Glamour Beauty Festival Review
The Glamour Beauty Festival was a three day weekend event (8th-10th March) organised by Glamour magazine, which takes place annually, with this being their third year running. This year’s sponsors were Boots and therefore the goodie bag included a lot of products/ brands sold in Boots - more on that later! I had originally booked the Sunday session however, I then found out Nikki Wolff (@nikki_makeup) would be at the event on the Friday, so obviously had to be in attendance. Plus it meant x2 goodie bags… HOLLA!
I attended the Friday session primarily to see Nikki who, for those of you who aren’t aware, is an extremely talented makeup artist with over 700k followers on Instagram. I had been searching for a masterclass led by Nikki for some time without success, until I found out she would be leading a talk and live demo at the GBF. To find out more information about this talk and demo, please refer back to my other blog “Nikki Wolff x Glamour Beauty Festival” linked here for your convenience.
Verdict: Hit
After Nikki’s talk, my friend I decided to grab a cocktail and enjoy a more relaxed evening before heading off for dinner. We enjoyed a (double) Sipsmith Gin with Fever-Tree Aromatic Tonic. To be honest, I’m not really much of a gin fan (shock, horror!) but this was delicious and very refreshing! The GBF bar also had other drinks on offer such as champagne but again, I’m not really much of a champagne fan (again shock, horror!) If only they had whiskey on offer…
Verdict: (Surprising) Hit
On Sunday 10th, I returned for the full GBF experience and made plans to fully immerse myself in all the activities on offer…that is, until I came across the ridiculous queues. To be fair, queues are to be expected but some queues were longer than others and some were moving faster, whilst others at snail pace. My advice would be to wear comfortable shoes as you will be standing on your feet, and doing a lot of waiting!
First up, my friend and I headed to the ‘Skincare Zone’ where they had Elizabeth Arden, Caudalie, Pixi, Fresh and Antipodes. We chose to go to Elizabeth Arden as I’m a long time fan and as they were offering complimentary Oxygen Blasts, which I’ve had before and are amazing. My friend was a non-believer but since she was feeling hungover from a night before, I suggested the Oxygen Blast to rejuvenate her skin and life. By the end of it, her skin was looking super glowy, hydrated and she looked more human, less zombie!
By purchasing two items (at a slightly discounted price), Elizabeth Arden gifted a big shopping bag and an umbrella. In my opinion, the bag was quite ugly with a tacky floral design, and didn’t seem to correlate with the brand’s image. The umbrella on the other hand was elegant and Audrey Hepburn-esque and in this country, you always need an umbrella!
Verdict: Hit
After this, we entered the ‘makeup zone’ offering eye services by Huda Beauty and Foundation from Real Techniques. We chose to go to Huda Beauty as it’s a popular brand and whereas I chose not to have my makeup done, my friend wanted to experience it. I chose not to because although I respect Huda as an overall beauty brand, it is not in line with my tastes. The makeup artist sat my friend down and asked her to choose a colour from their new Matte & Metal Melted Shadows collection. The choice was either pinks, corals, or a bright mint green - none I would classify as “natural” or day-wear.
My friend chose the (what looked like) pale peach/ nude tone but when the artist applied it, it translated as more of a bright pink. She first applied the matte pink all over the eyelid and quite high above the crease, and then went in with the rose gold metallic tone all over the eyelid. Though she blended with a brush, it wasn’t done seamlessly and she didn’t use another product to aid the blending transition therefore it ended up looking messy. Furthermore just before she had applied shadow, the artist had removed my friend’s eyeliner with an oil remover and because my friend had her eyes closed, the liner residue had smudged all underneath her lower lash line to the point where it looked like she had been crying.
The artist was perfectly happy to send her away like that, therefore my friend had to ask for cotton buds to wipe under her eyes. Overall the service was quick but rushed, the colours won’t suit everyone (my friend’s eyes looked swollen) and was poorly applied. They should have offered an additional quick touch up of liner and/or mascara to complete the look. If you want to have your eye makeup done in future GBF events, make sure you bring back up makeup as my friend had to have hers removed at a different beauty counter before heading home, as she didn’t want to look like a clown whilst travelling through central London. My friend hit the nail on the head when she said “you can tell who’s been HUDA-ed” from the wacky eye makeup and traumatised looks on their faces.
Verdict: Miss
After this, we hit the “hair zone” as we saw some amazing hair dos and particularly plaits on people but understandably, the queues were so long we didn’t want to wait. Next time, I think I would definitely visit the hair zone first in order to beat the queues. There was a Braid Bar by Maui Moisture, colour (glitter sprays) by Schwarzkopf and volume & prep by Batiste.
