Event Report : Estee Lauder High Touch Luxury Counter Design & Environment Experience

Hi everybody!

Did everybody had a great weekend? Mine was very mixed-feeling (i will elaborate a little bit later on...), but one thing for sure is : i'm very tired! LOL. My social life is super busy lately (not to mention helping Baby Boy study for his final tests... His nanny's back at her home town and all), but i am definitely not complaining! Anyway, on Thursday i got an FB message from Lidia inviting me to an Estee Lauder event on Friday. The shortest notice i ever got for an event >.< *LOL*. Since my schedule is free (i'd always make time for events though! Even if i have something else to do-if there's an event, i will try to shift my schedule around *LOL*, this time included roping my mum to accompany Baby Boy at home!) of course i said YES!

Lidia also asked me to help find other beauty bloggers who could come with this short notice (too bad Shasha couldn't make it because she's working!) and i asked my beauty junkie buddies to come with me : Lina, Sabrina, Oline and Katherine!

There's Lala too, hello!

The invitation (i think they made it in a hurry therefore the typo :)..)

The event was to experience Estee Lauder's new high touch luxury counter design & environment at Metro Department Store in Ciputra World. The counter itself was already there since February (if i remember correctly), and this event is to celebrate and introduce their new design and counter concept :).

Estee Lauder's beautiful counter in Metro, CW

There's also a photo corner complete with props for you to camwho with!

We were greeted warmly by Estee Lauder's rep (Mrs. Susi? I'm so so so horrible with names, i hope i don't mix up the names! And mostly i wouldn't even dare to guess because i haven't the slightest idea who their names were >.<) and asked to fill in the guest book (there were me, Lina and Sabrina who met up before heading to the counter. Lala was already at the venue before us. Katherine was late-as usual LOLOLOL, but she's not horribly late so it's worth a mention! Oline was the latest to arrive hahaha) and then we're taken to tour the counter *which is pretty spacious!*

Estee Lauder rep explaining their products (i'm sorry i do not remember your name, Mas!)

Just a few minutes in, the tour was taken over by Estee Lauder's pretty manager (oh thank God, the mas had a super duper soft voice and there was a loud music playing i didn't catch a single word he said!), Ms. Hilda (who looks, sounds and gesticulates suspiciously like Cici Panda! I couldn't stop staring at her and marvel at the likeliness!)

Ms. Hilda explained to us about their new counter's concept. If the old Estee Lauder counters were very much like other high end brands' with their Beauty Assistant trailing you non stop-which could make them to be very unapproachable and intimidating (especially for people like me. I really really hate being trailed and asked questions/being shoved products nonstop! I would flee the scene immediately *LOL*. Huge loss for the store since i am such a big spender >.<. Just leave me alone *except when i call you!*, sales people!!!), their new concept is so much more fun and customer-friendly. 

All of their products' testers are put on open counters so customers can walk around and play with the products freely without having to feel pressurized to buy anything, awesomeness! Not only that, a lot of thoughts were also put into the details, for example the lighting! Often times we'd be putting on makeup (or shop for makeups) where the lighting is not sufficient, and when we finally see ourselves (or the new products we purchased) in a bright place we'd be shocked at how different the shade might be, how accidentally thick we applied our makeup, etc. In Estee Lauder's counters, what you see is what you get. They have a bright and "real" lighting so everything that you tried on would be exactly the same shade/thickness anywhere as they appear in those counters. No smoke and mirror there!

I wore a very (or at least what i feel like) decent dress and put on lots of makeups because i wanted to look more mature and sophisticated (not very easy since i just got my bangs trimmed last week...) and to emulate Estee Lauder's classy and expensive aura (i always try to dress according to the brand/theme haha), but i guess i failed miserably again because people still  thought i was a lot younger than my age *LOL*. Ms. Hilda said she'll talk informally to us since "You're all so young", OMG i shrunk in shame... Especially when she pointed out that none of us would need the Anti-Aging products yet so we should use the others, the ones for younger targets they have. LOL, i MOST definitely need the anti aging products already based on my age alone!

Our #1 fave part : decorative MAKE UP! SQUEAL!!!! This is where you see beauty bloggers lost their cool and start gushing and panicking like little kids in a candy store >.<

LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE MAKE UP!

#Drooluncontrolably...

Such a cute display! Gigantic lipstick!

