Sex, Clothes & Rock n' Roll

At the weekend I visited the Royal Concert Hall, which was hosting a very special exhibition in celebration of Hard Rock Cafe announcing their plans for a Glasgow restaurant. Hard Rock Couture was a display of twenty iconic items of clothing from the Hard Rock archives and was open to the public for a limited period of time (from 16th-24th of August).   

Being a massive fan of both music and clothes, and as an enthusiastic visitor to Hard Rock Cafe's whenever I get the chance, I knew I had to  get along to the exhibition to see what legendary pieces were on show. The Boy and I went along early on the last day and managed to get a good look at everything before too many other people showed up.

The clothing worn by rock stars of past and present, along with other pieces of memorabilia such as journal pages and high school yearbooks, were spread out around the Island Bar area of the concert hall. Each display was housed in a special case designed to look like a flight case, giving the exhibition a real rock n' roll "on tour" feel.

The variety of clothing was very impressive, despite being a small collection, and I must admit I was geeking out a little being in the presence of some of the items worn by my heroes!

 With two cases of items worn by Elvis, The Boy was truly in his element. We also couldn't believe our luck when we came across jumpsuits worn by members of KISS and Motley Crue in the 1970s and 1980s. There was also a case containing Sid Vicious' iconic leather jacket and Madonna's gold Jean Paul Gaultier bodysuit, complete with conical bra. It was like getting up close and personal with some of our favourite music videos and album covers.

There were also stage costumes worn by more contemporary artists like Lady Gaga and The Killers. These outfits were a little less exciting for me personally (although I did squeal a little when I seen a sequined Katy Perry frock, because La Perry is the awesome exception to the rule) but they contributed nicely to a varied selection of pieces and lots of other visitors were excited to see them.

Nothing prepared me for what came at the end, and when I seen a flash of red I could feel a huge grin spreading across my face. This is it. The plaque read. The real one. It was only Michael Jackson's jacket from the Beat It video! It's not every Saturday morning you get to see such a piece of music and fashion history (and pose next to it shamelessly). Getting to see this item so closely was exciting, and was a great way to end our visit to the exhibition.

Hard Rock Couture was an interesting and fun exhibit and I'm glad we got to go and see it before it finished. I'm really excited that Glasgow will soon be home to it's very own Hard Rock Cafe too, and can't wait to visit it in November when it opens.


Did you visit Hard Rock Couture? What was your favourite item? Will you be visiting Hard Rock Cafe Glasgow when it opens?

Thanks for reading!

Vintage Twirls

Last weekend I went along to Vintage Glasgow 2013, a festival in its own right and being held this year in Glasgow for two days as part of the bigger Merchant City Festival event. My friend and I went on the Saturday and enjoyed lots of what the festival had to offer. A large chunk of our day was spent indoors at The Old Fruitmarket, putting our best feet forward at Let It Rock (and by the way, whoever decided to hold a club during the day totally deserves a high-five) and learning a few new steps. Let It Rock was excellent and had a great, friendly atmosphere. It was wonderful to see so many people joining in the dance lessons and the live band, The Coy Dogs, kept us jiving with their excellent covers of songs by classic artists like Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran.

 Many of the other events were also being held indoors and after Let It Rock finished we took a little wander elsewhere in the City Halls. We took a peek into the Tiki Bar, found a couple of workshops and screenings being held upstairs and even spied Vintage festival founder Wayne Hemmingway sitting on a sofa chatting!

Back outside, the streets were filled with people and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the festival. Lots of people were dressed in outfits inspired by their favourite decades and as it was such a nice day there was no risk of perfectly coiffed hair getting wet! I was hoping to get myself a vintage pin-up girl hairdo at the Vintage Salon, but I was not the only one with that idea - the appointments were all fully booked by the time I arrived! Never mind. I still enjoyed seeing the end results on the other girls, their hair looked gorgeous! 

