Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor How to Get into Beauty with Estee Lauder!

Monday night was one of those life-changing times when you have an epiphany and just KNOW what you want to do for the rest of your life. If that's not inspiring enough then I don't know what is! The How to Get into Beauty with Estee Lauder evening was a cut above the rest... The previous two Inspire and Mentor sessions I've been to with Marie Claire featured skin-care company founder, Liz Earle, and one half of the power siblings which dreamt up Premier Model Management, Carole White, both of whom I found incredibly inspirational, and yet neither of those seminars compared to this.

Marie Claire's Inspire and Mentor campaign basically encourages women up and down the country to get involved in their dream careers, from publishing and fashion to business and (in this case) beauty. A collection of seminars, lectures, networking opportunities, one-on-one mentoring sessions and frequent updates at www.marieclaire.co.uk have made the campaign a success so far with hundreds of women chasing after their career dreams and testifying that they have Marie Claire to thank for it. I really hope and expect that one day I will be one of them!

As a subscriber to Marie Claire's email newsletter, I received an email about two weeks ago, telling me that I could attend the Estee Lauder Inspire and Mentor session in Manchester for just £10 rather than the usual £35... Knowing how great these seminars have been in the past, I leapt at the opportunity, especially because I obviously have a massive interest in all things beauty. After roping my dad into accompanying me on my first motorway-drive to Manchester, I found myself sitting with a glass of sparkling rose wine in hand in the plush reception of Malmaison hotel at 6.30pm.

I got chatting to a couple of lovely girls including a fellow blogger Jessica Louise (who's blog can be found at www.forevermissvanity.com) as I nibbled at (ie. scarfed down) some of the yummy little smoked salmon and goats cheese canapes and made sure that my lipstick was still intact.

I decided to wear a little pink, black, tan and lavender watercolor-print skirt, (all items can be seen in my Fall Haul video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dTbp0uQL6s) with the maroon colored sweater, gothic cross necklace, tan brogue heels and camel blazer from Forever 21 and as it was a little chilly out I also threw on my granite-like tights from Delia's. I'd curled my hair then raked my fingers through it for that 70's look and kept my make-up relatively simple with a neutral eye, rosy cheeks and wine-colored matte lips, courtesy of MAC Cosmetics... I felt super-comfy in my outfit yet also felt like I looked good; RESULT!

Anyways enough about that. Once the seminar started we noted the panel of super-chic, beauty royalty... Lisa Oxenham Beauty Director of Marie Claire, Anna Rozelaar Communications Manager for Estee Lauder and Alan Pan Global Make-Up Artist for Estee Lauder. Of course they all had perfect complexions and generally looks super healthy and happy to be there!

Lisa 'I-Want-Her-Job' Oxenham (as I so fondly refer to her) inspired me with her story of how she went from a History of Art student at Manchester University to the most influential beauty guru at one of the top magazines in the country. Initially wishing to become a fashion stylist, work experience at Cosmopolitan and More magazine (amongst others) fueled her interest in journalism, a passion which she initially pursued by working in the Beauty PR industry, writing and styling the odd photo shoot. Now, having worked her way up through More magazine, transferring to InStyle as Beauty Editor then transferring again to her present role, Lisa Oxenham has spent the past four-and-a-half to five years working for Marie Claire and seems to really love her job. Hence the 'I-Want-Her-Job' part :)

With a CV like that, it can't be argued that if there is ever going to be someone to trust regarding this season's beauty trends, it's her! That's why when she told the group about how Full-Bodied Lips (a trend I was already rocking during the seminar... 1 'Cool Point' for gabriellasofia :)), Chrome-Themed Eye Colors, 'Liner Love', Hair Buns, Red Nails and Hair Braids are going to be in for Autumn, I jotted all her tips down! Currently having a bit of a disaster with my camera, but once it's fixed I'll be posting pictures of me working these very same trends, so be sure to check back!

