GALLERY | Inside the TRUELOVE All A Woman Needs festival

The TRUELOVE All A Woman Needs festival was on fire - almost literally from the scorching Johannesburg sun and from the electrifying day out. 

The thought-provoking and enlightening festival educated women about beauty, self-love and more through panel discussions and activations. As the festival’s MC Dineo Ranaka would say: "True love is all a woman needs”. 

Coming in numbers in their denim outfits, guests were creative in styling their perfect denim looks - from the trendy skirts to jumpsuits. Upon arrival attendeed were meet with a tote bag at the gate overlooking the marquees with all the goodies awaiting collection.

They were spoilt for choice with the ample activations from WBeauty, L'Oréal, Ford, OPI, Oh So Heavenly, GynaGuard, Robertson, Comfort, Glade, Sta-Sof-Fro, Color Rebel and more - leaving no stones unturned as they collected their goodies.

The TRUELOVE ladies were also treated to pampering sessions, food, drinks and, of course, performances that brought the house down with thrilling dance moves. 

Woolworths had the ladies looking fly with the WBeauty makeovers, while OPI gave them a summery nail pamper. Women created also created their hair product using the Sta-Sof-Fro products. 

READ MORE | 7 dos and don'ts when rocking the denim in style, according to fashion stylists

TRUELOVE editor-in-chief Mbali Soga says, “I think the one take out for me from this event and listening to all the incredible women speak is that no matter how hard it gets, don't give up. The sun will shine tomorrow, you'll find another job, you'll find another man, like, life does indeed carry on and carries on for the better".

We had intriguing on-stage talks from the likes of Miss South Africa 2023 Natasha Jorbert, career coach Vumi Msweli, and more, including performances from DJ Hazel Mahazard, Maleh, Bonga Kwana and the legendary music group Mafikizolo giving us a nostalgic performance of their hits. 

It was a pivotal moment as cover star Nhlanhla Mafu was celebrating the reveal of her October-December magazine issue.

The ladies left empowered, with some sharing their experience of the event. Matseko and her sister Matilda did not want to suffer from FOMO and bought tickets as quickly as they could put their hands on them.

“The minute we saw the TRUELOVE [All A Woman Needs] tickets were out, we rushed and bought. We didn't want to be left out. The experience here is very nice, very chilled, even though the weather is too hot. But otherwise, we're having fun [and] we're getting freebies and everything is nice”.

Two friends who were gifted the tickets say they were waiting with bated breath for the stalls and the panel discussions. 

Gogo V says, “I was gifted this ticket by a friend of mine. What I looked forward to the most I think was just the environment, being in an environment where it's just women, we don't get to have that a lot of the time. The product that spoke to me the most was the L'Oréal, [though] I didn't get it today, but just having something for your skin I think we all struggle with our skin every now and again.” 

And Gogo K adds, “So, I was also gifted by the same friend and the one thing that I looked forward to, was the panel discussion because women go through so many things and some of these things we don't even talk about, so being here and listening to people's stories. I was [also] looking forward to the stalls, there was a stand [that had] career journals [and] I've been thinking about that a lot and when I saw that, [it] was affirming for me that I need to start journaling as a person who's also trying to grow my career, making moves.”

The ladies came, saw and left empowered and informed about beauty, women’s health and more.