We took a trip into the Vintage Marketplace and enjoyed having a rummage at the vintage clothes and homewares (including a brilliant/ terrifying bust of Elvis' head and shoulders...that kind of looked a little like Roseanne Barr as well...). There were some local indie designers at the marketplace too and I spotted stalls from We Are The Robots, Tatty Bon and Gillian Kyle amongst others. I bought The Boy a couple of presents from Beardcraft's stall - a shop I haven't come across before but I was glad that I did! Brilliant products and branding and The Boy loved his loot.

Never one to shy away from a photobooth I also took full advantage of the Dr Martens free photobooth van, I promise that getting in the back of a van and having our photo taken was NOT as seedy as it sounds! The photobooth was a very nifty touchscreen device and automatically printed a full colour glossy print - I could have happily played in it for much longer! There were also plenty of food and craft stalls on the surrounding streets (did someone say CANNOLI?!) to explore - after all, dancing sure builds up an appetite!

Ever since filming my Blogcademy Scholarship entry video I feel like I've caught the iPhone video bug! If you never made it along to Vintage Glasgow 2013 (or even if you did), here is a wee video I made of my time at the festival - I'm sorry it's so narrow, I forgot to turn my phone around and film it widescreen (rookie error)...

 

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I hope you've enjoyed my little summary of Vintage Glasgow 2013. I had a ball and really hope it comes back to see us again next year!

Did you go to Vintage? What was your favourite part? Did you spot the Elvis/ Roseanne bust?!

Thanks for reading!

PS: the song on my little video is Gator's Groove by  Willis Jackson.

It's Vintage, Darling!

As the West End Festival draws to a close and we still have a couple of months (fingers and toes crossed) of Summer left, there are still lots of weird and wonderful events going on in the city centre to get involved in. This month, Merchant City Festival hosts Vintage Glasgow - a festival-within-a-festival if you will, celebrating fashion, food, art, music, dance, design and film from years past. The award winning festival is being brought to Glasgow to take over the Old Fruitmarket for two days and transform it into an epicentre of glamour and fun.

Vintage was founded by Wayne and Gerardine Hemmingway and was voted the UK's Best New Festival in 2010. With seven decades of British Style covered (from 1920s to 1980s), Vintage Glasgow will be the perfect hangout whether you're a rockabilly Pink Lady, a Charleston-dancing flapper girl or a beehived beauty. Or maybe you aren't sure what style to go for - that's fine because there will be makeovers galore over the weekend too! Cue the makeover montage (with soft lighting and a suitably dreamy retro soundtrack OF COURSE)!

As well as makovers, there are also going to be film screenings, club nights, a vintage-inspired shopping market, a tiki bar, dance classes (I already have my ticket booked for Let It Rock - maybe I'll see you there for a twirl?), catwalk shows, workshops, and all manner of hip and happening hangout spots, daddy-o!

You may be able to tell that I am just a little  excited for Vintage Glasgow, eh? I have a big love for vintage fashion and retro music, so this event is right up my street. The Merchant City festival is always brilliant fun (it was at the MCF last year that I discovered my love for roller-disco after all!) so having the Vintage Festival as part of the celebrations is, I hope, the start of a new tradition. Founder Wayne Hemmingway (MBE) describes the theme of the weekend as:
"Whether your thing is swing, rockabilly, soul, funk, disco, fashion, film, art or design, or if you just want to dress up and get an authentic make-over for a day, Vintage Glasgow will be a sensual delight, a big dressing-up box, a collector’s dream and joyous creative feast"

Sounds divine, darling! I'll be there with bells on (and red lipstick of course!).

Vintage Glasgow is taking place on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th July. You can find much more information about what events are taking place as part of Vintage Glasgow (and the Merchant City Festival in full) at the Merchant City Festival website. There is also more information on Vintage Glasgow at the Vintage Festival website.

Will you be going to any of the Merchant City festivities? How about Vintage Glasgow? What is your favourite decade?

