Clothes Show 2013

I visited the Clothes Show, in Birmingham, on Monday and I must say, I brought a fair few goodies. 

Last year I won tickets to the Clothes Show courtesy of More! magazine, which sadly no longer exists. I took my friend with me and we have an absolute blast purchasing large amounts of discounted items, whilst tiring ourselves silly. Unfortunately we missed the fashion show in the main hall as we had a concert in Coventry to go see!

So this year I was excited to experience a whole day at the event, and do some serious damage to my bank account. However I only spent a mere sixty pound on a large amount of beauty products, and one clothing item. Considering the event is called the "clothes show", there is little to say about the clothes there, it's mainly about the beauty side. 

   
My first purchase was the ciate advent calender, which has been previously retailed at £42.00. However I purchased it for £10.00, I couldn't leave without it. It includes twenty-four mini nail varnishes which range from caviar pearls cupids arrow to tweed and tails. There are so many colours I could not resist. 

I went to the trusty models own stand where I knew I would definitely be purchasing something! Their goody bag was £10.00 but was worth £65.00, and included three nail varnishes of your choice, the clothes show limited edition nail varnish, nail buffer, four pencil eye liners (I got one silver, two black and one brown), eye shadow, lip balm, a small mirror and eye-shadow brushes. 

  
The nail varnishes are (from left to right) Show Stopper 2, Sun Kissed, Pink Fizz and Absinthe. 

I also picked up a £2.00 goody bag from Cosmopolitan/Company magazine which was filled with little random items such as coffee and loo roll! You also received cosmopolitan and company magazine inside. 

I came across this cute make up company called jelly pong pong which was selling four products for just £5.00. The deal included Caribbean sun bronzer duo, 2-in-1 eye-liner & shadow, wide awake (a palette of skin-enhancing colour tools to brighten & illuminate complexions) and lip blush. 

My final beauty purchase was the Helen E cosmetics goody bag, which was also £10.00. It included a foundation to suit all skin types, a blusher, a blusher brush, lip gloss, eye shadow, lip liner and eye liner. Plus a little make up bag and a £10.00 off voucher for your next purchase. 

Then came the clothes...

The only thing I managed to buy was a tweed blazer, which I searched everywhere for. I managed to find this little beauty for a mere £18.00 from a vintage store called Mad Elizabeth. The blazer was nearly half the price of others I had seen at the show, and it fitted perfectly! 

 Then came the fashion show in the main hall. We had perfect seating at the centre of the stage, just a few rows back, giving us an ideal view of the stage and catwalk. 

The whole show was truly mesmerizing and amazing! The models were charismatic and full of energy, to say the least. There were a range of styles presented, including gowns and swimwear on both male and female models. The theme of the show was a weekend in the country, which included tartan, tweed and the occasional glitz.

The playlist for the show was well thought out, with well known tunes to get everybody moving and create that fun, party atmosphere. I honestly couldn't fault the show one bit, it may have even been the best bit! They even incorporated dance into the performance, including a little bit of zumba!

Reflection

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” 

                                                                             - Marilyn Monroe 

I remember seeing this quote everywhere when I was growing up as a teenager. The whole image of Marilyn Monroe was massively glamorised and her words were pressed upon adolescent girls, who began to idolise her. 

In all honesty I went along with the whole thing, and became quite interested in famous quotes by celebrities, many of whom had passed. This one was one of my favourites when I was younger, even though I didn't fully understand it for what it truly meant. 

The line "people change so that you can learn to let go" has recently hit home, pretty hard. I understood what it meant , but now I feel as if I breathe it. 

As the year begins to draw to an end, I begin to reflect upon the year as a whole, what I've learnt, what I've lost. And I've realised that I have actually seen the back of some close relationships, some that I never thought I would witness. But the quote, "people change so that you can learn to let go" fits in perfectly, it simply could not explain it better. 

Go back to this time last year, I thought my bestest friend was right there in front of me. Now I have no idea where we stand at all. The thing is, we have almost become two different people, it is as if we have nothing in common. At first I was heartbroken, truly destroyed by the hole that was left by this person who meant so much to me. But as time has progressed, I have learnt that perhaps this is the way things are supposed to pan out.

I am being told that I am at a crucial part of my life, truly deciding who I am and what I am going to be. I guess that things are going to change, which involves people changing and leaving rapidly, leaving you behind without a second thought. But the thing is, I am a caring individual who fears loneliness and the absence of others. I feel the need to involve myself to feel some sort of need and want, but things do not seem that way. 

At the end of the things, everything happens for a reason and people do change. Life will continue to run it's path without your word of permission, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You must let it run. 

I signed up to the Anthony Nolan register...

Anthony Nolan is a UK based charity that that works in the areas of leukaemia and Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The charity manage and recruit donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, one of the three bone marrow registers in the United Kingdom.

My friends mum is one of the wonderful people who volunteer for the charity; she visits various schools, colleges and sixth forms promoting knowledge of the diseases and how people can get involved. Recently she won the Anthony Nolan volunteer of the year award, which was a massive achievement! 

Earlier in the summer she visited my sixth form and gave a presentation about the charity and their work, which was truly inspiring and touching. I became interested in the idea of becoming a stem cell donar, as I was already a blood donar. 

Of course I had heard of the risks and pain that stem cell donation brought upon individuals, and it did scare me a little. But my worries were swept away as I was informed the procedure was hardly painful at all, just a very boring four to five hour procedure with a needle in your arm. (or the traditional way, which only 10% of donations are done, which is a painless operation under general anesthesia)

I doubted the whole thing for a second but then thought...it's the least I can do. 

These people, who are battling for their lives, will have endured much more pain than I will ever, hopefully, have to. Surely, this is easy in comparison. 

So back in November I visited another presentation and decided to actually sign up to the register. The founders of the charity, Shirley and Keith, were present at the presentation. 

The registration involves a few simple steps. Firstly you have to fill out a form, containing all your details and medical history. Then you spit into a tube, delightful I know! It sounds strange, but it's very effective in finding out an individuals tissue type. The tissue type is the thing they're looking at to find a match! 

Trust me, it is very hard spitting into a tube when you're being pressured into it! As soon as Shirley told me to spit into the tube, my mouth suddenly become as dry as the Sahara desert! It seemed impossible to fill even the tiniest volume. 

And then that was it. They informed me that I would be contacted in about six weeks, and that was it. I was off, feeling a little better about myself than I did when I entered the room. 

It sounds a very simple procedure, and also an amazing thing to do, but you need to be committed. You can't wimp out of the register at the last minute when someone needs your stem cells, it could be a matter of life or death. Also, you have to be aged 16 - 30 and in good health. 

Visit www.anthonynolan.org for more information :)


I will posting alot more posts very soon! 

xxx