Of course Anna and Alan were very interesting too. Alan in fact was hilariously funny and is obviously very talented at what he does; the models one whom he demonstrated two different smoky eye looks (one natural, one drama for 'boogie nights'... his words, not mine!) looked absolutely beautiful. As for Anna, during these mini-tutorials she told us all about the products Alan was using, describing them in so much detail and with such passion that I now know that I absolutely NEED to try Estee Lauder! When someone refers to a lipstick as something 'Like a chocolate truffle, the outside gives you what you want in color whilst the inside gives you that added moisturizing luxury...' I really stood no chance... Pure Color Sensuous Rouge by Estee Lauder is officially on my Christmas list. Yes, I still write Santa a list. If you don't ask you don't get, right?

After the seminar there was an opportunity to ask questions, but I think everyone found the session so informative that the questions were very basic and there weren't many. And yet once it was all over, each of the speakers was surrounded by a gaggle of girls wanting more... Of course I was one of those girls, but rather than jumping straight into line with the others, I took a moment to write a little note with my details down for Lisa... At the beginning of the seminar she advised anyone interested in Beauty to have cut-outs, clippings, swatches, photographs etc of anything that inspires us to be creative with beauty. The fact that I've been doing that since I was a little girl is neither here nor there, because the nub of the story hinges on her following statement, 'I've still got all of my cut-outs although they really need organizing...' BOOM. Once I'd finished writing down my digits, email address and the title of this blog (Hello Lisa if you're reading :)) I approached her, introduced myself and told her that I would like to organize them for her if she'll let me. Lisa was as lovely in person as she had appeared during her presentation and asked me some questions about myself, my course and my plans for the future.

I explained as simply as I could with all my nerves sending my hearty a-flutter, that I want to be a Beauty Writer because I find a million things to say about every beauty product I use. I feel like I can find a story in every mascara, a culture in shampoo, a history in a vitamin supplement... I know I don't know everything about beauty, but that's what excites me, the fact that the industry is rapidly changing with new science constantly inspiring fresh ideas. All of which culminate in that sexy feeling which millions of women across the world experience when they step out wearing a new truffle-like lipstick (thanks again Anna Rozelaar!)

Anyways, the result of all that? Lisa urged me to keep contact with her which sounds like a good sign :) I am going to forward her a copy of my CV soon and hopefully get some work experience with her at Marie Claire... watch this space and wish me luck, Readers!

The whole point of this blog is for me to share with you the extra sparkle that I had in my smile after the Inspire and Mentor seminar. The panel really pumped me up, educated me on a topic which I adore, and made me realize once and for all that beauty really is for me! Beauty is for everyone. If you don't believe me, just refer back to the one theory which upon the humble beginnings of her company in 1946 inspired Estee Lauder herself; that every woman can be beautiful.

Thanks again Marie Claire, Lisa, Anna and Alan for a fantastic evening. I recommend Marie Claire's Inspire and Mentor seminars to everyone! So what are you waiting for?

gabriellasofia x

I've been a Naughty Little Blogger...

Hi guys... I feel as if I'm walking to the headmaster's office to receive a stern telling off for making the boys cry in the playground or something (which did actually happen once... I kicked Patrick Shaw in the goolies because he wouldn't leave me alone... moving on!)

I am so sorry I haven't blogged over the past couple of days! I went caravaning (can that be used as a verb?) in Wales with my grandparents this weekend, and as it is based in the butt-crack of nowhere, there was *insert dramatic music* NO INTERNET!!! I know, it was a traumatic experience, yet here I stand before you today, I stood in the face of adversity and came out the other side in one piece... "Thank you, thank you!"

So I got back from Wales on Sunday night, but was sick with some sort of pre-migraine type symptoms. Luckily they never developed into an ACTUAL migraine but still, feeling sick and dizzy with a kind of bruised feeling in your head is never good, so I went to bed super early.

Yesterday was Monday which I spent the entirety of getting ready for Marie Claire's latest in the Inspire and Mentor series; How to Get into Beauty with Estee Lauder. I did film a couple of videos for you along the way, such as my much-awaited (by all 20 of my readers...) Fall Haul video which I'm hoping to post up later today, and also a How I Do My Eyebrows Tutorial, which was kind of unplanned so I'm hoping to upload that later on in October, unless someone is having an eyebrow disaster right now and desperately needs the video... let me know in the comments box below!