Thanks for reading!

Photo Source: Merchant City Festival website

Shops: Keep Calm and Go Shopping

On Thursday evening I went along to the Keep Calm and Go Shopping event in the City Centre, which was being held in Hummingbird. There was another one of these events a few months back but I didn't manage to get along as I was at a concert that night (Cancer Bats, if you're asking). So I made an extra effort to make it along this time around as some of my favourite local brands were there selling their goods and I always enjoy hanging out at Hummingbird (with it's squishy sofas, delicious drinks and excellent decor like vintage birdcages hanging from the ceiling) so it seemed like a no-brainer! I met up with my friend and we made a night of it.

We went a little later as Pizza Express was calling our names and when we arrived (a little later and fuller after 7pm) the place was buzzing with groups and pairs of girls sipping cocktails and looking at the different stalls. It was my first time upstairs in Hummingbird, and I must admit I fell in love with all the little rooms and general layout of it. If I'm ever throwing a party in the future I would consider it as a venue, there were rooms of different shapes and sizes, which at this event were being used by the designers and brands involved to showcase their products. I usually go to these kind of shopping fairs in larger, open-plan venues so wasn't sure if it would work in such a fragmented space, but I think it did (although I still prefer everything to be in the one place).

The first room was the 'Posh Room' which had Something Different and Ursula's Treasures set up in it. A strong start to the evening! I've mentioned Something Different in my previous outfit posts and I was looking forward to getting my hands on a couple of her glittery bows (just what I need, eh?). I had shown my friend Something Different's bows before online and she was excited to see what would be there as well. We were not disappointed - it was Bow Heaven (OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH)! After being truly spoilt for choice, I decided on two small glittery bows (£4 each) in rainbow glitter and a summery orange glitter (to go with my new orange dress that I blogged about recently). My friend bought a gorgeous larger bow (£6) in a petrol glitter which will look fab in her pastel-hued hair! Top marks for a Something Different's display area too - with loads of bows, hairbands and shoe clips to choose from. It was just a shame we couldn't buy them all!

We next had a look at Ursula Treasures - who I'd never seen before but I thought their designs were fantastic and very well-priced. I'm kicking myself for not getting one of their skull bracelets now, but hopefully I will see them at more craft/ shopping fairs over the Summer. Their cute flower earrings were only £1.50 and as well as jewellery, they also had flower hair accessories and sunglasses on sale. This brand is one to watch for sure.

In the next room we visited Tammy from DIY nails had her decals and false nails set up, and was busy creating some nail art on one of her customers. There were lots of decals for people to browse, and some of the false nail sets were marked down which was good! There was also the offer of some on-the-spot nail art, which I thought was a brilliant idea since some people like the look of nail art but aren't able to do it themselves. It started to get a little bit crowded so we headed upstairs to the top floor.

Upstairs was a larger space with a DJ set up and a bar area, with clothes stalls from Hardwear, Annie and the Mannequins and Once Upon a Time Vintage. This was the most busy area, even though it was the biggest one, and I could see lots of girls excitedly buying clothes from the racks set up. It was nice to see the Hardwear clothes in 'real life' because I'd seen and admired them online before. Once we'd looked at all the clothes a truly abysmal cover of a Destiny's Child song (whose name escapes me now) started to play. My friend and I looked at each other - time to go!

After visiting all the shopping areas we headed back to the ground floor's main bar area, found a squishy sofa to sink into and spend the rest of the evening chatting over cocktails and mocktails. I had 2 Lemon Bon Bon's and they were as yummy as they sound!

Did you go to Keep Calm and Go Shopping? Did you buy anything? Have you ever seen Bow Heaven?

Thanks for reading!

