Beauty International Dusseldorf

WOW, WOW, WOW!

This is the largest beauty-show I have ever been to. There were 9 halls. I don't know if all of them were used, but at least 5-6 were.

The nail-section was as big as half the Excel in London! After hours at the nail-section my feet couldn't bare me to the other halls! All the well known brands were there, but also lots of brands I've never heard of.










The world championship in nails was held too. This picture is from the competition area.Today it was gel category. I don't know how many countries that entered, but I could see the Norwegian, the Danish, the German, the Swedish and the Finish flag. (I am not very good in flags...) As I know the Finish girl, from the internet, I met her and we had a chat. It was very nice getting to know her!

I'll go back tomorrow, before my flight home. I promise, I'll be back next year!

Spring in Dusseldorf

Before the beauty-show I went to the city-center. In a city-guide for Dusseldorf it was said that the shops opened at 09.00. That is not true, most of them opens at 10.00. It was sunny, but freezing cold.




Because I was freezing and needed something to do from 09.30-10.00 I ended up at a Heinemann. On ground floor there is a very nice chocolate-shop and upstairs there is a cafe. I bought myself a cappuchino with cream and chocolate on top. Nice!








I also ended up bying myself some chocolate.... As I collect boxes, I needed those two....:-)

I haven't heard about Heinemann, but I think it's a well known place. When I walked upstairs, to the cafe, I could see pictures of lots of famous people who had been to the cafe, among them, the Pope.

I went to Ferragamo, but I didn't find anything this time! (Good for my bank-account....:-))

The food at Radisson SAS Dusseldorf

The breakfast was... once again... cold... At least the cold food WAS cold and didn't look like it had been there for hours, but the hot food was not hot enough.

There were scrambled egg, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes etc.... A selection of cold meat, juices, some cereals and a wide selection of bread. You could also make your own waffles.

I had room service today too. I ordered steak. It was very nice, and again, plenty of food.

PS I love you

I bought this book today. I tried to read it at the flight to Dusseldorf, but it was so heart-breaking I had to put it away. I was afraid my eyes would overflow...

Radisson SAS Dusseldorf

The hotel is like all other Radisson SAS - business-like. You know what you get, a decent business-hotel. There are some very good things with Radissons: Free wireless internet and coffe/tea making facilities in room. At all the Radissons I have stayed at, there has also been enough space for a small sitting area with a chair and a table.

The check-in was efficient.

My room is nice, clean and the toiletries are the same as I have had before, but nice.

A bottle of water, complimentary, a nice gesture!

Tonight I had room-service, bacon cheese-burger. It was very nice and plenty of food.

The hotel area is quite boring. I tried to find some small shops, to get a bag of crisp and some other snacks, but I couldn't find any. It looks like the hotel is in the middle of all the show-rooms for the big designers, so if you are in the fashion-industry, the location would be the very best. If not, I would suggest to stay in the city-center. The only reason I booked this hotel was because I thought it was closer to the exhibition-center, but it's about 3 km. so you will have to take the tram anyway. City-center next time.

I had a quick look at the swimming-pool, it looked nice, I may try it out tomorrow.

My plans for tomorrow is to get up very early to get to the city-center before the beauty-show. The shops will be open at 09.00 and my plan is to be there when they open. I have to get as much as possible out of this trip! :-D

Packing time

I am soon finished with packing all my stuff. Strange... When I came, I had one suitcase in the other... Now I needed both... Tonight I also had to think hard when packing. The left side, in the biggest suitcase, is for Dusseldorf. The right side has to be changed. I will be at home for two, hectic days, before going to Dusseldorf, for a new beauty-show. Right now I regret I booked Dusseldorf... On the other hand, I am really looking forward to watch the European Championship in nails, and to speak with people I know.

Well... I have a job to do... I have to eat the small cakes I got from the hotel when I arrived, they have to be eaten today... They didn't LOOK very good, but they were... Problem, I got full after eating one! Anybody fancy one? :)

Bicester outlet village

I took the tube from the hotel to Marelybond and then an hour with train to Bicester North. There are always mini-buses outside the station, and it's only a 5 min. drive to the outletvillage.





My favorite shops are there, and as always I found something nice....

Furla bag. And guess what? My laptop fits! (To make a long story short, some years ago I bought a very nice laptop-bag... the only problem was that my laptop didn't fit! I refused to change it, so it has been laying in my closet until I got my new laptop some months ago. The only thing that mattered when I got the new laptop was: Will it fit the laptop-bag? :-D)

Molton Brown toiletries. The last months I have been collecting Molton Brown toiletries from the hotels I have stayed at. I thought it was on time to buy some myself!

And at last.... A pair of Ferragamo shoes. At first, I didn't like them, but now, I REALLY do. Hmm.... I have lots of shoes I have to "walk in". In shoe-language this means: Walk with the shoes until you get really bad blisters, and then the shoes, in a miraculous way, will be fine. You only have to have blisters for about 1-2 weeks. It's a process, a really painful one, trust me, I know ALL about it... I have to do it, sooner or later, my nice shoes can't be in the closet forever!

Excel

As always, it's always good to be at those big beauty-shows. Not only to see news, but most of all, to socialize and meet friends. I met a lot today. Some of them, I have only met twice, but still feel they are very good friends. Internet is fantastic! Strangely enough I have more contact with nailtechs in UK than in Norway!

Tomorrow I'll have a day off, from the show, and do some shopping. I have a meeting at 10 and then I'll head for Bicester outlet village. Some days ago I got a VIP-invitation - to get 10% off when showing the invitation! Whooohooo! :-D

More from The Capital

The breakfast-room was very nice. Pastries were placed at each table and you could find yourself to fruit, cereals, juices and water. For full English breakfast you had to order the hot food. In the beginning I felt it a little bit irritating, but when I got it, it was very nice. It was not lukewarm, but damping hot. Fantastic! And real eggs too, not the greasy powder-egg. I also got a cappuchino. Nice!

When I went to the beauty-show the door-man, who's always polite and nice, small-talked a little bit and wished me a nice day. I know it's his job, but for me, it was nice. When I came back, several hours later, he was still there and said he had been looking for me. It's great with that personnel service!

Today I ordered room-service. I was exhausted after the show and needed to relax. I ordered some kind of steak, but don't remember exact now, it was delicious. Served on a tray with a little flower, very nice. The only downside was that I got mayonais that was out of date, I saw it after I had eaten it, but don't think it'll be do any harm.... Don't hope so....

Another very little downside... They have turn-down service, but strangely enough, no "pillow-chocolate"! I say "strangely" because I would have expected it because everything else here is top-noch!