Well this blog post is somewhat delayed, so I do apologise - but it's mainly due to the sheer amount of things there are to write about! Our launch event for #TheCityGirls was a week and a half ago, at the end of the event we handed our our goodie bags, now these beauties have taken a lot of our time to organise, collect things, and even putting the bags together! But the feeling of pure pride when we handed them over to our lovely bloggers at the end of the event was worth every email and every minute of putting them together!
Holly and I both said when we were putting together "the list" of ideal goodies for the bags, that we didn't just want any old crap. Nothing in these bags (or for our raffle) was there just for the sake of it - all of these products are ones we personally use, or have used in the past - or maybe just lusted after for a while and figured we'd treat our bloggers!
So, without further ado - allow me to introduce the goodies...
Ohhh just look at it all!! It was such a delight seeing all of it come together - and seeing how our efforts had been rewarded! It felt like we were the custodians of a great thing - we added up the cost of the bags and we estimated their worth at approximately £150 each. Crazy.
Not only did it all look that swish on the inside - but the outside was just as good. We were lucky enough to have been sent the bags themselves from the lovely people at The Blogger Programme, they even included our #thecitygirls hashtag on there for us as well!
It would have been amazing to have had our own bags printed up for the event, but unfortunately this meant digging into our own finances, which whilst it would have been fun to have done there are many more boring things I need to pay for in my life unfortunately.
So, onto the goodies themselves. Well where to begin?! We set out to "wow" our bloggers and I think we did. In absolutely no particular order (literally, the order I pulled them out of the bag...) here they are:
Lipcote - £3.99
Lipcote is actually one of the first ever beauty products I remember buying. I read about it in Cosmo Girl or some other tweeny kind of magazine. It is, in short, a lipstick sealer - and maintains your lipstick all through the day and night. I haven't used it in ages but when thinking of products for the goodie bags, it is one of the first I thought of!
Red Cherry Eyelashes - £2.99
Next up we have the Red Cherry Eyelashes, I'm absolutely rubbish at applying false lashes and always look a bit cartoony when I do have them on, but these look super natural (just extra fluttery) so I cannot wait to experiment with these ones. Any false lash application tips would be greatly appreciated though!
Yorkshire Tea Gold - £1.50
An event held in Yorkshire without Yorkshire tea would be pure sacrilege. We treated our bloggers to ten cups of the finest on us. There isn't a better combination than brewing up and getting cosy blogging - see, we truly do think of everything.
#LipGlam - £9.99
#LipGlam is a complete Godsend of a product - it has so many uses! From a normal lip balm, to a cuticle ointment, a split end soother, eyebrow balm and even a mascara primer (and more...) this product does so much. I've only used it so far as a plain old lip balm, but I'm interested in it's uses on split ends - so I'll let you know how that goes!
Sample of Kiss the Moon Love Face Oil
Always a fan of something which promises to help me sleep better, I came across Kiss the Moon in a series of online reviews and wanted in on some of the action. I cannot wait to try this out - and after the glowing reviews I've read so far, I'll be sure to share my own thoughts when I know what I make of it!
Mookau Yummy Lunch Box - £5.00
How adorable is this?! Holly introduced me to Mookau on one of our many pre-event meet ups and I fell in love with their products! They sell a range of giftwares that really push both mine and Holly's buttons. I love this little lunchbox as it's the perfect size for taking in carrot sticks, or cherry tomatoes to work (no chocolate now, I'm being healthy remember) - and it keeps things nice and separate. I also love the dinky size because it means you could get away with taking healthier snacks somewhere in a smaller bag for the day.
Stylfile 2 - £4.49
If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you might remember I did a review on the Stylfile S-Buffer a while back (nearly two years back) and I've been in love with Tom Pellereau's products ever since. When Holly told me we'd managed to secure thirty of these for the goodie bags I think I actually screamed. Thrilled. THRILLED I was. I hope our bloggers like this as much as I do!