West End Festival: The Best of the West

Today kicks off the West End Festival 2013 (now in it's 18th year) and I thought it might be fun to make a little list of my picks out of the many things there are to see and do during festival time (which will run until Sunday the 30th of June). And believe me, there are lots of events on and projects to get involved in,  thanks to over 100 contributors and organisations. I think that the bigger events such as the parade on Sunday 9th of June are a given and have instead looked at smaller events that might not be as widely-known as the recurring large ones. I have listed the events in order of date, and so without further ado - my top 5 picks for WEF13 include:

Be-Bop-a-Lula #3 at the Grovesnor Cafe
Tonight! The third instalment of rockabilly club night will run at the Grovesnor Cafe from 8:00pm to 1:00am. With live music from the Shivering Sheiks vs The Meatmen, milkshakes, a twist contest and 50s makeovers, I am all over this bad boy. Rockabilly attire is encouraged but not required for this night of raucous rock n' roll.

Saturday Afternoon BBQ's at Bothy Restaurant terrace
Nothing says Summer like the smell of a tasty barbecue and Bothy Restaurant on Ruthven Lane has it sorted with their grills to eat in or take away every Saturday of the festival starting Saturday 1st June and lasts all day. Yum!

Lansdowne International Film Festival
From Sunday 2nd June running every Sunday evening until the end of the festival, The Lansdowne bar & kitchen will be screening different films from world cinema in their Glasshouse area. The Lansdowne is a lovely venue, full of friendly staff and with free popcorn and two pizzas for a tenner thrown into the mix it sounds like lights, camera, awesome to me.

Pingleton at Hillhead Bookclub
One of my favourite West End hangouts, Hillhead Bookclub will be upping their love of ping pong for the tournament to end all tournaments on Monday 24th June at 8pm. They'll bring the cocktails and ping pong tables, you bring your game face!

Night of the Living Dead at the Grovesnor Cafe 
The Grovesnor Cafe invite you do perfect your zombie walk and moan as they celebrate the release of World War Z. On Friday the 28th of June from 8:00pm to 1:00am they are promising a night of ghoultastic fun and encourage guests to dress up as zombies, with a £250 prize for the best dressed! I just hope the DJ plays the Monster Mash...

I hope to get along to as many events as I can - although I will be in London the day of the big parade. These are just a taster of what's on at this year's West End Festival and the full calendar can be found at the WEF13 website. 

Are you going to any events at the West End Festival? Which ones are you excited about? WIll I see YOU doing the Monster Mash dressed as a zombie?

Thanks for reading!

WestEndGirl Eats - Street Food Cartel

Earlier this month I went along to the Street Food Cartel at SWG3 after reading rave reviews about the last event. Street Food Cartel are a pop-up dining experience who also showcase some of the best local bars and restaurants who are "inspired by the bold flavours of the street". I've previously blogged about Smoak's barbecue delights, who were featured at March's SFC event and, from what I've heard, went down a treat.

Last week's event featured Scoop, who use fresh Scottish produce to create diverse and global-inspired dishes. It also played host to the Spanish/ Mexican culinary treats of Lupe Pintos - yes, the same Lupe Pintos that run the deli on Great Western Road. The last event was a total sell out so I made sure to reserve my ticket to this one so I could pop along and see what all the fuss was about.

On arrival at SWG3 (where the event was held), I was impressed. The venue had been transformed into a unique dining space complete with authentic food truck (indoors) and makeshift tables. I really liked the whole 'cartel' theme of the evening, with complimentary cocktails being served in bottles wrapped in brown paper bags and the fact that the event was being held in a converted warehouse in an empty street (if you didn't know what was going on in there, you'd walk right past it). The Boy and I were greeted by the very friendly and cheery bar staff and about ten minutes later we were shown to our table. 

Music was provided by the Scratch and Sniff DJ's who's funk and soul offerings got my stamp of approval. The only thing was, we were seated right next to the DJ booth, meaning we couldn't hear or speak to each other while we were eating. We ate our food silently and let each other know what we thought of each dish via hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions. Not ideal on a night out with your boyfriend!

