Benefit Cosmetics Blogger Lunch.

Hello lovelies,

If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram, you'll know that I attended a beauty blogger lunch with Benefit Cosmetics last Saturday. It all started when the lovely Gemma from Benefit and I started exchanging emails, and she mentioned that she'd love to catch up with some beauty bloggers in Melbourne. I offered to help her organise it and put out a call out through social media. Kerri (from Beauty and Things), Norlin (from Baubles, Bubbles and Bags), Melissa (from Bubbles on: Beauty, Fashion and Life), Vita (from Making Up 4 My Age), Ling (from Pork Chop's Nest), Jasmine (from Sweetaholic Beauty) and Amy (from Things I Love) all said they'd love to come along, so we all headed down to Myer in the CBD on Saturday to meet Gemma and learn a bit more about Benefit Cosmetics.

Gemma and I.

Here's a little interesting fact, apparently the Benefit counter in Myer Melbourne is one of the top three best selling counters in the whole world! In fact, the counters at Myer Melbourne and Myer Sydney hold two of the top three positions, no small feat when you take into account that there are counters in New York, London, etc!

There are nine brow stations at the Myer Melbourne store, so the drop-in service works very well. If, however, you do want to visit one of the other counters, like Chadstone, you'd be best to call and make an appointment as they are quite small and you might have to wait quite a while.

The Benefit Brow Bar at Myer Melbourne.

First, we were treated to a brow demo, where Jasmine volunteered to be our model for the demonstration. As my regular readers will know, I am a faithful devotee of the Benefit Brow Bar (read all about my first trip there by clicking here). We were talked through the process (signing the disclosure sheet, going through the client's preferences, and measuring out the right arch), then Jasmine sat down in the chair to begin her brow transformation.

The disclosure book you have to sign.

Gemma explained that Benefit always do one side of the face first, so that you can compare the difference between your new brow from the old. While waiting for the brow tint to set, Jasmine had one of Benefit's bestsellers, Posietint, applied to her lips and cheeks in a little makeover.

Jasmine getting Posietint applied.

After her brows had been tinted and waxed, we headed over to the makeup counter, where Jasmine had the redness caused from waxing covered up with concealer and powder.

The Benefit makeup counter at Myer Melbourne.

Next up was a makeup demonstration. I volunteered to be the makeover model, so I sat down in the chair for a little makeover. I had my makeup removed, and we all got to learn more about each of the products used, including the skincare, primers (Porefessional, That Gal and Stay Don't Stray), foundation (Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow), concealer (Boi-ing and the new Fake-Up), brows (BrowZings and High Brow Glow), blush (Benetint was applied to my lips and cheeks) and had some of the new creaseless shadows and pressed shadows applied in a soft, smokey eye (they are part of the new colour collection launched just two weeks ago). The look was finished off with They're Real mascara applied to my lashes.

Getting my makeup done.
(Thanks to Ling for this photo)

Getting my makeup done.
(Thanks to Ling for this photo)

You can actually get a complimentary makeupper mini service by asking one of the Benefit counter girls. This won't be a full makeover, but you can get your eyes or similar done. Alternatively, you can book in for a full makeover, which I believe is priced at $50, redeemable on products.

With Lina and Melissa.

Bloggers posing with the Benefit counter girls!

Here's another interesting fact, the They're Real mascara is actually the top selling makeup product in Myer! This includes beating out the Touche Éclat from YSL, and other cult icons! Isn't that fascinating?

After that, it was time to head down to lunch at Collins Quarter, where we were also given the chance to play with some of Benefit's most popular products, including the newly launched creaseless eyeshadows, pressed shadows, Fine-One-One (three-in-one sheer colour for lips and cheeks), Fake-Up (the cult new cream concealer), Porefessional (primer), Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow (foundation), Benetint (red lip and cheek tint), BrowZings (brow powder and wax) and High Beam (illuminator).

Gemma explaining some products to us.

Benefit Fine-One-One.

They're Real, creaseless shadow, High Beam, Benetint and
pressed shadow.

Swatches of some of the creaseless shadows
and the pressed shadow.

We were also served with some really delicious food and wine, and had plenty of chances to play with the products and ask Gemma questions.

Mini goat's cheese and cherry tomatoes bruschetta.

Quinoa and eggplant dish.

Spicy pork on mini pide.

Garden salad with chunky chips.

I can safely say that I've added quite a few things to my wishlist, I really want BrowZings, High Brow Glow, and some of the new creaseless shadows!

