Boots #PetalParty Raising Awareness of ‘Insneezia’

I was invited by Boots to attend a super cool event for a new campaign to help raise awareness of ‘Insneezia’ – their name for the insomnia-esque effects caused by hayfever symptoms at night. The event was held in the beautiful St Christopher’s Place in Central London, just off Oxford Street. They threw a fantastic #PetalParty where over 3 million petals made from colourful tissue paper were dropped over one hour.

It was great to meet the lovely Nicky from Not Just the 3 of Us for the first time who was my partner in crime for that night. We met outside of Bond Street station and then headed over to St Christopher’s Place. It was nice because it felt as if we had known each other for a long time already which was really nice. It was like a blind blogging date for us, LOL. Anyway, I couldn’t have asked for better company! 🙂

As soon as we arrived to the #PetalParty we saw Lauren Pope, a TOWIE celebrity who was invited to DJ for the party. She was great and the music was awesome as it really transformed the place into a proper party. When the petals started showering down all over of us we were all so delighted and super excited. It looked really beautiful.

Nicky was so kind as she took lots of photos of me with the petals. They were all so pretty that I couldn’t just choose a couple so I decided to share a selection of the best ones from that day. I hope that I’m not boring you with too many photos of me, LOL! Thank you so much Nicky for these amazing photos, you are a STAR! 🙂

When the petals had finished falling, the floor looked gorgeous with millions of multicoloured petals. It was like a sea full of petals. With that beautiful setting it was definitely an Instagram moment.

I had never suffered from hayfever until I moved to the UK. Now I know how uncomfortable it can be to have the typical itchy and running nose symptoms along with with irritable eyes. I’m very unlucky as I seem to suffer from hayfever on and off for most of year whilst Nick on the other hand only suffers once a year during June when it is really quite awful!

Sleeping is definitely the most uncomfortable part when suffering from hayfever. Boots aim to raise awareness of how sufferers can tackle their night-time hayfever symptoms, so they can get a better night’s sleep. Boots pharmacist Tom Kallis says that “Many hayfever sufferers lose sleep during spring and summer, when pollen falls as the evening temperature decreases. However, there is no reason why people need to let their hayfever have such an impact. If hayfever does affect you at night time – you just need to remember to take action and treat symptoms in the evening, before you go to bed.”

Also, research by Boots found that 64 per cent of people with hayfever say their sleep is disturbed by symptoms, while Dr Peter Burt, aerobiologist at the University of Greenwich, explained: “Towards the end of the day, the temperature drops causing the pollen that has risen in the atmosphere during the day, to fall back to the ground. This explains why hayfever sufferers may experience a worsening of symptoms at night which can impact how they feel the next day.”

For anyone suffering symptoms, Boots Pharmacist Tom Kallis offered a few tips on how to reduce night-time hayfever pains:

1. Keep the windows shut at night and first thing in the morning. Feeling hot? Pop your pillow case in the freezer before bedtime for a temporary cooling effect

2. Wear sunglasses after sun down. Not because you’re a wannabe celeb but to help protect your eyes from pollen

3. Hang laundry inside – even when the sun is shining – because you don’t want pollen-infused bedding

4. Shower before you go to bed to help wash any stray pollen from your hair and skin which could aggravate your symptoms overnight

5. Teeth cleaned, face washed and moisturised? Don’t forget a final smear of petroleum jelly under your nose which may help trap pollen

If you’re suffering from the impact of ‘insneezia’ the next day – such as irritability caused by lack of sleep, Tom offers a few more tips:

1. Shower again! Showering in the morning helps to stimulate the circulatory system and ‘shock’ your body into a more awake state if you’ve lost out on shut-eye overnight

2. Think twice before reaching for a coffee or chocolate based pick-me-up – both contain high levels of vasoactive amines, like histamine which can cause some sensitive individuals to suffer ‘allergy-like’ symptoms

3. Lose the booze – Alcoholic drinks, such as wine and beer and cider can make it hard to sleep well anyway and these also contain histamine and other vasoactive amines.

4. Chill two teaspoons in the fridge overnight then cup them over your eyes for 5 minutes to help combat any puffiness caused by lack of sleep

5. Stay hydrated – to help replace lost fluids and help you feel more energised

I would like to say Thank You so much to Boots for inviting to such an amazing event. It was absolutely beautiful. I had a great time and I was even more happier to be able to help them with this campaign.

What did you think of this campaign? Did you like the #PetalParty? Did you find the tips useful? Do you have some tips to tackle hayfever? Please leave me a comment below as I would love to read what you think about it. 

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend this event in exchange of a blog post. However all the thoughts are mine. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Love you all ❤

Franca  💋