The menu offered five dishes from each guest restaurant and a variety of beers, cocktails and wines. Intended for sharing, we decided  to pick two different dishes from each resturant so we could sample the different flavours on offer. We were told that the dishes would arrive in no particular order and it was the two choices from Lupe Pintos that arrived first. Ever the fairytale lover, I had selected the Three Little Piggies which consisted of pork shoulder, pancetta, chorizo and butter beans served in a bowl like a stew. This came with 4 small pots of sour cream, guacamole, sweet onions & jalepenos and sweet onions. The Boy had opted for Lupe's famous beef, chorizo & chipotle chilli which came with the same sides.

The Three Little Piggies were delicious, a hearty and flavoursome stew that I would have happily huffed and puffed and blown a house down for some more of. The meat was tender and well-portioned and the flavours complimented each other really well. The chilli was equally tasty, with big hunks of tender cooked beef instead of the usual minced variety. Overall the dishes from Lupe Pintos were filling (in a good way!) and very tasty. We were ready for round two! Ding ding!

From Scoop's menu The Boy ordered the confit pork belly, smokey chorizo (we were all about the chorizo that night), black pudding & chickpea stew. That sounded delicious when reading it off the menu but was actually a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the portion size was decent and there was plenty meat to be had, but it didn't taste very memorable. Plus, there was no black pudding to be had on the plate. I had the Thai haddock and prawn cakes, served with prawn crackers, a shredded herby salad and prik nam pla. These were good, I got 4 fat cakes served in a crumb coating and the prawn crackers tasted lovely.

We skipped dessert (although the cinnamon sugared churros were mighty tempting) and called it a night. The lack of proper ventilation and spices used in cooking was resulting in watery eyes all round. I loved the smell of the food when I came in, but I didn't want to sit and inhale it all night and the steam from the meal preparation grew thicker as time went on.

All in all, I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I like the idea of Street Food Cartel in theory - a pop-up dining experience giving people the opportunity to try new and exciting dishes from the best of local cuisine. As a big food fan, I love this concept. I also loved the variety and quality of food on the menu (particularly from Lupe Pintos) and the staff were awesome and very welcoming. However, I wasn't a big fan of the price. Paying a fiver each before you even order any food was not very popular, and it was clear from those sitting around us that this was not well-received. I got the impression that many of the diners thought they were paying a cover charge to come and taste some sample-sized portions of excellent local food. Yes we got to taste some excellent local food, but only after paying to get in, and then paying for each separate dish. It all added up and paying twice for my dinner isn't something I want to make a habit of. I like Street Food Cartel's vision, and really want it to work (and as their events are all sell-outs, I'm sure others do too) but I think a re-assessment of the pricing is in order. Also, the noise and ventilation issues made the experience a little less enjoyable than it could have been.

I don't know if I would go back to SFC right away, but I would keep an eye on things to see how things are progressing and then maybe return in the future. 

Did you go to Street Food Cartel? What did you think? What was your favourite dish?

Events: INAA Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards 2013 Bloggers Event

At the start of this week I was invited to attend the Bloggers Do It Best Event as part of the run up to INAA's Scottish Hair and Beauty awards 2013. The event gave us an opportunity to learn a little more about the awards, who was involved and get to know some of the contributing brands. INAA (which stands for 'I Need An Appointment') are the first ever online booking portal in the UK who also offer marketing and management support to salons. I learned at the event that INAA believe in the link between looking good and feeling great - and that taking a the time to pamper and treat ourselves generally makes us feel better. I do agree with that sentiment - after a fresh dye job and the right manicure I sometimes feel like I can take on the world!

