Events: Selfridges Work It - Beauty Launch

Selfridges are currently hosting a new campaign called Work It. Encouraging people to reclaim their lunch breaks and reavaluate the 9 to 5, there is a whole shcedule of activity taking place in Selfridges Birmingham. From Digbeth Dining Club taking over the terrace space outside Kidswear to the Big Beauty Lunch Breaks, there's a reason to drop by every single day.

A little about the idea behind Work It.

"The way we work is changing. From the death of the '9 to 5' to innovations in technology, we're exploring the shifting work-life landscape with a programme of pioneering talks and workshops, life-enhancing product launches and inspiring beauty experiences."

I was lucky enough to attend the launch of The Big Beauty Lunch Breaks and met with some of Birmingham's beauty bloggers to toast the week long series of makeovers, demonsrations, lessons and more. From YSL Flash Makeovers, to Bobbo Brown's Secrets of on the go make up, I even got to meet the fabulous Vivianan Does Make Up!

Selfridges even generously handed out Pret lunch bags to anyone who participated in a makeover from 14-17th May.

Following a week of beauty themed events, there's also been everything from a CV surgery to a chance to have a professional LinkedIn profile picture taken, as well as a talk from Zoe, the store's Personal Shopper on taking your look from day to night.

There's still time to learn how to make the perfect biryani with itihaas and Hemsley + Hemsley on Sunday from 12-4pm instore at Birmingham Selfridges.

Did you come in store during Work It?

Event: Harvey Nichols A Beautiful Mind

Harvey Nichols recently hosted A Beautiful Mind, an Evening of Intelligent Beauty at the Birmingham store.

In the midst of a redevelopment but scheduled for completion in the next few months, the Birmingham team put together a night of beauty workshops from Cloud Nine Hair, Shavata Singh, the eyebrow maestro herself, a Dr. Hauschka expert and Space NK national makeup artists.

As well as serving up glamorous drinks, guests were treated to some thought provoking workshops, my favourite of which came from Shavata Singh.

Shavata Singh

I've been a big fan of Shavata for many years and always wanted to have my eyebrows done by her. Whilst I haven't had the guts to grow out my brows and take the plunge, I was able to hear Shavata speak and impart a few words of wisdom.

Shavata spoke on how eyebrows are affected by your age and profession, and your job has more of an influence than you realise in this area. In addition, she said that it's not about the number of hairs you take away, but where they go from. She also used my favourite adage, which is that eyebrows should be sisters not twins, and revealed that you can tell which hand you write with as the eyebrow on that side will be higher.  Who knew?!

Shavata spoke with such passion and knowledge, it was an absolute treat to be able to hear her talk.

I also had a play on the Nars counter, as my heart seems to beat faster everytime I come near to their fabulous products. I tried on the Palais Royale Lip Pencil and I am officially in love. I really need to start purchasing Nars as I don't own anything from here yet!

I only managed to take a few pictures on the night, but a big thank you to the team at Harvey Nichols for the invitation.

Event: Beauty Confidential at House of Fraser

House of Fraser recently hosted Beauty Confidential, a great opportunity to try out new products, see some familiar faces and also watch the fabulous Emily Jayne in action as she hosted a Colour Consultation.

Heading over to the Corporation Street store after work, I met up with Ting from The Ting Thing and Tasha from NutellaTasha to see what's new in the world of beauty.

There were plenty of offers to choose from, such as £10 off beauty favourites such as Estee Lauder Double Wear and Origins Modern Friction if you made a purchase on the evening. There were also mini facials, lip makeovers, free gifts with purchase and more.

Our first stop was at the stand where Tasha was foundation matched and treated to a mini facial massage. I've never tried anything from this brand before and was intrigued at the products on offer, especially the Skin Caviar Concealer and Foundation which is sheer genius.

We then headed over to see Emily Jayne in action as she talked us through what colours to wear based on our skintone, hair colour etc.

Finally, we went to Givenchy to try out a range of lipsticks called Le Rouge a Porter, a launch that I seem to have missed! I tried out three beautiful colours and swatched them for you too. How divine are these? The texture is incredible and so pigmented!

