The Big Beauty Event, Brightlingsea | Fun Day Out In Essex For Beauty, Wellbeing, And More

Where I live there’s not so much in the way of festivals and days out, so when I was invited to The Big Beauty Event (hosted by Melanie Boulby) at Brightlingsea Community Centre in Essex, I accepted straight away. An afternoon full of beauty, entertainment, and relaxation – who could resist?! I’d also never attended a beauty festival before so I was excited to see what they are all about. Despite only being two hours long, the event promised loads of fun and a great day out not just for beauty enthusiasts but also those attending alongside them.

***This is a sponsored post but all thoughts are my own***

The Treatments

My experience of The Big Beauty Event started off in their treatment room, which featured three types of treatment – manicures with Abbie’s Nails Colchester, reflexology with Heel To Toe, and beauty treatments with Lashes and Beauty by Floss. I went for the manicure – I’m usually not too confident about my nails due to their less than desirable state from gardening and my broken cuticles. Abbie put me at ease immediately, being chatty, vibrant, and full of information. She explained how each part of the process worked so I knew what each product was doing, and she was also really helpful in choosing which gels to go with – I’m the worst when it comes to decision-making!

I was really pleased with the end result of my nails – I went for a gorgeous pink/purple colour with a sparkly pink feature nail. They are glossy and smooth, and Abbie finished the manicure off with some cuticle oil, before recommending products I could use to repair my cuticles. The twenty minutes or so spent with her was really relaxing and I felt lovely and pampered by the end of it!

Whilst I was having my nails done, my sister decided to try out her first reflexology treatment with Heel To Toe. Like Abbie, the practitioner was very friendly and conversational, making sure my sister felt comfortable despite her super ticklish feet. She was able to relax fully, and couldn’t believe how she was able to pick up on her current health issues from her feet, such as her painful knee. She too got a lot out of the experience, feeling pampered and relaxed, and afterwards felt that reflexology was definitely something she’d like to try again.

The Entertainment

I couldn’t quite believe how much entertainment was on offer at The Big Beauty Event, and also how Melanie had managed to fit it all in! The main hall had a stage and musical entertainment was available from the very start of the event – I particularly enjoyed songs from L.A Tones, who were playing at the beginning. Every so often the stage entertainment would change, meaning there was quite a lot of variety and everyone would be able to find something that they loved. Inside you could also access a pretty cool photoshoot experience with Ashoot Photography, which is such a fun idea for friends.

Outside there was even more entertainment – a balloon-tying Spiderman, a burger stall and ice cream van, an Insta selfie opportunity, and a pole fitness demonstration from Vertical Motion Pole Fitness. The decor was so pretty, with pink and purple balloons lining the hedges and hay bales dotted around as seating areas (which looked so much cooler than chairs!).

The main form of outside entertainment I’d been looking forward to was a yoga session with Yoga With Tünde – we did this nearer the end of the day and it was really lovely, with Tünde being a great teacher. She was very knowledgeable and able to connect with and offer positioning advice to her students. The only thing I felt needed changing was the placement of the yoga – the mats were next to the other entertainment (including loud music and lots of people chatting) which took away from the experience, and I felt that putting the yoga in a separate space would have helped make it more relaxing. I couldn’t hear Tünde properly sometimes due to all of the noise which made it harder to unwind, though she did whatever she could to prevent the background from becoming too distracting.

The final form of entertainment we got to watch was a fire show with JOSIE, which was fantastic! She is a very talented dancer with loads of charisma when performing, and we were quite amazed with how she got up close and personal with the flames without burning herself (including putting them in her mouth!). That was a great end to the event for us and I loved how it was something a little bit more unusual.

The Shopping Experience

Like the treatments and entertainment on offer, the shopping part of the event was far from lacking, with a whole host of different stalls available to browse. I ended buying a few bits of make-up from a a stall that sold loads of Avon products (which I love), and also won my new favourite lipstick from the lucky dip. I had a go at the tombola later on in the day and ended up winning five prizes, which I was pretty chuffed about!

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Across the other stalls there were loads of different items on offer, such as clothes, wax melts, holistic services, homemade bags and accessories, and even a great option for kids to make their own pompom headband as part of a workshop. One stall I really enjoyed was from the Cambridge Diet Plan, which had loads of free samples of tasty juice flavourings and health bars. The lemon and yoghurt bar was gorgeous!

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Final Thoughts

The Big Beauty Event was so much fun and both my sister and I came away feeling like it was two hours really well spent. I really enjoyed trying out experiences such as a manicure and the yoga session, and it was great to have a range of stalls that weren’t only interesting, but also mostly affordable. The next event is going to be on Mothers’ Day 2020 and I’m looking forward to it already – definitely a day out to add to the calendar!

You can view my video coverage of the event here on IGTV.

Have you been to a beauty event before? What was your favourite part? If you enjoyed this review then please don’t forget to like, pin, and leave a comment! You’ll also enjoy the following posts:

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