Liz Earle, How I Love Thee (Dublin Event)

Liz Earle held an event over the weekend to celebrate their third birthday in Dublin and to promote their products. Like the little Liz Earle fiend that I am, I jumped at the chance to make an appointment and learn more about the brand I obsess over and try out the few products I haven't already bought.

Since I have been using the LE products for years, I thought I would opt for a hand and arm massage instead of the skin consultation. Because, lets face it. The Liz Earle skincare range makes up the majority of products I will ever let touch my face. Not only did the women who work there create a lovely, warm atmosphere but they discussed the products used on me in a way that wasn't pushy.

My hand and arm massage was completed by the lovely Rosana, who talked to me about some of the new products in the range and the different ways to use them. She used the amazing Superbalm moisturiser on me, and although The Mother has it, I had never realised its different uses such as rubbing it into the cuticles to make them uber soft. Will be stealing that off The Mother so!

They passed around the most delicious cupcakes I've ever tasted, had beautifully fresh juice flowing and massaged my blues away. And if that wasn't enough we were given gorgeous goody bags containing a mini Cleanse and Polish, Instant Tonic Boost and even the Liz Earle fragrance sample, all perfect for travelling. A massive thank you to all the ladies who worked there, I had a fabulous time!

You can buy Liz Earle products at the Wilde and Green shop in Milltown or online here.

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Stylefixx NYC Shopping Event May 26th report

I was invited to the Stylefixx NYC event by a friend - I'd never heard of it before, but it sounded like fun. Well, all I heard was "free bag of stuff" and that's all it took to convince me. I didn't know much about what the event entailed, but it was only $15, and I'm always looking for new, interesting things to do.

It reminded me of a craft fair, except instead of crafts, there were clothes and jewelry (think Etsy sellers). Most of the clothes sellers claimed they were selling expensive designer items for a low price (big signs saying "$120 only $30!"... you get the idea) but none of it was really nice or even expensive-looking! Lots of cheap polyester club wear and imported clothes you can find in Chinatown. Some of the handmade jewelry was quiet lovely, but I didn't buy anything.

Included in the entrance fee was 4 drinks. I think the idea was to get everyone drunk so they would buy more stuff. They had 3 bars in the venue, 2 of which had only beer and no lines, and 1 which had delicious rum-based cocktails and EVERYONE in line.

It was an awful mob and we ended up standing in line for a good 20 minutes - twice! But the drinks were very good - the two they offered were mojitos made with cranberry juice, and pina coladas made with coconut water.

Along with the sellers, they had a couple of booths doing demonstrations of their products. One makeup brand was offering makeovers at the cost of $20 or $30. The hair brand Jose Eber was letting you try out their curling and straight irons - with a catch. They did my hair in lovely ringlets, but on one side only!

They only did your full head if you bought the product, which they claimed was discounted from the original price of $300 for the low-low price of only $125! Umm... Well... I got nearly the same hair iron at TJMaxx (complete with the original $300 price tag, which I assume is a sham, because where have you ever seen them for that much??) on clearance for $20. And what do you know, a quick look on Amazon when I got home told me that yes, the curling irons only sell for $40~50 new!

Let that be a lesson - just because they SAY it's a bargain, doesn't mean it is! I'm sure hundreds of people left that night spending way more money than they would have if they just did a quick search online.

It is a really nice curling iron though, it's one of those new clipless ones that doesn't leave dents in your hair and is really easy to use, even for someone completely inept at hair styling like I am (it includes a heat-proof glove so you don't burn yourself!). I just might buy it with Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, since I have a ton.

So... what was in the bag?? A REALLY random assortment of stuff!

Lots of semi-healthy snacks, including Luna Bars (I was excited about these), a beer glass, a nail file, tanning lotion and tanning goggles, the latest issue of New Beauty magazine (which is mostly about plastic surgery, boo), hair spray, iron supplements, sample sizes of Udder Cream body lotion, a Freeman clay mask (most excited about this!!) and some other various things.

I heard that this year was a lot less impressive than previous years, which had been bigger and better. I'm not sure if I'd make the trip to go again next year, but it was a fun experience and I'm glad I checked it out.

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Easter event at LUSH!

I once again found myself at the mall yesterday (for Old Navy's one-day wonder sale - more on that later) and decided to peek in LUSH after seeing the store employees with bunny ears on. They were having an Easter event, which involved cookies, a raffle for a gift set, and they had hidden Easter eggs around the shop! Inside the eggs were samples of their products. Mom and I each got one (shown above) sample pot of shampoo - Cynthia Sylvia Stout and Curly Wurly. What fun!

They also started selling this "Rising Sun" charity soap. I had seen it on the UK LUSH website but they just released it here (wasn't in the shop last weekend!). 100% of the proceeds of the $5.95 soap go to Peace Boat, a Japan-based charity working to provide aid in the aftermath of the earthquake. I don't usually use soap, but this stuff smells SO good (cherry-almond, like those Italian cookies with the cherry in the middle!) and it's for a great cause, so I snatched it up!

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Freebies and fun from the LUSH pinata event!

My friend and I were at the mall this past weekend and stopped in at LUSH on a whim. Although I love the idea of any fresh, handmade skincare product, I've always been oddly afraid to go into the LUSH store because it felt like some secret society I didn't know the rules to. Of course I was totally wrong and the ladies who worked there were super nice! They were having an event to celebrate the release of a limited edition bath bomb called "Donkey Oaty", with a giveaway of said product. They also informed us that they were going to be opening a pinata filled with freebies at 4:00 on the dot, so we said we'd return again at 4.