I leave you with a quick snap of my makeup from the Benefit counter (lipstick is my own).

It really was a lovely lunch and I, for one, feel like we learned a lot! We were also gifted with our own They're Real mascara to take home and experiment with. A big thank you to Gemma and Benefit Cosmetics for having us!

Have you tried Benefit Cosmetics before, lovelies? Which products do you love best?

Much love,
MM.
x

Event Review: The Body Shop Festive Treats.

Hi lovelies!

Thank goodness it's Friday! It has been super busy lately, I think it's something to do with the fact that December is party central, so I've been spreading myself really thin with social events, farewell parties, blogging and preparing for my upcoming holiday (I leave in ten days, woohoo!).

Anyhow, here's a post I've been dying to share with you for a while but only just managed to find time to write! A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive an invite to The Body Shop launch party for their Christmas collection (entitled Festive Treats). Now, I have a bit of a soft spot for The Body Shop, as it's a brand I have been using since my early teens. In fact, I'm quite sure that my first perfume and first few makeup products were actually from The Body Shop!

The Festive Treats collection is aptly titled because everything is centred around a mouth-watering, candy oriented theme. This includes the gift sets and the design of the packaging, all of which took about a year to bring to fruition!

The inspiration board behind the Festive Treats range.

The gorgeous ladies from The Body Shop marketing team talked us through the collection and explained a little about the new limited edition (yes, I did say those two magical words) makeup collection, as well as their new skincare/body lines.

The gorgeous ladies from The Body Shop talking
us through the range.

The limited edition makeup range.

Look at the cute accessories in the skincare/body range! I love the little Christmas pudding shaped sponges.

The limited edition skincare/body range.

Here's a close up of the makeup range. It has two shadow palettes, four metallic eyeliner pencils (also perfect as bases for the shadows), two glitter powder puffs, a kabuki brush to apply the glitter, and two lipsticks (a coral and a bright red). I have heard that the coral is sold out at most stores though it still appears to be available from their online store (at the time of writing).

Back: Smokey Copper eyeshadow palette on the left,
Smokey Moonstone palette on the right.

I took some quick swatches of the shadows and found them to be smooth, buttery and pigmented. This is the Smokey Moonstone palette. I think this would be better suited to cool toned beauties.

Swatches of the Smokey Moonstone palette.

Here are swatches of the Smokey Copper palette. I think this would be better suited to warm toned beauties.

Swatches of the Smokey Copper palette.

Swatches of the two Colourglide Shine lipsticks, Rare Coral on the left and Ruby Sparks on the right.

Rare Coral on the left and Ruby Sparks on the right.

We were also treated to a little makeover demonstration, using Alix as the gorgeous model, while a Body Shop trained makeup artist explained the range to us in full.

The limited edition skincare/body range comprises of gingerbread, vanilla and cranberry scented products, available in body lotions, body butters, body scrubs, scented oils and many others.

The packaging is also collectible and reusable, meaning you can use it to store your keepsakes once you've used up the products inside! It was also explained that the tins are suitable for storing food, for example, biscuits.

One of my favourites from the collection was this gorgeous gingerbread man shaped tin, containing products from the gingerbread line!

It had the following items inside.

What a gorgeous, collectible gift set.

And last but not least, this adorable gingerbread man mitt, which adds a bit of fun to every shower, for young and old!

We were also treated to a gorgeous candy bar, and some very delicious savoury treats, together with glasses of bubbly, wine and juice.

At the end of the night, we were given a little goodie bag of candy to take home!

We also received a goodie bag containing some of the limited edition range! I was so excited to see both palettes in there, because I couldn't decide which one I wanted more!

Never fear if you aren't located near a Body Shop store, you can also purchase from their online store! In fact, I have noticed that some items that are sold out in stores are still available on the website, like the coral lipstick! Click here for more information on the limited edition makeup collection, and here to read up on the skincare/body range.

I hope you enjoyed that little review, lovelies, and hope that it's given you some amazing ideas for Christmas presents! I must say I have already fallen in love and purchased a couple of the limited edition products as gifts. Next on my wishlist is a couple of the eye pencils, they were so pretty when I swatched them on my hand, and I'm lusting after Copper Brown and Golden Brown!

Sending a big thank you to The Body Shop for inviting me to their Festive Treats event! I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with the brand and learning about what happens behind the scenes.

What did you think of the collection, lovelies? Is there anything you are lusting after from this collection?

Much love,
MM.
x