This Morning Live - A Review

I recently attended This Morning live, we picked to go on the Friday as this was a Holly and Phil day, I really like those two as presenters so we thought we would make the most of it.

When we arrived we were made to enter into a big gated off area to wait while they let people into the event in droves, it was like being cattle. we were really unimpressed by this - it seemed badly organised, I've been to other events at the NEC and this has never been the case. Those with access issues weren't considered in this cattle like situation at all.

When we entered the event it already felt cramped so we tried to head away from some of the crowds. Unfortunately due to the volume of people attending the feeling of being cattle didn't subside. Trying to get around the event was difficult and frustrating to say the least, as someone with an invisible disability I found it really difficult to be boxed in all the time because there was just too many people and not enough space.

Trying to look at and access stalls wasn't very easy, with the volume of people in attendance there wasn't much chance to look at anything really. I heard rave reviews about This Morning Live from last year and that's what made us want to attend, but all around it was a let down for the most part.

Of the promised beauty stalls for the most part I had never heard of the brands which was a disappointment in the first instance then when someone is trying to sell you items with pushy tactics while wearing makeup from the brand that they're selling which had all fallen under their eyes it doesn't give me confidence.

There were a few little gems amongst the slim pickings though:

There was a large Mark Hill stall, which I took advantage of and picked up a goodybag for £20 which was a good price for the amount of products in it. There was also a large Kiehls stall at the event and I tried out a few of their products on my hands after the brilliant reviews I've heard but at over £40 for a tiny bottle of facial oil I just couldn't justify it, maybe one day.

My little goody bag haul

Look Good Feel Better had a small stall on which they were selling little goody bags with a few small luxury products in; this charity has a place in my heart due to family struggles with cancer and I felt compelled to pick up the goody bag. At £5 it was really generous price wise and the bag itself is really lovely. I plan to use it a lot. Last year I purchased Look Good Feel Better makeup brushes in Boots and I haven't looked back, the price of them was great, the quality was wonderful and knowing you're giving money to a cancer charity is always positive.

Buddha Beauty were in attendance with some of their lovely products, my Mom tried out their candle wax on her hand as it has some moisturising properties and it felt really good for the rest of the day. I recently received their facial serum in a brand goody bag and will post a review soon.

Skin Republic had a large stands with face masks of all kinds, hand masks and foot packs too, they were doing a 3 for 2 offer which was really great so I picked up 3 different ones. As you may know I have fibromyalgia, so often I get dark under eye circles from fatigue so I thought the brightening eye masks would come in handy for when I need to try and freshen up a little for a little self love, a bubble purifying mask and a detox and charcoal one for when my skin needs some real TLC. I look forward to trying them all and will let you know how they go.

But other than these gems I was unimpressed by the 'beauty' brands for the most part.

The fashion stalls weren't really the kind that stocked my size range for the most part but Yours Clothing did have a stall, unfortunately they only brought up to 22's with them which left a lot of plus size women with no clothing stall to buy anything from at all - as a shop that stocks up to a 32 I did think this was a bit poor. The stall was also manned by non plus size staff which doesn't match how they operate in store due to wearing their clothes as uniform. This was all a little disappointing to me but I did see a couple of tops I liked, especially the 'sass' one I saw, but to get a comfortable fit in the brand I couldn't buy anything on the day as I'd usually size up in Yours. They did bring this great body positive sign though which I think was a great touch! It's also part of their competition that was running on the day.

As for accessibility, as I have already mentioned the event was incredibly cramped. this made things difficult for many in attendance but especially those of us with disabilities and/or access issues. I had to find a place to sit a couple of times during my attendance but typically for these kinds of things the seating was very limited and mostly only for 'VIP guests' - which is actually incredibly ableist. I can understand the need for the VIP areas but there should have been more general seating as not all people who have additional needs can afford or justify the higher prices and it should be just as accessible for those who can't afford all the 'perks' as being disabled isn't a choice. I really hope that next year they improve on these access issues because I felt really let down by the accessibility.

The food and drink area of the show was quite large and there was lots of different brands. The one brand that caught my eye though was 'Pinot Pinot', they were running an offer for free sunglasses if you follow them on Facebook. We tried a free sample of the drink and it was really refreshing and enjoyable. I look forward to buying some more and enjoying it this Summer - it's perfect for drinking while sitting in the sunshine and with it coming in a can it's really handy to take on a picnic.

Google also had a stall in this area, their donut van was a definite highlight. At the van you had to ask the Google Home Mini a question and then either way you would win a really tasty donut or a Google Home Mini of your own to take home. I would have been happy with a donut too as they looked lovely but both me and my Mom won a device each! We were so excited and the buzz around this stall was great. I do wonder how many Google Home Mini's were won that day. This was definitely the highlight of our day and I'm very thankful to Google for the cheer up as we were feeling a little drained and fed up.

After we had visited a few stalls and had a wonder round (with difficulty) the frustration did take over and we headed over to resort world for food at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and to shop for shoes at Sketchers. The food at Gourmet Burger Kitchen was as always amazing and so tasty. We left feeling very full and happy after the day at This Morning Live being a bit of a flop and having some new shoes each from Sketchers really helped.

Overall I can't rate This Morning Live, I think the event wasn't accessible for those with disabilities as they definitely oversold the tickets which made moving around difficult. The stalls for the most part left something to be desired apart from those I've mentioned above and you couldn't at any point get near to the stages to see the presenters talking or hear them if you were further back because the mic's were pretty quiet. I'ts a real shame as I'd really like to have heard what Gok Wan was saying as I'm a big fan ever since 'How To Look Good Naked' and Holly and Phil are great to watch on This Morning when I'm off work.

My Mom and I really wanted to enjoy the day because we thought it would be a fun day out and great for the blog too but I wouldn't recommend attending when they sell so many tickets that it's just not really enjoyable unless you want to be constantly touching against others who you don't know. Without Resort World I don't think we would have found the whole day worthwhile, I'm really sad that This Morning Live wasn't what we thought it would be and I hope they improve it for next year for the sake of everyone.

Did you go to This Morning Live? What did you think?

Selfies are always a good idea

For the event I wore:

Dress: Boohoo Curve

Necklace: Trippy Kitty
Kimono: George at Asda (last year)

Trainers: Harry Potter at Primark

Leggings: Pep and Co