The #MailboxSessions

Over the weekend The Mailbox hosted the #MailboxSessions following the launch of the new Mailbox which was unveiled on Thursday. I attended a few different events which took place over the weekend, mainly the ones focusing around hair, beauty and style, although the other events looked pretty cool too - especially the food demonstration hosted by Strada which I just caught the end of.

The first event I went to was 'The Art Of Style' hosted by Hannah Almassi, Grazia's fashion editor, Blogger; Bip Ling and Darren Skey, Head of Menswear at Harvey Nichols. This session was all about personal style and the panelists discussed their own style and asked how you develop this style and showcase your individuality through it. Blogger; Bip Ling said she dresses for herself and no one else, she loves colour and patterns and throws on anything that she loves. She is mainly influenced by art and sees fashion and clothes as an art piece, and her outfit that she is wearing, she described as her own personal art. Hannah Almassi talked us through her style icons which included: Marilyn Monroe, Rihanna and Coco Chanel - all on her list for different reasons, either due to a certain era as with Chanel or due to the confidence that Rihanna has. Darren Sky said there's a fine line between being stylish and then looking like you're trying too hard, he thinks London is often a place where people will try to rock every trend and end up looking silly in the process - he prefers to get his inspiration from Copenhagen and LA, and his style icon is David Beckham.

A similar event was 'The Art Of Beauty' but this was more of a demonstration, this session was presented by TV presenter Lucy Kite who invited brands which sell within Harvey Nicholls, such as Cover FX, Natural Bisse and Shavata Brows, to the stage. The staff demonstrated how to use the products from their counter to the best of their ability, we had a masterclass on contouring as well as top tips on aftercare once having your eyebrows threaded. My personal fave was the skincare routine that was shown as i'm so bad when it comes to skincare, it made me really want to try and find a skincare routine which would suit my skin. That was one of the interesting things about Natural Bisse, they wouldn't sell you anything that wouldn't suit or improve your skin - you can go in and talk to them about your needs and about your skin type and they will advise you on the products you should be using - however they are a little on the pricey side, so maybe I will really do my research before investing.

'Styling Secrets with Nicky Clarke' was a hair demonstration with one of the stylists from the salon at The Mailbox, he gave three different hair style tutorials - all on different hair types, which I really liked. Often, people will demonstrate different looks on the same face or hair, whereas that doesn't always help you because your hair is different. The stylist did an up do, on Lucy Kite (who also presented this show), an effortless curl look on fellow Brummie blogger The Ting Thing and a sleek half up, half down look on another Birmingham based blogger Nutella Tasha. He used all Nicky Clarke products to create the looks, and talked through the benefits of using good haircare products. He also gave us top tips on how to keep our hair styled for longer, and how to re-create that salon-look at home.

I also was lucky enough to attend a 'Bloggers chat' with the lovely ladies from Essensuals, the sister company to Toni & Guy. We were shown around the salon by Sally who gave us an overview of Toni&Guy and the history of the salon. We were then introduced to the stylists who talked us through the styles and looks which were rocked at London Fashion Week. Toni & Guy's products 'label.m'  were the official haircare products at London Fashion Week so I trust that the girls know what they're on about. We discussed hair trends at the moment, which is still that bo-ho, festival kind of look, one of these looks I particularly loved was the 'Glam Garland', a Fashion Fix braid which the stylist Harriet demonstrated on one of the gorgeous models. We also discussed colour with the colour expert from the salon, who said it's great when someone comes in who is up for anything!

Thank-you to The Mailbox for a fab weekend! 

Review // Revolution Birmingham

On Wednesday night we went to Revolution to taste the new menu. Revolution is predominantly a bar, a popular bar next to Gatecrasher on Broad Street. Where they do cheap shot deals and gorgeous cocktails, we were excited to try the menu as I've never thought to come here for food before. To drink we had a cocktail each I had a 'Strawberry Woo Woo' and Paige had a 'Long Island Iced Tea', both lovely! 

