Pimping my Pamper Evening

Well, I think this is officially my longest break from blogging since I started. The last couple of months seem to have passed in a blur and I thought it would be nice to share what has been keeping me otherwise engaged, particularly as it's beauty related.

As well as the usual exam invigilating I do at this time of year, I have been busy organising a ladies pamper evening as a fundraiser for my daughter's pre-school. It's the first time I've ever organised an event like this, so I don't mind admitting that I've been learning as I go. The pre-school my daughter attends is a lovely setting and the staff are really dedicated to providing early years education for all children, irrespective of their background and need. They have experience of supporting vulnerable children, which often requires input outside of nursery setting. They also have a well earned reputation for supporting children with additional needs and parents do come outside of catchment to enroll their children. As it isn't a privately run nursery, fundraising events like the pamper evening help with costs of purchasing new equipment, toys and books, as well as enabling them to subsidise educational trips for the children.

As a newbie at event organising, I have a new found appreciation for how much effort it actually takes. I certainly take my hat off to all the PR girls. Embarrassingly, in a bid to avoid using stock imagery for the posters, I created an image that seems to have an unfortunate, how shall I put it...'alternative interpretation'. I will spare your blushes by not expanding any further! With only two weeks to go until the big night, I still have plenty to do and I'm anxious to make sure everything runs smoothly. I really wish that I could suddenly become less shy, as it would make selling tickets much easier. Did I mention I have a sash?!

Of course, you will be unsurprised to learn that I have enlisted the help of friends that I've made through blogging. HelenJNT and I will be running a stall together, Oxford Jasmine will be offering Rebel Nail manicures and Karin of English Rose Cosmetics will be selling her lovely handmade products. I'll be showcasing some beautiful pieces from The Fushigi Shop on my stall because I couldn't miss an opportunity to share. I also want to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to escentual.com for generously donating a prize for the raffle.

I will end with a cheeky little plea. If any of you are in the South Oxfordshire area on 10th July and want to come along, offer your service for a stall or (cheekiest of all) provide a prize for our raffle or lucky dip, do get in touch. Without completely giving away my location, I'm very close to a main train route into London, so you don't even need to be that local to join us.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reporting how it all goes.

Estee Lauder Thinks Pink...with a Splash of Blue

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and this year sees the 20th anniversary of the campaign. It's hard to believe the pink ribbon has been around for 20 years, although the current design now incorporates a touch of blue to represent the number of breast cancer cases diagnosed in men.

As with previous years, there are several limited edition items being released by the Estee Lauder companies, with varying amounts of the sale proceeds being donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). The aim of the BCRF, founded by Evelyn Lauder, is the prevention and cure of breast cancer through research funding, as well as raising public awareness about good breast health.

The Dream Collection is a tribute to Evelyn Lauder's personal dream of eradicating breast cancer and includes the Dream Compact filled with Lucidity Pressed Powder (£55) and Dream Pin (£10). The full RRP will be donated for every Dream Compact and Pin sold in the UK.

The Dream Lip Collection (£25) includes a Pure Colour Lipstick in Candy and Lip Gloss in Pink Innocence inside a pink snakeskin clutch, a £5 donation will be made for every sale. A £10 donation will be made for every purchase of the limited edition Perfectionist CP+R serum with Pink Ribbon Keychain (£68).

Throughout October, Jo Malone will be supporting the campaign by donating £5 to the BCRF's UK research grants for every UK sale of the Red Roses Cologne 100ml (£76). Clinique have also released a special edition Chubby Stick in 'Plumped Up Pink' with matching pink cosmetic bag (£16) and £2 will be donated for every set sold from Clinique counters in Boots, Selfridges and Thomas Brown.

You can find out more about the 2012 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign on the BCA Facebook Page.

Kiss it Better with Clinique and Great Ormond Street Hospital

I had promised myself I wouldn't blog today but as predicted, I've got that twitchy feeling. So, I thought I would share a little something that might be of interest if you're in the mood to treat yourself this weekend. This is a little treat that will do a little good too.

This Kissable Lip Set from Clinique costs £25 and is available from House of Fraser. For every sale, 50% of the RRP will be donated to the KISS IT BETTER appeal. The KISS IT BETTER appeal is a partnership between Clinique and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity to raise money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer. As well as money raised through sales of the Kissable Lip Set, a £2 donation will also be made for every lipstick and lipgloss sold in House of Fraser stores throughout February. That sounds like a pretty good reason for a lippie splurge to me!

If you're interested in reading more about the appeal, please visit www.gosh.org/kissitbetter. 

Beautybloggers.org Annual Charity Auction

The Beautybloggers.org charity auction is back again for the second year. Just like last year, there are some spectacular items on offer. I have my eye on the stunning Chantecaille Les Papillons Poudre Delicate in Veil as well as the festive Le Metier de Beaute StocKen stuffers that I had already been admiring. I think you'd struggle not to find something to fall in love with amongst all of the lots.

The items have been donated by bloggers and brands and as before it is open internationally (with free postage too). Beautybloggers.org will donate the winning bids directly to Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. You can find out more about Médecins Sans Frontières work here. So, go on, do a bit of Christmas shopping for yourself and raise some money for a great cause. The 2011 auction begins at 8 am CST on Monday, November 28, and ends at 5 pm CST on Monday, December 12. Happy bidding!

