You guys love my reviews of food festivals in Delhi, so I’m back with the review of Nykaaland – a festival dedicated to makeup and beauty. Full disclaimer: I’m a Nykaa affiliate, so I was invited to the festival and didn’t have to buy a ticket. My review of Nykaaland, however, is no-holds-barred and completely honest. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for my review of Nykaaland if you would rather skip the other information.
What to Expect at Nykaaland Festival:
Described as India’s first lifestyle and beauty festival, this event is organised by Nykaa and BookMyShow Live. Its most recent iteration, and the first one in Delhi, was Nykaaland 3.0 which took place from November 7-9 at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds. In it, there were stalls of beauty brands, masterclasses by celebrity makeup artists, live music performances, food offerings, games, a chance to hang out with friends in a wide-open space, a chance to win free samples of beauty and lifestyle products, and more.
What I Did at the Nykaaland Festival:
As a Nykaa affiliate, I was given a white band which entitled me to 20 free samples. Those who bought tickets were only entitled to three free samples. However, one could buy 10 or 20 samples for a minimal fee. I walked in on the afternoon of the first day of the three-day Nykaaland festival, believing I would walk out with many free beauty goodies. However, once inside the main tent called ‘Foundation’, it became clear that free samples were not going to be given out so easily! Everyone had to play a game at each stall (for which the lines were invariably very long). They may win a free sample in that game or they may not. So even if their band entitled them to a free sample, they may not actually get it.
Some other stalls did not have games but asked you to tag them in uploaded stories and follow them on Instagram to be eligible for a free sample. I wasn’t so keen to run through these hoops, so my free sample stash was minuscule – far below the 20 that I was entitled to! There was a stall where one could buy regular makeup, but I didn’t feel the need to.
I did, however, visit the NAP (Nykaa Affiliate Program) stall, where I got a nice goodie bag. Then, shepherded by the Nykaa team, I made my way to the hall called ‘Highlighter’ which was earmarked for masterclasses and panel discussions on beauty subjects. I attended a Masterclass conducted by a person from the marketing team of YouTube and content creator Mridul Sharma, who showed us how to earn money by adding links in YouTube videos through their newly introduced affiliate marketing program called YouTube Shopping. This class was open only to white band attendees and there were goodie bags filled with gifts for all of us. The masterclass ended with a quiz, whose three winners also won makeup goodies.
Done with the class, I filled Rs 500 in my band as food and beverages could only be bought through the QR code on your band for which you had to fill money first. I grabbed an Iced Americano from an indie coffee brand and French Fries from Aku’s Burgers. These were the only two things I could get in Rs 500, apart from overpriced cookies which I didn’t want! All other things were heavily overpriced.
That was it for me. Having had my fill, I left Nykaaland around two hours after I came.
Here is a video showing my gift stash from Nykaaland.
Review of Nykaaland: Should You Visit It?
Social media has been severely divided on their review of Nykaaland – some people loved it / enjoyed it while others didn’t have a good time. So, here are my thoughts. As a person who attends many, many events of this nature, I know the best time to visit is on the first day (usually a Friday) or the mornings of the second and third days because all these events tend to get extremely overcrowded as the day progresses. This leads to long lines for everything from entry to food stalls to bathrooms and other activities.
As I arrived at 3 pm on Friday afternoon and left around 5/5:30 pm, I saw this stark change up close. Upon my arrival, the lines were short and moving fast. Some stalls didn’t even have lines. However, when I returned after the masterclass, the lines had become so long that I couldn’t imagine wasting my time by standing in them just for the chance to win a tiny sample.
F&B was another problem. It’s very cumbersome to fill money and then order the food separately, as it means navigating multiple long lines. The options for food stalls were very few – only 5 or 6 – and things were mostly on the expensive side. There was a Bubble Tea stall but that was located far away from the other food stalls. Also, on another creator’s video I saw that some food stalls ran out of food and shut shop before Nykaaland ended for the day. Though I didn’t see any of the performances, I believe performances shouldn’t be a redeeming factor for an event catering to beauty lovers!
Masterclasses were certainly useful for creators, but they weren’t accessible by everyone. Before I visited, I had this expectation that Nykaaland would be something like IMATS in USA, which is a large convention of beauty brands. It’s a great way for makeup enthusiasts to discover new brands and try new products. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.
Now I’ll play devil’s advocate and share the other side of the story. Firstly, I went all by myself. Perhaps if I had gone with friends, I would have enjoyed it more – even standing in lines would have been more bearable! Secondly, I could see that the target audience was much younger (perhaps people in their late teens and early 20s), because they don’t usually have the disposable income to spend lots of money on makeup. Free samples for them, are therefore, very welcome.
Also, Nykaaland seemed to be aimed at crowds from the satellite towns of Delhi. I met a young content creator from Agra who came all the way to Delhi for Nykaaland and attended all three days!! It was clearly a chance for her to try out many different brands and products. Since she was there specifically for the event, she could arrive early every day and avoid all the lines. Needless to say, she really enjoyed herself.
The décor at Nykaaland was really on point. It was clear that the aesthetics were designed for content creation. Overall, I feel Nykaaland in Delhi had a promising start. If the organisers can devise a way to bypass these silly games and allow people to directly buy or try samples, the experience will be much more appreciated. I walked away slightly disappointed but as a makeup lover, I will probably visit again when it happens next. I just hope they take this feedback and implement some positive changes.
Here’s a look at my experience at Nykaaland:
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This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.
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*This is not a sponsored post.
**Copyright in pictures and content belongs to nooranandchawla.com and cannot be republished or repurposed without express permission of the author. As I am a copyright lawyer by profession, infringement of any kind will invite strict legal action.
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