Today I'm working for my parents at their milkshake bar The Hippy Hippy Shake from 1 until 5, then I assume I'll come home to have some dinner, get editing and posting that Haul Video, then I think I'll write a review of last night... I really had a fantastic time with Marie Claire, this is the third of this type of event I've been to, and each one has been really interesting so I urge all my readers to look out for future events of this kind at www.marieclaire.co.uk.

Now, I'm going to go take a shower and get myself ready for work, once again I apologize for my recent absence but promise that all the material I promised you on the 1st of September will be going up very soon :)

What are you up to today? Let me know!

Love

gabriellasofia x

Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor Part 2

So I know it’s been a long time since I promised this blog, but here it is! My review of Marie Claire’s Inspire and Mentor evening of Getting into Beauty with Liz Earle...

It was Wednesday the 11^th of May and I woke up feeling rough. After eating a ‘bad prawn’ a couple of nights before I was absolutely gutted thinking I wouldn’t make it. I had originally planned to get the 11.50am train to London even though the event didn’t actually start until 6.30pm, but this was because I know my skill levels in terms of navigating areas I’m not familiar with and didn’t want to get so lost that I might miss the whole thing. And I’d planned to mooch the shops for a little while too! However, due to my food poisoning, I was vomiting at that time and had to lie in bed for a couple of hours to prevent myself from keeling right over. Not the best way to feel on a day when you are hoping to meet a potential future employer. But, you know, I’m a trooper and managed somehow to yank myself out of bed, crawl over to the mirror and begin applying a face of make-up. Due to my sickly pallor I realised it was best to go all out with the bronzer to make myself appear a little less of a corpse.

Having missed my morning train, I shelled out nearly £25 for a new ticket and managed to catch a train at around 3.00pm. I slept on the journey and when I arrived in Euston I felt much better, success! So the event was to take place at the Charlotte Street Hotel located quite near to Goodge Street station. This actually ended up being a million times easier for me to find than I imagined as Goodge Street and Euston are just a couple of stops away from one another on my most highly frequented line, the Northern line. I arrived nearly an hour early, so I went and bought a Coke in KFC. Classy, I know.

The hotel was absolutely beautiful. I thought it was a restaurant upon arrival as there were tables located outside the front of the hotel under a canopy, but I soon realised that this was due to the expensive hotel bar being located close to the front of the building... this meant that cool City Slicker Londoners could sit outside with champers in hand reminding me how cool it looks to smoke... (not that I ever would.) The hotel reminded me a little of a members only club which I was fortunate enough to visit for my aunt’s birthday last year, in that it was full of plush sofas in homely yet luxurious and expensive looking lounges. The corridors and staircases were narrow, yet were carpeted thick and were surrounded by autumn-coloured walls making the whole atmosphere very warm and comfortable.

Heading down to the basement where the event was to take place I spotted a group of ladies of all ages dressed to impress in a vast array of different styles. There was one girl with a face painted with Burlesque style make-up, whilst another wore a long cotton maxi dress with a denim jacket. Then I spotted a younger girl perhaps just a little older than me wearing bright pink jeans with a vivid blue cardigan (clearly no stranger to the colour-blocking trend) and an older lady with a mid-length summer dress in black and white. I loved how different everyone looked and I immediately felt like I’d make the right decision in staying true to my own personal style (I had chosen a pair of high-waisted, rust-coloured, peg-leg trousers and a cream crop-top with a terracotta number printed on the front.)

After a few minutes of waiting outside the room, our names were ticked off a guest list and we entered the reception room where there was champagne, orange juice, red, white and rose wine and water waiting in glasses for us and a table of snacky nibbles for us to pick at while we mingled with one another. This went on for about half an hour which was great as I was able to chat with a couple of other girls who were also interested in working in magazines. We compared our experience so far and swapped numbers before being led into a very modern lecture theatre style cinema room.

And it was then, as I sank into one of the poofy orange-leather chairs that I saw her: Liz Earle. Please see my blog entitled Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor Part 1 if you don’t know who she is, but you really should as she is an absolute legend!

The best things that Liz Earle taught me which I will remember for life are:

1) Crawl, walk, run – never rush into something, even though you may be excited make sure you plan for every eventuality then it stands a better chance of being as perfect as you want it to be!

