Hey, friends! Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Bloggers United event in Perth, with a bunch of other blogger babes, and it was probably one of the best events I've ever attended. Before I start gushing about all of the happenings and the goodies (oh, the goodies!) I'd just like to thank both the founders of BU, Jasmine and Nikita, plus the lovely Perth reps, Sophie, Angie and Samantha, for putting together such a well run and all-round amazing shindig.
Also, if you haven't already got a snack or beverage of some variety I'd get one, this is going to be a long'un.


Let's start at the beginning, for obvious reasons. As the bloggers who also arrived early started to fill Gramercy Bar and Kitchen (great venue, lot's of pretty walls for aesthetic shots - important), anxiety kicked in as I realised I'd signed up to be in a room of strangers for the next four hours. Obviously, this fear was swiftly quelled when I began to speak to the other ladies and discovered they were all god damn lovely. We all received name tags which also displayed our Instagram handles, this was so handy and made me feel like a real life adult person who does things.




Walking into the room, we were greeted with mocktails and cupcakes - which, funnily enough, is how I always wish to be greeted - and had a few minutes of mingling alongside the speakers and also ogling the eight gift bags at each persons seat. Yes, I just said eight. The girls at my table can attest to how excited I was by the iconic Lush paper bag. It was at this point that I also deeply regretted my decision to take the train into the city, but I digress.


I'll move onto all of the loot that we hobbled away with in a moment, but first let's talk about the activities. The Perth reps, along with Jasmine, welcomed us with a little trivia game in which someone won a GHD (!!!) and some other mega-rad prizes. Throughout the day there were multiple opportunities to win said rad prizes; we had to pick a partner and take a photo with the life-size Instagram cutout and upload a photo of our goodie bags, to name a couple. These were all super fun, and gave us opportunity to speak to a few different people around the room.

Pictured: wanderlustbyval

I'd be criminally remiss if I didn't mention the food we were served, so let's touch on that quickly. We were advised that there would be 'nibbles', which for me conjures images of a few breadsticks and some dip, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Think sliders, fried mac and cheese (big hit with most of the crowd), baby sausage rolls and other various yumminess.

Pictured: runninginchanel

We also had speakers in from Weleda, Embacci, Elucent, L'Oreal Professionnel and Lush (!!!), who told us all about the products we had in our gift bags, plus more information about the brand and getting in touch.

Pictured: Laura Janus of L'Oreal Professionnel

Ok, now onto the part that you've been waiting for, the goods. I'm still kind of in shock, it feels like the day after Christmas when you start registering that you have all these new exciting toys. To be honest, the main reason I'm writing this post so soon after the event is so I can take pretty photos before getting my mitts on all the things.


Firstly, the Bloggers United bag was filled with an incredible range of stuff. So much so, that it took three flatlays to photograph them all.
Pictured below is the Zassni Orchard Dew Botanical Face Mist, Wella Blow Dry lotion, Optiva Nourishing Night Cream, L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream (praying this is casper-coloured!), Scentrelle Reverse Time Face Serum, Nuxe Multi-Purpose Dry Oil, Slim Secrets Protein Pud, Carmex Lip Balm, plus the Blinc Eyeliner and Mascara. These are all newbies for me, and I simply cannot wait to lather myself in all of them - sans the Protein Pud, I might just eat that one instead.

Also included in the mega-bag-from-heaven was some makeup goodies, much to all the beauty bloggers' delight. I'm a Chi Chi eyeshadow virgin so I was super excited to see both the Rich Gems and Smokes palette, as well as their Chandelier Lips, Creamy Matte Liquid Lipstick in Flirt (perfect shade for me), Rich Bitch Black Eyeliner and 3D Magic Lash. If this wasn't enough, we also received a MaxFactor Kohl Pencil in Black and a Furless Cosmetics BC4 brush. I adore Furless brushes - you can read why here - and so I was delighted to see this in the pack.


