When you live somewhere, you never get round to doing the touristy things that are on offer, which is why yesterday – aged 25 – I went to the zoo for the first time.

I think this was my first time at a zoo ever, in fact. I’ve been to Sigfried and Roy’s Secret Garden, but that doesn’t really count being in the middle of a casino, and having grown up so close the West Midlands Safari Park, there was never any need to go anywhere that involved walking to look at animals.

But on a surprisingly sunny April Sunday, I’ve now established there really is nothing better to do but wander round Regent’s Park debating whether there’s anything cuter than a baby meerkat.*

I took loads of photos, but since I seem to have misplaced my card reader, you can’t see them. Instead, I will leave you with a video from the 1970s Mike Leigh TV play ‘Nuts In May’, with Alison Steadman singing the song I hummed all day while walking round. When you watch it, you’ll understand.

*it turns our there is, it’s called a Prairie Dog, and its bark sounds like a little girl sneezing.

Just before I left Shiny, I was invited to a blogger event hosted by The Body Shop and Headstream. I didn’t get the chance to mention it on Kiss and Makeup before I left, so I thought it was worth giving it a mention here, because as blogger events go, it was pretty exemplary.

Why and how? Well…

1. They were honest
The Body Shop PR team were the first to admit that they hadn’t really explored blogs, they didn’t really understand them that well, and they wanted to learn more from us. Headstream had been bought in to help out, find the bloggers and introduce them to the brand, and then it was down to The Body Shop to win us over. Nobody pretended to know who I was or what blog I wrote for (I hate it when they pretend) but they asked lots of questions (and more that just ‘how many hits do you get’) and seemed genuinely keen to find out more.

2. The didn’t palm us off with second-rate presentations
I’ve been to blogger events before that have felt like pared-down, cheaper versions of press days. I’ve also received emails inviting me, as a blogger, to ‘experience a press day’. Sometimes I think things like this can undermine bloggers – especially the type that clients are trying to get to these events. Most decent, commercially-savvy bloggers know they can go to press days without having their hand held by a third party. There’s a fine line between offering a blogger a perk and patronising them. This event didn’t feel like it was a runner-up prize, it felt like something very special just for us, and that goes a long way to securing some loyalty!

3. They catered to our needs
Everyone at the event was given the chance to get a makeover by makeup artist Chase Aston. What really surprised me was that the organisers had had the forethought to get in a camera crew to film the makeovers so we could get videos to go on our sites afterwards. Having been to dozens of beauty events where you say the words “can I film this?” and get greeted by blank looks or “Um, I dont, er, let me ask my boss…” this was a real surprise. The camera crew even spoke to us about what close-ups we’d like.

4. The goodie bags were HUGE
Most bloggers like free stuff, I’m not going to lie. Very few people make money from their blogs. Those that do probably don’t make much. Those that earn a living blogging may be a bit more jaded, but will still be mightily impressed by a goodie bag so heavy it can barely be carried. I know if I don’t have to buy shampoo / body lotion / lipstick for a while, then I’m a happy bunny! The Body Shop certainly didn’t scrimp on products – we even got a full set of makeup brushes – and I think this was a really good plan on their part. It made us feel grateful to be invited, and made the event memorable,  it gave us a really good chance to try out the brand as a whole, not just one or two products, and it increased the chances of us using the products long into the future – and thus mentioning them on our blogs.

Speaking of mentioning them on our blogs, I’ll spare you goodie bag photos as there’s plenty of that on Hele Says, Cosmetic Candy, The Yummy Mummy’s Beauty Blog, Mizz Worthy’s Stuff & Confessions of a Makeup Addict.

Thanks to The Body Shop and Headstream for inviting me, I’m now off to play with my new makeup…