Must camwhore with it! Too bad the lighting and my height (on heels) made it a bit hard to capture a decent picture of me *i'm not blaming you, Lina LOL*. I look a bit creepy and pervertic in this pic hahahahah. Actually i looked like i was sneering in most of the pictures taken that day *sobs*. Totally forgot to switch the camera mode to the "Beauty Face" LOL. I hate how harsh and sharp regular mode is! I look meaner! #don'tjudgeme

Ms. Hilda also explained that Estee Lauder is NOT a professional make up artist's brand like MUFE or MAC, therefore their decorative products are not as pigmented or bold (or cray). Estee Lauder is a brand catered for EVERY WOMAN. Their tagline is "There's no ugly women, only lazy women". In Estee Lauder, they strive to serve every woman who wants to be beautiful and make the effort as painless and as easy as possible. So their products are not super thick/bold/pigmented, but definitely buildable and easy to use (for example, their eye shadow palettes are made *with harmonious shades in each palette* so it's easy to know which color would go with which without having to have a nervous breakdown! LOL. Estee Lauder already did the base work for you!).

We also saw Estee Lauder's professional MUA putting on make up on their model (and some customers who were invited)

This must be heaven for those who are into base makeups. I am not much into them, so i definitely prefer the other side of the counter hahaha

And their iconic perfumes! I love how their scents are so sophisticated and classy!

This area is provided by their VIP (or did they call them Premier?) customers who are purchasing their Re Nutriv line

Estee Lauder's Luxury Line, Re Nutriv

No wonder these two were encased in glass *unlike the others which were displayed openly!*, the face cream was priced at  IDR 10.500.000 and the eye cream's around IDR 5.000.000 @_@... And i didn't realize that one of their modesl was taking a selfie with a customer at the back hahaha

Furthermore, Ms. Hilda informed us that Estee Lauder is the pioneer in introducing luxury skin care in their class! A leader brand to say the least!

They made this display to help those who are just starting to use their products and struggling to know which products they should start with! You just need to take a look and copy!

Cleanser, toner and other products. I managed to try their super soft, refreshing and awesome cleansing milk on my hands *to get rid of lippie swatches haha*

Ms. Hilda then offered us a make over with their professional MUA, since most of us already wore full make up (i really cannot imagine going to an event bare faced, but i'm game if the event's a make over/beauty class one haha), we shoved Sabrina (with force) who came straight from her university bare faced (only applied sunscreen haha) to get the make over!

Ms. Hilda introducing us as beauty bloggers to the professional MUA (the lady who accidentally photobombed them turned out to be my nephew's friend's mother :p)

Sabrina, before make over! Btw, Sabrina's the tallest girl in our little Surabaya Beauty Blogger cycle (there's also Shelley, who's a professional MUA and Youtuber, but she's not a blogger, at least not yet) at 178cm! She's only 1 cm shorter than my hunny (and he asked me later "Who's that super tall girl???" hahaha) and tower over us! Me in high heels was still more than 5 cm shorter than her in flats hahahaha

Look, even the shroud (??? Poncho?) is super girly with ruffles!

Sabrina, after a very soft and natural (and speedy) make over

 

Katherine arrived when we were more than halfway through the counter tour and had a private tour by herself hahaha. Oline who's super late (LOL) didn't get a tour at all i think :P

But she immediately start playing and swatching!

Ohai, that's my NOTD that i matched with my orange Furla Candy Bag! Color scheme of the day was citrus for me hahaha. I am honestly not much of swatches kind of blogger *weird, i know* because i got overwhelmed when i see so many colors and products! I normally already have a specific product/color that i'm looking for when i go shopping (which is rare for cosmetics since i shop online for them more often) and go straight to them. Swatching just makes me confused hahaha... Estee Lauder's lippies are so pretty!!! I know a lot of you might detest glittery lipsticks, i have no opinions on them as in i don't mind them but i also don't prefer them. But these Estee Lauder's lippies... I want!!!! Especially the red one with glitters, i absolutely love the name. It was Forbidden Apple or something! How can a woman resist such a charming name and imagine herself as Snow White whenever applying them?

Coz when there's a mirror you might as well post a label saying "#Pink's selfie spot". You bet it's gonna happen!

Borrowing Lina's slim hand full of swatches to show you some of their blush on and lippies. Somehow it was really really hard for our cameras (except maybe Katherine's DSLR) to pick up the color though, but it was a LOT more vibrant in real life!

In love with their beautiful blush-ons, especially that ombre looking one at top left!

