Wednesday, January 23, 2013

My Weekend with Benefit in San Francisco!

'Ello gals!
Last weekend I was invited to attend Benefit's first ever "Blogger Weekend" which was seriously SO much fun...like not even kidding it's on my top 5 times of my life (still not joking). I honestly was so flattered that I was invited, I swear they totally mixed up my invite and it was supposed to go to somebody way more legit...BUT I was stoked I got to go! 

As most of you know, I'm a yay-area (bay area) native, so seeing the city with a ton of girls who had never seen San Francisco was so much fun! I felt like a back seat tour guide pointing out all my favorite places in the city!

So let me give you a play by play of the trip .

My flight left at 6 am....yes AM....so being the smart college student I am, I decided, Hey, why not just stay up all night? Yeah..bad idea. I rolled up to the airport makeup-less, hair curled from the night before, rocking sweat pants, my Calvin Klein coat, and a fur scarf...I think I was the dictionary definition of a 'hot mess' 


My travel buddies and I (Heart & Sonia) were greeted at the hotel with a Benefit gift bag, filled with SF related goodies and my favorite part...a giant gummy bear (uhhh Benefit did you know I was asked to prom junior year with one??) So I helped myself to hundreds a few chocolates before heading down stairs to meet the rest of the girls. 


Our first event of the day was a tour of Benefit headquarters. So maybe it's just me, but when I hear 'headquarters' I think cold labs that smell like antibacterial wipes. But boy oh boy (I sound like my mother..) was I wrong! The headquarters was BEYOND adorable as you can see. 


                                      




















(how adorable are these?!?)

We were then taken upstairs for lunch (but more importantly CUPCAKES), where we saw a slideshow disclosing some awesome Benefit facts, like....HEY did you know their first client was a stripper who wanted a product to make her nipples pinker while she "danced" and there you have it ladies and gents, Benetint was born! 

So this entire trip was pretty secretive, even to us! We honestly had no idea really why we were all invited, they kept the biggest secret underwraps until after lunch when they announced we were going to be the first people in the WORLD to see and try out their new line launching this spring!


Their Color Collection consists of re-formulated & re-packaged products, brand new colors, and even new products! I may have even gotten giddy when I saw the cream shadows...I mean look at them you guys- they're boootyyyfuuuul!






(Fun fact, when I HATED lipgloss I mentioned in my early videos that the only one I loved was Benefit's Life on the A-List)




(Meet my first Oscar!)


You should have seen the excitement on Alison (amarixe) Jen (frmheadtotoe) and (RachhLoves) faces when they gifted us each a specialized pink train case filled with the new goodies to keep for ourselves! Stay tuned for TONS of tutorials and reviews when these products launch in stores!




Here are just some fun shots I got of the headquarters! They had so many different rooms, for meetings, press events, and even officies filled with sassy lil' quotes & makeup!




























Okay it's totally not a secret that I like REALLY love food....and San Francisco is the city for all you fellow foodies! I nearly peed my pants when the hot PINK hummer limo picked us up and took us to Michael Mina's! In all honesty I was more excited about the chef than I was for the transportation..is that sad?


(YUM)

Now this part I have no photos of (cue my cries) BUT I'll just tell you! We had such a fun night, we started off at a Benefit themed theatre where a comedian performed that literally had me crying of laughter, then we saw a SERIOUSLY well done mini- Benefit video! I'll link it here, it's so cute and funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfTvFPGCLqg&list=SP4I_s_Q0eZTYSbMSNW0x6SnQZrf9CbKuF&index=1


The final day was our tour of the city, and the first stop was the painted ladies (Also known as the 'Full House' House or, for those of a you a little too young to recall that, you may recognize it was the house from 'That's So Raven' 





(I felt like such a tourist in my own city!)

Our tour bus took us to quite a few SF landmarks, but my favorite will always be the bridge!





(Carah, Alison & I by the bridge!)



(Dulce and I)

We ended the day at one of the first ever Benefit stores, one on Filmore street! If you're ever in SF you have to go! The ladies working there are so friendly and sweet! I got my brows waxed for the first time EVER, by an esthetician who's Benefit's longest employee! We finished off just shopping around, I can't wait to show you guys some awesome products that even I didn't know existed!











I want to give a HUGE thank you to Benefit Cosmetics, I had such an amazing time last weekend! It was so well planned, and I got to know some of my YouTube friends so much better, as well as learn some pretty awesome things about one of my favorite makeup brands! But I really owe a huge thank you to YOU all for your support of my youtube channel, I would never get experiences like this without all of you, and I just want you all to know how much I appreciate your love and support!


(Check the video out here!)



xoxo
-M