#OxMeet - Oxford Blogger Meet Up

Probably the last one of the beauty bloggers to write about it, today I'm coming at you with my #OxMeet post. My first ever blogger meet up, I journeyed to Oxford on 23rd March to spend the day with a lovely little group of people who shared my passions for beauty and blogging. An amazing experience, organised by Wonder Woman who, by day, goes by the name Adrienne, I left with a new group of wonderful friends, a goody bag to rival Santa's sack, and blog ideas coming out of my ears! Safe to say, a perfect time was had by all!

Mo, Asha, Tami, Hannah, Steph, Hattie, Rachel, Grace, Jess, Me, Ellie, Kelly, Jess, Adrienne, Danielle, Katy, Samantha
Thanks to lovely Sam for the image!

Our first pitstop was Wagamama, where we all came together for the first time over Chicken Katsu Curry and copious amounts of Diet Coke. Despite having never met any of the lovely ladies before, I instantly felt at home, discussing make-up and snap happy tendencies with my newfound friends. I sat and chatted all things intern with beautiful Jess (I hope yours went well by the way!), and I got a bit nostalgic for my student days when she told me all about her uni ball. Sat on my other side was the gorgeous Tami. I'd been following (read: shamelessly stalking) her blog for a while, so it was lovely to meet The Guilty Girl herself. It was such a great first meeting, and would have made the perfect icebreaker, had there been any ice to break. 

After a bit of an impromptu circle time, in which we all introduced ourselves properly, we mozied on over to Crabtree & Evelyn, where we were given an introduction to the company and its products. Kelly and I spent a fair amount of time lusting after their new Pear & Magnolia range, whilst the rest of the girls were pampered with hand treatments and manicures. Whilst we were ogling the C&E offerings, Adrienne took us out in groups to pick up our goody bags. It was like a little school trip, and I definitely felt a sense of childish glee when she handed us bags full to the brim with all manner of cosmetic goodness. It was during our little jaunt to pick up our marvellous goody bags that I got to talk to lovely Grace, a beautiful girl with a beautiful blog, which has just had a redesign FYI, so check that out! We left C&E with a cute little bag containing a few samples and a hand cream of our choice. Crabtree & Evelyn is such a beautiful shop, which I'd never really ventured into before. After seeing what they had to offer, I certainly won't be wondering past without a second glance again!

We then had a little time to kill before our next outing, so we went to Costa to refuel and have a good chinwag. I started slurping my delicious mocha, and my wish list proceeded to expand along with my waistline. It was here that mine and Katy's mutual love for Jo Malone caused quite a stir, and I added a glossy little Maybelline number to my growing shopping list - thanks Tami.

Our final destination was Lush, where we were treated to a Rose themed evening, complete with rose lemonade and delectable cupcakes. The Lush ladies talked about their new Rose Bubble Bar, as well as showing us their make up collection, which was a welcome surprise for me! Who knew Lush did make up, eh? As we all ambled around the store, getting skin consultations and colour readings, nattering about all our must haves and new discoveries, I felt so content to be part of the beauty blogging community. It's when you meet people like this that you realise what wonderful opportunities can come out of a hobby - something that began with you sitting in front of your computer, scribbling  down random thoughts about your passions. 

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without an ode to the gift bag - oh, the gift bag. Filled with products from Caudalie, Hotel Chocolat, The White Company, Wilkinson Sword, and Eye of Horus to name just a few, as well as the month's Glossybox and Birchbox offerings, I know I'll still be playing with all my new goodies for months to come! Sadly, due to the shambles that is the British postal system, we didn't get the wonderful bags from The Blogger Programme on the day, but I was so pleased when mine came in the post. It's such a perfect memento for the occasion, and mine's already hung up on the back of my door, storing all the lovely products I've saved for future blog posts. Thank you so much to all the generous PRs for providing such an astounding array of treats for us all. Know how hugely appreciated it was.

And that's all folks! I had the most amazing time, and will be eternally grateful to Adrienne for putting so much time and effort into the whole thing. 

Lots of Love,

S.