Style, Sparkle & Small Talk: Look good, feel good and know what to say

Walk into the festive season feeling confident and completely yourself – with practical tips on style, make-up and small talk. Christmas party season is coming. Which means invitations, work dos, drinks, dinners, networking events and those occasions you said yes to months ago and are now wondering why on earth you agreed to go. Then come the questions. What am I going to wear? How do I make myself feel a bit special without looking like I'm trying to be someone else? And once I get there, who am I going to talk to? Welcome to Style, Sparkle & Small Talk - a fun, practical and highly interactive event designed to help you walk into the festive season feeling confident, comfortable and completely yourself. You can find make-up tutorials on YouTube. You can get endless style advice on Instagram. And you can Google conversation starters until Christmas morning. But feeling good when you actually walk into a room is about bringing all three together. So we're doing exactly that. Three experts. Three sessions. One very different festive event. We'll split into three smaller groups and, during the event, you'll rotate around three interactive sessions with personal stylist Kelly Caira, make-up artist Leanne Perilly and networking expert Vicky Labinger. This isn't an evening of sitting in rows being talked at. Expect demonstrations, models, conversations, practical ideas and plenty of opportunities to explore what actually works for you. STYLE — with Kelly Caira “I've got nothing to wear.” Except, quite possibly, you have. Personal stylist Kelly will show you how to look at what you've already got differently and put together festive outfits that feel fabulous without feeling like fancy dress. We'll explore how to take an outfit from day to evening, how to layer and accessorise, what makes an outfit work and where it's worth looking if you do want to add something new to your wardrobe. This isn't about telling you what you should wear. It's about finding combinations that work for your body, your lifestyle and the way you want to feel. SPARKLE — with Leanne Perilly Festive make-up doesn't have to mean covering yourself in glitter. Unless, of course, that's your thing. Local make-up artist Leanne will demonstrate achievable ways to take your everyday make-up into party season — adding a little more polish, glamour or sparkle without losing yourself underneath it. Expect practical techniques, demonstrations and ideas you can actually recreate at home. Because the aim isn't to look like somebody else. It's to look in the mirror and think, “Yep. I feel good.” SMALL TALK — with Vicky Labinger And then you have to walk into the room. For plenty of us, that's the bit nobody prepares you for. What do you say when you don't know anyone? How do you join a conversation? What happens when you're stuck talking to somebody and desperately want to move on? And how do you handle those Christmas occasions you're attending because you feel you should, rather than because you can't wait to get there? Networking expert Vicky Labinger will lead a lively, interactive session on making small talk feel less awkward and more natural. You'll get to try things out, have conversations and pick up practical tools for walking into a room, holding your own and actually enjoying yourself once you're there. You'll leave ready for the festive season Not with a list of rules about what women should wear, how women should look or the “right” way to behave at a party. Quite the opposite. You'll leave with practical ideas you can make your own: • Fresh ways to style what you already have • Ideas for taking an outfit from day to evening • Festive make-up techniques you can recreate yourself • Simple ways to add a little sparkle • Tools for starting, joining and leaving conversations • More confidence walking into rooms where you don't know everybody • And, hopefully, a renewed sense that you don't need to become someone else to make an entrance Style, Sparkle & Small Talk is about feeling comfortable in your clothes, comfortable in your skin and comfortable in the conversation. So when the invitations start arriving, you can spend less time worrying about what to wear, how you look and what on earth you're going to say… …and more time enjoying yourself.