The magic of brows - with Benefit cosmetics

A few weeks ago I was invited to this quite fabulous blogger event, and yes, you guessed it right...
- it was all about eyebrows!

 But is it possible to focus a whole event on just eyebrows, I hear you ask?

Well, when it's no one else that Benefit cosmetics hosting the day, then the answer is HELL YES!

 As usual with blogger events we were all greeted with some bubbly on arrival.
Whilst sipping our delicious drinks, the girls from Benefit went through a short presentation about the new eyebrow products that were still due to get launched to the highstreet.

Did you know that eyebrow products are currently the most bought product out there when it comes to makeup?
It's even more popular than mascara!
But who can blame us consumers when we've got strong-browed role models like Cara Delevingne to look up to?

 After the presentation we were shown into another room where 3 makeup stations were set up, and the Benefit girls started working their magic, transforming everyone's eyebrows with the products from the new collection.

 My partner in crime for the day, Jennie from Lifestyled by Jennie, seemed very happy with the result!

 

 There was a third, secret room at the event venue, and in there it was all fun and games!
Jennie and I were the first ones in, and the first challenge was to match eyebrows to celebrity faces.
It was a lot harder than it looks, especially when the clock was ticking down!

 Challenge number 2 was to draw a pair of eyebrows on a vintage cartoon lady - blindfolded!
I think we did a decent job though...

Challenge number 3 and 4 involved shaving a poor guy's hairy leg in a straight line (Ouch! I hope he got a hell of a good compensation for enduring that!), and decorating a slice of cake into an eyebrow.
Silly little games, but we had so much fun!

 A couple of weeks after the event, this amazing box of all the still not launched products landed in my post box.

 I really couldn't wait to try the Gimme Brow fibres, and it's now my favourite eyebrow prduct. Best one I've ever had!

 Thank you so much to Benefit cosmetics for an amazing event and for the generous box of goodies.

Fascinated by fascinators

The first time I ever went to the races was back in 2010. I had only lived in England for a few months by that time, and when told that it was quite a fancy event I put on whatever dress I had to hand in the back of my wardrobe. As someone who was used to wearing jeans and sneakers, I thought I looked super posh...
When I arrived at York races I realised that I didn't!

The second time I went to the races I understood more what it was all about, so I put on a nicer dress, but I still stuck to wedges rather than heels to avoid getting stuck and ruining my shoes on the lawn.
No one else seemed to have the same idea... 

I couldn't for my life understand why all girls were wearing what I thought was silly head gear though. Were they hats, were they head bands? What were they, and why was everyone wearing them?!

When I went to York races last weekend I caved in, and I went all out. I wanted to know what it felt to fit in to all this fanciness, and I bought myself my first ever fascinator. 

I must admit I felt marvellous!

To go with my posh fascinator, I was of course wearing a dress suitable for racecourse poshness. 

It's a black layered sheer dress with a lace style bodice, and a butterfly cut hem on the skirt, meaning it's longer on the sides.

The back of the dress is quite fabulous as you show off your back through the pattern. Unfortunately that means you can't really wear a bra with it though, but of well... the things you do for fashion!

I tricked you a bit though... it isn't actually a posh dress - it's just from H&M. But it's all about how you mix and match your clothes that make the finished outfit!

To really complete that race style, I put my hair up into a low and voluminous side bun, making sure the fringe finished it off with a wave framing my face. You won't see me with my hair up very often, and I do quite struggle with updos, but I think this experiment was quite a success. Especially with the fascinator decorating it!

I took the liberty to climb up to the horse owners' area, where you had a good view over the racecourse. Since my strategy when it comes to horse betting is based on who's got the funniest name, I didn't win anything though... What a surprise!

Silver jewellery in the form of my trusted Links of London charm bracelet and multiple silver rings is pretty standard for me to bling up an outfit. Add to that french manicure nails, and my handbag being the only pop of colour to break off the black, and I was all good to go.

And not to forget the massive fake lashes! I wanted to go a bit over the top and look like a doll for this special occasion. Why not, hey? I was also practising my Maid of Honour makeup for next month, although I won't go as extreme with the lashes then. It's more about the contouring and finding makeup that will stay on all day in any weather.

And that is it, folks. For the first time since I moved to England I felt like I actually fit in to all the fascinator madness at the races. Have I officially turned more British than Swedish? I bloody hope not, but it's all fun and games experimenting with fashion and different styles.

An evening of pampering with Treatwell at RMUK in Leeds

Have you thought about the fact that we nowadays book or buy most things online? But when it comes to hair and beauty treatments we tend to do it the old fashioned way - either by a visit or over the phone. This is where Treatwell comes in! As the largest hair and beauty booking website in Europe, they're on a mission to inspire people to express their beauty in every way. The website is perfect to use if you're a bit spontaneous with your beauty bookings, or if you're after a great last minute deal. It's also ideal for discovering new salons or spas you've never heard of before.

A few weeks ago, Treatwell visited RMUK hair salon in Leeds to talk about their super convenient service, and to let us trial some taster treatments in the form of hair styling, manicure, and mini massages. I was one of the first to arrive and got first dibs on a treatment of my choice, and I opted for something I've never tried before; bamboo massage. It was basically a normal aroma therapy back massage with essential oils, but rather than using her hands, the masseuse used hot bamboo sticks. The sticks are of various sizes to reach muscles in different areas, and they're cylinder shaped with rounded edges. 

After my massage we had a thorough browse around the very impressive RMUK salon. I had never been in this salon before and I was amazed by the layout and the stunning interior.