The event was also the first time that I got to meet the other Scottish blogger babes, which was a pleasure in itself! What a friendly bunch! Thanks to them I didn't feel like the new girl at school for very long and we were chatting away for most of the night. After meeting up with some of the other girls beforehand, we headed to Apartment 29 where the evening was being held. I must say, this was my first time at this venue and I was impressed. The interior was very pretty, keeping some of the original features of the building (like the stairwell and the high ceilings) and mixing them with contemporary decorating. It made for a very pleasant space to spend the evening in! We were greeted at the top of the stairs and after being signed in, were shown to a room where we were seated and offered drinks and nibbles while waiting for everyone to arrive and for the evening to start.

The INAA ladies sure know how to make a room full of bloggers feel loved! They explained the concept behind the Bloggers Do It Best event and the role that bloggers play in today's market. After the INAA ladies kicked off the event there was a short speech from special guest Lauren Goodger (of TOWIE fame and now a beauty entrepreneur with her salon brand, Lauren's Way). Following this, we were then shown into another area, a bright airy space (which still managed to feel very busy do to the huge turn out) with some very popular beauty brands occupying different parts of the room. Guests from GHD, Bare Minerals, Lauren's Way (including the lady herself) and Bumble and Bumble were carrying out free demos and chatting to everyone about their products. There was also a raffle for one lucky girl to win a new set of GHD straighteners.

I enjoyed the Bumble and Bumble stand the best - Bee from Bumble & Bumble was an absolute star, doing a variety of awesome styles on lots of people's hair. I enjoyed watching her at work, seeing what she would decide to do and coming up with something different each time. She even did yours truly's hair, giving me a sweet retro pin-up style that I was gutted to wash out later! I loved it! The lovely Roz from The Olive Dragonfly (pictured below, bottom left) got a stunning sixties-inspired beehive 'do that she really suited. Plus, I found out that Bee and I both get our tattoos at the same studio and by the same person - small world eh? I must admit getting my hair styled without a mirror was a little daunting at first, but the other bloggers were smiling and giving me the thumbs-up throughout so then I knew it must've been OK!

During the evening some of the Alison James PR team were mingling with us, taking Instagram pictures and making sure we were having a good time. I also spied the other girls getting their tan on at Lauren's Way, checking out the makeup at Bare Minerals and drooling over the new pastel coloured GHD tools. I enjoyed having a nosey at the different brands and chatting with the other bloggers (and to everyone I spoke to - it was great to meet you, you lovely ladies! I don't want to list absolutely everyone because I might forget a name by accident and don't want to miss anybody out!) - before I knew it the evening had come to an end.

We were given some fab goody bags on our way out of the event which included treats from OPI (hurrah!), Bare Minerals and Lauren's Way. We were also given a top secret list of the nominees for this years Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards (held on 26th of May) A big thank you to Alison James PR and INAA for a smashing evening, Apartment 29 and it's staff for their hospitality and the Scottish Blogger Network for co-ordinating our attendance.

More information on the INAA Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards can be found at http://www.inaascottishhairandbeautyawards.com

Did you vote in the Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards? Have you ever booked through INAA? Do you feel like a superhero after getting your pamper on?

Thanks for reading!

Events: Speed Beauty

After reading online about Itison's Speed Beauty event a couple of weeks ago, I knew that it would be something that I would be interested in. Playing with makeup and talking about makeup generally makes me about as happy as a pig in muck so the idea of spending an evening with some awesome brands and fellow slap addicts to boot made it easy for me to sign up. The event was held on Wednesday night in Merchant City's Metropolitan venue and the concept behind it was simple: similar to speed dating, Speed Beauty allowed you to spend ten minutes with each brand before deciding at the end who had stolen your heart!