Sample of Emma Hardie Hand & Nail Treatment Cream
Whilst we're on the subject of hands and nails - Emma Hardie kindly sent us out these adorable sample sized treatment creams. I've tried this out for a couple of days since our event and I have noticed such a difference in my hands! I work in quite a "hands on" job - and it's often freezing cold in my workshop, and my hands are the first to suffer. This now lives in my handbag, and comes in very handy (ha, excuse the pun) when I need to soften up!
Stoats Porridge Bars - 89p
Ohhh my. Yummy treats for the goodie bags!! I'm a fan of a healthy snack and these porridge bars came so highly recommended. I've tried both of them since getting them in the goodie bags, and teamed up with a brew it is the best mid-morning snack. I'm a big fan of the Raspberry & Honey ones especially, and think these might be a regular purchase for me now.
Superdrug Vitamin E Refreshing Toner Mist - £2.99
I've heard amazing things about the Superdrug Vitamin E range - and having tried some of The Body Shop equivalents I was really looking for something a little more purse-friendly. I think I may have found it in the Superdrug range! This seems like such a summery product as well, I imagine it's going to be a morning/evening staple for me in the next few months.
Sample packs of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
Who doesn't love jelly beans?! We scattered a handful of these in each of the goodie bags and also dotted some in bowls around the event room. I think jelly beans are one of those sweet treats that takes you back to childhood a little bit! Also, will forever remind me of Dumbledore when he gets an earwax flavoured one "Alas, earwax!" - ahh Dumbledore.
Nathalie Bond Organics Lip Balm - £5
Nathalie Bond is a Sheffield based organic skincare company. We thought it would be great to showcase some of Sheffield's finest offerings in our goodie bags, and Nathalie Bond is up there with the finest! We had a selection of three different lip balms, and they all smell divine.
Knock Knock Stuff Sticky Notes - $3.99
Ever the stationery nerd, I was always going to get some form of stationery something in these goodie bags - and is there anything more satisfying then a good ol' sticky note? I absolutely love these ones from Knock Knock stuff, I think they're the perfect accompaniment to any desk - and will certainly remind me to do things!
Travel sized Batiste - £1.50
Batiste were kind enough to provide us with several varieties of their infamous dry shampoos for the goodie bags. I love and swear by Batiste products so this was a huge exciting moment for me when we got them on board!! Believe it or not I've never actually tried the "original" one - I always opt for the "floral" or something fancy, so this will take me back to basics.
Creightons Argan Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner
and Hand & Nail Cream - courtesy of Poundland
Seriously?! Poundland?! These products look way too fancy to have come from Poundland. But nope, just £1 each for these. I've got such a thing for Argan oil hair products that I'm really looking forward to trying these out. The only thing that worries me slightly is that the tubes look so similar I'll have to make sure I don't use the same one twice!
Blanx White Shock Gel Pen - £10
I'm a big fan of anything that can make my teeth look whiter without me breaking the bank or having any kind of specialist treatment so this from Blanx was right up my street! Blanx also supplied us a huge hamper for one of our raffle prizes and I'm pretty envious of whichever blogger got to take that one home!! I'm hoping to do a full review on this with some before/after shots so keep an eye out.
Nair Argan Oil Body Wax - £11.99
This, I'm not ashamed to say, terrifies me! I've got such a fear of leg waxing because I have heard so many nightmare stories about it - although this does sound fairly straight forward. Simple pop the pot in the microwave, then smooth on and peel off... No need for wax strips at all. I'm slightly dubious about this one. I also do not own a microwave (nor do I plan on buying one) so this is something I'll have to do at my Mum & Dad's house. Not sure if that makes it scarier or better!!
Voss Water Bottle - £2.00-8.00
We worked with Voss on the run up to the event and they were absolutely amazing with us - they shared links, tweeted our bloggers and most importantly, kept us hydrated on the day!! They kindly donated thirty of their beautiful glacial water bottles for our bloggers, and as they're so photo-friendly we couldn't not have them out on display for bloggers to pick up as and when they chose to.
