I don’t know if it’s just me, but one of the best things about going to the airport is spending an unnecessary amount of time browsing literally EVERYTHING in Duty Free, right?
Whether it’s giant bags of chocolate, ALL the designer perfume or cheaper-than average prices on your favourite makeup – World Duty Free is the best place to spend some time pre-flight.
As a lover of all things makeup and beauty, I was so excited to receive an email inviting to me to an evening of #JetSetBeauty makeovers, treatments and luxury with World Duty Free at Birmingham Airport. Of course, I said yes, and before I knew it I was on my way to Birmingham for the night.
Before the event I decided to meet Sam (Little Fickle) in Birmingham City Centre for a bit of food and some shopping, as we couldn’t get into our hotel rooms until around 5pm. After directing Sam to the station using only a drop pin location, we decided to cut our losses and eat at the Grand Central Nandos, before heading to Tesco to buy what I can only describe as the STRANGEST mix of alcohol and mixer cans.
We were kindly given a room at the Ibis Styles right next to the airport for the night, which meant we could literally walk out of our hotel rooms and into the airport, ready for the event at 7pm. We gave ourselves a few hours to get ready before the event which ended up turning into looking through our amazing goody bags and then sitting on the floor saying how hot we were and how much we needed to get ready, before giving ourselves around 20 minutes to actually get ready.
We met the girls from World Duty Free and the other incredible bloggers in the hotel lobby, before walking over to the airport and going through security with our super cool security passes. Note to self: fast track is literally a god send.
As soon as we got through security we arrived at the World Duty Free store and had a quick briefing from Becky and Ema, before being handed our vouchers for our incredible shopping spree.
Me and Sam decided the best way to tackle our two hours of treatments and shopping would be to try an work our way around all the counters, so we made our way to Chanel first. Of course.
The lovely lady behind the counter showed us the three new scents that had launched, based on three of Coco Chanel’s favourite destinations. My favourite was definitely the scent that was reminiscent of Venice, and I put it on my list of things I *might* come back for later. After Chanel, we made our way to a counter I was most looking forward to – MAC.
I already knew I was on the hunt for a new foundation and after a couple of people suggested studio fix, I wanted to test it out in person. I ended up sitting down and having a patch test, which soon turned into a bit of a full face makeover as I tried pretty much every MAC face product. After my makeover I wanted to see if I could find the first ever MAC lipstick I owned (Snob) and much to everyone’s surprise I managed to pick it our straight away. I guess it’s a talent I never knew I had…
After MAC we decided to just wander around for a bit picking up the bits we wanted (I’m going to do a separate post on what I bought and the goody bag soon!), before ending our evening in World Duty Free at the Jo Malone counter for the most incredible massage treatment.
The last few minutes of shopping were like a crazy supermarket sweep, and possibly my favourite moments from the whole event as we tag teamed the store to get everything we wanted… 😉
After all our shopping we stopped off at the airport Frankie and Bennie’s for a drink and bite to eat, before me Sam and Kirstie (Behind the Scent) went to the hotel bar to drink anything but prosecco. Apparently, they don’t sell it by the glass in Birmingham…
I had such an incredible time at Birmingham World Duty Free and felt so looked after by the World Duty Free team, it’s always amazing when a brand really get what makes a fab event. I can’t wait to share everything I picked up!
Kirsty Leanne
xoxo