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Boutique California Hourglass Cosmetics Travel

Hourglass Cosmetics Flagship Store Opens on Abbot Kinney

September 21, 2014

On Thursday Hourglass Cosmetics hosted a special preview event to celebrate the opening of their Flagship Store on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach. The unveiling of their first retail store marks the brand’s 10 year anniversary. Per Hourglass founder and CEO Carisa Janes, “it is a milestone occasion” where a”brick-and-mortar location is an opportunity to bring the brand to life with state-of-the-art design and exceptional service.”

I was thrilled to be able to attend the preview celebration and was thoroughly impressed with the sleek and modern design of the store. The store itself is 1400 square feet with an upper level for makeup application, lessons and private services. At the event they had several stations where you could get your lip makeup done by one of their artists. By the time I arrived I found the entire store was extremely busy and packed with makeup artists, editors, bloggers and other industry experts who were invited. I only stayed for a short time but saw some familiar faces and said hello to Beauty Professor and Beauty Frosting. Even though it was very crowded, I managed to weave my way through the store and snap a few detail shots. The store has an exquisite design that is beautiful. It is sleek, modern and inviting. I hope to be able to visit Venice Beach again in the upcoming month to experience the store in its entirety.

The store officially opens to the public on Septenber 22, 2014.

Among the items I was able to preview in the store include the line’s first skincare item, the Equilibrium Serum which will be exclusive to the boutique for a while (scheduled to launch soon). There was also an Ambient Lighting Bar which looked interesting and I need to find out more about. It’s designed to be a way for clients to customize their own palette with three shades of the Ambient Lighting Powder (review on Luminous Light and Radiant Light). I saw most of the product lineup displayed with the exception of the eye palettes/shadows but it could have possibly been something I simply missed due to the crowd. I was really hoping they would have the new Ambient Lighting Blush Palette available for preview at the store but it had not arrived yet.

As we left there was a small gift bag given away to each attendee, mine included one of the Ambient Lighting Powder Palettes. Since I already have one of the palettes, I’m giving my extra one away. You can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (refer to the widget for terms and conditions). There are several ways to enter and I’m making this an international giveaway where 1 winner will be selected to receive 1 Ambient Lighting Palette (you must be 18 years or older).

A huge thanks to Hourglass for hosting such a lovely and well organized preview event for inviting me! I can’t wait until my next visit to the store to experience the entire line in person. The store officially opens to the public on September 22, 2014.

You can enter the giveaway below, there are multiple ways to enter, entries will be collected through the 25th of September and end at 11:45 PM PST. See terms in widget for more information.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Boutique California Travel

Caudalie Boutique and Spa Opens on Abbot Kinney in Venice

March 14, 2014

Caudalie and Byrdie hosted an event to celebrate opening of the new Caudalie West Coast Boutique and Spa in Venice. I made every effort to clear my calendar to attend. I’ve been a die-hard fan of the Divine Oil and Cleansing Water and couldn’t wait to see the entire line in a boutique setting (most stores or counters I’ve seen only have a part of the line stocked). Caudalie founders Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas made a special appearance and greeted each customer and offered tips, advice and recommendations to each individual. Mathilde was so kind to personally demonstrate how to use their cult-status Beauty Elixir on me. The event was hosted with wine and food catered by Ginger in the Kitchen. Each attendee had the opportunity to sign up for a 10 minute facial or 5 minute hand massage treatment in their spa area. I opted for the hand treatment where they applied their Hand and Nail Cream on one hand and on the other they mixed one spritz of the Divine Oil with Body Butter. It was a beautiful event. I can’t wait to go back for a second visit. There is so much I wanted to try but in the excitement was not able to. I ended up purchasing the small Favorites Set which has the Lip Conditioner, Hand and Nail Cream, Vinosource, Beauty Elixir and Cleansing Water in small sizes. Here are some snapshots. I hope you enjoy!



Travel-sized beauty items perfect for on-the-go:

Each attendee left with a generous gift trio:

It was a beautiful in a cleverly designed space. If you are in the Los Angeles area add this to your list to visit. Skincare fans note that Aesop is down the street on Abbot Kinney. Also in the Los Angeles area (about 30 minutes away) includes some lovely boutiques such as Malin+Goetz, Diptyque, Le Labo, Woodley and Bunny. It’s definitely worth a weekend trip to visit. Thank you Caudalie and Byrdie for hosting such a lovely event!

You can follow Caudalie on Facebook, Twitter @CaudalieUSA , Instagram @Caudalie. They had a two-day grand opening for the Venice Boutique, use #CaudalieLA to search for more photos. PS online at US.Caudalie.com there is a promotion for a free full-sized Hand and Nail Cream with a $50 purchase with code InTheBag (while supplies last).