which was refusing to be concealed, I decided to disguise it as a Cindy Crawford-esque beauty spot with the help of my MAC Brun eye shadow*

Restaurant Review: Miyako Teppanyaki Birmingham

So last Thursday I went for my first conference with work! I had a fantastic time and learnt loads about Phones 4u and how important the recruitment process (which I'm a part of) is to the company. Because the conference was in Phones 4u's state-of-the-art purpose-built facility in Birmingham's Fort Dunlop, the company paid for transportation, accommodation, food and drink for us for the whole day, brilliant, huh?

Anyway, I wanted to write a review of the restaurant we headed to after the conference because it was just so unusual and fun that I just wanted to write a review and recommend it to everyone! 

After the conference, we had about an hour and half in which to get ready, but in spite of the fact that our hotel was LITERALLY JUST AROUND THE CORNER from the training facility, we managed somehow to get lost on the M6 for about and hour and a half. This meant that by the time we got to the hotel to get ready, everyone else was stood waiting for taxis outside ready to go. Quel desastre. 

Luckily as I wasn't driving I was able to do my makeup while we were in the car, so I literally ran up to my room, took the quickest 'hold-your-hair-and-face-out-of-the-water' shower I've ever taken, rolled on some deo, spritzed some perfume, changed my clothes and slipped into my platforms. This whole process took me just five minutes, which even I was impressed with. This is what I looked like:

*This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago, which does in fact make me an outfit repeater. However, when I went out with my colleagues I was wearing black tights and a cardigan too, and my hair was straight so it is all good.*

So, the restaurant itself was a Teppanyaki place, which is Japanese. As a huge fan of sushi, I've always been very excited about the idea of exploring Japanese food in more depth. However, having been to a very disappointing Teppanyaki three years back at Walt Disney World I wasn't too hopeful... The whole idea of Teppanyaki is that the chef comes and cooks the food on a hot plate right in front of you and since the plate is flat, there isn't much in the way of sauce because it would just be impractically running all over the place. As a saucy person, this is a bit of a turn off to me, because it usually means the food is kind of bland. 

*First up the beautiful Japanese waitress brought along a salad for each of us with the most delicious dressing on it which taste like a cross between ranch and Marie Rose*

*Our starter was made up with a battered shrimp with an orangey flavoured sauce, a California roll with what I think was chicken in it and a crispy won-ton with something beefy inside and a sweet sauce drizzled over the top*

*This is how the restaurant is set up with the tables in a kind of half-a-square shape so the chefs can put on a fab show for everyone sitting nearby*

*See the mingy-looking slimy grey things on the left hand side of the dish of raw food? They were soon to become my yumalicious fried king prawns. Nom gobble.*

*They set fire to the table right in front of you. And throw scrambled egg at you to catch in your mouth. It really is very interactive...*

*Look at the chef showing off juggling eggs and balancing them on top of each other. I liked this!*

*This is what the rice looked like as it was in the process of being made. It looked really easy in fact as the chef literally wanged some soy all over the rice, chucked in some scrambled egg and threw an onion pepper mix for good measure. And it tasted incredible.*

*My prawns in the process of cooking.*

*My plate before the chef piled on a side of beansprouts.*

For dessert we got a little scoop of coconut-flavoured ice-cream which was very small but nice to eat nonetheless. Also, the Big Boss bought us all a little cup of hot sake wine each which really tipped the balance of what is and isn't an appropriate amount of drunkness for some of the team. We all had a FANTASTIC time though and the whole Miyako Teppanyaki restaurant experience got us all right in the mood for a good boogie around some of the bars in Birmingham's Arcadian. 

In all I'm a huge fan of Miyako Teppanyaki. The waitresses were brilliant, the chefs put on a fantastic show and the food could not possibly have tasted any more amazing.

This was literally one of the best all-together days I've had in a long while. I learned loads, I got to eat delicious food, I drank a couple of cheeky beverages, I bonded with my colleagues and I had a taste of the high-life in which your company invests money in ensuring that you are as psyched about the company as they are. I really couldn't complain.

Have you ever been to a Teppanyaki restaurant? Do you know any good egg-fried rice recipes? How much do you think is too much for a nice meal out? Apparently Miyako Teppanyaki cost £20 per person for Phones 4u, but I guess it would be more expensive if you were going as a couple or with just a few friends.