Image c/o FashionMommy

Thank you to House of Fraser for the invitation.

Event: The Alice Boutique Birmingham Launch

The tale of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has captivated the imagination of children and adults for over a century, so much so that it has even spawned a TV series, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

It has also inspired Tracie Bedwood to open a themed boutique in Birmingham's Great Western Arcade.

The Alice Boutique brings this story to life with a wide range of exclusive Alice designs inspired by John Tenniel's original illustrations, including fine-bone china and stationary and even a complete tea party set, all designed and made in the UK.

I was invited along to The Bureau on Colmore Row to celebrate the launch and fall down the rabbit hole.

Leading us downstairs to a private room, a sign reading "Down the rabbit hole" was a taste of things to come.

In the hidden room a table was laid full to the brim with Alice goodies, and there was a host of fun accessories to play dress up. From a golden picture frame to an Alice apron, a Cheshire cat mask and bunny ears, we had lots of fun taking pictures and playing croquet with a faux flamingo!

Everything was imaginatively laid out too, with little labels saying Eat Me and Drink me on the food and drink.

We had a sneak peak of the fabulous products available to buy too, from tote bags, notebooks and mugs to cards, coasters and cake stands!

Thank you to The Alice Boutique for hosting the event, I know where's first on my list for adorable gifts!

Event: Smiggle UK Launch at Bullring Birmingham

The Bullring is welcoming a host of new stores lately, and one of these to open just recently is Smiggle. I was invited along to the launch and as well as getting a tour of the store, I also got to learn more about the brand.

With Rachel Nicole and The Other VW

Smiggle Alphabet Keyrings - need one

Smiggle 2015 Diaries - love these!

Smiggle is short for 'a smile and a giggle' and is dedicated to fuelling creativity by delivering original, fun and affordable stationary. The product development team brings out new pieces continuously and all the stationary is fun, quirky, individual and colourful. A household name in Australia where there are 160 stores, they are now opening across the UK with 18 stores open in time for Christmas.

The Bullring store is small but perfectly formed. Full to the rafters with a host of colourful pencil cases, notebooks pens and more, it is a stationary lovers dream.

I took a few snaps of my favourite pieces, including this milk carton pencil case which is very much in the style of the Chanel Lait De Coco Bag from AW14 - cute!

We were also gifted this fabulous Advent Calendar, a great alternative to chocolate for kids.

A big thank you to the team at Smiggle for having me!!

Event: A Beautiful Fairytale at Harvey Nichols

Last week I took a trip to Harvey Nichols for the Beautiful Fairytale event, a chance to try out some new products, meet representatives from some of the brands stocked in Harvey Nichols, and take a look at the store in the midst of the Mailbox redevelopment.

Myself, Ting from The Ting Thing and Elle

Outfit post alert: Dress and Shoes - New Look / Bag - Whistles

One of the highlights of the evening was the chance to win £500 to spend on shoes by guessing which shoe was hidden under velvet. Sadly I didn't win but it was fun to try!

The Shoe Competition

The Winning Shoe

Myself and Ting from The Ting Thing quizzed experts from brands including SantaVerde and Dr Jacksons and tried out the healthy drinks from Plenish.

Plenish Drinks available here

SantaVerde skincare available here

There was also a chance to spin the wheel and pick an extra prize with every purchase. I managed to resist but Ting and Elle took a spin and won both times! The gifts were fantastic and they won a Life candle and luxury body cream.

Spin to Win!

We also got to enjoy some themed drinks such as pink gin and tonic in mini milk bottles and treats from the sweet cart such as macarons, love hearts and chocolate mousse.

Ting from The Ting Thing

Heart Shaped Macarons

Love Hearts in Jars

Drink Me Pink Drinks

Pink Drinks only

Sweet Trolley

There was also time for dressing up fun and we raided the box and had our picture taken by the professional photographer on hand (the pictures below were taken on my camera, the first picture was taken by him).

It was great to have an excuse to look around Harvey Nichols ahead of the £50m Mailbox revamp when the store will take on 45,000 sq ft in time for a 2015 opening.

A big thank you to Harvey Nichols for hosting the event.