To start with we both had 'Nachos' and 'Calamari' and just shared them both between us. The nachos were nice although the cheese was a little bit rubbery, but the calamari was gorgeous, both only around £4 so not bad at all. 

For my main I had a 'Blackened Chicken Burger' which came with sweet potato fries and red slaw,  basically a spicy chicken burger. It was quite big with two large pieces of chicken on the burger, however nothing else - no garnish or salad except a tomato and some mayo. The sweet potato fries were delicious and the red slaw also a nice touch. 

Paige decided upon the 'Lobster Ravioli' the waiter did warn us that it was quite a small dish, and suggested she ordered a side as well - however,  she didn't want a side so just had that, it was however very small so I would still suggest a side if you opt for this. Both meals were really nice, and we both enjoyed them. 

For pudding we had a dessert to share, after recommendation from the waiter we went for the 'Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondue' which came with a pot of melted chocolate, some skewer dips and some marshmallows, raspberries and banana, and some weird bread sticks which we didn't really get to be honest, but they were quite nice. 

Thank-you to Revolution for our complimentary night out, I'd definitely say if you're in Revolution then give the new menu a try, or if you fancy some cheap and cheerful food before a night out it's definitely the place! 

Review | Shrek The Musical

Last night I was lucky enough to attend the press night for Shrek The Musicals UK tour at my local theatre which I was so, so happy about as it's on my list of must see musicals. We were invited on a backstage tour before the show started so I have some fun details and pictures for you all, we got to look at how the production team work as well as have a peak inside the wardrobe, hair and make-up (so exciting)!  

The costumes are incredible, so colourful and bright. Obviously as lots of fairytale creatures feature in Shrek there was all of their costumes there too, along with wigs and accessories. Interesting fact: the Shrek cast and crew spray vodka on the wigs as apparently it's the best way of securing it and keeping it all in place... There was so, so many costumes and I can't even begin to imagine how busy the small space at the side of stage must be during the performance due to how many costume changes the actors have to make. The company manager told us they hire in eight local people just to help with costume changes alone! 

We didn't get to see much of the actual character of Shrek as the company manager didn't want to 'spoil the magic' which I'm grateful for because when he walked on stage at the start of the show we were taken back with how brilliant his costume and make-up was - no wonder it takes two and a half hours to complete his make-up alone. His costume is so thick and heavy that during the performance actor Dean Chisnall drinks six litres of water without needing a toilet break as he sweats it all out! 

The actual show was breathtaking, one of the best shows I've seen. I was not expecting the vocals to be of such a standard but they were incredible, totally captivating you with every note. Bronte Barbe who played Princess Fiona and and Candace Furbert, Dragon's voice were especially brilliant.

Donkey played by Idriss Kargbo and Lord Farquaad played by Gerard Carey absolutely stole the show. Lord Farquaad is not a hugely humorous character in the film, however Gerard Carey took his role and went with it - creating a Lord Farquaad you couldn't help but love, he was so witty creating such a funny character and God bless the poor man performing on his knees the whole way through! Donkey too lived up to expectations - one of the iconic characters from Shrek, he definitely did not disappoint the audience at last nights show who were certainly loving his performance. 

And shall we just talk about the dragon for a second? Oh my.. wow. If you've seen War Horse then the way Shrek used Dragon was similar to the horses in the theatre production of War Horse. It was huge, and really made the scenes of rescuing the princess great. As it's so big there is no place to store  it backstage so they have to tie it up and store it from the ceiling.. which is a bit scary when you first walk off stage!

Shrek is such a fun-loving film, a grumpy ogre who has to rescue a princess - whats not to love? And the adaption to a stage performance did not disappoint. It's the kind of musical which can be appreciated by all ages, a real family show. Children will love the fairytale story and the famous characters who appear, but adults will also enjoy the performance just as much, if not more, as they can appreciate the humour. The show creates a real feel-good factor, I guarantee you will leave the theatre smiling. 

Have any of you seen Shrek either at a local theatre or in the West End? What did you think?