Love and snuggles

GabriellaSofia

x

Boux Avenue Grand Opening at the Birmingham Bullring

I have been such a naughty little blogger! Since deciding to take my horrible blog-break for about three months from February to May I had planned to avoid everything blog-worthy purely because I KNEW I would want to write about it, but also knew I just didn't have the time. So when I received an email from Laura Gallagher at Flourescent PR a few months back inviting me to the grand opening of Theo Paphitis's brand new lingerie shop, Boux Avenue, I had to decline as hard as it was.

Then one day after heading into Birmingham to return some books to my university library, I found myself having a quick mooch around the Bullring. As I came down on the escalator to the second level, I glanced to my right and there it was, Boux Avenue's shop window complete with multi-coloured balloons and a huge sign outside saying, 'Theo Paphitis will be officially opening our stunning new store'. When I saw the line, 'Temptation awaits...' I could hardly turn around and leave could I??? So I moseyed on in and luxury lingerie at reasonable prices confronted me immediately... I was in heaven!

*Sexy lace thongs with cute bow details*

*Crisp white bras with pretty ruched cups*

*Cute little petticoats with ballet slippers*

*Comfy-looking cotton hipster booty shorts with lace trim*

*This is my favorite bra in the whole shop. A powder blue-and-white-stripe balcony bra, so adorable!*

The lovely Boux Avenue staff came over to see if I wanted any help which I thought was brilliant in terms of customer service, particularly as in a lingerie shop I know some ladies can feel a little intimidated or too shy to ask for assistance. I was told about their free bra-fitting service which I could inquire about in the dressing room, and the sizing system was explained to me. If you've ever been to a Victoria's Secret lingerie shop then you'll be familiar with the system, but basically if you don't see your size hanging up, then you can pull out one of the drawers below and find a carefully-laid out stock of each style and size in stock. That way, if you ARE too shy to ask for help then you don't REALLY have to. Love it. 

The highlight of the event was meeting Theo Paphitis who was absolutely lovely. He set aside enough time for me and a few other bloggers to have a photograph and a quick chat. He seemed very happy that I'd called Boux Avenue 'Victoria's Secret but better'. Also, when I said to him, 'Good luck with this whole thing!' he smiled and said that people don't often wish him luck any more because he's already been so successful. Then he said it was nice of me to say it! I literally want him to be my best friend. Such a genuine guy.

 

The ONLY thing that I would have done to improve the event would be to not to have models giving away candy in lingerie. Only because, I thought they looked a bit cheap which isn't a very true representation of the company as although the prices are reasonable, the image is expensive and that's why Boux Avenue is a winner in my opinion.

Flourescent PR and Boux Avenue also threw together a lovely goodie bag for all of us bloggers which allowed us to try out a mix of the beauty and lingerie items also, and I've been immensely impressed with each of the things I've tried so far.

*Look how lovely all of the packaging was! I felt a bit like it was my birthday or something, which is exactly how you should feel when buying lingerie in my opinion.*

*Although I've found the flavour of this rose-petal lip balm quite off putting, the formula is lovely and its one of the most moisturizing and hydrating lip balms I've tried so far. Also, the pot is huge and a little goes a long way so I'm sure this will last me for ages.* 

*Boux Avenue's White Chiffon hand cream is lovely to apply just before bed because it has such a 'comfy' scent. Does that make any sense? Like, it reminds me of the smell of clean sheets. And again, its really softening which is lovely for me especially because I get stress-related eczema which can be quite sore, dry and itchy, so giving myself a little hand massage before bed with this stuff is perfect. I even use it on my feet before bed too, just to keep them nice and soft.*

*What could be inside...*

*Leopard print pink-lace trimmed panties of course! These were in a size 10 which LUCKILY fit me (I say luckily because I think 10's were the only size handed out, so, winner!) These have a really cute shape, like French panties. Super-duper flattering and easy to be matched with if you don't have the exact pattern bra as virtually any white, brown, black or pale pink one will work. 

Boux Avenue also very kindly gave me a USB stick (random) and a £20 gift voucher, presumably so I can purchase a beautiful bra to match the above panties. I haven't spent this yet, but I'm very much looking forward to doing so because I'm in desperate need of some new boulder-holders and can't wait to try out Boux's bra-fitting service.

So thank you once again to Theo Paphitis, Boux Avenue and Flourescent PR for organizing a fantastic event and generously gifting this lovely goodie bag.

Have you been to a Boux Avenue shop yet? How do you feel about their prioritizing customer service? Would you ever wear a plain black bra with these leopard print panties or am I just a weirdo for thinking I could get away with that?

