Meeting the Founders at Sephora University

So if you remember, and I think you do, I went to the first Sephora University event back in April, when they hosted a Bare Escentuals master class. And if you recall from that post, I said, "Gosh, if they have BeneFit or Tarte or one of my other favorite brands, I'll totally go!"

Thus, when the invite to two nights of Meet the Founders came in, and Jean Ford of BeneFit was coming one night and Maureen Kelly of Tarte was coming the other, I did what I had to do: I signed up for both nights. For a $40 entry fee (redeemed as a Sephora gift card), I got two really fun nights.

The events were organized differently from the BE night -- we gathered around in the classroom for Q&A with the founders, then went into separate brand rooms for makeovers and personal time with the founders. (Yay!!)

Day One:



Day One featured the founders of five different brands, all of which you can see here from left to right: Too Faced Cosmetics, Oscar Blandi, Make-Up Forever, Carol's Daughter, and BeneFit. (You can click on it to get bigger.)

The Too Faced room featured cupcakes (yay!), makeovers, and a chance to say hi to Jared Blandino, the founder of Too Faced. I asked him about his eyeshadow primer, Shadow Insurance, which he said he developed for Britney Spears, Madonna, and Gwen Stefani. Sold! (We also got samples of it, and I am excited to try it out more.)

Carol's Daughter's founder, Lisa Price, made rose-milk bath for everyone while chatting about her line, her life, and was incredibly sweet. (I have yet to try out my rose-milk bath; it is currently in the refrigerator where it's probably freaking my roommate out.) I was also thrilled that in our swag bag, we got a full-sized Love Butter, which smells amazing.

I went on to Oscar Blandi, and since I have such short hair, there isn't really much to do with it. That said, they did try out a root touch-up and highlighting pen on me to show how I could make my roots much less stark. (I'm officially letting the blonde go.) There was also the Dry Shampoo, which we got in the swag bag, and which lazy me will probably put to use.

Since BeneFit is one of my favorite brands that I've been a cheerleader for for years, I particularly wanted to talk with Jean Ford and ask her if she was ever going to put a Benetint balm in a stick or wand-gloss form. Alas, she said no! Which made me sad, as a stick or gloss Benetint balm would be my most favorite product of all time. Still, the new BadGAL plum mascara looked really pretty on me. (I totally don't need any more mascara, though, which you will hear more about in my summary...)

I didn't spend as much time in the Make-Up Forever room, but everyone was getting amazing false eyelashes applied. Since I came in so late, there weren't very many left, and since I would love a totally over-the-top pair with big feathers or swooshy things, they'd just be smacking into my glasses all night. So I opted out, but I loved watching everyone else get their lashes applied.

Day Two:



Day Two only had four founders, which made it a little easier on us for dividing up our time. From left to right, Cosmedicine (standing), Tarte, Korres, and Fresh.

First we (I say we because I paired up with the awesome Nancy, who had also attended the first night; it's so much more fun to chill with someone at these things than go solo!) went to the Tarte room, where we met with Maureen and learned that her favorite trick is to line the inner rim of the eye with black pencil. We got the EmphasEYES high definition eye pencil in our bags to try it out for ourselves. (I've already tried it out, and apparently I fail at lining the inner rim, but I could have told you that anyway. That said, it comes in purple and green, too, which is mighty tempting...)

Next we went to the Fresh boutique room, which was a lot of fun because I love Fresh and so I got to blab at Nancy about all the things I love -- the face wash, the fragrance, the make-up, etc. etc. etc. We also got to chat with Alina Roytberg, the founder of Fresh, who is absolutely an awesome woman and has more than solidified my affection for the brand. I got my "makeover" (Alina said she doesn't like that word) done here, using the Imperial Bedroom palette. Lucky for me, I already had the Imperial Bedroom palette (I am a sucker for Fresh's pretty palettes), so it was fun to have someone show me how to use something I already had. The next day, I turned around and used it for my Little Red Riding Hood look. We also got to test out the new Sephora exclusive Fresh scent, Strawberry Flowers.

We then went on to Korres, where I fell hard for the body butter in Vanilla Plum. It's that warm spicy yet slightly fruity scent that I've been really finding myself drawn to more and more. (Could it be I'm narrowing down my signature scent??) I loved it and I am also mighty tempted by the pomegranate make-up remover wipes, which smell amazing and not at all like babies.

To end the night, we finished up at Cosmedicine. Skin care is always tricky for me, since I've gone through so many brands and I think I've found what I like in Bliss, but it's always interesting to see what people have to say. I'm curious about Medi-Matte, which is a tinted mattifier, but I honestly haven't gotten around to trying my Cosmedicine stuff yet because I'm so gun-shy about trying new skincare.

In conclusion, once again I had a really good time at Sephora University. The campus remains amazing and the Sephora staffers I met were all extremely nice, even when there was a small snafu with my registration (I wasn't on the list! but they found me all the same, which was nice). Everything I got was worth a lot more than the $40 I paid to attend, which was surprising. It was really nice to get to meet so many cool people, from Nancy to the staffers to the founders to the camera guy (you know, the one who kept taking pictures of me without make-up at the BE event).

I wound up walking away with five brand-new full size mascaras, which is kind of hilarious and a little frustrating at the same time. Guys, I know you all have awesome mascaras, and I know that mascara is one of the few universal things (not everyone can wear the same lipgloss/blush/etc.)... but now I have five brand-new mascaras and don't know where to start. (That said, I am totally not complaining about getting free SuperNova or BadGAL mascara!) But now I'm set for mascara into 2010 if I follow the three-month rule!

The answer to the question, would I go to another Sephora University event, remains yes. Yes, I would! Even if I have to wait another six months (because I know how long it takes to organize these things!), I would go again.

For more pictures of the Sephora University event, including the Too Faced cupcakes and pictures of me with the founders, you can check out my Sephora University set on Flickr.

images from periodicstyle.blogspot.com