The Clothes Show Live 2012 Review

A couple of weeks ago, I got my stuff together and head to Birmingham (AGAIN) to go to my second ever Clothes Show Live experience. Having been kindly offered a press pass once again I thought it would be a great opportunity to go and pick up a few bits and bobs to give as Christmas, so off I went!

I must be completely honest... Last year, I didn't enjoy the Clothes Show Live all that much at all, purely because I found it too chaotic, full of brands I rarely purchase from and just very overwhelming. The fashion show itself was the main redeeming feature with a department store theme. This year I found the overall feel of The Clothes Show to be slightly different. The brands in the beauty section were better (in that they had more products on offer and seemed far from selling out), the deals seemed to be more cost effective and the general atmosphere felts a lot more relaxed than last year. The fashion show on the other hand was really quite average by comparison with that of 2011... Here is my Clothes Show Live 2012 story...

*On with the show!*

150 Follower Giveaway Winner is...

So I'm sure you've all been waiting on tenterhooks to see if you'll win my giveaway... NOT haha. However, I really wanted to run this giveaway so that I could pay all of my followers and subscribers back for all of the help and support you've offered me. Starting and running a blog takes up a lot of my time and my energy and yet every minute is worth it when I read a comment, or see a retweet, or gain a new follower or subscriber. Really it is :) So watch the video to find out who has won my selection of goodies plus some random surprises also. Thanks for everything

Please check out my other sites and let me know what you think in the comments box below:

Please follow me on Twitter at:

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Please rate, like, follow, comment and subscribe and I promise there will be loads of beauty, fashion, lifestyle, culture and gossip material going up on here each week :)

Thanks for watching, guys and I'll see you soon!

Love

gabriellasofia x

The Versatile Blog Award...

Only bloggers truly understand how lovely it feels when another blogger recognizes your blog as one of their 'favorites', or when they compliment you on something you've posted... So imagine how great it feels when you're given a 'Blog Award' and are mentioned in someone's Top 7 blogs worthy of congratulations on their page.

The lovely Lucee from LuceeLovesBeautyBox has very kindly recognized HauteFuture as such and I literally can hardly contain my pride :) When you blog, along with putting in the time and energy with each post you publish, you also insert something very personal; you. This is why it makes me so happy to receive the Versatile Blog Award, it's very touching for me, and I just wanted to say a great big thank you to Lucee, all my readers and everyone who comments on my videos and posts. Its fantastic to be able to see how much support everyone's given me with my blog, and I think it's very important to say thank you when it's due. This is why I'm running my first ever Blog Giveaway in which I'm giving my readers the chance to win a collection of beauty goodies including products from the likes of Nails Inc, Models Own, Juicy Couture, 17, Nars, Dior and Barry M amongst others. Please head over to my Giveaway Page in order to be in with a chance of winning :) This is my thank you to you guys!

Anyway, without much further ado, the rules of the Versatile Blog Award require that the winner provides 7 secret facts about themselves, so here goes...

1) I am half-Dominican, speak Spanish (my mom's first language) and cook a mean rice, beans and fried chicken... which I eat with a banana chopped up over the top, just as the Dominicans do. I do this with chilli con carne and chicken noodle soups too. If you never try it, you'll never live!
2) I'm not part of a group of friends. I have a handful of friends that I'd trust with my life, but we don't spend a lot of time together and we're not a group as most of them don't even know each other. I've always been somewhat of a lone ranger, despite not being a psychopath, nudist or total female dog. I feel like sometimes with friends, spending too much time together can be more of a hindrance than a help. To see who my friends are, Check This Out.
3) I'm a total television addict. Like, it's a serious problem. Programs I can't go without watching include: Casualty, Holby City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI NY, Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210 and Cold Case. And on top of that, I like watching: Toddlers in Tiaras, The Girls Next Door, Kendra, The Kardashians, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Big Brother, The Steve Wilkos Show, The Jerry Springer Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, My Super Sweet Sixteen, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant and WAY MORE. See what I mean when I say it's a real problem? Bar my blog, my television dominates my life.
4) When I was 19 I was invited to and attended an audition for The Apprentice. The grown up one. However, I wasn't successful but had a fab day!
5) I worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando last summer, making dreams come true for a living. No joke. If you want to hear more about my Disney Journey, head over to my other blog All We Need Is Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust, and my Disney College Program Youtube Channel TheGabriellaSofia.
6) I go on a diet every Monday. I give up every Tuesday.
7) I could gladly spend all day every day in bed. No, I wouldn't get bored, lonely or depressed. I'd read mags, watch telly and write blogs and I would be as happy as can be!

