Be a Diva, Love Diva (My First-ever Styling/Blogging Workshop)

I can now officially call myself a blogger! Why? Because I have attended my first-ever blogger’s event! Yay me! Before writing about the event, let me first tell you how it all happened.(READ: EXTREMELY WORDY)

I, a newbie blogger, had nothing. No knowledge on blogging, web designing, photo editing, no contacts, no network... nothing. But due to my newfound love for make-up and beautyblogging (which was sparked by reading beautyblogs), I still pursued it. I even thought to myself, why only now? Why only now that I am on my last semester of college did I discover my passion and what drives me to do my best? I have been warned by a friend that growth in blogging (especially blogspot) is rather slow than if I blog in tumblr or vlog on youtube which are the ‘in’terfaces to go for. I wanted to write (I used to write stories and poetry), I wanted to share my thoughts... and I think blogspot was the only way for me to go. Even if I only have 17 followers as of this writing, (shoutouts to you Lovely People! :D), I am not discouraged. As with what I have read in other blogs, a beautyblogger gets to go to events and establish new relationships. For me, I already have established relationships with these 17 people as they get to read my thoughts and what I have to say. And with me attending my first blogging event, I can say that, indeed,  I AM A BLOGGER. I can say this thanks to Love Diva (check out their facebook page here)

grabbed from their facebook page, I hope they don't mind ^_^

(picture heavy)

Okaaaay, that last paragraph went to a totally different direction than I thought it would lead to. Anyhoo, I got into the event because of Ms. Sarah Tirona of fashioneggplant.blogspot.com. She held a contest wherein two readers of hers could join the styling/blogging workshop sponsored by LoveDiva, a company who sells accessories for the youth. We were made to write a post about it and you can read mine here. I’m actually not proud of that post, but I got so excited (not that it’s an excuse) with the contest that I typed away, not bothering to research about the brand, nor at least upload an image to go with the post. Luckily, I was one of the winners (the other one was a schoolmate of mine, Christina Fermin of kittyisafairy.blogspot.com) and upon reading Ms. Sarah’s email indicating that I won, I got all giddy and excited!

I also thought of what to wear but until the day of the event, I hadn’t thought of a look. Boo hoo. It’s a good thing Mum suggested the outfit which I was supposed to wear to my brother’s birthday celebration but did not, so in an instant, I had something to wear, and it was perfect! (For me, at least :P)

Now on to the event (Finally! Hahaha). As I have said, the styling/blogging workshop was sponsored by Love Diva, which just opened its first store in the Philippines. The workshop was held inside its newly opened store in Alabang Town Center last November 7 (technically, it wasn’t open yet as customers weren’t allowed to enter). For those who want to visit (and buy), its located in front of Accessorize.

I arrived a bit early (I arrived 3:30pm and the event was scheduled to start at 4pm), but didn’t enter even if they let the bloggers in already because I was waiting for Christina to arrive so we could sit together. She came, we chose our seats (we were left with few choices though), took pictures, and chatted a little. The store was a little too small to hold a workshop in, and it was really hot (I guess because we were so many in there) but later, I didn’t notice how hot it was because I was enjoying myself.

The event started by introducing ourselves one by one as we didn’t know each other. Participants were the famous bloggers, our big sister for the day, who made it possible for us to attend the workshop, and us, blogger-readers. I noticed though that a number of the bloggers, famous or not, knew each other already. Some I follow, so they were familiar to me and I knew that they’ve met already, but some were totally new faces to me and they were also friends with those I follow. Even the readers of the famous bloggers were talking with each other and it got me thinking if they really knew each other, or if they just met now and are trying to get to know each other. Then it hit me that going to events like these gives us the chance to establish new relationships and new contacts. I was an outgoing and friendly person, but being with the same people in college for 5 years, I got so used to them that I now have problems meeting and warming up to new people. So during the course of the whole event, I kept to myself, to Christina and Ms. Sarah (who came with her cute daughter Nikola).

Melai of styleandsoul.blogspot.com

Ava of  artsyfartsyava.blogspot.com

Angel of wonderwomanrises.blogspot.com

Tracy Ayson of tracyayson.tumblr.com

Cheyser of thewalkingrecessionista.com

Tin Iglesias of tiniglesias.com

Sarah and daughter, Nikola

Me and Christina

A little bit later, the Diva Team, as they call it, handed out bottles of Nestea and cute sugar cookies (one of my favourite snacks! :D).