Love and snuggles

gabriellasofia

x

Selfridges Christmas Beauty Event...

I've been crazy busy so far with so many things to do in time for Christmas, not to mention my looming deadlines for January... don't remind me about them!

I was wandering through the Bullring the other day, and a handsome man in a rather sharp suit accosted me outside Selfridges, telling me all about this Christmas Beauty event which had been organised for two days later (the 1st December). I was told that tickets cost just £10, which was redeemable against purchase on the day of the event. In exchange for my £10, I would get a beauty goodie bag, a glass or two of champagne, a yummy mince pie and a handful of make-up application master classes from some of the major brands in Selfridges. I took a leaflet and walked on, dreaming about all of the beauty goodies I'm craving for Christmas and thought I wouldn't think of it again!

However, that day my dad expressed an interest in a Bullring shopping trip (this means he was desperately lacking in Christmas shopping) so before I knew it, I was stood outside Selfridges with my little sister in tow and a belly full of Jamie's Kitchen!

A couple of hours earlier I'd headed into Selfridges and purchased two tickets and signed myself up for an Estee Lauder foundation lesson, an eyeshadow masterclass at Bobbi Brown and a blush-match with Clinique. However, by the time I'd finished my dinner with my parents, I'd missed the final two so headed straight to Estee Lauder where the lovely Jay removed my 'face' and reapplied a more flawless version of it! Of course, he used the esteemed Double Wear Foundation and the Double Wear Stay-in-Place concealer amongst other great products and my

skin looked and felt so smooth whilst also feeling so lightweight!

There was a 'performance' by some creepy clown-looking version of Santa Claus (and we all know how I feel about clowns...) and some gospel-choir style band of about three women and two men who seemed to be shouting the lyrics at us. This is no exaggeration. I remember the rendition of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You to be particularly cutting complete with screeching and the 'I've-got-attitude-so-I'm-going-to-wiggle-my-head-from-side-to-side-and-do-twinkle-fingers-up-and-down-by-the-side-of-my-face-as-I-can't-hold-a-note-and-it-makes-it-look-like-I've-done-it-deliberately' dance moves. Fantastic. The music was actually so loud, that Jay and I were having to shout into each others' ears which although he seemed very nice, I have to admit it is a bit too close for comfort with a strange man with a foundation brush for my liking... Nonetheless, he is a wizard with that brush and I felt so much more beautiful than I usually do, haha.

As I previously mentioned, my dad needed to get some Christmas shopping done, namely for me, so I figured that would be how I could get my £10 redeemed as there were numerous beauty goodies I was dying for for Christmas, from benefit, Urban Decay and Nails INC. Of course, I'm a complete idiot and didn't realize that Selfridges no longer have a benefit counter and seems never to have had Urban Decay or Nails INC. I was temporarily gutted, until I remembered that Selfridges DOES HAVE a MAC counter and also NARS. Plus, Debenhams have the three that I was looking for with a fantastic 10% off offer on the same day, so the disaster was generally averted! Thank goodness for that...

I had the best beauty day ever really! I'm not going to reveal the bits and bobs I chose from the various make-up counters as honestly I'm trying to forget so I'm surprised on Christmas morning... According to my dad, they've all been sent off to Santa Claus now and are ready in the sleigh. Eeeep!

And now for the bit which you all want to know about; the goodie bag. I was going to record a goodie bag haul for the event but the items are all so small that I figured a picture would be best. I got a Balenciaga Paris 10. Avenue George V mini fragrance, and also an Acqua di Parma one too. I got this really cute hot pink cosmetics bag from Juicy Couture with a delux sample size of Viva la Body Lotion by them too. I got a little tube of Dior's Creme Reparation Rides (also known as Wrinkle Correction Eye Cream), Alien by Thierry Mugler Body Lotion and also a sample of Fekkai's Shea Butter which is lush! The best bits in the goodie bag though were, by far, the little sample tube of NARS's Firming Foundation, Super Orgasm skin Illuminator highlighter and Clinique's exfoliating Clarifying Lotion 2. Honestly, the goodie bag wasn't amazing, but considering the whole event was essentially free once I'd redeemed each of my two £10 tickets on a couple of Christmas purchases courtesy of the Bank of Daddy I really can't complain. Furthermore, I got two of everything as my sister is nowhere near as much of a beauty fanatic as I am so she gave me her bag and the entire contents! Great success :)

So in all Selfridges Christmas Beauty Event was an evening well spent. I know that a few different department stores run this kind of event around Christmas time, and it seeks that House of Fraser were giving an even better goodie bag. However, I much prefer Selfridges at the moment as I find it to be a much friendlier environment, so I'm quite content with what I got. I would definitely recommend this kind of event to anyone who loves beauty. Get some girls together and head on a night out afterwards when your make-up has been done by some of the best brands in the industry... not many people will be looking as good as you one the likes of Estee Lauder's Jay has had anything to do with it.