So that's it! All that's left for me to do now, is pass the award onto some bloggers who I think are worthy of The Versatile Blog Award... I think there is a certain number of bloggers I'm supposed to hand it over to, but I'm not sure what that number is, so I'll just give it to a handful of faves. *Drumroll please*...

Victoria's Vintage

Tokki and Oliver

Miss Holly

Yoyo and Bel

Pretty In Pink

Well done girlies! You're all fab, put in a lot of time, energy and YOU into your blogs and that's why I'm pretty addicted to them :) They help me to wake up in the morning and relax at the end of a long day. I love them, and I hope you'll all keep up the good work, I sure will! If you could, please do me a favour and put my sexy new button on your page... All you have to do is paste the code underneath my button on the top right hand side of this page into a HTML widget on Design and I'll love you event more! This is what my button looks like...




Even if I haven't given you a Versatile Award, please post me your links in the comments box beneath, and maybe even 7 facts about you. I always want to know my readers better and be more interactive with everyone, so please use the comments as I ALWAYS reply.

Love you all
gabriellasofia
x

Nail of the Day With Nail Rock Wrap Review...

Hey there!

Sorry for the sparse postings recently... been too busy trying to get some surprise goodies together for my Giveaway!

Anyways, here's just a quicky about my Nail of The Day and a mini-review of Nail Rock nail wraps.

So I've tried my hand at the nail-wrap trend and I can honestly say that I don't think I'll be trying this again in a hurry. What a palaver! I'm not sure whether this is down to the brand or just down to the fact that nail wraps don't really work for me, but I was sorely disappointed with the effect of applying this Nail Rock black-and-white stripy pattern to my nails. I obviously only put it on my accent ring-finger nail, and this alone took me about five minutes per nail and essentially just looked and felt like I'd stuck a sticker on. Very cheap looking and tacky, and I felt it was peeling off from the tip of my nail after just an hour of jabbing away at my laptop keys which was very annoying after all the effort I'd gone to.

To apply the wraps, I prepared my nails first by using some nail varnish remover on a cotton pad to clear away the remnants of any old polish and also any dirt or grime that maybe have invisibly stuck to my nail and would have made it even harder for the wrap to adhere. Once I'd done that, I buffed my nails to make them shinier and create a more even surface as suggested on numerous online pages regarding the application of this kind of nail art. Now it was time for the wrap. Peeling the sticker from the backing paper I placed the square shaped edge against my nail bed as suggested, leaving a tiny bit of space between my cuticle and it, in order to prevent peeling. I stretched it across the nail (as directed by Nail Rock) so that I wouldn't get any air bubbles under the wrap and folded it over the end of my nail. I actually even tucked it under my nail all around for the next part, which is where I think the nail wraps failed me. I began to file off the surplus wrap which was really hard work. I actually hate filing my nails anyway (I'm weird... I much prefer clipping them into shape!) so I didn't enjoy this bit, and I had to do this for quite a while so as to prevent any damage to the nail, the wrap and my sanity.

Anyways, once I'd done it and the end had peeled off I thought, 'Huh, so that's it?' Looking at my nail I was seriously unimpressed. I mean, it looked almost perfect, but I hated the design and the plastic-y appearance of the wrap too. Nonetheless, I painted my clear coat over the top, did the other nail and was finished. Unfortunately, like I said, I may as well not have bothered with any of that as the nail wrap was beginning to peel from the tip of my nail shortly after.

Basically, I didn't like the effect, I didn't like the application and I didn't like the longevity of the product. I'm glad this came in the terrible GlossyBox forced on my sister at The Clothes Show or I would have been seriously disappointed if I'd paid for it and had the same experience.

And yet, this is just my personal opinion and I know that some people love wraps. Perhaps I was applying them wrong, my nails are rubbish or I'm just an idiot, but either way I can't see myself purchasing a pack of nail wraps in the future. I think they're just glorified stickers, like you get when you're a child but they call them 'wraps' to make them sound more adult. However, if you would like to buy some wraps like these, you can click through to Nail Rock and find that similar products retail at about £6.65.

I'm a huge fan of Topshop nail polishes and this colour is no exception. I received this colour as a Christmas gift and I think it was released with three other colours just for the season so it's no longer available in store. Plus, because it's just a mini and I've lost the box I don't remember what the shade is called :( It's a kind of deep-grey, deep-khaki colour and it's lovely! Similar gift sets from Topshop Nails retail at about £12 for three minis. Bargain.

