My Evening at Elle HQ with Benefit

Hey Sweeties,

Last week I revealed that following my review of the mystery eye liner sent to me by Elle Magazine, I had been one of the specially selected Elle Insiders invited up to Elle HQ to meet the Beauty Team and attend the worldwide reveal of the Benefit liner! Well Sweeties that was last night and this is what happened…

Elle Insider

It’s not difficult to get lost in London, in my situation I don’t mean geographically but more so in everything else. I know London fairly well or at least the areas that I have ever needed to get to and be in but yesterday afternoon I ventured slightly off Oxford Circus to the streets behind and I was somewhere totally new! I was surrounded by cool types on the equally cool Carnaby Street and then off that, Broadwick Street, home of Hearst HQ and Elle Magazine!

I hovered outside the building for a few minutes before plucking up the courage to venture inside (I know, 26 years old and I’m nervous!). After being ticked off the list it was fun to see The Simpsons playing on the TV in reception which was a welcome distraction while I furiously scanned everyone that left the building in case they were top fashion peoples…which they were of course… kind of.

Then the call came, we were finally summoned to the 3rd floor (eek!) so the small group of us Elle Insiders squashed into the lift and up we went!

Elle HQ is a lot smaller than I imagined -I think I have been watching The September Issue and The Devil Wears Prada a bit too much- but ultimately it was crazy to think the pages of Elle Magazine that I pour over each month are created where I was standing! Upon crossing the threshold into the fashion world, we were shown straight into the fashion cupboard and introduced to cool fashion peoples. The fashion cupboard is not in fact a cupboard… well it is… but it isn’t. It was though perfect for hosting the Elle Insider event but I’ll admit it did get a bit hot in there once we had all arrived but I guess all cupboards do after a while if you stand in them long enough!

at Elle HQ

After one, ok, two glasses of pink bubbles and some mingling, Beauty Director Sophie and Benefit’s Head Make-Up Artist Lisa, took to the front of the room and began a discussion about the new (utterly fabulous) They’re Real Push-Up Liner which has been five years in the making and officially launches next month. What amazes me, and this can apply to pretty much anything these days, is how much technology hugely influences and dictates modern development and the gel liner is no different. Some would think it strange that technology applies to the beauty industry but it does, the clever AccuFlex tip which hugs the lash line while pushing the lashes out of the way as it glides across the eye lid effortlessly making the process of applying eyeliner a dream is no stab in the dark, its calculated intelligence and a result of months, years of painstaking research! But you know all this…

But what you don’t know and what we Elle Insiders didn’t know but were then stunned to learn was that our reviews in all their varying forms and mix of opinions and praising, had been presented at the Benefit global brand event in San Francisco! What a feeling that must have been to those behind the creation of the liner to see everyday young women absolutely loving the product and receiving it so well! As much as we were flattered we did kinda’ shit ourselves at the thought of our reviews being aired in that way!

After the talk, our attention was drawn to the fact that there was in fact a resident photo booth, complete with wind machine, in the office which a few of us dashed to as soon as we were freed. Following this, the rest of the evening was spent taking pictures and getting to know each other and the opportunity was there to have the liner professionally applied by Lisa if we wanted to. It really was a fabulous night!

Here are some of the pictures from the event…

Elle HQ

The magazine equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Magic happens behind those doors!

Took ages deciding on what to wear...Never known fashion pressure like it!

Took ages deciding on what to wear…Never known fashion pressure like it!

 

 

The Elle fashion cupboard

The elusive Fashion Cupboard!

Elle Fashion Cupboard

Top Fashion Peoples

Top Fashion Peoples

2014-05-28 18.48.49

Top Beauty Director Sophie with Elle Insiders

Top Beauty Director Sophie with Elle Insiders

Excited Elle Insiders with their goody bags!

Excited Elle Insiders with their goody bags!

We all left that night with a shiny goody bag containing They’re Real Mascara, They’re Real Push-up Liner and the specially formulated They’re Real Remover, which if you remember from my review and I know it was mentioned in others, the liner can be a bit of a nightmare to remove. If you wear it all day, it generally comes off fine but if you put it on for only a couple of hours it does take some scrubbing! So it was as much interesting as it was exciting to learn a remover had been made to address this!  Upon departure we couldn’t thank Elle enough for inviting us to meet them all and venture into the magical world of the Elle Fashion Cupboard, it was an amazing opportunity and one we’ll be keen to replicate again!

Benefit They're Real products

Elle Insider loot!

Until next time x

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