You may remember, many moons ago, that I mentioned I was going to the Jacques Townhouse and that I would blog about it in the following days. Well, the days which followed turned out to be impossible blogging days for these reasons; firstly, my laptop got a killer virus that was so clever and so evil that whenever it realised I was running a virus scan it actually made the laptop automatically shut down. I shit you not. I eventually managed to beat the bastard, but it did prevent me from blogging for a few days. Then I went on holiday to Herefordshire, where they don't have t'Internet apparently and that prolonged the non-bloggingness even more. So here is my much belated post on the Jacques Townhouse, which was lovely and fun and glamourous.
If you've not heard of it, Jacques is a brand of fruit cider that is specifically marketed towards women. The Jacques Townhouse is basically a big townhouse where you can go (for free) and drink Jacques and eat cakes and look at lots of pretty things and get made over and play dress up. Fun fun fun. It was initially set up last Summer in London but this year they very sensibly added a second Townhouse in glorious Liverpool. I went along with my friend Nicole, neither of us really knowing what to expect as the description on the Jacques Facebook page was quite vague; it mentioned make overs and photoshoots but apart from that it all seemed a bit mysterious. I was intrigued...
Now, if I was a good blogger, I'd have taken my camera along with me, because that's what bloggers do isn't it? They go to events and they snap away and then post lots of pretty pictures for all to see. Sadly, I got to the bus stop and realised I'd left my camera at home and really couldn't be bothered to go back, so that was the end of that really. Fortunately, the Jacques Facebook page is absolutely full of photos, so I thought I'd nick borrow a few to give you an idea of what it was like inside. (if you had gotten to this point in the post and assumed that I'd taken these photos, God bless you, but I am RUBBISH at photography...)
It's hard to fully describe what the Townhouse was like inside; Nicole and I went in and were lead to the reception area, where we were greeted by lots of very attractive maids and butlers and a very excitable man named Mr Flowers who just kept telling us how beautiful we were and how much he liked our shoes/outfits/jewellery. It was pretty good for the confidence! We were then each given a 'key to the bar' (which entitled us to two free drinks, sadly not the whole bar) and were told what we could do in the Tonwhouse, which included, cupcake decorating, games in the 'Enchanted Garden', makeovers in the Beauty Parlour and a mini photo shoot in the Photo Studio.
Myself and Nicole chilling in the Enchanted Garden
We managed to get around most of the rooms - we decorated (then ate) cupcakes, chilled in the garden, had mini makeovers and then went and had a photo shoot (which included wigs and props).
In the Beauty Parlour, you had the option of getting your hair, makeup, lashes or nails done, or you could have a massage. They had absolutely TONS of Models Own products so I was a bit overexcited, however I evenutally opted to get my hair done, as I very rarely wear my hair in an updo and wanted to get some tips on how to do it. This did mean, however, that I couldn't try on any of the wigs or hats in the Photo Studio. Gutted! Nicole looked lovely with a red bob though!
It was such a fun way to spend an afternoon and my only real criticism was that it was slightly overcrowded and too short. When we first went into the Townhouse we spent a good few minutes going from room to room, attempting to get in but with no luck as they were all too full. We eventually settled on sitting out in the garden for a bit, then went back into the house a little while later, which was fine, but a bit frustrating! Also, there was loads to do but limited time; you were only allowed in for an hour-and-a-half-long session and then you had to leave, to allow the organisers to set up for the next batch of people. This meant that people didn't get time to do all of the activities that were on offer - we weren't able to go into the Wardrobe of Wonders, which was a shame because it was full of gorgeous vintage dresses and I'd have loved to try one on. Hopefully the organisers will have picked up on this so that if they run the event again next year, they'll maybe make the sessions longer and have less people attending each one.
Even so, it was definitely worth a visit and I really like that this is an event that's aimed at the public as so many brands tend to run events solely for celebrities or press. While I understand why that's the case, I do think that Jacques are onto a winner here. If you want to get people interested in your brand, what better way to do it than treat them to some pampering and glamour? It obviously worked as Nicole and I had never tried the drink itself before, but after having two bottles of Jacques at the event (and a third in our goodie bags) we both agreed that it's something we'd drink again on a night out.
Did you get a chance to visit the Jacques Townhouse? What did you think? Would you go again next year?
All photos (apart from the Instagram one of Nicole and I) courtesy of
Jacques.