But then it was time to gather for some bubbly and the official welcome speech by the Treatwell founders.

I absolutely love the concept of booking your hair and beauty appointments online on one massive hub where you can see all your local companies. Why has no one thought of that before?! Treatwell has been around for years, but due to their expansion to the rest of Europe they've recently rebranded the company - they used to be called Wahanda.

There was even a celebrity appearance at the Treatwell event! A few actors from the Emmerdale cast were amongst the VIP guests that had been invited for this evening of pampering.

A couple of manicurists were working on getting everyone's nails all shiny and sparkly.

My plus one guest for the night, Laura from Top Style Advice, opted for metallic nails of a cool purple hue.

It was such a fab event by Treatwell, and I managed to squeeze in three mini treatments; bamboo massage, head and shoulder massage, and a manicure. I had the limpest hair on the day, full of dry shampoo, so I didn't fancy any of the stylists trying to do anything with it. I would have felt sorry for them!

I absolutely adore the dusky teal nail polish I ended up choosing from the impressive nail bar. That's one to go on the shopping list!

A fabulously stylish charity poker night with a Great Gatsby theme

When an opportunity to dress up arises I would never turn it down. So when I was invited to an event with a Great Gatsby theme, I got super excited! I've always adored the gorgeous style of the 1920's with the headbands, the feathers, and the glamour in general, but since it's not the most common style nowadays I've never before gotten the opportunity to dress this way. Sure, you could get inspired by any era in your outfit choices, but to get the opportunity to go all out like this is quite rare.

We arrived at the event with great expectations. The invitation said Sky Lounge, which is the bar at the very top floor of Hilton in Leeds with the best view in town, and it couldn't get much more luxurious than that. We were greeted with champagne, and I was amazed about the effort everyone had put into their outfits. All my fellow Leeds bloggers looked absolutely stunning!

My two favourite girls; Dash from Mode Lily and Laura from Top Style Advice, were my partners in crime for the night, and I love how we all wore very similar outfits. I had chosen a cream lace midi dress with thin straps from Boohoo, paired with black satin gloves, a black lace headband, and of course a 20's style long pearl necklace - all typical accessories from the era. I also put my hair up in some sort of curly side do to complement the style even more.

After the welcome drinks we were taken into another room where the real event was about to start - a Texas hold'em poker tournament in the name of charity.
It was all arranged by Ladbrokes Poker, we got taught the rules and betting systems properly, and then with our fake money we played to win £500 which would go towards the winner's favourite charity.

We all started off with poker chips worth £1,000, and after a couple of test runs we eventually got the hang of it. I've never been much for poker (except for strip poker in my teens!) but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
It was actually really exciting!

Dash was winning big all the time!

Beginner's luck... ;)

Just look at her smug face!

They were serving fab quality canapés...

...and lots of wine (which you ended up downing cause you weren't allowed to put the glass down on the poker table... oops!).

Like taken from some old glamorous Great Gatsby casino film, right? ;)

Everyone looked so amazing, and had put so much effort into their hair, makeup and outfits! Here are some fabulous fellow Leeds bloggers.

I don't actually know who won in the end, and I don't think any of us cared cause we had such a great time. I just wish I would have lived to see the real 1920's Great Gatsby era and could dress like this every weekend! 

Cheers!

Thanks to Ladbrokes Poker for a fantastic event, and thanks to Search Labs for the lovely photos.

Posh dinner, posh attire... and a murder on the posh floor!

You may be wondering why Kristina from Mode of Style and myself are all dressed up, holding on to some very important-looking items such as a magnifying glass...

Well, we had received a very fancy invitation for an event at nowhere other than the posh Hilton in Leeds, where we had been asked to 'dress to impress'.
On top of that we had been promised an eventful dinner with some detective work!

 Although the cause was unknown, it seemed like the area was a crime scene already on our arrival, and had been investigated by the police.

What had we gotten ourselves into? 

WERE WE IN TROUBLE?!?

 But when they presented us with some items a la Sherlock Holmes, and explained to us that we simply had to help out with an investigation, we could finally relax (and start enjoying the wine!)

 All the best private detectives wear a mustache and/or glasses, right?

Was Kristina a suspect in the crime which we were yet to be presented?

 We were about 30 bloggers that all sat down for dinner at three different tables...

 ...but before we had even stuck our forks into our starter, a man stumbled into the room and DIED RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! 

 Luckily, the ACTUAL SHERLOCK HOLMES (starstruck!) was quick to arrive, and to our horror he declared that there had been a MURDER!

But who was guilty to this terrible crime, and where would we even start our investigation of the #MurderOnThePoshFloor?

 Sherlock Holmes made us take an oath that we would truthfully and wholeheartedly put all of our efforts into helping out finding the murderer (although that was very difficult when there was delicious food put in front of us from time to time - extremely distracting!).

We were served a 3 course meal consisting of tasty soup, chicken breast with potato gratin and vegetables, followed by some sort of raspberry mousse with white chocolate. 

And in between the courses we were trying to solve the murder mystery in our different groups, which became very competitive. 

Luckily, we had Sherlock and a policeman to help us, and before we knew it they had found some evidence which we dusted for fingerprints, and BINGO! With the help of forensic reports, questioning of suspects, checking of criminal records, and warrants for pocket searches, we managed to solve the murder and arrest the perpetrator.

Thanks to Posh Flooring for such a fab event with lots of friendly faces and lots of fun! 

It was a true one of a kind dinner, and one I will remember forever!