Ms. Hilda explaining their new counter's concept and Estee Lauder's philosophy (basically what she told us earlier) to the audience

Introducing Metro Department Store's Manager (Mr. Awal?)

And showing us Estee Lauder's BAs new uniform, collaboration with a renowned fashion designer!

It's official now!

The the Make Over demo started

The professional MUA showing a soft and natural make over. I mean like, the real soft and natural kind (not the super thick and heavy but call them NATURAL like in some other event, ahem R**e* Academy LOLOLOL)

The "weapons" used to prettify the model

I didn't take a lot of pictures, just the first step (after serum) of applying foundie and this last one on applying lip gloss because we were busy running around playing with the testers while they were at it *LOL*

The result. Honestly since i am more into kawaii and cute looking girls (hey, every girl should have a girl type, it's only normal), i don't usually find tall, fierce and striking looking models to be attractive. BUT, i think this girl is gorgeous! Maybe because she's so calm and soft looking, i love her face!

Even prettier after make up! (she was already pretty before)

The models, MUA with Ms. Hilda

And one more with Metro's Manager

The models who were already fully made up were standing around the counters, getting their pictures taken so we went and snap pictures too (journalist mode : ON). Then we jokingly told Sabrina to stand with her because she's just as tall as them! 

This is because they were in high heels and Sabrina's wearing flats. They're all definitely around the same height otherwise, making the rest of us mortals felt like short and stout teapots as comparison hahaha

One more to show you the proof (about the heels and no heels part LOL) Why is it three of them never look at the same direction at once? LOL, so not in sync!

There was a guy from the modelling agency helping around with the event (and to keep an eye on his models?), as soon as he saw Sabrina posing with the models he began chasing her and asked her if she'd consider being a model! That'd be so awesome, however... Not only Sabrina's not interested (i think she's too busy. And as a medical student i don't think she'd have time for side jobs!), the agency guy also asked her to LOSE WEIGHT. Like, 8 kgs. (&#()^*($_)* *faints*. I mean... LOOK AT HER!!!! She's so damn skinny already! Oline and i couldn't stop joking about how they'd need us to lose 30 kilos then LOLOLOLOL. I'll be around 30 kilos then, that would be a very good look, right?

I made them pose like this to emphasize the height diff hahahaha. There's around 28 cm between them!

This is the result of the second make over on the other model (who was previously in a very glam make up, smoky eyes and red lips)

The MC then gave us opportunity to give this device that could measure our skin's condition (similar to SK II's magic ring test, i guess), we shoved Lina to try it on *LOL* *yes, we're pushy people aren't we*.

The mas setting up the device

Not bad! In the end most of us got our turns to try too!

Look at Oline! So hilarious!

And Katherine's very scared expression

No, it's not painful (at all, it's just taking pictures and all hahaha) it's just super nerve wrecking! What if the result's super bad??? But none of ours turned out to be too bad! I didn't manage to snap a pic of Oline and Katherine's results but they were pretty good too. Someone got B all the way, and the other got mixed result like Lina's, if i remember correctly.

If you know me in real life you'd know i HATE being the center of attention (it's not that i am bad at public speaking, i'm actually rather good at it judging from my presentation and guiding grades back in university LOL). At that Miracle's event i was actually asked to be the model for the complete hair and make up make over and the before make up treatment, which i turned down adamantly!!! Even a small thing like this i usually would avoid at all costs, but i was also very curious about my skin's condition so i relented...

I was also very puzzled when the mas didn't even ask my age and would plant the device that's just been used to test Katherine (who's years younger than me and in a different age category that should be entered in the device) on my face! I was like, mas!!! Don't you need to adjust your device first? He was like "20s, right?". This is the part which i really hate, telling people my real age LOLOLOLOL. He was quite taken aback when i told him "No! 30!" totally embarassing y'all...

No picture of me being tested but Katherine snapped one (very unflattering one. I hope she won't post it *HINT* *HINT*) zzzz, but i had to snap the result in it gloriousness, of course!

Coz it's not bad, y'all!!! (I need to explain that i got an A for glow, and Bs for skin intensity, skin texture and moisture level coz it's written in Bahasa Indonesia haha)

Then we could also try the other device to know what shade of Estee Lauder's foundation would match out skin perfectly. I unfortunately didn't get to try it (or more like wasn't too interested in haha)

Estee Lauder also thoughtfully provided cold drinks and fingers food which we refused at first because we were too excited to tour the counter hahaha, but after almost 2 hours we all started to feel very thirsty.