Have you been to this kind of event before? What was in your goodie bag? Was anyone in Selfridges that night?

Let me know

Love

gabriellasofia

x

The Clothes Show Live 2011 Birmingham Event Review...

The lovely people at The Clothes Show were kind enough this year to send me a free press pass for the event, and as a fashion and beauty nut who has always wanted to go to the event but could never afford it, I leaped at the chance to cover it in my blog! If you're a frequent visitor to this page you will already have seen my Clothes Show Outfit of the Day, my Clothes Show Hauls (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) and also my Video Highlights where I edited my best bits of footage together to give a general overview of the amazing Night in a Department Store fashion show. Now it's time to reflect on the event as a whole, and put up some photographs I've been wanting to share for a little while...

So let's get started! After battling with my hair for hours trying to get it into a doughnut ring, I was ready to head out and meet up with fellow blogger Vikki (at Victoria's Vintage). We strolled into the press office like we owned the place, despite feeling like total tourists... There was orange juice, biscuits, maps and free wifi available here (kind of made me wish I'd taken my laptop with me so I could do some on-the-job blogging, at least I know for next time!) The Clothes Show was selling a 'goodie bag' for £8 which I declined after realizing that all was included was a children's sized T-shirt, a map of the exhibition and a booklet of discounts. I would recommend buying this if you are with a child who's poured ice-cream all over its top and desperately needs a new T-shirt, have no sense of exploration and are prepared to spend enough money that it would justify an £8 spend on a bag of useless contents...

After declining to purchase this bag, me and Vikki headed into the chaos that is The Clothes Show. With over 500 stalls, it was definitely a challenge to tell the rubbish apart from the quality. And yet, I was able to find a handful of awesome stalls that made it all worth-while! My favorites were the Oxfam stall selling numerous vintage goodies including cameo jewelry, Christmas knit jumpers and 50's midi skirts (VERY on trend right now), Paperself false lashes and the Frost and Snow cupcake retailers.

As for beauty, there was a plethora of amazing brands selling fantastic goodie bags at discounted prices. The best deals in my opinion was the Barry M stall (my haul from Barry M can be seen HERE) and the Models Own stall (my Models Own haul is HERE). I also liked the look of the Bourjois, Rimmel and the benefit stalls although there didn't appear to be many good deals at these brands to me... I also loved the Carmex stall as it had a yellow taxi-cab as part of the decoration which I just thought was super-cool!

A handful of top magazines held host to a Clothes Show stall also, including the likes of Cosmopolitan, Company and Elle to name but a few. At these stalls you could purchase one of two mags for just £3 and included in the price was a goodie bag. However, I did find these goodie bags to be mildly disappointing so it's lucky I actually wanted to mags or I would have been gutted. The best goodie in any of these bags was a £20 off Kurt Geiger voucher given by Elle. However, I'm highly unlikely to purchase any shoes from Kurt for a while as I'm a skint student and even with £20 off, I still can't afford his beautiful shoes... Woe is me.

The fashion hall was quite disappointing to me. Although there were a few major brands such as David and Goliath, Superdry and Paul's Boutique. However, again, I'm too poor to buy things in these stores without planning for it beforehand, so I made it my challenge to find some cheaper more bargain-elicious brands which I failed at miserably. Most of the other stores had much of the same products as one another, in 'One Size Fits All'. This is NOT TRUE. You're telling me that my 34DD's are supposed to fit in a dress which is for all intents and purposes essentially a size 8? I'd like to see it. Are you a miracle worker??? I thought not. Furthermore, the prices weren't any cheaper than I could get on sale in the likes of New Look, H&M and Primark. Actually, speaking of Primark, Vikki actually spotted a dress which she knew to be currently on sale in Primark, for sale at The Clothes Show at it's original price with the Primark label cut out. It was at this stage I realized I was wasting my time in the fashion area and tried my luck with jewelry instead...