Verdict: (From what I had witnessed) Hit
We wanted our nails done in the “nail zone”, especially because we both needed a top up in our lives, but (a) the queues were long and (b) though it would have been worth waiting for, we saw there was no drying equipment which meant the majority of the women walked away blowing on their nails. I didn’t fancy getting wet colourful splodges on my cream coat therefore gave it a miss. Instead of having two queues for nails, they should have had one section for painting/quick application and another section for drying cubicles. Nails were done by Ruuby and Nails Inc.
Verdict: Miss - only because there was no drying facility.
There was another zone, where they were offering hand & arm massages, including scented glitter tattoos, by Molton Brown. Though the queue was very long and even slower, I really like Molton Brown as a brand and wanted to find out more about their new launch and fragrance Suede Orris. Nearer to the front of the queue, we were met by a friendly representative of MB who conducted a short questionnaire, to match our personalities to one of two of their fragrances. Both my friend and I matched to the Suede Orris and it was a lovely scent, characterised by notes of Tuscan Orris, Rose and Jasmine.
Though I didn’t want the glitter tattoo, I was very happy to receive a hand and arm massage. The girl who did the massage was very friendly and you could tell she was passionate about her job. She began by misting my hair with their Suede Orris hair mist, then massaged my hands and arms with the SO body lotion, before spritzing me with the eau de toilette. Though I had the taste in my mouth for hours afterwards, I smelt lovely and felt like a human sized Suede Orris fragrance bottle all day.
Verdict: Hit
Goodie Bag
I have to say, one of the best features of the GBF is their goodie bags. This year’s goodie bag was just as full of full sized products but I feel like it has diminished considerably since year 1 and 2. I often go to events and receive lots of goodie bags, therefore feel like I’m somewhat of a goodie bag connoisseur and it’s not as easy to impress me, but I genuinely liked the majority of what this year’s goodie bag had to offer.
Products included (£160):
Maui Moisture: Shea Butter Hair Mask - who doesn’t need a nourishing hair mask, especially whilst living in the chaos and pollution of London?
Batiste: Dry Shampoo & Volume - always handy to have dry shampoo around.
Fresh: Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream - though I’ve tried their lip scrub, I haven’t tried their face cream and this is the perfect size for travels.
Elizabeth Arden: Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF 15 - love an Elizabeth Arden balm!
Real Techniques: beauty sponge - always love a fresh new sponge. I will wash my sponge a few times and then buy new ones as I feel it’s more hygienic that way!
Gold Collagen: drink - slightly nervous but will try at some point, but I’m very curious about the taste.
Caudalie: Vinopure Clear Skin Purifying Toner - again perfect for travels. I love keeping travel-sized goods for holidays.
Schwarzkopf: Live colour spray - not for me but great for festivals or if you have children.
Elie Saab: Girl of Now Forever flowery necklace - fantastic if you want to look like you belong with the Brady Bunch or if you have a 5 year old daughter/ niece/ cousin/ sister.
Nails Inc: Nail polish - colours perfect for spring.
Isle of Paradise: Self-Tanning Water - This is a tanning spray which I’m really curious to use. I don’t normally do any self-tan as I have Asian blood and can tan just by sitting on my couch on a sunny day, but I would really like to try this out for my next holiday.
Pixi: Retinol Toner - sounds good but generally in my experience, Pixi products aren’t suitable for me. I think people with more normal - oily skin react better to Pixi products, whereas it does nothing for my dry skin type.
Molton Brown: Suede Orris Bath & Shower Gel - again, perfect for my travels.
No7: Airbrush Away Pore Minimising Primer - not really a fan of No7 products but I might give this a try.
Ole Henriksen: Truth Serum - Since it’s the perfect size for travels, I will try and review again when I’m on my next holibobs.
Huda Beauty: Corals Obsession eyeshadow palette - the colours are not my style, but I will probably give to a makeup artist friend who could use it on set or for a fashion shoot.
Burt Bees: 100% Natural Glossy Lipstick - I like the concept but the colour given wasn’t suitable or flattering for most people. Thank you, next!
Gold Collagen: Anti Ageing Lip Volumiser - I’ve tried it twice and haven’t noticed any difference but will keep at it.
Final Thoughts
Overall I would recommend the GBF (it’s my second, technically third time) to anyone and it’s suitable for all ages, if you wanted to bring your daughter or your mothers. It caters to your every beauty whim in terms of skincare, makeup, hair, nails etc and most of what is on offer, gives a good taster of what the brand is like. Plus when you shop with them, the majority of brands offer you a small discount. I would advise arriving earlier and going to the more popular spots first and then everywhere else. Definitely wear comfortable shoes as there is hardly any seating at the venue and enjoy a cocktail (or two). You’ll have to also do a lot of ducking to avoid girl’s taking selfies in every direction; you will most certainly photobomb someone! It is definitely also worth attending a talk if you’re interested in one of the topics, especially as it’s included in your ticket price. At the very least, go to be pampered, enjoy some quality time with your girlfriend and enjoy the wonderful goodie bag.
Until next time xo
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All pictures on this post are my own.