And this pint sized lady to be very hungry. She downed a few cakes at a short time and when i tried to snap a picture she started to pose

More crazy pose with Sabs

One more with Lina, Sabs and Kath's bun! LOL

I was again very enchanted by the gigantic Advance Night Repair dummy and decided to rope the others to cam-whore with it. Again, why did i look so disgusted??? Was Katherine's hair smelly? LOLOLOLOLOL

Then we cam-whored at the photo corner (and get an instant photo too but i prefer the ones we snapped with our cams, no offense to your heavy and expensive camera, Mr. Photographer. Is just that for people with zero editing skill like me prefer glossed over and not so sharp pictures, i hate jarring and super sharp pictures!). I asked Sabrina (who's the only taller girl than me) because low angle emphasize my round face (but my face shape it not actually round okay, it's just all that cheeks...), but... Sab's probably too tall *LOL*, no matter, she snapped some real nice piccies of me and Katherine!

Thx for helping us take this pic, Sabs!

One more. I am announcing Katherine as my official photo-taking property from now on :p

Another very nice one snapped by Sabs

All of us

And closed with a mirror selfie! Haha

We had a blast that day and the event was very fun. Estee Lauder was also very generous and gifted us with a choice between a full sized foundation or a lipstick each. We were told beforehand that we could choose, but i think there was a slight misunderstanding because when we were about to leave and was given the goodie bag it was already filled with a foundation each. We weren't sure what to do and was afraid to ask anything because we didn't want to be a bother. 

But when Ms. Hilda approached us and asked us what we got, we timidly asked if it's possible for some of us to exchange the foundie with a lippie like was stated earlier (some of us couldn't use the foundation because it's unsuitable for some of our skin's condition) and the head BA might be offended because of that. She said repeatedly that she already informed us that we could choose between a foundie and lippie in the first place so we should've spoken up. In our defense, i think it'd be extremely rude if we blatantly refused the goodie bags given to us and tell them it's not what we choose? I dunno...

In a slightly different note, i think with more and more brands embracing the trend to collaborate with bloggers, it is crucial for them to familiarize and educate their staffs about bloggers and what we do. Collaborations are mutual, win-win solutions for both ends so it's important that staffs need to be well informed about us. I guess in Jakarta it'd not be a problem anymore since collaborating with bloggers is pretty much a norm (judging from the crazy number of events hosted every week, and that's in the beauty department only) so their staffs know exactly what bloggers are. For other cities like Surabaya where bloggers are still a bit of a novelty thing, it's important to introduce us to their staffs to avoid miscommunications and misunderstanding. I would really appreciate it if brands could make their uninformed staffs understand that we're (as bloggers) more like a colleague and partner to the brand than just some girls attending an event and maybe we can get a more suitable treatments from staffs as well :).

Please understand that i am not saying this to be bitchy or ungrateful, i am extremely grateful for the opportunities given to me since we started this blog (and especially the raising numbers of invitations and sponsorships this month alone), this is just a gentle reminder (for every brands out there who are thinking of approaching bloggers for their campaigns/events, etc) that bloggers are potential partners and would be happy to spread the words about your brands as long as we're treated right :).

Goodie bag from Estee Lauder, i feel like a rich socialite walking around toting this super luxurious looking paper bag hahaha

Full sized Double Wear Stay in Place Make Up worth a whopping IDR 450.000, talking about generous!

Unfortunately they were running out of most shades of the foundation and we were given the same, super dark shade (which is probably 4 shades too dark for me) but the BA also kindly told us to exchange it in other Estee Lauder branches (other brands might not bother to do so) so Katherine, Lina, Sabrina and i went to TP right away to exchange the shades (or into an eye shadow, in Katherine's case!). I am super stoked to finally get my shade (no 36 which disappears right into my skin once applied, meaning it's the exact match for my skin tone!) :D. 

I want to thank Estee Lauder for having us (and Lidia for personally inviting me :D. Thanks, doll!) and making us a part of this fun event and even more, gave us a pretty fantastic gifts :D!

Hope y'all have fun reading this!

#Pink

PS : My weekend was fun but also sad because one of my close friend MM just lost her father on Sunday. I am deeply saddened, i've known her father pretty much forever (MM's mother's my mum's very close friend since childhood, just like she is my very close friend. Furthermore, our dads and siblings are actually pretty close as well) and i can't even begin to comprehend how much pain they must be in right now. Please join hands with me and keep MM's family in our prayers so that they'd get through this difficult time and send positivity and light their way!