The City Girls Blogger Event | Lifestyle

This Saturday, I went on a day trip to Leeds to meet up with lovely bloggers and enjoy some cocktails (or in my case, mocktails) at The Liquorist. I've only ever been to Leeds once before. It was a city I fell in love with automatically so when I was invited along to The City Girls blogger event, I giddily jumped at the opportunity. It exceeded my ridiculously high standards by a landslide. Lorna and Holly did a truly wonderful job and now I'm just as excited to share the details of this event with you guys.

As I earlier mentioned, I'd only visited Leeds once before. So, it's safe to say that I was beyond nervous to  navigate my way around this strange city in attempts to find an unfamiliar bar. Luckily, the folk at The Liquorist dropped me a tweet with some fool proof directions. After a quick shop in Leeds Trinity, I just couldn't resist treating myself to some goodies at House of CB and Victorias Secret, I arrived at The Liquorist to meet the other lovely bloggers.

Lorna and Holly gave us some time to grab a drink and settle in to the bar, whilst they added the finishing touches to the event upstairs. Once everything was picture-perfect, we made our way upstairs, admiring the décor and lighting along the way. Things kicked off with a welcoming speech from the girls behind the event. The City Girls ethos includes promoting awareness for women-centered charities. For the Leeds event, Suzie from Leeds Women's Aid joined us. Suzie gave an emotional speech about what they do at Leeds Women's Aid to help women and children in need. Women and children who may have been subjected to domestic abuse, trafficking, crime, or other forms of inflicting danger. Her passion for the charity, which is close to her heart, emerged through her emotional retelling of the stories of domestic abuse victims, including herself. Suzie's heartstring tugging opening was a thought-provoking reminder of the impact of abuse, the need to talk about it and the necessity of feminism.

With introductions done and dusted and speeches filling us with a can-do, girl power attitude it was time for us to explore what the City Girls event had to offer. Armed with cameras and cocktails, we were all bloggers on a mission. There was an array of brands at the event to chat with about their wonderful services or products. There was such a variety that there was bound to be something to meet everyone's unique taste.

I started off with a venture to the Benefit stand, where the lovely Mel was showing off their new colour They're Real range. When it comes to coloured eyeliner and mascara, I usually cringe at memories of the 90s and vivid blue eyelashes. But my opinion was swiftly swayed after seeing Mel work her magic. She lined my lashes with a girly flick of forest green They're Real liner and paired it up with an earthy brown mascara. The look was natural and perfectly complimented my hazel eyes and floral shirt! Some girls opted for blue mascara, which looked incredible. It was subtle, yet made their eyes pop and was super vibrant when it caught the light. I'm definitely tempted to introduce some colour into my eye make-up now.

Fluttering my newly lined lashes, I was ready to explore the other brands. I was immediately drawn in by the minimalistic Twig and Dot candles. There was an option of two scents: Carousel or Bahama Bay. Carousel lived up to it's name with notes of marshmallow and vanilla which filled me with nostalgic thoughts of summer days at the fun fair. Bahama Bay, however, was the candle that won my heart. It had a lingering coconut scent with hints of lime. In my eyes, it's the perfect summer candle.

To the right of these delightful candles, were lines of Virtue Ice Tea. I played it safe and went for an original Lemon Ice Tea. I'm not a fan of fizzy drinks, so an ice tea is always a lovely alternative when I'm in need of an ice-cold refreshment.

On the other side of the candles was a tray filled with Angelica nail varnishes. This varnish is a gorgeous pillarbox red, with the most adorable #TheCityGirls sticker on the bottom- hooray for The City Girls!

Opposite these, were the ever so popular Can't Sleep Colouring books by Michael O'mara books. Everyone is going wild for adult colouring books right now due to their calming effects. I had a flick through the book and was greeted by the sweetest, most intricate patterns from mandalas to owls. This gives me a perfect excuse to buy some more stationary and coloured pencils and pens (not like I ever need an excuse!). I can't wait to get lost between the lines as I messily colour outside of the lines of this colouring book.

After this, I wandered along to watch as some of the girls had their nails painted by the superb Ivy at Nails by Ivy. Her designs were so meticulous and let's not forget, beautiful. I adore the summer fruit designs she has.

Opposite Ivy Louise, Chloe was representing Kendelle, with a beautiful rail full of clothing. Kendelle is a Yorkshire based independent fashion brand, with lots of dreamy, bold designs. I adore the white wrap up top that was on display. It's 100% on my to buy list...despite the fact I keep telling myself I'll stop buying clothes and learn to be minimal.

Next to Chloe, was Ben from Manuka Doctor. This range was something that really interested me. I'm a sucker for natural ingredient cosmetics so was excited to find out more. Ben kindly had a full size lip enhancer product to share with each of us. Inside our The City Girls goody bag were also a couple of extra Manuka Doctor samples. I can't wait to give these a try (watch this space for a review post coming up!).

After chatting to Chloe and Ben, I spotted a table full of Voss Water. Now, if you think all water tastes the same. Let me just tell me how very wrong you are. Voss Water is Artesian Norwegian water...sounds fancy, right? Well, it tastes pretty fancy too. In my goody bag, I also found the most adorable Voss Water usb stick. Honestly, it melted my heart and I didn't even realise usb sticks or water could do that. This is perfect for storing additional photos on and popping in my bag for on the go blogging.

The skincare brand Derma V10 also provided us with amazing boxes packed with full-size products. This included a coconut body butter, which put an instant smile on my face because 1. I love coconut and 2. I had just ran out of body butter. It also included a hand and nail cream- perfect for pampering my hands after a gruelling session in the gym. There was a couple of extra products in there that I can't wait to give a try and again, I can see a little post coming up about these nourishing products.

Upon noticing that The Body Shop girls were free, I took my opportunity to have a chat with them about their current and upcoming ranges. They introduced me to their new Italian Summer Fig scent. It smelt divine, again another product that resembled summer. This fragrance can be layered with the other complimentary products in the range. It's a must have for summer, that stands out against the crowd of fruity scents. They also had their Drops of Youth range on show. If you haven't already tested out the Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask, you are seriously missing out. It is a unique 'elastic' memory foam texture, perfect for overnight hydration and replenishment. In this range, the girls also introduced me to their Wonderblur Primer, which left Michelle and I in awe at the amazing results it provides.

After lots of fun and laughter, it was time for the raffle. We managed to raise an amazing £240 for Leeds Women's Aid, which was matched by Aviva, meaning we raised a grand total of £480! So, a huge congratulations to all the girls for playing their part! The raffle was filled with tons of awesome prizes that had us all in whispers of excitement and fits of giggles as Jess was on a winning streak. Though, she did her fair share of donating, which was truly admirable.

After a day bursting with fun and laughter, I had to sneak out early to catch my train back home. I said my goodbyes to Lorna and Holly and headed to the station whilst balancing an abudance of goodies. The #TheCityGirls goody bags were chock-block full of amazing products, so much so that they deserve a post of their own. So, instead of just reeling off a list of brands and products, I want to do justice to this event and share in-depth the details of the exquisite goodies. Holly and Lorna put so much hard work into this event and it certainly shows. Did I mention that we trended  on twitter? 2nd trending hashtag, yay go #TheCityGirls! If you ever get the chance to pop along to one of the events, then jump at the chance. Do it! I had such a great day, so thanks girls!