Sisterly treat at Beauty & the Beat

Friday night I went to my first Beauty and the Beat event put on by Jessica Whitby of Juicy Communications. In addition to running her own company, Jessica has been putting on events for 5 years, is the Social Event Columnist for Make it Business Magazine, and a distributor for Eye Kandy Cosmetics, an American company that made its debut in Vancouver first time at B&TB.

This was my first beauty event at Caprice. I know, right? Who knew such a big club venue would work well for a beauty-style trade show. But, it works. Although it was hard to see things in the unlit areas, the bright lights are great for makeup applications.

My first stop was a hand massage by the Aveda Institute (yes, the same brand that has spas), which is launching its first hair school in Gastown in a few weeks. Natasha Campbell (also known as the head of Tasha E Productions) was there with her excited energy. Love that girl.

Laska Freeman from Sex Ed with A Twist showed off some of her cool products and let us know that she hosts [FREE!] sex toy parties at your home. What a fun idea for a stagette or just a birthday party! Laska isn’t just a sex teacher or product salesperson – she is an expert on the subject through and through, and gave my very pregnant sis some great tips on working out your kegels (pubococcygeus muscles) and how to use products when you’re pregnant. To book a sex toy party, call Laska at 604-657-7840 or email laska@sexedwithatwist.com. (Before August 31st, hosts get a $75 gift box of girly items plus a discount on products.)

Then my sis and I got a demo from one of the Eye Kandy Cosmetics girls, who explained that the line is much more than just glitter makeup (which is what you think when you first see the rainbow of colours!) You buy the special Eye Kandy liquid which acts as a base, and mix in your colour(s) of choice before applying. This way, the shadow can be as thick and glittery or sheen and shiny as you want. Since I’m used to the smoky eye thing, I was drawn to a darker purple, which the artist put over a black eye liner. The result was pretty dramatic, although you can’t really see from the photo. My sis opted for a more natural honey colour.

The products are pretty reasonably priced too, especially if you buy at the event instead of online – $10 for the liquid and $10 for each colour.

Since I was wearing red lipstick I didn’t want to be heavy on both the eyes and lips so asked one of the touch-up artists to redo my lips with a natural gloss. She combined three different shades and the result was a very pouty-feeling lip!

final result!

The make-up artists are all independent, and many of them were trained at the Blanche MacDonald Centre.

Mid-way through the event, Natasha Campbell and special guest Natalie Sisson of WomanzWorld.com thanked sponsors and gave away draw prizes, including one of Laska’s vibrators.

Jessica also explained why she put on these events: so that women could form friendships and bond over beauty services (while supporting local businesses!) Also, she’ll be putting on Beauty and the Beat EVERY MONTH so it’ll be really cool to see how it evolves over time and involves more businesses for women to check out.

Last stop was a manicure from Luxe Beauty Lounge. I know what you’re thinking – where are they located? Well, they haven’t even opened yet, but I can already tell from their brand that they’re going to have a very successful run in Yaletown. Yaletown has a lot of lash and brow lounges, spas, skin spas, and nail bars, but no overall beauty and wellness lounge that’s also mobile. So I think they are it!  I got a cool dark blue to match my outfit:

Other exhibitors at the event included:

Cedar and Berry swimwear by Gloria Cardinal – gloriacardinal.etsy.com
SocialShopper.com – the Social Shopping phenomena featured on NBC, Time Magazine, ABC, FOX, and CNN
POOQ couture purse hooks: pooqmeup.com
Scarlett Ballantyne – Fashionista, Make-up & Hair Artist, Designer, and Stella & Dot Jeweller: scarlettballantyne.com
Queen Diva Lingerie – queendivalingerie.com

My sis and I had to leave at 9, although the event went on until 9:30pm and then clubbing ensued afterwards. The event was an awesome value for not having to pay anything (first 100 people also got a free drink!), but it would have been nice to have a performer or fashion show or something of the sort for entertainment, if not more vendors to check out.  This is a great event for a group of friends, for treating a mom or sister, or even to go on your own and meet new people.

To get on the list for B&TB, join the Juicy Events Meetup group or keep checking back on the purchase site: beautyandthebeatjune.eventbrite.com (The link will probably get updated as months go by.)