Intu Metrocentre Fashion Live Spring / Summer 2018 VIP Preview*

I guess it goes without saying that I'm not really feeling myself at the moment, with my mum still in hospital I've been feeling more than a little bit down. There is a temptation when you feel like that to pull the duvet over your head and hide away and believe me I've done that but on Wednesday night I put a frock on, did my make up and received just the boost that I needed with the help of popcorn, Prosecco, and puppers. What am I talking about? Well the Intu Metrocentre Fashion Live Spring Summer 2018 Blogger Preview Event of course!

The team at Intu Metrocentre certainly know how to put on an event and treat their local bloggers and this one was no different, In a pastel, floral garden setting we we're treat to drinks, and canapes, and popcorn courtesy of the Odeon cinema, as well as make up advice from the team at Kat Von D in Debenhams, and a deliciously fragrant and relaxing hand and arm massages from the girls from Molton Brown in House Of Fraser (I had my massage with the new ish Coastal Cypress And Sea Fennel, which is a beautiful fresh and aquatic, unisex scent, which is perfect for summer).

As nice as all of these extras were though the real purpose of the event was to give us a sneaky peek of what you can expect to see if you head down to the centre this weekend. Yes, they are back, Intu Metrocentre's famous catwalk shows are returning from the 10th - 13th May to showcase some of the key fashion looks and pieces from a myriad of the centres stores, for spring / summer 2018.

Situated in the usual place in Town Square, outside of House Of Fraser there are 4 runway shows on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, giving you ample opportunity to get plenty of spring and summer fashion inspiration. Even if you can't make it onto FROW yourself though don't worry, if you're in the centre in the next day or so, make sure you pick up one of the Fashion Live leaflets from any of the information points, to get some fabulous discounts across the centre from stores including Simply Be, Cath Kidston, Ann Summer, House Of Fraser and more.

As per usual the shows will showcase a wide range of both ladies and gentleman's clothing accessories for all sizes, shapes, and styles. We had a sneak peek of just some of the shows and the brands that you can see over the next few days.

I'm not going to lie, with all the stress and what not I didn't have the energy to lug my SLR round so I ended up shooting the show on my trusty iPhone, well it didn't prove quite so trusty this time round, and a lot of pics either didn't come out so well, or quite frankly didn't come out at all, so this post doesn't have as many pictures as I would have like and I'm not 100% happy with the ones that I have included, never mind bigger disasters at sea, I guess.

The event was hosted by the lovely Anna Foster from BBC Radio Newcastle, who was wearing the Lipsy Amelia Print Floral Wrap Dress, which retails at £58. Lipsy's presentation was all about occasion pieces, with pretty dresses in brights, block colours and floral prints as well as more casual, but still smart and feminine tops, and separates.

Another brand that is synonymous with occasion is Coast, if you're looking for an outfit for a wedding, a christening, or even for the races, that Coast should be one of your first ports of call, especially since they now do a plus size range ;) Their presentation offered a beautiful range of dresses and jumpsuits, in bright, summery colours, and even neons teamed up with some fabulous hats and fascinators. 

If accessories are your thing then there is one shop that is should definitely be on your radar and that is Accessorize. What can I say about Accessorize other than summer in a shop! Everything about their presentation made me think of holidays, tropical beaches, and items that would take you straight from beach to bar, from strappy sandals, to brights, neons and beautiful embellishments, if your heading to the sun, anytime soon Accessorize should be your first port of call when it comes to holiday shopping. As perfect as they are for the little things that finish an outfit though, you can now get the top to toe look in one store, as this outfit proves with this cute neon embroidered cropped kaftan, and these cute embellished shorts. 

As much as I'm loving the tropical vibes here, for me at least beach holidays are a distant dream at the moment, so spring, summer fashion to me means less of the beach vibe and more of the I want to look cool as hell no matter the weather vibe, and thankfully a lot of the showcased brands fitted the bill perfectly, with River Island showcasing some great on trend pieces that were perfect for the unpredictable British weather including everything from cute playsuits to the most fabulous pair of mustard / rust yellow paper bag waist trousers!

