From the moment the doors opened at 10am on Saturday 22nd September, thousands of eager visitors passed through the grand entrance hall of Olympia. The great thing is I was there to capture the magical mystery tour for the entirety of the event with my crew for Sky Fitness and Beauty TV, We were filming a TV show called “Expert Beauty” capturing some of the highlights of the event. The 8 hours that I was there each day passed in break-neck whirlwind speed, it’s simply amazing the thousands of people that gather to find out the latest must have, trends, and developments in the wonderful and some times crazy world of beauty.
Some of the great stands I visited and interviewed included ‘All That Jazz’, a newly launched nail polish range that includes 36 gorgeous bespoke colours led by Jazz Smedley, a stunningly attractive 17 year old rising star within the nail industry, Jazz is the daughter of nail royalty Jason and Georgie Smedley Directors of Nail Harmony UK, it seems like creativity and hard work run in the family. ‘All that Jazz’ was simply my most favourite stand of the entire Olympia Beauty Exhibition, it had style, attitude, pulse, energy and great smiles galore, I simply loved it, and judging by the feedback around the stand as I interviewed Jazz on camera, I can see the products were going down a storm.
From controversial teeth whitening stands, to ear waxing demonstrations and laser technology, as you turn each corner of the Olympia Hall, it’s amazing what you will stumble upon, from wobble boards, to facial fuzz eliminators to beauty schools and thinning hair remedies, it’s not difficult to see just how and why in all it’s mind boggling variety the beauty industry generates billions of pounds in the UK.
I liked simple small stands like Life Revolution who presented a ‘no fancy frills, no gimmicks’ skin care product called ‘O Magique’ a product that Jeff Myers it’s distributor in the UK says is so natural that ‘ you can drink it’ (I wouldn’t chance that myself given my dodgy digestive system), but I was impressed by the natural volcanic elements within the product and it’s origin of creation, and not to mention it’s impressive on the spot demo results, For just £20.00 a bottle I can see why it’s very understated appearance at Olympia drew interest, it’s not always about big fancy brand names in bright lights, people are also keen to explore the ‘no frills, no gimmicks’ products and this pleased me immensely.
I met and interviewed some lovely people including TV reality stars Amy Childs and Lauren Goodger, bumped into the lovely model Sophie Anderton, exchanged smile and waves with Peter Andre, and met the energetic yet sophisticated dynamite force that is Eryca Fremantle who drew quite a crowd when demonstrating a makeover for skin of colour with Flori Roberts Cosmetics, a strong (age defying) intelligent woman proudly waving the flag for women of colour at Olympia Beauty.
I am grateful for Jane Iredale for topping up my make up during my filming intervals, those ladies are just fabulous, talented and so patient. I am actually grateful to ALL the Olympia Beauty staff, exhibitors and visitors this year for making my presence at Olympia an extremely entertaining one, filled with some fabulously hilarious moments, and some interesting and engaging moments of interest, I was educated, enlighted, certainly pampered and spoilt and made to feel very ‘at home’ by every person I encountered.
It’s a fabulous event, organised with great efficiency from the wonderfully talented Mr Ian Archbold who manages to stay unruffled and calm no matter how challenging the scenario is, to the press office team who bend over backwards to help bloggers, journalists and visitors.
I am looking forward to sharing the journey of Olympia Beauty with “Expert Beauty’ a 30 minute TV show filmed live! just incase you missed such a fantastic and unforgettable key beauty industry event. “Expert Beauty” airs on Friday 11th October on Sky Fitness and Beauty TV at 7pm.