Love Diva’s Marketing Manager, Ms. Jane, gave a brief background of the company. She explained that each rack represents one collection like In the Navy, Heart of Gold, New York Fall to name a few. She also stated that all accessories were hypoallergenic and mentioned that tarnished accessories may be prevented by polish cloth, which is also carried by Love Diva.

Ms. Jane of Love Diva

As an icebreaker, a game was held. As soon as Ms. Melai announced that the game was “Bring Me...” I opened my bag and my make-up kit for easy pull-outs, in case I had the item. However, the game wasn’t the traditional “Bring Me...” as the statements were “Anyone with... a pink shirt?”, “Anyone wearing... pink lipstick?” It was fun though I didn’t win.

Soon after, the workshop began. Ms. Kookie of deathbyplatforms.blogspot.com, who I must say rocked her outfit, gave the blogging workshop. Her speech was rather simple and unscripted, parang nakikipagkwentuhan lang. It was very light and entertaining, with her throwing jokes all the time. She stressed that blogging is “one’s personal space” and we are free to write what we feel and what we think. However, we should keep in mind that while our blog is our own personal space, we should “think of our readers” and “consider what they like to read about”. She also said that we should be ourselves because we don’t have to impress anyone. She says that the feelings we put in our writing will be felt by our readers, and they can detect whether a blogger is pretending or not. She also mentioned different interfaces like blogspot and chictopia.

The next speaker was Ms. Melai of styleandsoul.blogspot.com (who, incidentally, was also the host of the event), and she talked about blogging opportunities. She was a working student (studied in UP) to support her studies and her siblings. She said she “tried everything, like working in a callcenter”. She spoke of it in a very composed stature, with a smile, as if everyone goes through the same kind of hardship, which impressed me very much. She even shared a little personal secret: her first blog was very sentimental and “emo”, even the blogname itself was “emo” (I found it poetic though) to begin with. I won’t mention the blogname as it’s a secret :D

She said that in blogging, you could establish contacts and networks, meaning potential clients. Online shops work hand in hand with bloggers, and it would be really beneficial if the owner of an online shop was a blogger, or vice versa. I agree with this as I noticed that famous bloggers with 500+ followers are sponsored by online shops and many people comment and inquire about the products used/reviewed by the blogger. It really is an effective marketing tool. I myself get enticed to buy because of some posts that I have read. It may also work as marketing your skills, even if you don’t intend to. For example: a fashion blogger posts her OOTDs, and a reader may hire that blogger as a stylist for her wedding because she likes the blogger’s personal style. Ms. Melai herself, who dreams of being a host, now hosts events like this which wasn’t a purpose of her blogging. And of course, the easiest way to profit from blogging, advertisements! From google ads alone, or nuffnag, ”a blogger may earn thousands” already. She states as an example chuvaness.com which “earns around Php60,000 a month” just from ad clicks.

The last speakers tackled styling. They were Ms. Tracy, who worked at Summit Media, and Ms. Tin, a UP fashion student and a freelance stylist. They dished out styling tips applicable to every fashionista. I jotted down keywords but I’m not sure if I got it all and if I remember it in the correct context.

• Mix and Match!
• Fit is really important.Know what suits you and your body type.
• Not all trends should be followed. Again, it should suit you and your body type.
• Confidence is the key!
• Wearing a plain outfit? Accessorize!
• Repeat outfits! One piece could be worn as a top, a skirt, a dress... be creative.

They also stated basic wardrobe must-haves:

• Right jeans (I read somewhere that the cut every female specie should have is the straight cut)
• White button down top
• Black blazer
• little black dress
• black pumps
• neutral colors

Couldn't get a decent shot at this time because this girl was taking pictures nonstop, so I just toyed with it and used the situation to my advantage ^_^

When asked of what their favourite style is, Ms. Tracy answered classic pieces and Ms. Tin, animal prints, sheer, and neutrals.