Once all the attendees had arrived, we were split into 4 groups and the running of the evening was explained. Each group will go to their first designated brand and spend ten minutes with them. During the ten minutes they will see a demo of the products and participate in some beauty banter. After the ten minutes has ended, there will be two minutes of Q&A with the brand, before the horn was sounded and that will be your group's cue to move onto the next stand. After all the groups had visited everyone there will be time to then go back to the ones you like, have a chat and buy anything that took your fancy. The brands listed as participating were impressive: Illamasqua cosmetics, DIY Nails, Beautiful Brows, We Are Faux lashes and Belle & Blackley hair. Unfortunately once we got there we found out that We Are Faux had cancelled at the last minute, which was a bummer as my friend and I were looking forward to seeing them. However, the rest of the brands were still there and we had such a great time that the fact We Are Faux hadn't managed to come didn't cause too big a dampener anyway.

The other girls in our group were really nice. Everyone was excited and up for a laugh and it had the atmosphere of a fun giggly night out. Our group's first stop was at Illamasqua, a high-end cosmetics line normally stocked in the likes of Debehams and Selfridges. I've been a fan of Illamasqua since seeing their initial advertising campaign and adore their commitment to encouraging individuality and their use of cruelty-free makeup and tools. At their demo, make up artist Mika created a 'night time' look on a lucky girl in our group - creating a dark, smokey eye with glitter pigments and a soft pink lip.

While talking us through the products being used, another Illamasqua artist let us play with a selection of different products, allowing us to try them out for ourselves. I especially liked their blush duo in Lover/ Hussy and their glitter pigments which were so soft they didn't feel like there was so much sparkle in them (some glitters by other brands have a rough 'gritty' feel which was not the case with these glitters). Illamasqua also invited us to their 'Beauty School Drop In' (Grease reference, love it!) tutorial at Debenhams to learn a pin-up make up look for free. I was impressed with the demo and the products and before we knew it, it was time to move on to our next stop - DIY Nails.

It's a not-so-secret fact that I am huge fan of nail art and in advance of the event I had seen that DIY Nails, a Scottish nail art brand would be at Speed Beauty. DIY Nails was created by Tammy, entrpeneur extrordianaire who can turn pretty much anything into some mani candy! Needless to say, I was all over this stall. I was happy to sit and chat about decals and ring finger accents until the cows came home (first pigs and now cows...) and even had my nails done with some super cute unicorn and french fry decals. DIY Nails can make decals out of pretty much anything and take bespoke orders which I  think is a genius idea - I could have Prince on one hand and pizza slices on the other (IMAGINE!). I knew that I would be back to see Tammy at the end to buy some decals and she kindly put aside the ones I liked for me!

The next stall was Belle and Blackley who are a salon in the city centre. Their stylist took us through 5 ways to use GHD straighteners (other than for straightening) and also gave us some top tips on how to get the best out of using the straighteners. The curls and waves created in the ten minutes looked really good and seemed very easy to do. The group definitely seemed impressed with this demo. After this there was one more stand left and we made our way over to Beautiful Brows once hostess Sherri sounded the horn.

Beautiful Brows - where to begin?! I will admit that before the evening started I was probably looking forward to this stand the least. What can I say, I was naive! I heard other girls in the group talking about Beautiful Brows and how amazing they were but I didn't realise just how amazing until I seen them for myself! Beautiful Brows have come up with a semi-permanent brow makeover system using makeup and stencils. I know the stencil bit sounds a bit strange but it has to be seen to be believed. The friendly representatives from the brand did everyone in our group's eyebrows - and still had plenty of time left to chat to us. The process takes seconds to apply so it was easy to get our whole group done. For the rest of the evening we were all looking at each others eyebrows, it was quite funny!

I was really impressed with the products from Beautiful Brows and how they managed to transform my patchy eyebrows into more solid, yet natural shapes. So impressed in fact, that I went back later to buy a kit. I will post a full review of my Beautiful Brows kit (or what I am now referring to as Voodoo Magic For The Face) separately.

After the 'Speed' part of the night was over, we spent a bit of time with each of the brands and chatted a little more. I also bought my brow kit and some R2D2 and burgers n' fries decals. It was tempting to buy some of Illamasqua's beautiful makeup but I decided that could be a purchase for another day - and it's always easy to pop into Debenhams and see them anyway. 

