Yasmin Ali
Girls’ Day Out is in its second consecutive year at Glasgow’s SECC. Smaller than the Clothes Show Live, but bigger than GLAM in the city, it’s an affordable and enjoyable afternoon out for girlie groups. Attendees looking for cheap thrills of beauty freebies, samples, discounts and pampering were not to be disappointed.
Big brand presence from Boots alongside main sponsor Fake Bake, are providing makeovers with donated proceeds to Macmillan cancer care. There were a good number of independent traders to balance this, including jewellers, beauticians, market traders and even a palmist. One trader who stood out, despite the competition, was dental whitening company Teethwhite, selling dentist-quality home whitening kits from only £25. With bold graphics designed by El Studio, their work outshone the many other similar stands around, and the product is the same as supplied to dentists, but a feasible alternative for the savvy shopper. Also novel, was a local casino card table, complete with croupier to challenge customers against the cards, raising money through donations for Glasgow charity Cash for Kids, and with all winning chips exchanged for chocolate.
Entrants to the fair [full-price £8 Fri/£12weekend, concession rates available] were treated to two tokens for drinks at the bars, plus a goody bag which included full-size products from No7 and a mini MaxFactor make up kit, all included in the ticket price. Glasgow-based booking website 5pm.co.uk recently relaunched their health and beauty section which was able to offer extra gifts and incentives to customers who booked through their service. Many of the show’s exhibitors can be found on the 5pm beauty website. Another perk was the sea of spa stalls with special offers and competitions on show, as well as some with free bookable treatments on the day.
All in all, a good time to be had -whether it is a day out depends on your point of view. Admittedly, I tired after a couple of hours, but their were crowds of girls with longer attention spans who spent most of the day there. Next year, take your mum, sister or best mate and enjoy all the freebies and deals this has to throw at you.