2) If you enjoy what you do, you’ll never see your job as ‘work’.

3) Choose a business partner with a different skill-set to your own, because if you just double up then you are going to miss vital areas in which you could excel.

So the lecture was set up almost as an interview with Helen Russell the Digital Editor of Marie Claire posing questions and Liz Earle using these as I kind of prompt for her to tell her story and offer us some advice. Despite the Q and A-based technique, the interview style adopted by Helen was very relaxed which meant that Liz seemed to feel comfortable enough to crack a few jokes and the whole atmosphere was very warm with both women smiling from ear to ear throughout! I literally loved it! How often to you get to sit in on a chat between two of your biggest role models, whilst learning from their experiences? Well, hopefully more often if the success of the Inspire and Mentor campaign so far is anything to go by!

And then there was the goodie bag... Oooh this was amazing! So as we took our seats, we each had a Marie Claire canvas bag bursting open with the good quality products which I have been using ever since. What was inside? – I hear you ask. Well, naturally we got a copy of the June issue of Marie Claire complete with the free gift of a Body Shop Body Butter (I got mine in the mango flavour which is so sweet and delicious I actually want to lick my skin once it’s on!) I subscribe to Marie Claire, so usually this wouldn’t have been a great free gift to me, but unfortunately the night before attending the event, an absolute clod went and spilt a can of Pepsi all over my copy before I had chance to read it, so the free mag was more than welcome to me.

Next I realised that there was a big paper bag with the Liz Earle logo plastered across it... could it be that Liz Earle had given us some samples? No. Not sample. But FULL-SIZED PRODUCTS!!! Yes, that’s right. I received a Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit (which usually retails at £13.25), Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic (£11.75) and the Liz Earle Superskin Moisturiser (which can be bought for a whopping £33.20 but is totally worth it!) I couldn’t believe she had been so generous to have literally given us not only £58.20 worth of free products but also her time and experience for just a £35 entrance fee. Honestly, she is so generous and it will be totally worth it for her as since starting these products a couple of weeks ago, already I can’t imagine life without them. Look out for a review on the Liz Earle brand coming soon! Please take my word for it and purchase these items at www.uk.lizearle.com and I promise you won’t be sorry. I’m actually going to go one step further on that and say if you are in any doubt about this brand just look at these photos of Liz herself... she is in her late forties, works under the stress of running her own international business AND has a family and yet her skin is flawless. She literally has the best most glowingly beautiful, luminescent, bright skin I have ever seen. She is her brand’s greatest advert in my opinion.

Also, if you are interested, she was wearing Shimmer Brick by Bobbi Brown on her cheeks. I know this because I asked. I simply couldn’t resist enquiring about the warm rosiness on her apples which just screamed ‘Youth’ to me. Seriously, this woman is a goddess.

So at the end of the lecture I made a move – I had a train to catch home – but not before having a bit of a chinwag with the lovely Helen Russell. This woman has such an inspiring energy and made me feel like I was the first person to ever ask about working in magazines. I found she was really attentive, interested in me and eager to share her knowledge... I don’t wish to speak too soon, but we discussed the possibility of work experience with the Marie Claire Digital team and she is expecting to receive my CV any day now (once my exams are over I’m going to send it to Neil Robinson the Media Digital Director at IPC... he came and did a talk about getting into the publishing industry at my university in March and we have stayed in contact since. He suggested sending my CV to him first then he would forward it on for me and Helen seemed to support this suggestion.)

In all Getting into Beauty with Liz Earle was a fantastic experience and I commend her for being involved in a campaign as positive and influential as Marie Claire’s Inspire and Mentor. It’s not often that I, as a poor student, will turn around and say, ‘That was totally worth the money’, but you know what? If Liz Earle did another one of these events, I’d be prepared to pay double because it was just that good!

Keep your eyes peeled for Part 3 of this series which will be a similar report to this but on the topic of Getting into Business with Carole White Co-Founder of Premier Model Management.

