MISSGUIDED AW14 PREVIEW | BLOGGER EVENT

Recently, Missguided exclusively previewed their AW14 collection to bloggers...

A few weeks ago, I was invited to the Missguided AW14 blogger's preview event in London. I'm a huge Missguided lover, not only do they champion fashion in my favourite Northern city, Manchester, but are amazing for their on-trend, low-cost pieces. I took along my fave London PR gal, Lizzie, and we headed over to Soho to get a glimpse of the A/W range. 

I'm not big on summer dressing, and although I crave the sun as soon as it goes away, nothing gets me more excited than A/W fashion. Hand me a fur coat and chunky boots over sandals and crop tops any day. I just find it far easier to dress for the colder months and fashion just seems to get darker and more exciting with A/W collections.

Over the years, Missguided have gone from your slightly average online store to on-trend powerhouse. They just seem to keep getting better and better, and let me tell you, their new clothing is something to get seriously excited about. Signature of Missguided, there were plenty of pastel pieces - candy fur coats (that are definitely going up in quality), cute prints and everyone in the room was swooning over the pink fluffy strappy sandals. 

But it was the other side of the room that really got my heart racing. Shaggy fur gilets, bohemian prints and colourful co-ords - I was in love. After a few hours swooning over the pieces and chatting with lots of lovely bloggers, Lizzie, Olivia, Paige, Abbie and I finished off the evening with a few JD's. It was a great event and I definitely will be keeping my eye out for the blue high-neck co-ord pictured, it'd be perfect for LFW! Thank you Missguided for inviting me but not so much for the dent you will soon be making to my bank balance. 

 Have you got your eye on any of these pieces? Are you a fan of Missguided?

 Lydia Rose, 

xoxo

COMPANY STYLE BLOGGER AWARDS & WINNING BEST PERSONAL STYLE BLOG (NEWCOMER)

Dress - Missguided* | Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell Soirees | Clutch - Brooklyn Thrift Shop Find

On Wednesday I set off for London for the event we've all been counting down the days to, the Company Magazine Style Blogger Awards. I'm sure most of you know by now that I am a huge fan of Company. It's been my favourite magazine for years and I really admire what they stand for. It was such an honour to be shortlisted and I was really quite overwhelmed to have reached the top ten in my category. I went with absolutely no expectations and if I'm telling you the truth, it never even crossed my mind that I might actually win. I know that sounds ridiculous as I was there with the purpose of having been shortlisted. But really. My arms were full, my concentration wasn't even 100%, and I was feeling a little bit sorry for the people who were going to have to hike up the stairs in their sky high heels. So when my name was read out and blog came up on that huge screen, I was in shock for a good 3 seconds too long. I think I would've carried on standing there with my mouth open if it wasn't for the lovely Stylingo girls who more or less had to take everything out of my arms and shove me up on the stage. 

It really is such an overwhelming feeling to be recognised for such a huge award and I spent most of the night walking around the event feeling like I was having an out of body experience. I've never won much besides an Easter egg decorating competition so this was a totally new feeling for me! I remember reading Company's Twitter feed last year as the winners were announced and feeling so excited and happy for my favourite bloggers. I never imagined that in under 12 months I would be the one winning. It's so amazing to think that so many of you out there took the time to vote for my little blog and I really can't thank you all enough. My phone was blowing up with messages and new followers (thanks for the shoutout, Company ;)) and I was so overwhelmed by your support - it reminded me how incredible it is to be a part of this community of such inspiring and supportive girls.

So now that all of the gushing is out of the way, let's get onto the event.  I got ready in my lovely hotel room in Covent Garden which the Travelodge kindly provided as part of their #GetUpAndGo campaign. Travelodges are always my go to for accommodation as they are much more reasonably priced than other hotels. I would definitely stay there again! It was a lovely spacious room, comfy bed and everything you'd expect from a Travelodge, so thank you so much to them for the stay. My dress was sent to me by Missguided which I loved and I paired it with my Jeffrey Campbell Soirees and clutch that I found in a thirft store in Brooklyn. I met up with my blogging friends Lauren and Claire from Stylingo who I already knew as we went out for dinner a few weeks back, along with some new faces, Leanne, Hannah, Megan, Charlotte, Abbie and Atoosa. We had a few drinks at the Queen of Hoxton on the rooftop bar (cue foundation slowly melting off my face) before grabbing a taxi to the Oval Space. It was a lovely, chilled out event with an outdoor BBQ, ice cream and lots of cocktails. Inside there was lots going on, a Missguided festival fashion section, Lee Stafford doing hair and a nail bar. 

Winning this award has really motivated me to be the best I can be and to keep improving my blog. I've barely been doing this for 10 months, and being 19, I still feel like I haven't even completely figured blogging out just yet. There's nothing like a trophy on your desk to kick you into producing the best content. I've been a little bit absent the past month with my exams but I have a lot of posts scheduled for July which I've been working hard on in the past week to make sure I have content going up throughout my internship at Company. With my 50mm lens and being in London I feel like there's nothing holding my back for some awesome outfit posts, too, so stay tuned for those! 

So, THANK YOU ALL (for the millionth time), and Missguided and Company for organising such an incredible evening! 

Lydia Rose,

xoxo

BENEFIT THEY'RE REAL PUSH UP LINER LAUNCH & EVENT

On Monday I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of Benefit's latest release, the 'They're Real' Push-Up Liner...



Getting to work with Benefit on my blog is something I feel incredibly privileged to be apart of. They put so much effort into their blogger packages and it is so amazing to be one of the first to hear about and try their latest products. As this was my first blogging event, I was feeling a little bit nervous and unsure of what to expect. I met up with the lovely Abi and we took on the task of tracking down the venue together in Leicester Square. You couldn't miss the venue which was a pink crime scene, complete with a pink banner and pink security tape.


We had our mug shots taken and were then served by prison guards with cocktails, fruit salads and muffins. The venue was like a huge cell with metal tables ready for bloggers to take their seats and watch the presentation.

It was fascinating to listen to one of Benefit's leading ladies take us through the 'Evolution of Eyeliner'. Not only that, but we were given insight into what exactly goes in the branding, testing and design of a product. Benefit have had this liner in the making for 5 years and you can definitely see why, given the innovation behind this product. A gel liner in a pen with the perfect tip to apply it... Benefit are the first to do it, and it's definitely something to be excited about. We were shown interviews from the Elle team who had received an unbranded version of the liner, tested it out, and confirmed it was one of the best that they'd used. It got us pretty excited! Lisa Benefit and her Benebabe in-mates then rushed out to tell us how to apply it, before we got to test it out for ourselves.

[Photo from Em Sheldon's blog]
We were handed these amazing goodie bags stocked with the 'They're Real' range, including the new eye-make up remover. Benefit had been so generous! Just as you'd expect from a room full of beauty bloggers, we got stuck into testing out the new liner straight away. As you can see, I set out to achieve the perfect cat eye, but let's say eyeliner isn't my forte...

Here's some close up photos of the liner which will be available to buy on June 28th. As you can see from the angled tip, it's designed to allow you to get as close to the lash line as possible, making your eyes look huge! I don't want to say too much about it though as a full review will be on my blog soon.

 Are you excited for this release? 

Lydia Rose,

xoxo

ps. "Lydia Rose XO" has been shortlisted in the Company Style Blogger Awards under the Best Personal Style Newcomer category. Click here to vote- it would mean the world! (You can skip the categories through to the end if you like to and then will be asked to enter your e-mail at the end). 

I would also love for you to nominate me for Cosmopolitan's Best Newcomer 

I am also currently running a giveaway to win a Benefit Gift Set