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 💋
Wow what a great idea, I would have loved to have been there! Great list #KCACOLS
Wow what a great looking event. All those petals look so pretty. Good tips too around hay fever. It’s something we luckily haven’t suffered with. I do work with people who do and they look awful in the mornings if they have had a bad night. I’ll pass on the details from your post.
Mainy
#kcacols
Looks beautiful! Reminds me of a flower festival we went to near Perugia a few years ago.
Great post – like parents need another thing to keep them awake at night! Some helpful remedies here – thanks!
#KCACOLS
What a great idea. I love all the photos with the petals! Thanks for being a fab host #kcacols
I get hayfever all year round too and it drives me crazy! I’ll be trying some of these tips – I always hang my bedding outside in nice weather so that will be stopping! The petals look great 🙂
Thanks for linking up to #BloggerClubUK 🙂
Debbie
I always wear sunglasses in the summer to protect my eyes from the pollen. Everyone says I’m mad. Having hayfever is the pits!
Looks like you had a blast! #KCACOLS
Hi Franca, I’m an ex-pharmacist and didn’t know some of these tips for hay fever sufferers. Some of those pictures with petals are stunning. I’m glad you had good company and a good time #kcacols
I’ve only ever had mild hey fever symptoms but Mr Tin Box really suffers with it at certain times of the year. I didn’t realise that coffee and chocolate could make things worse. Great tip about the teaspoons! #KCACOLS
Hayfever is so understudied. I get the impression it’s something that’s not considered to be anything more than an annoyance. In actual fact it’s horrendous. So much that I’m on steroid injections.
From a long term severe hayfever sufferer.
#KCACOLS
What a beautiful event! I’ve only struggled with hay fever in the last year, which gets aggravated by all the pet hair at work. Great tips! I also take bee pollen tablets by forever living, and that seems to help! Thanks for hosting #KCACOLS
It looks like an amazing event and those petals are just so pretty. You look fabulous honey! Thanks so much for sharing thsee useful tips.xx #KCACOLS
Wow what an awesome-looking event!
Really interesting advice and tips, just this week I’ve been wondering if I have a pollen allergy as I’m blocked up at night, with windows open as it’s hot etc… #KCACOLS
Great tips, I do have hay fever but not too bad thankfully. It looks like an amazing day and your photos are lovely. It must of been a lot of fun to experience it with Nicky x #KCACOLS
I’ve been fortunate to not suffer from hayfever so far, but will definitely come back to these tips if I know anyone who does. The petals looks fab as well! #KCACOLS
Wow!!! This looks like an amazing event and I’m so glad they are offering help to Hayfever suffers. Hubby gets Hayfever and has really struggled in the past. Love the tip about he pillow too 🙂
#kcacols
Those petals look amazing!! I don’t suffer from hay fever but do get a stuffy nose at night sometimes. Great tips I’ll go for a shower!! #kcacols
My son suffers from seasonal allergies. I am so happy for these tips, I will try to get him to do some of these. I love the photos, so pretty! #KCACOLS
I suffered from hayfever for the first time ever last year when I was pregnant. It was absolutely HORRIBLE and this list of tips is really useful – wish I’d thought about hanging washing inside and showering twice … fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again this year but if it does, I think I will feel a bit more prepared! #kcacols
I live in the US but have suffered from allergy problems most of my life. I’m always interested in finding new ways to help deal with it. It has been a terrible season for it here for the last few months. Everyone is walking around feeling like they have colds. Thanks for the tips! The party looked like so much fun. Love the idea of a PetalParty looks so pretty.
#KCACOLS
I had never heard of this. Great info! #KCACOLS
This sounds amazing!! Love the pics and I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
All those petals look amazing!
Lx
#KCACOLS
I saw your Instagram photos and thought how amazing this event looked! Great tips too – I suffer badly from hayfever and it seems to be particularly bad this year. Luckily mine always seems to ease off once we get later on into the summer – looking forward to that coming! #KCACOLS
Wow those petals do look amazing. I love the idea behind the party too, being a hayfever suffer, such a good way to get publicity, I’m glad you got to go and share your experience and raise some awareness! #KCACOLS xx
haha blind date. it is fab that you were able to meet up with a fellow blogger to hang out with at the event. as for the actual event, this is really interesting as I used to really suffer from what I thought was some sort of allergy, I just assumed it wasn’t hayfever as it was at night. I used to live on antihistamine! #kcacols
Hi Franca,
What beautiful pictures and great tips for insneezia which I most definitely suffer from. An antihistemene a day usually sorts me out, but it was an absolutely when I couldn’t take them when I was pregnant. Loads of love. Pen x x #KCACOLS