On Saturday 12th July, the day that so many Yorkshire bloggers had been waiting for had finally arrived - the first ever Blog Yorkshire event to be held in Leeds! I had been eagerly anticipating the event for several weeks, as it was promised to be something special. The brainchild of Faith from Music and Eyeliner and Carrieanne from Beauties Unlocked, Blog Yorkshire aims to bring bloggers and brands together by organising events and sharing knowledge - basically bridging that gap between blogger and brand. It's something that's not been attempted before in this neck of the woods, so I was very excited for the opportunity to be involved somehow. So, that afternoon I skipped my way into town (Well, slowly made my way via bus...) and took myself off to the Revolution Bar on Call Lane, ready to meet some new faces, catch up with old ones and see what was in store for us.






Well, straight away upon arrival there was a selection of little goody bags kindly provided by House of Fraser, with two or three little surprises inside. Before I'd even managed to comprehend what was inside the bags, I was handed my very own lanyard, complete with a picture of yours truly, my name and blog name, which I thought was a stroke of genius. Fellow bloggers will understand the trepidation faced when attending blogger events, with putting [bxA]names to faces - only to find when you get home, that you've either forgotten the name of who you spoke to or you'd completely missed someone that you really wanted to see! This simple idea almost completely eliminated the problem, and helped to break the ice in a sea of unfamiliar faces. There was food treats galore for everyone, including the most delectable macaroons (These always go down well with bloggers, don'tcha know?) and plenty of stands to pique my interest. Faith and Carrieanne had managed to get some great brands on board, including Allertons - you may remember that I had my amazing haircut with those guys! - ESPA, Pastille Beauty Salon, Quiz Clothing and Country Attire. Georgina Grogan from She Might Be Loved was also there offering makeovers as well, so as you can imagine there was plenty to keep us all occupied for the next few hours.







As the event got underway, I made a point of visiting all of the stands that were there to see what there was to offer. Allertons were offering hair styling and some money-off vouchers, and whilst they were not there for long they certainly managed to work their magic on some bloggers! Above you can see Yuna from Stray Arrows having her gorgeously long, dark hair curled - doesn't it look lovely? Pastille were offering free manicures to anyone who could grab a spot - I have to say that I was sorely disappointed to have missed out, as the queue was already four people deep by the time I made it over there! They were using polishes from OPI and Essie, and they had some shades and finishes to choose from. I'll certainly be tempted to give their services a try in the future! I also spent some time with the ladies from ESPA, who gave me a generous goody bag filled with skincare items that were suitable for my skin type, as well as an amazing smelling body polish that was demonstrated on my arm - it smelt exactly like spearmint Polos and did wonders for my skin! I was very pleased to be taking home a big tube of the product to try out more.







To keep us bloggers happy, throughout the afternoon there were some games and competitions, with some brilliant prizes to be given out to the lucky winners. I took part in the cotton ball challenge along with Sally from WheelingAlong24 and Hayley from Tea Party Beauty, which was silly but very fun! It involved being blindfolded, and using a spoon to scoop cotton wool balls out of a bowl and putting them into another bowl on top of our heads - not as easy as it might sound! Surprisingly, given my clumsiness I actually won - can you believe that? My prize was a wristband for free drinks from Revolution, and an item of jewellery of my choice from The CityRack. There was also a styling competition by Quiz Clothing to win a £50 voucher, which was deservedly won by Rebecca from QueenBeady - the outfit she put together looked awesome! Finally, there was a game of "Wellie Croquet" to be played with Country Attire and I've never seen bloggers line up so fast to take a shot! I was one of a handful of bloggers that managed to hit the ball into the designated welly (This was a very technical game), so got entered into a prize draw to win a pair of Hunter boots. Imagine my surprise a few days later when I got an email telling me that I'd won! Me, who never wins anything, had managed to bag two prizes from one event - I'm a very lucky girl. I have my Hunter boots now, so keep your eyes peeled for a blog post about them in the not-so-distant future.




Finally, to bring the event to a close Faith and Carrieanne had a whole host of amazing goodies to give away with a raffle draw, with all proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation. The selection of prizes was absolutely staggering - Zatchels bags, Nanshy make up brushes, Murad skincare sets, Neal & Wolf hair products... you name it, it was probably there! I ended up winning a shower and bath set from Boozi Bodycare, which I've been enjoying using over the last couple of months. After the raffle was over and people claimed their prizes, we were all sent on our way laden down with even more goody bags - it was entertaining getting them all home, let me tell you! We were well and truly spoilt and there has been some excellent products that I have discovered since the event, which I wouldn't have done otherwise.

Big thanks must go to Faith and Carrieanne for organising such a brilliant event that really helped to bring everyone together. It was exciting to meet some new people, and it's always good to have a chance to catch up with some familiar faces and meet some wonderful brands at the same time - all of which I had never come across before. I'm looking forward to the next one already!