What do you think about nail wraps? Was I applying them wrong? Does anyone else prefer hand-done nail art to these sticker-type things?

Thanks for reading and enter the Giveaway!

Love
gabriellasofia
x

HauteFuture's First Giveaway Including Barry M, Juicy Couture and Models Own Goodies!

So this is my 'Thank-You-Followers-and-Subscribers-for-Being-Amazing' giveaway! Watch the video, then get entering :) The giveaway ends on the 14^th February 2012 which I figured was nice because then someone gets to win something on Valentine’s Day. I will be drawing the winners from a hat on the 14^th and to prove that it’s all been fair I will record and post a video of the draw! This giveaway is open world-wide so everyone should enter, and please tell your friends. Swatches of the products to come soon and more sample-sized surprises to be included... 

How to Enter...

1) All those entering MUST be a follower with GFC (Google Friend Connect) - You can do this by clicking 'Follow' in the top left hand corner of the screen, or by clicking 'Join This Site' down the right hand side of my page next to all of the mini pictures of my followers. Once you've done this, you must comment and state something like 'I'm following as _____' and say your GFC name. You must also give your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win. This will give you 1 ENTRY.

2) Follow @HauteFuture on Twitter. This will give you 1 ENTRY!

3) Click 'Like' on the HauteFuture Facebook Page. This will give you 1 ENTRY!

4) Subscribe to my YouTube channel. This will give you 3 ENTRIES.  

5) RT this: 
'Head to http://hautefuture.blogspot.com/2012/01/hautefutures-first-giveaway-including.html to #win #giveaway prizes from @BarryMCosmetics and @modelsown Thanks @HauteFuture x' 
This will give you 3 ENTRIES.

6) Tell your friends... If a friend of yours begins to follow with GFC because you've told them to, make sure they mention it in their comment down below and they will get 1 ENTRY and you will get an extra 5 ENTRIES! If you're a blogger, you may want to write a post about this giveaway, if not you may want to mention it in a Facebook status or show your friends my page or something like that :) 

Everyone wishing to be entered must state their various applications in their comment... For example, 'Hi, I follow with GFC as MaryBean. I also RT'd as MaryBean3, and I follow with that name too. I subscribed on Youtube with the name MayBe and I 'Liked' as Mary Berlap on Facebook. My email is marybean@gmail.com. Hope I win, thanks! x' This person would have won herself 9 ENTRIES into the giveaway. If her friend Jenny began following and said in the comments 'Hi I follow as Jenbo2012 and I was referred over by MaryBean. Email me if I win at jenbo2012@yahoo.com x' Then Mary would now have 14 ENTRIES and her friend Jenbo2012 would have 1 too! Simples :)

Once again, thank you so much guys for supporting me in my blogging and vlogging. It means an awful lot, and I hope that very soon I will be able to organize another giveaway when I get 300 followers! Good luck <3

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

Haute Future Haute Haul... The Clothes Show Part 2: Models Own...

So here is Part 2 of the epic haul I managed to secure for myself at The Clothes Show on Sunday! As I say in the video, I've only ever used Models Own nail varnish before but I really wanted to try some other things in their range so I'm glad I was able to get ALL OF THIS for an absolute bargain £10... Let's see how much it's all worth eh?

All these products can be purchased at www.modelsownit.com;

Powder Eye Shadow - £5
Duo Eye Shadow - £5
Glitter Eye Pencil - £5
Kohl Eyeliner Pencil - £5
Lip Gloss - £5
Nail Polish - £5
Face Paint - £5
Nail Buffer - £5
Make Up Bag - Unavailable, but I guess it would be about £5!

So in total, the goodie bag I spent £10 on is worth about £75!!! Amazing!

Look out for my Clothes Show Haul Part 3, which includes some random miscellaneous freebies that I picked up and concludes my spending at the event.

Please take the time to check out my other sites... I have a Twitter, a Facebook AND a blog too and there will be a giveaway soon where you'll need to be following at least one of these to be able to be entered so don't forget to his follow, like and subscribe!

Please follow me on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/hautefuture

Subscribe to my Youtube channel where I post hauls, tutorials, outfits of the day and WAY more:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HauteFuture?feature=watch

Also check out my facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HauteFuture/149057205180776

Please rate, like, follow, comment and subscribe and I promise there will be loads of beauty, fashion, lifestyle, culture and gossip material going up on here each week :)

Thanks for watching, guys and I'll see you soon!

Love

gabriellasofia x