Creightons Squeeky Clean Face Scrub and Face Mask - Poundland
Yes, that's right - even more goodies from Poundland! When you see, smell and touch these products you would never believe they're only £1 each. The quality is quite comparable to the Soap & Glory counterparts that the packaging is mimicking. A lot of the bloggers commented on the smell of the face mask - and seriously, if you ever spy this in your local Poundland, pick up a pot even if just for a sniff! I'm a big fan of masks and scrubs so I cannot wait to try these out.
Samples of Manuka Doctor Skincare
What I just said about face masks is amplified a dozen times over when we're talking about the Manuka Doctor range. I have been dying to get my hands on these for a while now! We have three different samples of their bee venom and manuka honey skincare range - a serum, a filler and of course, a mask! I'll be wanting to blog about these in their entirety separately so make sure you keep looking out for that post. I'm certain it'll be a good one.
Lee Stafford Volumising Mousse - £7.99
Lee Stafford kindly put forward three different products for the goodie bags including this one - I've been a fan of Lee Stafford products for as long as I can remember, and for a long time lived on his Bleach Blonde shampoo and conditioner range! Since I've gone off the white/grey hair thing I now look to Lee Stafford for other areas of my haircare, and I'm really looking forward to trying out some "big hair" looks with this!
#TheCityGirls engraved slate heart - supplied by The Works, engraved by Design by Laser
These little slate hearts were a mini personalisation project for Holly and I! After kindly having these gifted by The Works, I realised I could really make them "ours" by engraving the logo on them at my place of work. I work at a laser cutting company, where I can etch slate and a variety of other materials. A couple of hours spare time et voila! Perfect, personalised gifts. It was a joy to give these out to the bloggers, who instantly began posing for photos with them!
Henderson's Relish - £1.49
Henderson's Relish is somewhat of a Sheffield icon, I'm told! There was no way a Sheffield event was going down without the star of the show (good ol' Hendo's!) being invited! I was amazed at how excited our bloggers got when they saw they each had a bottle of this staple kitchen item, and we all marvelled in the fact it smells just like pickled onion Monster Munch. Mmm...
Johanna Basford's Enchanted Forest Colouring Book - £10
I think I've saved my favourite item until last... I love colouring, and I love colouring insanely intricate patterns - until my eyes blur and my hands hurt... So to get this beautiful illustrated colouring book involved in our goodie bags was amazing!! And what do you need for a colouring book...?
The Works Colouring Pencils - £2.99
Colouring pencils of course!! There was no way we could supply a colouring book without the correct implements needed to colour in with!
And I do believe that's almost everything - there were some other bits and pieces which unfortunately I didn't seem to get hold of! Including a Penhaligon's perfume, a Pebble Grey light-up compact mirror and a Virtue Iced Tea drink - but they've been mentioned in lots of the other goodie bag round-up posts, including Holly's!
We should also mention that we included some flyers and vouchers in the goodie bags, including a 2 for 1 meal and drinks at Bloo88 (our hosting venue) and 20% off at Secondthread, one of our featured brands. I also picked up some goodies from Benefit, Lush Sheffield and have ordered a complimentary lingerie set from Panache too - there was so much going on on that day - I'm so glad it all went to plan!
The very lovely people at Moo also get a huge shout from us - as they printed our business cards, stickers and our gorgeous little square flyers for us. I have used Moo for absolutely years now, and could not imagine using any other printing company for #TheCityGirls. We LOVE you, Moo!
In fact, to be fair - we LOVE all of our brands that got so involved with our first event. It was a huge buzz to see everything come together and our lovely bloggers having such a great time with each other and our brands! Planning is now in full swing for our next blogging event which will take place in Leeds. If you're interested and want in - let me know!