Mustard was also evident on the models walking for New Look, with a fabulous ensemble of I think trousers, a top, and a coordinating kimono style jacket in a mustard and red floral pattern. I can't find this outfit online but it's definitely worth looking out for and I'm gutted that I didn't get a good enough picture so that I could share it with you. Florals are always big for spring and summer, and they were evident in quite a few of the presentations including this one, New Look also showcased a lot of bright block colours, including a fabulous red trouser and black, graphic, slogan t-shirt combo.

If you're one of those trendy, super cool people, that most of aspire to be like, then Top Shop's collection was probably right up your street, with some really fun furry bags, and sequined bum bags, and joggers teamed with a graphic tees, and high heels. 

I'm not sure I could carry that look off but something I could definitely get on board with was this beautiful diagonal striped midi dress, which retails at £49, teamed up with an embellished denim jacket. I love stripes and since I've just picked up a new denim jacket this look was right up my street.

I do love a stripe and another Arcadia groups presentation was probably my favourite of the evening. Yes, maybe I'm biased because Evans is a plus size brand (the majority of their items do start at a size 14 though so don't discount it as just being a plus size brand though!) but their models rocked every single look. Although it's all looking slightly navy here, the theme was monochrome, not a typical spring summer look but it works, and I particularly loved this look, with these eye catching black and white striped wide leg pants, that are a steal at just £35. I'm not sure I could pull this look off personally but I'm seriously debating giving it a go.

Having so many exciting brands under one roof, House Of Fraser's shows are always worth waiting for and this one was no exception, as they showcased both smart and casual men's and ladies fashion, but for me the stand out piece was this beautiful jacquard wrap dress from BIBA

I know I'm all about female fashion but these shows really are for everyone, and as well as House Of Fraser, DW Sports and River Island, also showcased some of they key spring and summer 2018 looks for both men and women, and the boys also had a chance to go it alone, with a summery presentation from Burton Menswear featuring pastel pinks, and that summer staple the Hawaiian style shirt.

It wasn't all about that casual summer style though, men have special occasions too, and if you or your OH has a function to attend this summer then Moss Bros is the place to go, for everything from the traditional two and three piece suit to something with a bit more of a fashion vibe.

There really is nothing nicer than a guy in a suit, well apart from a man in a suit with a dog that is!

Clad in their swanky Moss Boss attire and perhaps a touch overdressed for a dog walk, 2 of the lovely male models helped 3 new, and all be it hairy models to shine, Winston and Churchill which you can see above and the lovely Sam who you can see below.

Yes, us North East blogger do love our fashion, our beauty, our bubbly and our canapes but the majority of us all so have a soft spot for furry things with 4 legs! All 3 of these lovely dogs are current residents at the Newcastle Dog & Cat Shelter, who are responsible for rescuing and re homing 1000's of animals every year in the North East of England.

If you're popping into the centre to do a bit of shopping or if your coming to specifically to see the shows, then pop down to Town Square and you can come and find out a little bit more about the work that they do, or you can find out more about how you can help and of course how you can adopt your own furry friend via their website, and of course if you do come down to watch the shows then you can watch these lovely, friendly doggies perfect, their runway walk over the course of the weekend.

Thanks to these puppies at least in part, I had a fab night that really lifted my spirits no end, I want to thank all of the Intu team, and of course all of the retailers for hosting and of course for the super generous goodies bags. So if you don't have any plans for the next few days and you want a bit of summer style inspiration or if you just want to meet some lovely fur babies than head down to Intu Metrocentre this weekend for your own fur and fashion fix x

*Press / Blogger Event 

The Body Shop Intu Metrocentre Autumn Blogger Event With The G Edit*

Although I had every intention of breaking up my blog and press event posts with some different content some how life seems to have got in the way again, and in the last week I've only managed to upload a couple of unboxing videos to my You Tube channel. Still content is content, and I'm back today on the blog to talk about another blog event and some new and exciting product releases from one of my favourite high street stores, The Body Shop.