As part of the styling workshop, the readers (including me) were tasked to style our big sister using the accessories of Love Diva. Oh what fun! Actually, this activity was announced at the start of the programme and Christina and I were already eyeing the pieces we would want Ms. Sarah to wear. So when the activity began, we knew the main pieces we were going to get. When we successfully squished our way through the main items, we thought of pieces to add. Since Ms. Sarah was wearing a cream loose top, snake-skinned belt, and an olive green maxi skirt, all accessories were gold, cream, and green. We got her the following accessories:

• a long gold snake necklace
• a gold chain necklace to add accents without overpowering the snake necklace which was our main piece
• shade of cream bangles, which included a chunky one with snakeskin print
• a green gartered peacock feather-imprinted bracelet
• a gold snake bracelet, which looked like part of a set with the necklace
• a chunky gold ring
• a gold snake ring, which also looked like part of a set together with the necklace and bracelet
• simple gold hook earrings
• for her headpiece, a green snakeskin printed headband which was worn as a turban, to add spunk to the rather elegant look.

Our big sister, Ms. Sarah was an excellent model, by the way, and she wore clothes with no print so it was really easy for us to style her. She was simply beautiful and it was a breeze to adorn her with such beautiful Love Diva accessories.

After the styling, it was judgment time. Each big sister was called one by one, together with their little sisters, to model the look while the little sisters explained the style. For our team, Christina did the talking and I was just beside her to fill up lost words. We didn’t win, but the experience itself made me feel like I won! Cliche but true. I like playing dress up and I love styling my real-life little sister, so I really enjoyed, especially because I had the privilege to use the accessories of Love Diva!

I wasn't able to take a decent picture of the group who won but it was the one with a boho-chick theme :)

After all the presentations, Ms. Melai announced that she would hand out our certificates which were equivalent to (drum roll please) gift certificates worth Php1,000! Lucky us! The GC was available only that day so everyone scrambled to the displays and picked their pieces. The prices in the price tags were in another currency but unlike other stores, there were Peso equivalents on the rack, so I was able to easily identify how much the items actually were. For someone like me, the prices are quite expensive but cheaper than other stores of the same niche. However, I wouldn’t mind saving up for one of their pieces... Or two... Or three. ^_^

Here are some of Love Diva's exquisite pieces:

I really had a difficult time as there was a lot to choose from. And I mean, A LOT! So many pretty pieces, oh if I could just take home everything! I was thinking whether to get flamboyant pieces to wear during special occasions or during events like this (yes, I want to attend another one soon!) or simple but pretty pieces suitable for everyday use. In the end, I got a classic silver ring, with a peach pearl as the main attraction, with supporting crystals at the side, and crystal-studded ribbon earrings. The ring I gave to my mom, and the earrings to my little sister. Of course, I’d borrow these pretty babies all the time. ^_^

And oh, while we were searching for our pieces to take home, it was announced that after getting our pieces, we shouldn’t go yet, as we all were going to have dinner at Cyma! Amazing, right? We got to attend a workshop from highly-qualified speakers, styled our favourite blogger using Love Diva pieces, took home accessories of our choice worth Php1,000, and have dinner with our co-bloggers! Now this is the best first blogger event experience anyone could have!

Sadly, it was already late (the event was supposed to end at 6pm but got extended) so Christina and I had to skip the dinner part. We weren’t even able to say thank you and goodbye to Ms. Jane, Ms. Ayet, and everyone as we were in a rush, and everyone was so busy talking and bonding with each other (Add the fact that we were really shy to approach everyone ^_^;). I know that it was improper, and I’m so sorry that I couldn’t muster enough courage to approach and thank everyone for the wonderful experience that makes me feel like a full-pledged blogger! From the deep depths of my heart, I’m really sorry! At my next blogger event (I hope I get to attend again), I’ll do my best to put my walls down, and step out of my shell and get to know other people. Be kind to me, please? :D

I’d like to thank Ms. Sarah for giving me this amazing opportunity to experience my first blogging event. It couldn’t be more wonderful. Thank you to all the speakers who gave insights and shared their experiences. I’d also like to thank Christina, who was my buddy during the event and all the bloggers who completed the experience. Also, my utmost gratitude to Ms. Jane, Ms. Ayet, and the dream team for giving bloggers like me the chance to explore their products first before everyone else does, thank you for sponsoring this event.

All in all, the experience was priceless. Can’t wait for my next event! :D

Cerftified Diva!