THE FUSION LIFESTYLE EVENT: Day 1

Hey! Hey! Heeeeeyyyyy!

Welcome to our first review on this here blog!

The Fusion Lifestyle Fair is put together by the Fusion Lifestyle team in both Lagos and Abuja: http://fusionlifestyleltd.com for more details.

This year’s Abuja fair was a two-day event at the BMO Event Centre, Riverplate Park, Wuse 2.  I personally think it’s a brilliant idea to bring service providers together in one venue to showcase their services, and apparently, a lot of other people think so too, ‘cos pop-up markets have recently become a fad in Nigeria.

What makes this any different? I’ll let you decide. My business is to bring you the low down of this event and our views, so here goes:

I love the BMO: so that was a huge plus for me. The idea of the marquee, lovely chandeliers and those gorgeous chevalier chairs add a hint of class that’s undeniable.

Vendors set up their stalls and began sales at about 10am (on Saturday) and 12noon (on Sunday). They were all so friendly and ready to sell (which is what they paid good money for, so hey.)

ALFA SHOWERS

The first stall we stopped at was Alfa Showers, run by Hauwa Alfa. Their stall had an array of cowboy hats, masks, tiaras and sashes (very pink, very girly, every tomboy’s nightmare). They organise bridal showers and hen nights (I forgot to add the bunny ears, very cute, sexy if you’re into that sorta thing). The availability of male dancers wasn’t exactly clear (I mean, why have a hen night if there won’t be eye candy, right?). And small chops, yes, they handle catering for your guests, cocktails, small chops, etc. Feast your eyes below on their stall (minus small chops, unfortunately.)

Vier View? Nay! Like honestly, I'd have loved to see a little more creativity here. Just hats, bunny ears? Why not have a hot very sparsely-clad male stand by the booth? Give girls something to ogle eh? I dunno, do something crazy!

ARTIVITY KIDS

Nelson runs Artivity Kids, a face-painting and art outfit. I particularly have my reservations when it comes to the use of strange chemicals on kids, but he assured me that he uses only the best of materials and even offered to let me try (we can’t take just his word for it now, can we?). He’s a graphic artist with a love for children (cue ‘awwww’) and organises art summer camps for children. He also painted the pretty flowers on little Fiyin here for just N500, so I'm sold.

Vier View? Apart from bouncing castles and the like, its nice to know children can have other attractions at birthday parties. This is definitely a 'Yay' from us.

REEMAS ARABIAN

Reemas Arabian started its services in Saudi, Sudan and Dubai over 10 years ago and is run by the beautiful Sudanese Reemas Ali. They design Arabian outfits, rent out hairpieces and Indian/Arabian bridal attire. Your average Arabian bridal gown goes for about N45,000 (very affordable, if you ask me). They’ve also got exotic Arabian perfumes (Bahur; which is burnt over coals and goes for about N3,000 per jar, and Dilka body scrub which goes for N4,000). Heady stuff I tell you.

Vier View? Out with the aso-oke, in with Ali-Baba and the forty thieves! I'd definitely enjoy an Arabian-themed wedding myself. So, yay!

LEOTEX FABRICS

Mrs Lolade Odusanya is your isale-eko-go-to-person-in-abuja for asoebi and laces for weddings, parties and such. She’s been in the business for over ten years and will customize fabrics according to your preferred colours, “You will not see the asoebi anywhere else!” Leotex Fabrics also deals in shoes, purses and palm slippers for special events.

Vier View? Whoever came up with Asoebi is the greatest scam artist ever! I understand trying to make your money back, but at the expense of your guests? Ok oh. It's a Nay from us, but if you absolutely have to, then hey, knock yourself out!

DIVAS MAKE-UP & HAIR STUDIO

Divaz Makeup and Hair Studio is run by the beautiful Kofo Osibote, with outlets in both Lagos and Abuja. Her prices range from N30,000 to N35,000 for weddings and N35,000 to N80,000 for tranings from 2 to 5 weeks. Students also stand a chance of getting a free professional makeup box (actually worth N15,000). Her make-up was on point though, and her staff looked like they knew their onions.

Vier View? Yay! Though I wish I'd seen some models getting their hair styled or something. Noone else did that, and that kind of attraction wouldn't have been forgotten in a while.

Anyways, my feet hurt like hell! There was no way I could have walked round all the beautifully arranged stalls in one day. We’ll continue here in our next post with the rest of the vendors.

Check out the next blog post for the rest of the vendors I checked out.

Like anything you see? Used any of these vendors before? Or do you need one of them? I'm your...err...woman. Drop a comment or email ayeesha@vierevents.com