You know how I feel about Alice in Wonderland. So, imagine my excitement when the following events tumbled into play earlier this month.
First, the lovely team at Uncover Aussie got in touch with me about becoming an Aussie Angel. I had heard about Aussie Angels before and seen some amazing events reviewed on a number of blogs I read daily. It appeared to me that Aussie were looking for girls who were passionate about hair - and that, I most certainly am.
I've struggled with my hair for a looooong time. Firstly, the colour - I'm ginger. This is fine, and I wouldn't change it even if I could (which to be fair, I could - all the brilliant colourists out there these days) but growing up it was definitely something I had to work at to be comfortable with. Secondly, the texture - my hair is fine, fine, fine. It's fly away, naturally curly/wavy and very frizzy. I've never really found my dream products - I'm still working towards that goal - but I have made a lot of progress in the past few years and grown pretty comfortable with it.
When the lovely Emma asked me which "tribe" I wanted to fall into, I chose the "Frizz Miracle" tribe - hoping they could send me something to remedy my untamable locks and give me volume and body without the fuzz.
I got sent a lovely welcome pack in the post, which included full size Frizz Miracle shampoo and conditioner, which retail for £3.59 here and here on the Boots website, along with a full size 3 Minute Frizz Remedy which retails for £4.59 here. Also included in the pack was a mini hair brush and a compact mirror to keep in my handbag, along with a Cadbury's Curly Wurly which disappeared very quickly after I first clapped eyes on it. I also got some badges to display my tribe and all this came in a plastic wash bag which will be very useful for holidays.
Following this lovely loot was an invitation to ONLY A MAD HATTERS FLIPPIN TEA PARTY!!! This event was to be held on the 8th May from 7 - 12. Now, this just so happens to be my birthday. I ummed and ahhed for a while, because I was due to have my very own Peter Pan & Neverland themed birthday party (I did Alice last year, I love a good theme). However, after a few frantic calls to friends and a bit of rearranging, I switched my party to the friday and although I lost a few guests, I gained some lovely ones too. All in all, a good decision I think.
The evening started with me getting very flustered and angry while stuck on the Victoria line, cue pantomime boos and hisses. I met my beautiful housemate Samantha at Bond Street station 40 minutes later than planned and we hot footed it to the event, which was held at the gorgeous Mews of Mayfair, in a room at the very top called the Chef's Dining Room.
We spent the start of the evening doing a bit of mingling, talking about hair and introducing ourselves to one another. There was some absolutely TO DIE FOR finger food that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I was dreaming of those little spring rolls for days.
After a brief introduction, we got some tips from the team of hair stylists who were working the event, telling us how to use the Aussie products and how to go about taming our frizz. We learnt that the best way to curl hair is to brush it through and make sure it is smooth before we tong it. This made sense to me, as I always try and add little curls to my already curly head, just creating more frizz. This is of course, more work, but creates a much more manageable look with tonnes of volume. We were then told that each of us could go over to the hair stylists throughout the night and get our hair done! All very exciting.
After a group discussion about how best to style frizzy and unpredictable hair, we came to the conclusion that ceramic brushes make our lives waaay easier, and that straightening, for most of us, just isn't a practical option - curls rule, natural is the way forward.
After that, we moved on to the main action of the night, HAT MAKING!! This was a Mad Hatter's Tea Party after all, so hat making was the most obvious option for a fun activity! I managed to wangle a prime spot at the hat making table (right next to the spring rolls), and placed myself next to the lovely Danni & Maria of Frills n Spills. Me and Sam had a wonderful time making our mini fascinators guided by the wonderful Katherine Elizabeth and I found myself considering a future in hat making. I had a lovely time and you can see me and Sam modelling our creations below...
Here are Danni and Maria, both sipping at their rum punch from tea cups!
Here's a closer look at my fascinator, and me modeling it in the mirror when I got home:
Sam and I, both curly girls, got our hair styled by the lovely stylists. Mine was brushed through, then curled with tongs, then pinned to my scalp to create a pin curled glam look that went on to last well into the early hours of the morning. My highlights of the hair styling were easily Maria and Hayley, both high glamour. Maria looked like Elizabeth Taylor with her 40s style pinned up-do!
The night drawing to a close, we all received the cutest little goody bags containing lots of Aussie products. I got the wonderful serum which I was already a BIG fan of, and the Conditioning Milk which I have yet to try. Most intriguing in the goodie bag was an Alice inspired "Drink Me" potion which all of us had our hesitations in trying. I love my little "Drink Me" bottle and it has pride of place on my dressing table below my white rabbit nose and ears from last year's birthday party. In true Alice fashion, we also got a pack of playing cards amongst the goodies. We also all received a pair of earrings from the lovely Love Hearts & Crosses. I got some cute little cupcakes which I look forward to wearing. Have a look at their website, especially if you're an Alice fan - they have lots of really pretty pieces.
Despite all the amazing hair styling, fun times had with ribbons and feathers, delicious canapes and cupcakes, overflowing champagne and teacup cocktails, oodles of goodies, the best part of the evening by far was meeting all the gorgeous ladies at the event. Thanks must be given to the team at Uncover Aussie, particularly Emma, for showing us all such an amazing time.
It was so great to meet some fellow bloggers too, particularly the girls of Frills n Spills, Eleanor, Hayley, Leia & Sherin and Lydia (sorry if I forgot you - there was so many people to meet!) I look forward to seeing them all again soon. Here's a group shot of us all!
Me and Sam then went on to celebrate my 23rd birthday in style! We hit a club and didn't get home til 5.30am!
Perhaps most importantly, this event really gave me some inspiration for my hair. Having had it in such a BLAH style for so long, I decided to get a proper hair cut in a style that would really give it some ooomph and reflect my personality a little bit more. So now... its all gone! Post on that soon.
Thanks again to everyone involved in this event!
