STYLIST LIVE 2018: A FESTIVAL OF INSPIRATION

MY STYLIST LIVE 2018

Well Hello!

I feel like I haven’t blogged or posted on my socials in ages man; I think I’ve officially hit the “not doing anything” part of winter. Each night when I get in I literally just want to wrap up warm with good food and a hot chocolate.

Aside feeling like a hot mess this season, I’ve still kept my social game strong and I’ve been out and about for the last few weeks. I also can’t believe my diary is booked up until Christmas- who do I think I am please?

Anyway, you may have seen that I visited Stylist Live with some of my best gals the other week so I wanted to come on here and talk all about how I found it and to show you what I got up to on the day.

Those of you who haven’t visited a Stylist Live event previously, you’re probably wondering:

what is stylist live?

Have you ever heard of Stylist magazine? Great! So, the Stylist Live event brings you a festival of inspiration derived from the various topics and themes covered in the actual magazine…so it’s basically your one stop shop for fashion, beauty, food and lifestyle.

I was glad to have gotten in early with a Thrive Studio ticket for £20; which included a free pink gin & tonic (by one of the wonderful sponsors of the event; Gordons) and entry to one thrive studio session (which I didn’t actually end up going to). I mean, to be fair, it wouldn’t have made much difference if I’d have bought a general entry ticket to be honest, which I think was £15 at the time I was purchasing them (early bird).

When the girls and I arrived we just couldn’t believe how beautiful it looked. I mean, obvs it was gonna look good but you know when you see something come together and you’re then like…WOW!

The entrance to the Stylist Live 2018 event featured a gallery wall of their magazine covers. The July 2018 edition featuring Nadiya Hussain was my ultimate fave!

Pure glitz at the entrance to Stylist Live. Photo opportunities everywhere!

And just in case that wasn’t extravagant enough, Gordons had a variety of chill zones where the decor was so on point that we just couldn’t help but get a few pics.

What brands did I visit at Stylist Live?

The thing I was most looking forward to aside seeing the girl gang was visiting all of the dope brands that were exhibiting on the day. I’m pretty much an event geek and love to plan an itinerary of the whole day to make sure I’m seeing and doing all the things I really want to before going with the flow; so prior to me arriving at the event I already had a list of the crucial brands I needed to see and meet with on the day.

And now that the event has come and gone I thought I’d highlight the brands that really stood out to me on the day, because each of them really capture the essence of the things I love and I just know that you’ll be into them too. You can find out all about them on my next post.

But to give you a sneak peak of the brands I did visit below, keep scrolling hun!

Ness and I visiting Donna Bella

Me & my new Pal Henry at the OhK Life stand

Meminio make beautiful cases and folders that can be personalised.

Quick stop at Jacobs Jerk for lunch

Kiipix were demonstrating their instant photo printers

Old English Prints Notebook

Nip and Fab

Floral Streets stand was incredible.

More Floral Street Decor

I was so excited to visit Locomocean! who make amazing neon lights and other creative lifestyle products!

Erborian Skincare

And of course I had to visit my babes at Antwerp Avenue

This bad boy phone case is from the Money Moves collection

And they had the absolute best merch.

Me enjoying the "Got my own back" phone case

But the GRL PWR case is my absolute fave and is now keeping my iPhone 7 cute and protected!

Birchbox were on site with their interactive slots game

And guess who won a box! Yep, that's right...ya girl!

Here's a look at the box I won from Birchbox

Bad Brownie (legit the best brownies I've ever tasted)

I bought 3 brownies but ended up choosing the Ferrero Rocher for myself...YUM!

Gordons were on site with their amazing Gin cocktails

The sexy little area where some of the talks & workshops took place.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN VISITING STYLIST LIVE

All in all, I had such a wonderful day out with my ladies. It’s always good vibes when we get together. But if you’re considering attending next years event, I’d defo recommend keeping the following things in mind.

1. Wear comfy shoes

   As much as I know we like to look cute and think that we can get away with wear block heels all day, it really doesn’t apply when you’re spending the entire day walking around. Make sure you either wear comfy shoes on the day, or do it like me and bring some sliders in your backpag! WINNING!

2. Plan your journey in advance

   Because the trains to Olympia can be packed on event days and parking can be booked in advance for cheaper.

3. Plan the brands you want to visit in advance

   I literally visited the list of pop ups on the Stylist Live event site and made sure I noted down all the brands I wanted to visit before eventually going with the flow in the rest of the afternoon.
   
   It is so easy to get sidetracked at events like this because there is just so much to see and do so having an idea of the brands you want to visit and things you want to do on the day will make things come together better.

4. And plan food stops too!

   The Gourmet-on-the-go area is perfect if you’re looking for something light to refuel you throughout the day, but if you know you’re going to be seriously hungry by the end of the day (which you will), I’d suggest booking a table at a local restaurant in advance.
   
   There’s actually a Pizza Express attached to Olympia London so I ended up booking a table there in advance. Beware though, there can often be a longer than average wait due to demand and sometimes it can take up to an hour for a table to be ready so I really do recommend booking in advance.

5. If you’re a blogger and you’re looking for some potential collab opportunities…

   Make sure you bring some business cards to introduce yourself and a notepad to take down any key comments or contacts. It’s also a great way to meet new people and network with the brands you love so make sure you’re making the best first impressions and just be yourself!

   
   After I researched all the brands I wanted to visit on the day, I actually wrote a post about one of my new faves (Antwerp Avenue) that I was really excited to see at the event and that lead to me having an intro with their lovely founder, Jess, before the event. This is such a fab way to make meaningful connections with people and particularly when you’re so interested in what they do and you want to demonstrate that.

6. If you want exclusive treatment and access to the catwalk book vip

   So my ladies and I all agreed that we will go VIP for next years event. Not only did those with a VIP ticket get access to flowing nibbles and drinks throughout the day, they also had access to beauty treatments, hair styling opportunities and a more personal experience. Not to mention a fantastic goody bag at the end of the day.
   
   Prices for VIP tickets are a bit pricier (I can’t remember how much exactly but I think you could get them for like £95). To be honest though, I feel like it’s well worth the price if you’re looking for more of a pamper day and really want to get stuck into the whole event rather than shopping around the brands.

Thank you to the beaut who took my pictures at the Stylist event. I tried to add you on Instagram but I couldn’t find it- I was very sad.

Lily, me, Naila, Anna & Ness doing our best selfie post. OH YEAH!

Would I visit Stylist Live again?

Absolutely! and next year you’ll catch me living it up in VIP and hopefully meeting some fabulous people from new brands and also all the lovely babes out there who likes making new connections like I do.

See you in 2019 Stylist Live!

Sx