One thing leads to another and it's 3:58 and we're sprinting down the halls of the mall to get to the store in time. I guess their clocks were fast because we skidded into the store with seconds to spare before 4:00 and we see them picking up the carcass of the pinata off the floor and a handful of people were excitedly looking at all the stuff they got. You can imagine our collective "Nooooooooooooooooo!" when we realized we missed our chance at freebies.

Amazingly though, there was a kind soul who had collected a basketful of free stuff, and offered us both a bunch of things she collected. Thank you, super nice LUSH shopper!! I ended up with (shown in the above photo) 2 bars of soap and a "Party On" temple balm - a kind of relaxing aromatherapy balm. The LUSH employee I asked said the soap is ginger soap available only in the UK right now!

My friend had heard a lot about the Aqua Marina cleanser and asked for a sample, so I got one too. It has calamine and aloe vera to calm irritated skin and kaolin for deep cleansing. I've never used their products before so I'm excited to try all this new stuff!

The two little white containers in the photo were from Origins recycling program. I always bring an empty cosmetics product (and I have tons!) with me when I go to Origins, and they usually have a sample-size of something available. This time they were out of prepackaged samples, so they made me up ones of my choice. I picked some "A Perfect World" moisturizer with SPF and "Clean Energy" makeup removing oil.

Gotta love free stuff! :)

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Goodies from the Joyous LYB event 11/11

Yesterday, The Body Shop had an event for LYB members in stores. Just by showing your card, you got a goodie bag, refreshments, and 20% off everything in the store!

This was my first LYB event (considering I just joined last week) and was shocked to see the contents of the free goodie bag!

Three samples, a mini body butter, and a coupon for $5 off any purchase! The mini body butter retails for $8, what an awesome freebie! For refreshments they had cupcakes, cookies, and chocolate truffles - yum yum :)

Since I'd just bought a ton of stuff there, I didn't need anything else, but I did buy one of their eco-tote shopping bags. It's $5 (and $2 gets donated to charitable causes) and with it came a stack of coupons to be used once a week until the end of the year. The coupons are for free gifts - so one freebie a week for the rest of the year! Anything you bought yesterday would be 30% with the bag (in addition to the 20% off for LYB members) but the coupons should come with the bag until the end of the year. The first coupon can be used starting next week!

I also stopped at Bath & Body Works because my mom wanted to get some Wallflowers (scent diffusers) which were on sale for $6 for a 2-pack. They have such yummy scents, we got some of the Twisted Peppermint ones last time and they smell so amazing, we had to get some more! We had a coupon for $10 off $30 and needed a couple extra bucks, so I got some of these cute PocketBac hand sanitizers. I use the warm vanilla sugar kind now but I'd never seen the cupcake ones! Such cute designs!

And here's Panini being cute with the bag :D

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Free fun at the mall!

Everything in this photo was free!

I went to the mall yesterday for a nice dose of freebies and fun! My mom and I are members of a group called "Spirit of Women" - a nationwide network of hospitals that host events to spread awareness of women's health. It's a great program and their events are always a blast!

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, they were hosting an event at the mall followed by a members-only "Girls' Night Out" afterward. The general event provided information and free blood pressure, cholesterol, and other screenings - as well as some neat little freebies. The heart-shaped clip, lip balm, hand sanitizer, and mini-first aid kit in the photo are all from there.

At 4:00 they closed the public event and opened up the real fun! They also allowed walk-ins for those who wanted to become a member (which is free!) on the spot, so really anyone could participate. At the entrance we were given lovely pink pashmina scarves, which was pretty amazing considering the price they usually go for! Those over 21 were given a pink ribbon shaped "silly band" as an identifier since wine was being served.

We received raffle tickets, which we could place in a basket of choice for a selection of gifts. There were a variety of info booths and freebies like hand cream and the Healthy Life magazine, which is a Hearst publication. There were several speakers, including doctors, and a demonstration from a fitness center called Stiletto Strength - they actually work out in their stilettos!

I can barely walk in stilettos, let alone work out in them! Way to go, ladies!

 
The highlight of the event was all the free food! There were gourmet grilled veggie wraps and butternut squash and apple soup being prepared by chefs right there. There was a buffet of heart-healthy foods like apple cider, veggie sticks, fruit, nuts, turkey sandwiches, and mounds of cheese. (Is cheese really heart-healthy though? Who cares - I love cheese!) A local vineyard was sampling their wines, and fancy dark chocolate truffles were passed around.

The Picture People portrait studio was offering free photographs, so we had a mini photo shoot and received a free 8 x 10 print (which surprisingly turned out nice and is already framed on the wall!). They also had these little pocket things that fold out with a mirror and a comb - so perfect to carry in your purse!

They also had various tie-ins with other stores in the mall - a scratch-off coupon for JC Penney's, a coupon for a charity event at Macy's in a few weeks, a postcard for a free trial size mineral foundation at Bare Escentuals (which I definitely claimed!), and one for your choice of skincare/makeup demos or freebies at Estee Lauder (which I'll be doing next time!)

All-in-all, it was a great event for a great cause, and I'm happy with my load of freebies and dinner :)

Other things in the photo were from elsewhere in the mall - a free magazine at H&M, body lotion trial size from Bath & Body Works (printable coupon I mentioned in previous post), and samples of Fekkai hair products I received a coupon for the last time I made a purchase at B&BW.

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