Thursday 3 April 2014

My fancy evening at Harvey Nichols

Tuesday 25th March 2014 
Harvey Nichols Beauty Event with Jess

Now we all know make up isn't my most favourite thing, however she had bought tickets for the both of us to go to the event and I have to admit the free champagne swayed my choice!

We arrived at the event fashionably late (public transport wasn't my friend that day) at 7pm. We decided to seek out the bar and grabbed our first glasses of sparkling, chilled champagne (mmm) and looked around at the events going on around us. We stopped at the Laura Mercier stall first where a lovely man named Trevor did Jess's lips (looked twice as big) with one of the lip glosses from the new collection. I took a back seat on that one but Trevor came over and told me I should get involved and then I'd enjoy myself.

That's when I decided to seek out something I needed. I decided I needed a good hair product. I have been dyeing my hair recently and always make sure I treat my hair with good hair products so that it doesn't get damaged. I went over to a stall I'd never heard of before. This brand called SHOW were styling hair and recommending products for you. I waited in line and finally sat down. At the time my hair was really long (almost to my waist) so I told the woman that she really didn't need to style my hair (I mean there was a lot of it)! I thought she would recommend a hairspray so that when I straighten and curl my hair they would stay in place and my hair would be more controlled. I was so wrong! She pulled out a treatment oil and put the tiniest dot ever in her palm, rubbed her hands together and then worked the oil through my hair. My hair looked instantly better. It was more shiny and generally looked healthier. Now alcohol had given me some dutch courage so I just said "I'll buy it". Those of you who know me will know I'm not one for throwing money away but I made a flash decision and for once I was spontaneous. I felt so special and if I'm honest I got a buzz from it! The oil was beautifully presented in a vintage inspired glass bottle. The lid can be taken off and underneath is a glass pipette with a rubber squeezer (sounds wrong but I can't think of the correct vocab to use) which you can use to suck up the oil and then squeeze droplets onto your hands. Not only does the oil work brilliantly it smells divine. Now I use this oil on my wet hair before blow drying and then I use again when I've finished. Since using this oil my hair has been softer and feels healthier. I seem to be washing it less as well which means my colour is lasting longer. I paid £40 for this (my ticket gave me £10 off the product so RRP would be £50.

My next purchases (yes plural) was at NARS. Now I have heard great things about this brand from watching YouTube videos of people like Tanya Burr, Sprinkle of Glitter and Zoella. Another man came over to me and asked if he could help me and suddenly I found myself saying "yes could you show me the right products to use to get a smoky eye?" I know I surprised myself! I sat in the chair and he got to work creating my desired look. I have to say it is rather embarrassing when a man can do your make up better than you can! However, I can't say I was complaining because he was really lovely and just made me feel more confident about my eyes. Yes I know they kind of have to make you feel like that but I really did feel like they wanted to do it because they were lovely people. Yes I am incredibly naive and I prefer to stay this way! So anyway! He used a duo eyeshadow using a bronze and a dark brown. I had never really used more neutral colours for my eyes I always used heavier colours. By using browns my eyes looked more green and brighter. I was so happy. He also used a brown eyeliner. It was lovely and soft which made it easy to apply as it didn't drag on my lids. I have never really used brown eyeliner as I've only ever bought black liner. By using the brown it made my eyes stand out in a more natural way. As well as the liner and eyeshadow he recommended a concealer for me. Now I have always steered clear of concealer's simply because I find them to be quite 'cakey'. This was not the case with this creamy concealer! It was a dream to apply and blended well into my skin. It looked like my skin was naturally perfect (I like to feel as if I'm not wearing much make up). At the time he didn't use a powder to blend in more however I use a bit of powder when at home just to smooth everything over and it seems to allow the concealer to last longer. I glugged some more champagne and bought all 3 items. This entitled me to the free eyeliner. This eyeliner was limited edition and was black but had gold specks in it. I have just used this on my hand to take a picture and I have to say I can't wait to use this properly! In total my NARS purchases came to £66 (oops) although my bank was hurting after that I can't say I regret a single second of it. 
 

 










Finally Jess had booked us in to get our make up done at the Bare Minerals stand. Now I've never used any of this brands make up before but I'm open to trying new products. I knew what I wanted and that was a mascara to finish off my smoky eye look. The lady recommended the Lash Domination mascara which I wasn't planning on buying. After using on my lashes they looked twice as long (they looked like fake lashes). I was impressed because at home my old one wasn't impressing me as much as it had done previously. I was in need of a new mascara so I did end up buying it as well as a liquid lipstick in the shade 'Witty'. This looks like a red wine colour when applied to the lips. This is usually the colour I would use when going on a night out. So at this stand I ended up spending £33 which surprisingly ended up being my smallest purchase that evening! Crazy! As we were her last makeovers and apparently her favourites she gave us 30 day moisturising sets (she came and found us afterwards which was really nice). I am loving this moisturising set and so far has seemed to be working on my skin!
 












Overall the night was a good one and the champagne and wine were flowing nicely. I have to say they were the best glasses of champagne and wine I had had in a long time. It was nice I got to be girly for a change and I couldn't thank Jess enough for bringing me to the event. I may have spent more than I should have but every pound was MORE than worth it! 

I hope you enjoyed this blog it is differently from what I usually write about that's for sure! 

"The rest is still unwritten"

Megan