Like so many girls that grew up in the 90's The Body Shop has been one of my go to shops for almost my entire life and it's a store that I'll forever associate with growing up, and it's one of the places where my beauty obsession really started. I'm going to talk more about my own history with the brand in a future post but it's safe to say that The Body Shop holds a special place in my heart.

I'm lucky enough to have been to a couple of events in various branches of The Body Shop over the years, and I've always found them to be both fun and educational, and this one was no different.

The previous events I've been to took place when the stores were open, but a couple of Sunday's ago, myself and a number of North East bloggers and influencers were invited down to the Intu Metrocentre store after hours to spend a few hours learning about some products, and rediscovering some old favourites.

We were greeted with glasses of fizz, name stickers and nibbles, and we basically given free run of the store, and given ample opportunity to experience everything that The Body Shop has to offer. There were lots of helpful staff members to answer our questions, and to demonstrate products, and they'd even set up a selfie station with props and bunny ears for us to help promote their Ban Animal Testing petition ( you can sign it instore or online here), and a whiteboard where we could leave our Instagram and Twtter handles and share our favourite products with our fellow bloggers.

If you look really carefully at the whiteboard, you can probably see my social media handle, and the products that I love (I'm @LouLou699 just in case you didn't know ;). For me two things really stand, their Christmas ranges and of course their body butters. I've lost count of the number that I've owned and tried over the years, and they really are an ever present in the my bathroom cabinet. Yes they're thick and they can take a while to absorb, but when my skin is at it's driest in the winter, and after and during a hot holiday, they really are a must have.

I love them and it turns out that a lot of other people do as well, and their body butters, in their various different fragrances and different guises have been one of their most popular products for the last 25 years. It's hard to believe but this year The Body Shop Body Butter is celebrating it's 25th birthday, and in order to celebrate, the majority of stores are giving you the opportunity to print out a free sticker and personalise your own full size tub of body butter. Personalisation is everywhere at the moment and I think that this is a great gift idea, and something just that little bit different.

As a special gift on the night, The Body Shop allowed us to choose a free full size, fruity fragranced body butter, and get our own personalised label printed off. I love anything fruity so it wasn't that easy to choose which one I wanted, but I ended up going for Early Harvest Raspberry. This was a new one to me, and I've spent every minute since kicking myself as to why I hadn't tried it before. It has a lovely true to life, punnet of fresh raspberries type scent, that smells good enough to eat without smelling too sweet or sickly,

Talking of smelling good enough to eat, this year The Body Shop has debuted their first ever range of Halloween themed products with a yummy, Vanilla Pumpkin fragrance. If you're not a fan of the traditional cult pumpkin spice type fragrance, filled with nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon, then this fragrance might be more up your street. It contains real Madagascan vanilla, and with added hint of fruity pumpkin, your left with a sweet and creamy fragrance with just a hint of warmth and fruitiness. Sounds good? well it is, but it is a limited edition range so get your skates if you like the sound of it. It has been introduced especially for Autumn and Halloween but it should be around until Christmas so you should a month or so to get your hands on it.

On the night the lovely people from The Body Shop offered us a special discount on any purchases that we made, so it would have been wrong not to indulge in a bit of pumpkin love. I'm not sure if the same offer is still on but there was an offer in store where you could buy 3 selected bath and body products for £20, so I picked up a few Vanilla Pumpkin items and took advantage. I got the full, 192g size Vanilla Pumpkin Softening Body Butter which normally retails at £15, and I got two, 250ml bottles, of the Vanilla Pumpkin Shower Gel that normally retail for £5 each so I really ended up getting one for free. I didn't see it on the night but you also get a hand cream in the Vanilla Pumpkin scent.

As well the new Vanilla Pumpkin range, we also had the chance to find out more about some of stores other new releases, including their new world ingredients, inspired face masks, including the  Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask, the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask, and the British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask, and we also introduced to their new Liquid Peel exfoliants.