I really enjoyed Speed Beauty, and was pleased to hear that it was a tester event for more in the future to be arranged. I would definitely be interested in going back. Also, the staff at Metropolitan and representatives from Itison were very helpful and upbeat, which helped create a relaxed setting for people to enjoy themselves in so a big hi-five to all involved in the running of the night! 

Did you go to Speed Beauty? Which one was your favourite brand? Would you wear pizza slices on your nails?

Thanks for reading! 

Events: the Big SMAC-Down

Last month saw the first meeting of the Scottish Macaroni Appreciation Club - or SMAC for short - held at Sloans in the City Centre. The event sold out in a day and I wasn't quick  enough to snap up a ticket, so told myself I would definitely make an effort to get along to this month's event, which was held last night. The concept is very appealing to me - people that love macaroni sit around eating lots of macaroni and talking about it. Throw in some cheesy tunes and a friendly atmosphere and it sounds like my kind of party.

I do love macaroni - I get mistaken for a vegetarian sometimes because if it's available on a pub menu I will be likely to pick it over a meatier option. I'm no macaroni snob though - in fact one of my guiltiest pleasures is a box of Kraft Cheesy Pasta/ Mac and Cheese. I know, I know. "It's not real macaroni" my foodie friends will cry. "It's bright orange", "it's never seen actual cheese in it's life", and so on. I don't care, it's neon coloured and basically the hot, pasta version of Wotsits but I stand by my choice. That said, I do love a gourmet mac too - one of my favourites is lobster mac and cheese. It's amazing.

I was very excited about going to SMAC as I do get excited about any kind of themed occasion. I did not have enough time to pull together a proper macaroni themed outfit (IMAGINE) but decided to do a nail art tribute using some orange and yellow OPI nail polishes. I decided on a dress with a bit of stretch in it to help handle the food baby sure to emerge later in the evening (turned out to be a smart choice since I asked for seconds) I also threw on a pair of orange tights in attempt to 'mac it up' and headed into town. The orange tights were declared to be 'sexy' by some passing jake at the subway station - not my target audience but I will take it! Maybe he thought my legs were super tanned due to his own tanning of some (Tennents) Super? I'd love a pair of macaroni patterned screenprinted tights - anyone want to make me a pair?

Onto the event itself! My faithful cohorts and I rocked up to Sloans restaurant and were shown to our table. Good thing we booked tickets as it was very busy. At each seat we had a printed guide to the evening ahead and the macaroni's that would be served. That night it was going to be Stornaway black pudding, caramelised sweet potato with rosemary & garlic and Sloans' original macaroni's. The fourth dish was the much-discussed 'Mystery Mac' which would be revealed later in the evening to be cauliflower mac and cheese - apparently President Obama's favourite kind.

After trying all four dishes (and sides) we were given the opportunity to vote for our favourite and see which would be crowned the winning dish (or 'SMAC Daddy'). It was a close call, all of the macaroni's were delicious and I thought I was going to vote for the sweet potato one until I tried the Mystery Mac (which I am now calling Barack and Cheese). The cauliflower one was awesome - turns out I like cauliflower, who knew?!

The staff running the event were super nice and very efficient. The atmosphere was good, it didn't take itself too seriously and a bit of humour was definitely thrown in which helped keep things fun. We were each given a card with 'SMAC Founder Member' printed on it which I thought was a nice touch! We were also all 'sworn in' to the club by reciting the following pledge:

I hereby pledge allegiance to all things macaroni, regardless of creed, consistency or topping, so help me SMAC

It was a funny moment! After the plates were cleared away the cheesy pop songs were pumped up and I spent some time sitting chatting before heading home. I would recommend popping along to SMAC if you like your food, conversation and music with a huge serving of cheese! I had a brilliant time and will most definitely be back for another helping. 

Are you a macaroni fan? Have you been to SMAC? Did a jake yell at your legs this week?