ADL Beauty Conference 2012!

Hi guys! It's been two weeks since my last post and I apologise for not blogging last week! But I have a reason (well you could see it as an excuse haha) - last Saturday on the 1st of September, I attended the annual Adelaide Beauty Bloggers Conference (shortened as 'ABC'). For those who have been my blog readers since mid last year, you may remember my post about last year's ABC which was the first one ever! You can check out my post on last year's ABC here, though unfortunately my pictures are missing due to my stuuuupid deletion (long story short, Picasa album aka ALL of my blog pictures were synced to my phone... and I accidentally deleted it. FML) but my vlog is still there, hehe.

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

Can you spot me ^^?

We had more attendees this year than last year, which means that the amount of beauty bloggers in Adelaide is increasing! Since I am a shy, reserved person, I do prefer smaller groups over larger ones but hey, that's just me :) Though I do like meeting new people~

The event didn't start so smoothly for me - I ended up coming in late by around 5-10 minutes so I missed a lot of the introduction :( I regret relying on public transport on a Saturday! I awkwardly walked in and I'm sure everyone looked at me haha. If I was the type of person who craved attention, I would have loved this! But no, I am the complete opposite and at that very moment I wanted to hide!

 While waiting for the bus and listening to music

 Went for a dark pink NOTD (Essie) with glitter nail polish on top to represent my girly-ness

Yay we all got these cute name necklaces to wear :3

I don't really want to go into detail about what I wore (if you want to know any specifics, feel free to ask!) but my whole outfit was pretty much all from ASOS haha. Things that I had in my wardrobe but didn't have the chance to wear yet.

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

 I didn't get the chance to take an individual photo against this awesome backdrop as I arrived late T_T I also wasn't able to introduce myself to all of the new faces at ABC! But I have followed everyone on Twitter so I can get to know you guys and keep in touch :D

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

This year's ABC was hosted at Media Makeup Academy - a makeup school which holds courses and are trained to become makeup artists. It was really nice and spacious inside - I actually had trouble knowing where the entrance was as it's situated in the food court xD I had to do an emergency tweet to Steph who then guided me to the entrance. Coming in late was already bad enough!!

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

Noms from our catering sponsors Cupcake Treats and Zed'z Cafe!

During break time I had the opportunity to meet Kathy who I had actually spoken to online a few times before and have mutual blogging friends with her :) Here is a photo that Sherry snapped while we were enjoying our cake pops (made by Monnie of Cupcake Treats) ^_^

I only had one but it was super yummy!

We had presentations from Evo and The Purist Company who were two of our major sponsors for this event:

Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

Afterwards we played the 'beauty games' which I was initially rather worried about because in the programme guide where it said The Beauty Games, this was written underneath:

'Think they had it tough in the Hunger Games? Think again.'

I didn't think that anything would be more tough than the Hunger Games :S But phew, these beauty games weren't actually that bad... though I didn't win anything xD I could say that I performed poorly in the games!

 Credit: Monique @ Adelaide Beauty Conference

 

I just had  to chuck in a candid shot of me lol'ing. Not attractive but who cares, this is gold hahaha!

This was during the Australian beauty/skincare brands pictionary game

ABC ended with a bloggers panel about the big question behind why one blogs: whether it's for fun, for money or possibly for both. The speakers raised some very interesting points and their words have given me some blogging inspiration.

Guest speakers (L-R): Melissa, Celeste (ABC main host and founder!) and Christina

At the very end of ABC we were given our goodie bags which were generously filled with products from proudly Australian-brand sponsors! Thank you all so much *_*

 As I was about to walk out of Media Makeup - I brought eco bags to put everything in

I almost forgot to take this out with me haha

Credit: Kate @ Seduced by Beauty

Hopefully I'll get the chance to review at least a few of these products :)

Well I already had the KUU Konjac Sponge! I reviewed them here

Thank you Media Makeup for having us, it was definitely the perfect place to have ABC!

And of course a MASSIVE thank you to the amazingly awesome committee who worked so hard to make ABC 2012 possible - Celeste, Stacey, Steph and Sherry ♥ !!

The day technically wasn't over yet as there was an after-event dinner sponsored by Crust Gourmet pizza! Yay for yummy pizzas!

But before that we had time to go for a coffee break. I carpooled with Kate (her spacious car was perfect to fit us and our goodie bags!), Kitty, Saku and Sarah and we had Cibo.

My hot chocolate and caramel macaron P:

I didn't know that we were going to be eating outside~ So glad that I wore my woolen tights to keep my legs warm in the evening :)

Looking at these pictures makes me crave gourmet pizza again *drools*

Not only did we eat and chat but we also took photos, courtesy of our photobooth provided by Yelp Adelaide! I brought my polaroid camera with me but completely forgot about taking pictures! Luckily we had this photobooth and photographer to snap some lovely photos of us :D

The wonderful Sarah and I! (Doesn't she look just like the ABC mascot?!?)

Also I can't believe how mature I look in this picture :O

Aww my girl Saku and I! Her dress was stunning by the way

Bunny and Princess ^3^

Me with Saku, Kitty, Sarah, Shai and Christina

So as you can probably tell, it was a very fun-filled, jam-packed day and I enjoyed every minute of it! My thanks goes out to everyone - not just the sponsors but also to everyone who attended. Looking forward to seeing many of you again at future blogger meetups.

Can you believe that I would not have known any of these girls if I hadn't started beauty blogging?? It fascinates me when I think about how a hobby like blogging has made a huge impact on my life. You never know where your interests may take you and who you may meet! There is honestly no way that I could have bumped into or met them any other way besides through blogging - something that we're all passionate about :D And my city is considered small but I really don't think it's thaaaat small :P

My questjen of the week, especially for the many bloggers and readers whom I hope to meet one day:

How has blogging impacted your life?

Has it helped you to discover new things about yourself? Have you made new friends/met up with them?

I would love to know your answers!

 ♥ Jen xx