If you like skincare that looks and feels as though as it's working and you want to see results in minutes then The Body Shops new range of Liquid Peels are something that you definitely need to try. They come in three different variations depending on your skin type and the results that you want to see, you can get the Liquid Peels Drops Of Youth Youth Liquid Peel, the Vitamin C Revealing Liquid Peel, and the Drops Of Light Pure Resurfacing Liquid Peel which retail at around £18 each. Basically these peels are exfoliators but instead of being grainy the gel like texture contains ingredients that help to lift up the dead skin and leave you skin soft and glowing. One of the members of staff tried the Drops Of Youth peel on my hand and the amount of gunk that it took off my supposedly clean had was fascinating, in a slightly sick and horrifying way :) I've used something similar in the past and I'm definitely going to pick one of these up the future.

On the night we were given the opportunity to try several of the different treatments and demonstrations that available in store including a facial and a make up lesson, but given time constraints and the amount of bloggers that were in attendance, it wasn't really possible to do everything but I did manage to snap this picture of the lovely Laura from Look At My Clothes having her skincare consultation and facial,

and I did have a few minutes to play by myself with some of The Body Shop's latest make up releases and all I can say it wow! The obsession with the lips is strong at the moment thanks to a certain Ms Jenner and if that's the look you want or like than The Body Shop have got you covered with their new Matte Lip Liquids, and their new Shine Lip Liquids, and their new and very convertible Metal Lip Liquids that are perfect for the party season and have found a place on my current, and overflowing beauty wishlist

One treatment though that I've had from The Body Shop though in the past and loved was their fabulous hand and arm massage (read about my previous experience here), so when I was offered another one I jumped at the chance.

Unlike my previous experience which just involved a bowl of warm water, the Intu Metrocentre branch is now full fitted out with sinks and running water, which just added to the whole spa like feel of the treatment. Unlike last time when it was all about the Christmas collections, the lovely member of staff Hina, let me choose exactly what products that I wanted to use for my treatment. There are so many beautifully scrubs, creams and butters to choose from that it was a hard decision but in the end I decided to try out some products from their Spa Of The World Relaxing Ritual range.

Hina started off by massaging my hand and forearm with the beautiful African Ximenia Scrub, which is sugar based scrub that contains Namibian Ximenia Fruit Seed. This is quite a gentle scrub, which given my love of gritty scrubs, wouldn't be quite gritty enough for me in the shower but it was perfect for a hand treatment. She then dried my hand and followed with a liberal application of the Japanese Camellia Velvet Moisture Body Cream, before ending the massage with an application of the French Lavender Massage Oil.

Afterwards the difference between my two hands was clear to see, the hand that had been treat looked brighter and fresher, and it felt silky soft, and smooth. I can only imagine what the rest of my body would feel like after using these products. The Spa Of The World range isn't the cheapest range that The Body Shop do but if you want real luxury or you feel like you need some serious feel good products then I can't recommend it enough.

I loved the feel of all of the products that I used but I particularly fell in love with the fragrance of the French Lavender Massage Oil and both the scent and the feel of the Japanese Camellia Velvet Moisture Body Cream, which I ended up buying in the small 50ml size. I love white flower, powdery type scents and as well as feeling amazing on the skin, the subtle scent really is beautiful

Since we has such a good opportunity to explore the store, I couldn't resist picking up a few things for Christmas presents. I know some people still think it's a bit early for Christmas but I love it, and I'm a big believer in getting prepared nice and early. The full range of Christmas products isn't in store just yet but it won't be long I'm sure and no doubt I'll be back for another shopping trip when it launches. In the meantime though we did have an opportunity to have a little look and The Body Shop's range of advent calendars for 2017. I really couldn't justify buying one (I already have two advent calendars already!) but I love them, and I particularly love the fact that they have calendars available at 3 different price points in order to suit a wider range of budgets

So feeling pampered, shopped out and with another wishlist as long as my arm, I headed for home with my purchases, my personalised body butter and a little bag of treats from The Body Shop including some skincare samples which included the Drop Of Youth Liquid Peel which I can't wait to try, a 30ml Mango Hand Cream and a 5ml jar of the Oils Of Life Sleeping Cream which again I can't wait to use.

