Sugar, Sugar, PopSugar

Slayerrrrsss! This past weekend June 9th & 10th, was the event I have been waiting for, Popsugar Playground! Popsugar decided to create this new, festival type of event that was comprised of everything Popsugar focuses on. There was beauty, fashion, panels, giveaways, food and more! 

Now although I was very excited about the event the road leading up to it was a little bumpy. Granted this was the first year the event was being held but the process with ticketing def needed to be better. When the event was first announced the prices of tickets were given out, now I can’t remember the prices of everything but I do know that the VIP Weekend Pass was $399. I wanted to go to this event but after seeing that price I was thinking of only enjoying one day of fun lmao. I decided to wait to buy my ticket until after I got back from my bday trip (I knowwww vacay blog about that coming soon). 

When I returned back in May, the prices were completely different and the VIP Weekend Pass was now $199 (still too rich for my blood) but I did find a code that would give me the GA Weekend Pass for ($89). I decided to buy that and everything was good to go, or so I thought. I kid you not, maybe like a day or two later they offered a code for 50% off all tickets...are you serious? I was pissed, livid, all of the above and I let them know all over Twitter, but received no response. I thought a lot more people would be speaking out but I only noticed a handful and so I made my way to Facebook. Low and behold, someone else was wondering about this in their comments and Popsugar responded! The person was told to send the contact email a message and proceed from there. Seriously? Why didn’t I think of that? So I did the same! 

I sent my email tossing in a few words about the ticket price not being fair and I got a response that said I should purchase the “correct” ticket and email them a picture of the confirmation then I could get refunded for my first ticket. You better believe I did just that when I got home and just because all tickets were half off I decided to upgrade to the VIP Weekend Pass for $100 plus tax. After sending them a screenshot of my confirmation number I received my refund the next week. 

All of those problems out of the way I started getting excited about the event again and stayed on twitter everyday just to see what people were saying. I did notice some people having an issue with pricing so I reached out to a few that I did see and tried to DM them about my process and refund. It felt good to be stress free after getting that issue handled and I wanted to help whoever wanted to accept it.

Fast forward to the weekend of the event, since I was now a VIP I wanted to make sure to arrive for the VIP only hour at the event from 10 - 11 AM. After arriving and getting my badge activated I was directed to the VIP Lounge where there was hair and makeup refreshers being provided by Glamsquad, a GIF/photo booth, a physic reading table, a Baked by Melissa mini cupcake display, an Aperol Spritzer truck, tables, chairs and couches to lounge on and a gift bag station. It was a wonderful display but the first thing I did was join the WiFi, take a pic in the photo booth, then grab a gift bag! Our gift bag was worth over $200 but I didn’t want to open it there so I just held it while deciding to venture out into the event. 

There were rows and rows of booths from different brands everywhere that were offering free products, free tastings, and even some photo booth moments. After reaching the middle there was a huge POPSUGAR sign with about six slides going into a big ass ball pit. I decided to do that first to avoid crowds before venturing through the rest. Since I was alone I asked one of the people working the event to take a boomerang of me coming down the slide, it was a short ride but made for a very cute boomie.

I started walking around some more towards the back of the building where there were some more booths mostly offering makeup touch ups, a cafe, a limearita bar, and a lounge area which appeared right before hitting the Play Stage where there would be workout classes, panels and performances for all attendees. After doubling back to the right I found another cafe, some more booths and the Ground Stage where VIP only panels and workouts were being held. This was also where my first panel was so I headed inside after showing my badge. 

After that first panel I had a break before the next panel I wanted to attend so I headed outside to the lounge area where they had a Wendy’s food truck offering their new berry salad and tea for free. I got in line and after getting my salad and tea found a bar table to sit and eat outside. The salad was soooo good and I’m glad I was able to taste it because outside of this I don’t think I ever would’ve ordered that at Wendys. 

I don’t want to bore you guys by naming all the panels I went to over the course of two days, but I will tell you about a couple of my faves. I really enjoyed the Yara Shahidi panel, she is one of my fave young people right now who can actually keep people listening because she is so intelligent and real at the same time. I love Grownish and even though she is younger than me do admire her and her work. The Screen Queens Panel with some of the CW’s brightest stars was really cute and fun. Many people may not know this but I am a huge Riverdale fan so sitting down and hearing some of the cast members speak was really entertaining. And last but def not least seeing Tiffany Haddish and Amanda Seales have a discussion was the highlight of my weekend. It was extremely funny, lighthearted and unlike the other talks that occurred was just like a natural conversation between two real friends. 

Overall I really enjoyed my self over the weekend. Many people were confused about what the event really was but if you were confused about the event then you must be confused about Popsugar the brand. This event mirrored exactly what Popsugar is, a mix of so many different things which is displayed through all of their different subdivisions. Hopefully the ticket process will be handled differently next year but for this being the first year they have held the event, they did a damn good job. 

Buttttt before I go, I didn’t forget about telling you what was in my VIP Gift Bag. You can view the actual pic below but I will go through and list out everything. I received two books, What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart and Power Your Happy by Lisa Sugar (the founder of Popsugar). I also got Sarah Marie Nail Wraps, a Mersea Lumio candle, another Rise & Shine mug, a water bottle from The Bold Type, a Beauty by Popsugar eyeshadow palette and lip gloss, a Sunnylife inflatable drink holder, a Tarte 4 in 1 mascara, 2 pair of Victoria Secret Sport socks, cocktail napkins, Covergirl eye liner, Smart Sweet gummy bears, 4 Essie nail polishes, and a pair of Quay Australia x Desi Perkins aviator sunglasses. 

You may see some more items in the pic than what I mentioned, well these are items that I got throughout the event. I got a MODA powder brush, a $50 Kohl’s Gift Card, a Swell Water Bottle, and a Popsugar pin. Not pictured are two items I bought, a pair of sheer white socks and a keychain. Also I didn’t mention that on my second day of the event I got a General Admission gift bag which had a notebook, a $10 Kohl’s Gift Card .

Amazing time and as you can read so worth the price. If any of you guys went to the event tell me about your experience and fave part. And remember to keep an eye out for next year’s event! View some more from my weekend below.