I’ve been away a little while, which I absolutely hate doing blog-wise, but I have been pretty poorly with something called Costochondritis – it is something to do with the muscles surrounding my sternum, and causes pain and makes me quite breathless/gives me panic attacks. For the last few months I have been organising a Blog Meet with the Hull Bloggers organisers, and due to being poorly, I couldn’t make the meet. My friend and co-organiser Jenny was amazing at helping to ensure the event went as expected, and I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s comments and photos on the day – it made me have allllll the feels and made me feel pretty proud when some of the attendees had said how much they had enjoyed it.
As I had been the one in charge of getting goodies for the goody bags, I did keep a bag for myself so that I could talk about some of the fabulous things we were sent to enjoy.
Food & Drink
We were lucky enough to be sent two packets of the Portlebay Popcorn each, I received the Sweet & Salty and Cinnamon Swirl varieties. I must say I have not always been a popcorn fan – as I hate the dryness and the kernals that I end up cracking my teeth on, but Portlebay Popcorn is definitely a gourmet variety, and my all-time favourite flavour is the Cinnammon – I could eat endless amounts of it, it is super yummy! You can find Portlebay Popcorn here.
Luscombe Drinks sent us two varieties of their gorgeous sparkling beverages – Passionate Ginger Beer and Damascene Rose Bubbly. I aren’t a tea or coffee addict, and much prefer soft drinks, and the Luscombe Drinks are certainly the posh version of soft drinks! I really enjoyed the Damascene Rose Bubbly flavour as it felt really crisp, light and refreshing, and am excited to try some of the other flavours in their huuuuuge range. You can see all of the amazing flavours by Luscombe here.
Beauty
Gillette sent a variety of their fabulous ladies razors and I had the Venus Snap Razor, which I have been wanting to try for a while now – It is a much smaller razor, although the blades are a similar size to the regular sized razors, and comes in a little snap case, so is perfect for travelling with. You can check out Gillette online here.
KIKO is a brand that people have only really recently started to notice, yet their quality and prices are so worthwhile checking out. I recently went to Meadowhall where KIKO have launched one of their stores, and you can find out about my mini haul here. Each of us received a generous selection of products from the Campus Idol range, which included the Face Brush, Pump It Up Mascara, Urban Sheen Lipgloss and Double Match Lipstick and Lipliner. I adore the brushes as they are super soft, yet collect product really well, making fabulous application and the double ended lipsticks are so soft and creamy, giving the high-shine of a lipgloss but with the texture and non-sticky feel of a lipstick. You can head over to KIKO online here.
For our event at the end of Summer 2015, Studio 10 had sent some of their Brow Lift Perfecting Eyeliner for the goody bags, but unfortunately due to postage problems, we didn’t receive them until after the event and so I managed to keep them safe to use for this event’s goody bags. It has the universal taupe shade on one end of the pencil and a highlighter-type pencil on the end which is great for outlining your brows to perfection. You can check out Studio 10 here.
LAB2 are another brand who oh-so-kindly sent us products for the Summer 2015 event, and so I knew we would all be in for a treat with their brush sets. We received the I’m Turning Pro Brush Kit this time, which includes a set of four essential brushes such as a Foundation Brush, Buffing Brush, Contour Brush and Eyeshadow Brush. The quality of their brushes is amazing and it is great how they come with little guides on the back of the box to show you ways how to use each brush. You can find LAB2 here.
Creightons sent us their brand new range named The Curl Co, and unfortunately I don’t have curly hair – it is very, very straight but I am sure one of my friends will be so happy to try these out. Creightons products are priced at a bargainous £1 each though and after using products from some of their other collections, I can truly say how amazing they are for just £1, and with products for every hair type, there is something for everyone. You can find Creightons online here.
Crazy Angel is a self-tanning range which sent each blogger a tube of their Golden Tease Gradual Tan, which I find perfect for this time of year, as if you go all out with a tan when the weather is bad then you aren’t going to look very natural, but a gradual tan enables you to have a streak-free glow which gradually builds up. Crazy Angel tanning can be found here.
GOSH is a beauty brand which I work with on my blog, and I was over the moon when they sent us one of their amazing moisturising lipsticks each. We all received the same shade – Plum Matt which is fab to add a pop of colour to the lips before those summery shades arrive. GOSH can be found here.
Nailene sent their So Chic stick-on nails in a pretty natural nude colour, and one of the things I loved about these nails is that they come with glue and stick-on tabs, so if you aren’t wanting to use glue and only want them on for a good few days, you can simply use the tabs which aren’t as harsh on the nails, and then re-use them with the glue later! You can find Nailene here.
Good Things Skincare sent a variety of their scrumptious scented Body Washes, and I received the Manuka Honey one. I have heard of Good Things before but hadn’t had the chance to try them so it was great to be able to try out a new brand. I adore the scent of honey, and I found this Body Wash to leave my skin smelling sweet and feeling nourished and moisturised. You can find Good Things here.
Baylis & Harding is another brand who have now very kindly worked with us at Hull Bloggers for a second time and they sent each blogger one of their Body Care Kits. Inside you receive a Soap, a Steam Cream Wash and Silky Body Lotion, all in the scent of Patchouli and Pink Peppermint, which is super fresh and luxuriously scented. You can find the amazingly priced Baylis & Harding collections here.
Elegant Touch is my go-to false nail brand and they amazingly sent us two packs of their gorgeous nails! I received the Constellation nails and the Polished Jackie nails. The Constellation nails have rounded tips and are in the shade of rose gold, which I adore! Whereas the Polished Jackie nails are again rounded, but in a very pretty, girly baby pink colour. I am loving baby pink and rose gold at the moment so I cannot wait to try these – I may even use the rose gold ones on my ring fingers and the baby pink ones on my other fingers! You can find Elegant Touch here.
Lifestyle
Stick to Stigu are a bloggers staple when it comes to stationery and they sent each of us one of their fabulous planners. They are so much more than a regular diary or planner, as they also include a notebook, to-do pad and desk calendar, as well as lots of fun hints and tips every single month. I think these would be great for anyone who keeps a diary, but especially for students and bloggers who often have timetables and blog posts or reports that require deadlines. You can find Stigu here.
Santoro London is another brand I work with on my blog as I am in love with their Gorjuss range and have just discovered their Kori Kumi collection which I adore – the pictures and colours are perfect! They kindly sent a mixture of products and I had the beautiful Address Box, which the box alone is so beautiful! The address box contains A-Z dividers as well as 150 address sheets and I just know it is going to be perfect for keeping information on all of my blog contacts, which will be much easier to access for future blog posts and events. You can find Santoro London online here.
I work with Sass & Belle on my blog as I am in love with their sweet homeware and accessories, and they provided each blogger with their very own dog-shaped nail file – these cute, yet handy nail files are just £1 and they make the perfect little gift or to pop into your handbag. You can check out Sass & Belle here.
I would just like to say a HUGE thank you to all of the Hull Bloggers girls and every single blogger who attended the event, as well of course as each and every brand who very generously provided products for the event.
Love,
Kathryn xxx
This post contains PR samples but all views are my own