I'm not good at the vlogging thing but I did make a little, super short taster video on my phone so you see what some of your favourite North East bloggers, You Tubers and infuencers got up to on the night x You can also view it via this link x



Again I had a lovely evening spending time with some of my fellow bloggers, and learning and trying lots and lots of new things. Huge thanks to The G Edit, The Body Shop, and particular all of the staff in the Intu Metrocentre branch for their advice, and for sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with us, I'll definitely be back and soon x If you have any questions if you've tried any of the items I've mentioned I'd love to hear from you so leave a comment below x

*Blog Event - This Post Contains Gifted Items, And Items That Were Purchased With A Discount

Letting My True Fashion Colours Shine Courtesy Of Intu Metro Centre Fashion Live 15

Although I don't post that many outfit of the days or style posts anymore I still consider myself at least in part to be a fashion blogger. Although my blogs not as fashion focused as maybe it once was, I've been obsessed with clothing and accessories for as long as I can remember, and despite my unwillingness to share too many pictures of myself at the moment, nothing has really changed.

For someone who loves fashion and likes to write about it, one of the most exciting things that you can possibly do is to attend a fashion show. Like any true fashionista I would love to attend one of the big shows like Chanel in Paris, or Prada in Milan, even if I was at the very back, behind the cleaners! Dreams, dreams, dreams! we should all have them, but it's best to start small and this week I had my first, proper, fashion show experience, and even though I didn't have the opportunity to schmooze with Posh and Becks, and Kim and Kanye I still had a fabulous time.

On Wednesday night I attended an exclusive VIP Blogger Preview of Intu Metro Centre's Fashion Live Event 2015. The theme of this years event is colour - colouring yourself fabulous and finding ways to integrate more colour into your wardrobe is the way to go for Spring / Summer 2015.

With cocktails, wine, vodka shots and nibbles on hand, and selfies being taken, we really did feel like VIP's or should I say VIB's (Very Important Bloggers) as we were allowed past the cordons, and directed to take our seats on the fabulous, multi coloured FROW.

Yes I did say FROW, to be fair we all did get front row seats, but it still added a touch of excitement to the occasion and no doubt numerous tweets and instagram pics of us all shouting "I'm on FROW" I was so busy settling into my front row seat that I forget to take a picture of it so thanks to Intu Metro Centre for this Picture. ( you can find out more on  about what's on the seats later ;)

Once we were all seated we were introduced to out compere for the evening,  BBC Radio Newcastle presenter, and all round fashionista Anna Foster, who was bedecked in a new Spring Summer skirt courtesy of Top Shop and a cute biker jacket and top combo courtesy of House Of Fraser. After a short chat in which she praised the influence of blogging and You Tube, we had a general introduction to the event and found out a little bit more about the work of Centrepoint. 

Following on from the success of their empty shop campaign last year (read my post here) Intu Metro Centre have teamed up again with Centrepoint, which is the leading charity for homeless young people in the UK, for The Big Intu Clothes Drop Campaign. All you need to do is head down to Intu Metro Centre before 29th March and donate your own, pre loved items - a perfect opportunity to have a clear out and to help someone less fortunate at the same time x

Next on stage was Intu Metro Centre Stylist Michaela Dale. Michaela is one of the centres stylists and a member of their personal shopping  and style team. If your in a style rut, you want to integrate colour into your wardrobe or you're shopping for a special event or occasion then you can book either a one on one session with Michaela or one of the team for £15 an hour. or if there are several of you, you can sign up for a group session with champagne and nibbles. I think this a great idea, they are completely impartial and you have every single store in the centre at your disposal.

After a small interval for wine and macarons in my case, it was time for the main event, the fashion show, involving several of the centres most fashionable stores, showcasing some of their spring and summer collections. Both watching and photographing a live catwalk show is really new to me, but all I'll say is I have a renewed respect for professional photographers - this is not an easy task and I think it requires a bit of practise.