If you do just one thing today, check out the campaign at www.marieclaire.co.uk.

gabriellasofia

Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor Part 1

As sceptical as I was about parting with £35 per night I was interested in attending, I’m proud to say that curiosity got the better of me and I booked two nights worth of Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor events. My student loan went in, and no sooner had £70 of it vanished then another £30 odd for my return train journeys for each day (booked with Virgin via www.nationalrail.co.uk and as a student I managed to book return tickets PLUS London Day Travel card which enabled me to use the Underground to my heart’s content all day for just over £15 per day... bargain!) I initially was considering staying in a hotel for the night, but with prices being so hefty and revision time coming up, I figured having the morning in my university library then making tracks to London at about 1ish was a much better idea, especially considering the amazing price I got it for.

So what exactly is the Inspire and Mentor Campaign? A scheme set up by Marie Claire in 2010 was originally designed in partnership with The Prince’s Trust charity in order to celebrate the success of women in the work place and encourage the sharing of ideas, networking and the importance of mentoring and helping one another along, in order to give women that bit more to be proud of. Sound great right? Well, it really is. Since its launch, the campaign has hosted numerous lectures and seminars with inspirational guest speakers, enlisted the help of 17 of the most influential women in Britain spanning industries from film and fashion to beauty and business and created very real partnerships between these high-profile females and women who just needed that extra push to make their ideas a reality! For more information about the campaign and the successes which the mentees have had since the gruelling interview process just a year ago, check out the June issue of Marie Claire retailing in all good magazine vendors for £3.60. For students who may find that a bit too painful a fee, consider subscribing for just £1 for the first three months then £2 after that at www.magazinesdirect.com (the company through which Marie Claire organise their subscriptions). Also, there is no obligation to continue subscribing after the £1 runs out!

Anyways, let’s get onto business! Which events did I book? Well, there were three... How to get into fashion with Jane Shepherdson (most famous for the epic revamp of Topshop a couple of years ago and turning around the fortunes of quality women’s brand Whistles), How to get into beauty with Liz Earle (the lady who started a world-renowned beauty brand using only natural ingredients from scratch whilst raising a family) and How to get into business with Carole White (love her or hate her, she founded Premier Model Management in 1981 with her brother and consequently starred in the 7-part Channel 4 documentary The Model Agency... she is also managed to get tangled up in the recent Naomi Campbell ‘Blood Diamonds’ lawsuit somehow...) Naturally, I wanted to get onto them all, but unfortunately the Jane Shepherdson event was fully booked. Never mind, I thought at the end of the day, I knew I wasn’t going for Jane, Liz or Carole, but to see as many Marie Claire employees as possible, so I let it slide.

What else was I expecting? Well, when I booked the events I heard that the Liz Earle one was to be held at the rather plush Charlotte Street Hotel in the Goodge Street area whilst the following night would take place at Marie Claire Headquarters at the beautiful glass Blue Fin Building in Southwark. So I was expecting to get lost, that’s what I’m trying to say! Naturally, I had to plan my outfit around my inability to follow direction, so I decided on the first day to keep things simple with my gold gladiator sandals bought from Faith a million years ago, rust coloured tapered Topshop trousers, cream Topshop crop-top with peach coloured detail and my oversized cream knit cardigan from, you guessed it, Topshop! The following day, I wore my black glads (bought at the same time and place as the gold ones!), but took a pair of my highest heels in my handbag for when I arrived, after all this was Marie Claire HQ, my future place of work, so I had to make a good impression! I paired the shoes with my black faux-leather jacket purchased in Papaya for a steal at $25 on my last trip to the USA, my black wayfarer sunnies from Urban Outfitters which were a present from my mom last year and my snakeskin-print jumpsuit from Topshop (another bargain... got it in the online Flash Sale for just £35 from £65!)

In my confirmation email I was informed that the events would start at 6.30pm and finish at 8pm on the 11^th and 12^th of May and that there would be nibbles and champagne available! I also read on the Marie Claire website that we would receive goodie bags containing about £60 worth of swag per night... I thought, ‘SCORE!’

Anyways, over the next few days I will write up what each of the events were like and let you in on the contents of my goodie bag, but I just wanted to do this blog to let you all know about the campaign and strongly recommend it. If you have any questions or have had any past experiences with the campaign, please just stick it down in the comments and I will respond as soon as possible J

Take care my little chick-ettes.

gabriellasofia