Again, there weren't many jewelry bargains and at one stage I found a long-chain brass necklace with a large clock pendant which was hanging from the £3 rack. Of course, once I took it to the till I found that it was actually £8. Despite being one of many hanging on that rack. RIP OFF. The sales assistant felt my wrath and I then stalked off.

Whilst I'm on the topic of hard-sell type techniques, I want to tell off naughty GLOSSYBOX. I've always been eager to try a GLOSSYBOX (a box filled with 5 'delux sample' sized beauty products, posted to your door for a price of £10 per month.) I actually didn't find their stall during my mooch around. However, my sister, who isn't even into beauty that much, did. She is 16 years old. Young and impressionable. Her and her two friends were pressured by the sales assistant into buying a GLOSSYBOX each for a bargain price of £5. This was the November box containing an Illamasqua mini Eau de Parfum in Freak, an Arbonne International Cooling Foot Cream, a bag of Dead Sea Spa Magik Bath Salts, a packet of Rock Cosmetics Nail Wraps in a zebra print, and finally a tube of Monu Revitalizing Moisturizer.

First off, I've only ever heard of one of these brands. Secondly, I don't like the idea of some sales assistant taking advantage of a group of young girls' inability to say, 'No' and capitalize on that by pressuring them to purchase. Thirdly, I will not be purchasing a GLOSSYBOX now, as I felt so bad for my sister that I ended up buying it from her and being equally as disappointed with the contents. Rant over.

After we'd mooched around all of the halls, it was time for the fashion show which was amazing. The theme was A Night in a Department Store, where the lights go down and the mannequins come to life. The female models were beautiful and the dancing was absolutely fascinating... I could have watched that show all day! However, I personally was there for the fashion, NOT for the naked men. I mean, I don't have a PROBLEM with inches and inches of toned, tanned male flesh, but I've never been the sort of girl to cry at the feet of a boy band, or stick up a copy of Mizz magazine's 'Sexy Shirtless Soap Stars' on my bedroom wall, or scream like I'm being stabbed at a fashion show, just because a group of guys have jumped into the audience. So I did find it quite off-putting that the male models seemed to be a major focus of the show. Especially when the production of the show, the fashion items modeled and the professionalism of the dancing would have sufficed perfectly well alone!

Whilst I loved the short but sweet presence of Grace Woodward, George Lamb, The Risk, Kimberly Wyatt and Jade Thompson I did find that the added Z-List celebs such as a bunch of the TOWIE crowd to lower the tone. They were on stage for a maximum of one minute, and may as well have not been there. It's because The Clothes Show Live needs to pay people like them that the price for a standard ticket is a whopping £27... I'd rather they weren't there and the price be £20.

The show included a ton of different scenes including women's wear, men's wear, street wear and more, but my favorite scenes were the lingerie scene and also the bridal scene. If this show is anything to go by, the two biggest trends in lingerie are total opposites; angelic, innocent virgin and bondage-inspired, fetishistic dominatrix. Sometimes at the same time! As for bridal wear, the looks I preferred were the floaty styles, reminiscent of ballet costumes, and also the more structured romantic mermaid-skirted gowns. Breathtaking.

Once the show had finished, I pretty much decided that I'd had enough and seen all there was to see... Plus, the show was so great that I wanted to end the day on a high note! My sister, her friends and I said goodbye to Vikki and headed off home.

My overall opinion of The Clothes Show Live is that it's a great place to go if you are planning on spending a lot of money on beauty products, are a big fan of fashion and love elaborate fashion shows, and have enough stamina to argue with rude shop assistants, hunt hard for a bargain and fight the crowds for the best deals. Personally, although I LOVED the fashion show, now I've been to The Clothes Show once I've decided that I don't think I would pay for it. This is only because I know that the main aim of it is to be able to shop a ton of great brands. As not many of the brands were to my taste, I know I would have a much more productive shopping trip in my local town center without having to pay an extra £27 for the privilege. I totally accept that this is a worthwhile event for most girls (and guys) out there, but it's simply my tastes which prevented me from seeing the value in buying a ticket.

On the contrary, I totally enjoyed covering the event as press and I would LOVE to be invited back next year as it's given me a ton of bloggable material. Thank you The Clothes Show Live, thank you very much :)

And as for my readers, have you been to The Clothes Show Live before? Were you there this time? What bargains did you find? I'd love to know, so please post a response in the comments below and I'll reply as soon as possible! Thanks for reading and for bearing with me whilst I was getting this review up... I just have so much to do!

Love

gabriellasofia

x