First to the catwalk was Superdry, Superdry took over the old Primark store, in Red Mall, and they are well known for their sporty, casual male and female fashions. As you would expect there was lots of bright colours and casual looks, but I have to admit I was surprised by the pretty, Lace Meadow Skirt that you can see on the model on the right. Very girly, and perfect for summer and smarter occasions but styled here in quite a casual way, that would be perfect for a festival .

Next up was Top Shop and Top Man, this is probably the worst picture in this post but I couldn't not include it. Despite the colour theme of the event, they show cased a lot of mono chromes and muted tones. The models outfit on the far left was probably one of my favourites of the night, The cropped top, jacket, and heels were in such a contrast to the almost utilitarian khaki joggers. Although I can't get into a Top Shop, size 16 at the moment I'm very, very tempted to buy these and try to slim into them!

French Connection were the next store to showcase, and although I know longer fall into their size range I love browsing in their concessions and in their Red Mall store. This was probably my favourite presentation of the night. Patterned trousers again are a big look and I loved the pleats, and the vibrant turquoise shades, perfect for when you have a tan. It was a hard choice but the Isla Rippled Flare Dress below was probably my favourite item, and I love how is was styled and how it looked on the model.

One of the biggest department stores in Intu Metro Centre is House Of Fraser. With lots of different brands to choose from and concessions under the one roof, it must have been hard to choose just four outfits to showcase the entire stores Spring / Summer offerings but I think they managed it. The coloured shirt trend is here to stay and bright colours, and clashing prints are as strong as ever in 2015. My highlight though had to be the black, v back embellished BIBA dress. This looked even more stunning in real life, and it goes up to a size 20, if only I had an occasion to wear it and a spare £135.

Another one of the Metro Centre's more designer lead stores is Tessuti, selling brands ranging from Ted Baker, to Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood and Armani. They showcased a range of smart casual menswear, and some show stopping dress including animal and floral prints, and tassel's

From designer to high street and the next presentation was courtesy of Warehouse. Black never goes away and nowadays its perfectly acceptable to wear black in the summer. The split leg and side jumpsuit was fabulous, and again I love the bright colours and pleats but my highlight was the floral jacquard dress that you can see below. Perfect for a wedding or any special occasion this is another dress that looks better in the flesh.

The final presentation of the night came from high street favourite, River Island. Colour was largely absent again as monochromes and khakis dominated. My highlight here was definitely the khaki jumpsuit,  and the jumpsuit is one trend that I intend to embrace this year

After a model finale, some competition winners and a few rounds of applause it was all over, and it was time, to pick up our goodie bags and head on our way. On our seats like in all good fashion shows was a goodie bag full of fabulous samples, courtesy of House Of Fraser, including some Clinique and Decleor items that I will be reviewing for you as well as some Dior, Molton Brown, and Guerlain.

Also on our seats was a lovely, specially commissioned notebook, and a pencil courtesy of notepds, which featured the bloggers mantra "Eat Shop Blog"

As well as these lovely goodies we also received another canvas goodie bag from Intu Metro Centre and some of the other event sponsors including Hello Fashion.

This lovely bag contained some more lovely samples, and lots of promotional material, pens, a nail polish and nail files, as well as the latest issue of Hello Fashion.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in the event for the invitation, I had a really fun evening and it was nice to feel a bit like a VIP or VIB. If you're in the Metro Centre this weekend, Intu Metro Centre Fashion Live 15 runs until Sunday 29th March, so head to towns square, to take some selfies for a chance with a £500 prize (see my grumpy attempt above) , to donate to Centrepoint  and of course to have your own FROW experience and see how you can let your true colours shine by visiting one of the 4 fashions shows on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. 

My one regret was that the catwalk show didn't include any plus size models or anyone as chubby as me but never mind after my fashion overload I'm certainly feeling a little bit more inspired so who knows maybe some more fashion posts and some OOTD's will be in the offing soon x  Are you a fashion fiend? Have you been inspired to wear more colour this season? Leave me a comment and let me know x