The last load of loot in the bag was some Rosehip Oil in both a roll-on and a bottle, Brite Organix Hair Shadow, Eco Tools Fresh & Flawless Five Piece Complexion Set, Uriage Soothing Repair Barrier Lip Balm and a Waxaway Kit.



Seeing as the first BU bag wasn't nearly enough goodies, we also received a second one. The first thing that caught my eye was this acrylic holder from The Makeup Box Shop, because the only thing I like more than doing my makeup is organising my makeup. Drools. Anyhow, I adore this baby and it is already sitting pretty on my vanity.


We also received the L'Oreal Perfecting Multipurpose Spray, Color Corrector Creme for Blondes (will be passing this on!) and Pureology Multi-Tasking Hair Beautifier (yes please, beautify my locks). The Matrix Turbo Dryer Blow Dry Spray, Redken Frizz Dismiss Finishing sheets (so damn excited for these), Weleda Sea Buckthorn Hand Cream, Antipodes Saviour Skin Balm and a baby Bioderma were also inside, which are all equally exciting.


Food was also included in the bag, much to everyone's delight. We all received a Barker's Fruit Syrup and some Bagel Bites. Please note that this is the last of the six individual packs in the bag, because my friend and I swiftly inhaled their deliciousness.


We also received a single rose which was lovely!


Last - for this bag - and certainly not least were some lifestyle things, including a voucher for free jeans, a Valencia Soy Candle, Sea Siren Nail Polish and an Essence of Jasmine Candle. The owner of Essence of Jasmine actually attended the event, and had I known that upon lighting said candle that my entire room would smell like Christmas, aka my favourite thing ever, I would have squeezed her extra tight. My scent is called Cranberry Crush, in case you're an obnoxious Christmas fiend like me.

The next bag was from Enbacci, a family-run skincare company - the founder of which also spoke at the event. Yong-Li graciously gifted us the Vitus Vinifera Gel Cleanser, Rejuvenating Essence and Essential Creme, as well as the Microdermabrasion Exfoliating Scrub, Detoxifying Clay Mask and Moisturising Hand Cream. Look at those baby bottles of goodness.



The Elucent bag won me over not just because they provided us with the entire Whitening range of products, but also because they gave us a notepad and pen which was indescribably handy on the day. Just to be thorough, the Whitening range includes and Exfoliating Cleanser, Day Moisturiser, Night Moisturiser, Eye Cream, Hand Cream and a Spot Corrector. We were also assured that despite the scary name, this line of products is not designed to lighten the skin, but to reduce pigmentation, which is always a big yes.



Next up is a little fun-sized bag from Dr. Hauschka, which held a baby Facial Toner, Soothing Cleansing Milk and Night Serum. Renee, from reneehartsthis, was at my table on the day and assured me this stuff was brilliant.



The penultimate bag housed a John Plunkett Glyco Peel - so much intrigue here - and a Cuticle & Nail Complex. We also had a speaker in from this brand, who told us all about how amazing this stuff is.



Finally, we have the ever-enticing Lush bag. Do you even know how hard it was to wait until morning so I could photograph this stuff? I all but restrained myself so I wouldn't open it and get all up in there with my nose and hands. Naturally, the Shiny Happy People kit was well worth the wait; inside was a What A Softy! in Green Fun, Happy Hippy Shower Gel and Bohemian Soap. Obviously these all smell divine and already have a prime spot in my shower.




Phew, that's all folks! Congratulations if you're still reading this! I'd like to once again thank the Bloggers United team for such a wonderful event, as well as all of the brands who were offensively generous in the goodie bag stakes! Another thank you goes to all the lovely ladies I met at the event - everyone was so genuinely nice, and I feel very lucky to have made so many new friends. Keep your eyes peeled for some collaborations in the future, too!

Photo taken from the lovely borntobuyblog

Anyhow, I'm off to find a place for all this stuff and decide which skincare routine I'll test out first. Happy Sunday!



Enjoy,
Sophia ♡