This Saturday I went along with Gemma (Anderra) to London's Vitality Show, held at Earl's Court 2. It's the largest annual health, beauty and wellbeing show in the UK with more than 350 health, beauty, fitness, healthy eating and wellbeing companies exhibiting over four days, so we had to go along and see it for ourselves!
In its 10th year of running, the event's aimed at any of you lovely ladies really, whether you're a fitness fanatic, a make-up maven or you just fancy having a good old girly trip with a difference! You can get some exercise at some fitness classes, or you could just relax and be spoiled rotten by a number of beauty therapists, make-up artists or masseuses. And if you like your smellies and skincare then this is a great place to spot some brands that you won't ordinarly see on the high street. It really has everything girly, there's something for everyone.
We rocked up at 10am to get a good look-in ahead of the crowds (especially for freebies hehe!) and among some of the attractions there were:
Yoga classes being held for anyone to come along and join in
Reiki and Indian Head massage, amongst other varieties of massage to boot!
Nails Inc. and other nail bars were there to give your hands and feet a treat
The 'Philadelphia Kitchen' had chefs at work throughout the show teaching everyone some great healthy and tasty recipes to try at home
A catwalk show
A day spa courtesy of Oasis
And even pole dancing!! :-)
Not only that but there were lots of bodycare, skincare and makeup companies on hand to let you try out their goodies and get hold of them at a discounted price! There were apparently a great deal of experts and celebs milling around too - Nicky Hambleton-Jones to name just one, who I was particularly keen to talk to! Sadly we didn't see any of them during our visit (anyone who did let me know, ha!)
We came across some great brands though - Tropic Skincare was one of my faves of the day - they had a team of ladies giving everyone that came by a hand massage with their body scrub and it was to die for! Their products are 100% natural and contain very yummy ingredients such as Jojoba and Patchouli. We also came across a few organic ranges such as Spiezia Organics that did an amazing cleanser which smelt a lot like green pesto :-) A body scrub with brown sugar in (so safe that you could eat it... But we gave it a miss!) And a lovely facial oil with rose and vanilla in.
And of course... Make-up!! There were a lot more make-up stands than I thought there would be! I eagerly bounded over to the Benefit counter which was choc-full of makeup artists ready to paint faces, but be warned people - this counter is absolute mayhem from the very beginning, I couldn't even get a look-in at 10am and I sadly missed out on the opportunity to grab a couple of freebies :-(
I also spotted Bourjois, which also had queues of women waiting for a bit of a makeover! But I bought my goodies from Helen E and Miss K Co who were doing some fantastic deals on bronzers, brushes, eyeshadows, glitters and other kits. I won't go into too much detail on these as I'll be digging into them very soon and producing some looks and reviews to let you know what they're like then!
Not only that but for any of you make-up addicts out there who like the right tools, CrownBrush also had a stand selling every type of make-up brush under the sun. Along with great make-up palettes - ideal for a start-up kit or just getting a great deal of shades for your money, with a typical palette costing no more than £25!
Overall we had an ultra fun day exploring what was on offer, milling around and coming out at the end smelling blissful after all of our sampling :-D It's a real buzz and it's great to chat to some of the exhibitors about what they sell and if you're keen to network then by all means go ahead, they love to hear from you if you're keen on reviewing their products online.
On the other hand don't expect many freebies. Fussy I hear you say? Not when you pay £14.50 for the ticket alone. We at least expected a free massage for 5 minutes for instance or a few more free samples. It seemed to us more of a trade event in some respects - some stands were so frantic and if you didn't want to buy that very instant they lost interest in you immediately! Some of the discounts didn't seem very reasonable with only £1 or £2 off the normal prices. Our best discovery however was with Spiezia Organics who were giving away their cleanser - normally priced £20 and a facial oil (normally £25) for only £20 for the two!
We also expected a few more organic skincare companies - we were very surprised to find so few amongst the exhibitors, especially as the show centres around wellbeing and healthy options. We decided it might be worth another visit in a couple of years, rather than annually as by then there may be a new focus and different developments.
All in all I thoroughly recommend going to the next one if you haven't been before - there's plenty to look at, do and try and overall it's a fun day out to have with your girlfriends, mum, or any other female who loves a little TLC!
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Image Sources:
Logo courtesy of The Vitality Show