The Boots Children in Need Appeal Day

With Boots the Chemist my fabled second home and Pudsey my old home town, it seemed rather fitting to attend the Boots Children in Need Appeal Day. Once my children learned that I would get to see Pudsey Bear, there was no turning back. They waved me off on Thursday with strict instructions to bring back as many pictures of Pudsey as possible.

As Boots HQ is a truly enormous site (I think my eyes were on stalks as we drove through), it was a little tricky remembering all the directions to get to the correct building. If we'd have followed the whoops of excitement, I think we'd have been in no doubt where the Appeal Day was taking place.

The Boots Administration building was completely taken over with many different fund raising activities with almost all the staff either manning the stalls or joining in. There were tombolas, raffles, cake sales, lucky dips, product sales, bingo and even a human fruit machine. No mean prizes here either, the first prize of an iPad in one of the raffles had drawn quite a crowd. The PR team had organised a Strictly Come Dancing Wii Dance Contest and with a brand new Wii and a trip to Amsterdam as prizes, I overcame my nerves and joined in. As my companion Lipglossiping will tell you, the gloves came off and Miss Modesty got surprisingly competitive! Tragically there are no pictures.......(and if there are, I will pay good money to ensure they never see the light of day).

It's a full house!

Lipglossiping hits the jackpot on the lucky dip!

There was also a room devoted to beautifying. You'll be unsurprised to learn that I spent a good while in there. The 'beauty salon' included a Bourjois makeover stand, Mavala and Nail Rock manicure tables, Eyelure lash applications and even the opportunity to get a 'tache trim for those taking part in Movember. Of course I took full advantage of the beauty salon and had a set of false lashes applied as well as a set of the Children in Need Nail Rock dotty nail wraps. In true beauty blogger style, I was keenly eyeing up the snazzy pump dispenser the manicurists used for the nail varnish remover.

Super speedy lash application

It was clear that the Boots staff were all having a lot of fun and really entering into the spirit of the day. One particular team had all dressed up as Where's Wally and looked rather impressive as they moved on mass through the reception. Pudsey and his friend Blush Bear were also in attendance. I suspect the fund-raising day has been huge success. Although I don't know the overall total raised, a Twitter friend that helped to man the Jewellery & Hosiery sale told me that their stand alone had raised £1000 and the running total for the bingo was around £1000 at the time we left. This is the 8th year that Boots have joined forces with BBC Children in Need to raise money. As well as the Appeal Day at Boots HQ, I believe there were events running in stores throughout the UK.

I'd like to touch on a more serious note for a moment. I have grown up with the BBC Children in Need but I don't think I have appreciated the significance of their work more so than I do now. As both a Mother and a Mother to a child with special needs, I'm really touched by the projects they help to fund through our donations. Children in Need supports children and young people in the UK living in poverty or dealing with illness, those with learning, physical and sensory disabilities as well as those dealing with trauma and psychological disorders. Watching the appeal coverage on Friday evening, I could truly appreciate that the Children in Need charity makes a real and significant difference to the quality of life of many children and young people through the projects that they fund.

I had such a lot of fun at the Boots Appeal Day and it was with some sadness that I handed back my visitors pass when it was time to go. Many thanks to the Boots PR team, Lipglossiping and of course, Pudsey Bear for a lovely day.

Beauty for Charity

There are a few amazing things going on in the beauty world that I wanted to mention.

Firstly I wanted to mention the BeautyBloggers.org auction to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières. The auction is already live and will run until 20th December. They idea behind the charity auction came from Karla Sugar and she has brought together almost 50 bloggers and brands to help. There have been some amazing items donated. The auction is open to international bids, postage is free (and will be covered by the person who made the donation) and all the winning bids will go directly to Médecins Sans Frontières. MSF provides medical treatment for people in crisis regardless of race, religion or politics. They work in areas of ongoing armed conflict, areas suffering with epidemics and those struggling after natural disaster. You can see a list of their activities here.

Tomorrow, MAC Makeup Artists in London, Dublin and Edinburgh will take part in MAC's global initiative to commemorate World AIDS Day.

"M·A·C artists from the UK and Ireland will pitch in to help at London’s Positive East and Edinburgh’s Waverley Care and give up some of their free time to decorate nominated service areas and meeting rooms which are frequently used by visitors to both Charities.  The M·A·C Aids Fund has supported Positive East since 2006 and Edinburgh’s Waverley Care for over 10 years. To raise awareness on World Aids Day in Dublin, M·A·C Friends and Colleagues are joining the Open Heart House charity “Sleep Out”.  This will be the inaugural Open Heart House “Sleep Out” and it is a great way for M·A·C to develop the support it has given to this charity since January 2000. The M·A·C AIDS Fund has donated a combined total of over £230,000 to these three charities for various projects."

MAC has had a longstanding connection with AIDS charities. 100% of the sales of the Viva Glam lipsticks and lipglosses goes to fight HIV/AIDS.  You can learn more about the work of the MAC AIDS fund at www.macaidsfund.org.

I also wanted to mention the work of Give And Makeup and the current Shoebox Campaign. The aim of Give and Makeup is to provide much needed toiletries to women who find themselves at Refuge centres, fleeing terrible domestic situations. For some women it is a very hard decision to leave an abusive or violent home and the last thing on their minds are the practicalities of leaving and packing a soap bag. You can find a list here of the items you can donate to Give and Makeup. For the current Christmas campaign they are also looking for donations of shoeboxes containing items for children, such as toys, books, puzzles, colouring pencils and pads, soft toys and pyjamas, as well as the usual toiletries. If you think you might be able to give something, please have a look here for details.


Thank you so much for reading.