I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Bobbi Brown makeup counter in House of Fraser, Guildford, for a Nourish & Glow skin care and makeup lesson.
Read on for some little tips and details of freebies!
If you follow Lauren @huntersandheels, you will know that she is a Bobbi Brown makeup legend and I am totally blaming her for my BB addiction. She always looks amazing and I have been following her, and using BB makeup for a few years now.
So when Emma from BB in H of F, invited me along for the ‘Nourish and Glow’ lesson, I jumped at the chance ! ( I’ll add before, during and after, pics at the end)

The BB makeup counter has pole position right by the doors in House of Fraser on the High Street side, in Guildford. So if you go along, it’s very easy to find!
I wondered if I would feel a bit ‘exposed’ having my makeup taken off, and reapplied, in the busy store, but I didn’t feel that at all! Also – I wondered if I might feel a bit intimidated by all the beautiful people – but Emma and her team immediately made me feel completely at ease! They are SO LOVELY.
Please don’t think you will then be subjected to a hard sell, and then can’t possibly leave until you have bought something. The girls on the BB team have had extensive training and want you to become a regular client, so hard selling isn’t on their agenda. (I had previously been known to lurk around for ages before initially plucking up the courage to actually ASK for help. They know their stuff, let them guide you !)
This might end up being a long post, but I will try not to ramble on, and basically give you the product information and especially THAT lipppy info!
This post is not a hard sell, either – I wasn’t asked ( & I am not being paid) to write this post but I was so impressed with everything that I wanted to share! I am 47 and have been stuck in a makeup – skin care rut for years. Dipping my toe in to various brands here and there, but never actually asking for help and the difference it has made is amazing ! And the difference was immediate. I’ll keep you posted on the long term.
First of all, prepare the base!
 

1. Cleanse (with oil???)
   

   

   
   My skin, as most of you know STILL has a tendency to break out ( I MEAN… I am 47 ?!?! When will it ever end!!) So when Emma suggested an oil cleanser (Soothing Cleansing Oil) I was really surprised, turns out, pleasantly so! Soothing is the word here. That’s def what I need! SOOTHING! Sold. NEXT. (plus, it gets rid of long wear lippy and waterproof eye makeup so you don’t need to faff about with loads of different products)
2. Up next was the Hydrating Tonic This made my skin feel fresh and comfortable, I do love a toner – this one has lavender in it so I am very happy.
3. Intense Rehydration Compound – this one is really fancaaay! It’s a serum but it works instantly. BRILL! instant is good, aint no one want to hang about for 6 weeks to see the difference! Just a few drops under your moisturiser is enough – BB do lots of different serums to address different issues but my skin is thirsty as I have just come back from holidays! They are £30 each so a real treat, but BB also do a mini kit called Recovery Rescue which is £19.50 and has two baby serums and a skin salve – a little kit to save the day!
4. Finally, Emma applied a moisturiser – this one is a limited edition and an absolute bargain so get it quick!! Packed full of vitamins and antioxidants, and well, it smells GORGEOUS – I am such a sucker for a lovely smell haha! Vitamin Enriched Face Base

In fact all of the skin care stuff smells lovely – it smells what I call ‘proper’ not sickly sweet but a lovely grown up smell of stuff like essential oils, it smells like it works.

I’ll move on to MAKEUP
I won’t rabbit about every single make up product – I’ll tell you about the ones that really stood out.
FOUNDATION – if you spend your hard earned cash on anything, get your foundation right – whether its actual foundation or tinted moisturiser or whatever. Go along, see the girls at your local counter or shop, and ASK. They have a brilliant way of matching you to the right shade and incidentally – everything you buy and and have ever bought will be put on the system so if you are unsure what colour you had last year, or if you can’t remember your fav lip shade that you have just run out of etc etc, they can check for you – from any BB till anywhere !
My fav foundation is Intensive Skin Serum Foundation SPF40 at £45, it’s the most expensive one they do – rolls eyes at self… BUT it contains a serum so it is two in one ( it comes in 21 shades so there is bound to be on that’s right for you) PLUS over the years I have spent an absolute fortune on buying the wrong shade base. You know – you spend ages at in the makeup aisle, daubing it on your wrist, (why do we do that?? not actually ever going to wear it on our wrists are we?) and then you get it home and realise you got it wrong. You are bright orange or so pale you look dead?! (but hey your wrist looks amazing) And THAT is how I justify it. Plus it lasts ages and anyway I deserve it. HA!
EYES
RIGHT! how on earth did I not know about THIS!! A little pot of solid eyeliner that is applied with a brush ?! (OK… I might be late to the party on this, but it’s my civic duty to share if you are even later than me!) It comes in ten colours and Emma used number 6, Granite Ink, on me – happy with that as I feel black is too dark for me. You can go super subtle by Tight Lining or heavy as you like for dramatic eyes. It doesn’t shift all day and you don’t get an imprint of it on your eyelid (just me? with soft eyeliner pencils? ends up everywhere) I am a convert to this as I also HATE sharpening eye pencils and the propelling type that are a bit better, suddenly run out on me and the last bit drops out and is lost forever in the shag pile! Gahh!) One thing I will say though, is you need the right brush for this one like this  
Ever admired the ‘no makeup’ eyes, that look so undone and clean? it’s THIS (Emma applied number 51, IVORY) what with that and the Tight Lining Technique and a bit of mascara (slimmest wand I have ever used – at last! It gets all the tiny lashes and is not klaggy) The whole thing was a revelation! I actually looked awake!
I am still to perfect the tightlining ! haha – but you know, Amy Winehouse never bothered about small details like that did she?

LIPS
I have had more messages about the lipsticks than anything else!
Firstly Emma applied BARE MELON LIP TINT

If I was choosing on my own, I would have totally passed this one by. It looks like a tinted lip salve. it feels like that too. So I would have naturally assumed that it wouldn’t last five minutes on my lips. WRONG!  It is a tinted lip stain (that actually adjusts to your lip colour !) you can wear it on it’s own, which I also like, or under a lipstick.

Emma used Crushed Lip Colour in Cabana over the top of the lip tint. Immediately my whole face came alive! How many wrong lipsticks have I ever bought, hoping for them to be ‘ the one’ LOADS!!! ( I did find Maybeline 24 hr colour stay lip in shade 185, a good one and I have been asked loads about that one, it’s a lovely soft pink, I’d definitely recommend that too) To make me switch, the lipstick would have to last all day – I work in a busy salon and often don’t have time to re apply my lipstick, so I only want one that says put !  ( you can also use the Crushed Lip Colour on your cheeks! My Mum always used to do that, in the 1970s, I think she might have inadvertently invented that, but anyway, now you actually can)
I can report, that after a day in the salon – IT LASTED. The gloss of the top coat did come off, but the stain underneath literally lasted all day! That’s fine by me! the gloss of any of the long wear colours always comes off anyway. But the brill bit is that I didn’t end up with flaky bits of lippy in dry gaps on my lips ( ya know?) because it’s a BALM!!
SO – if you book a lesson with Emma or any of the lovely girls at any BB counter or shop, it’s free. If you want special occasion makeup you can book it for around £30. (redeemable against any purchase !) Same with eyebrows – I must mention Amy at the Guildford H of F store here, she’s a BB girl too so you can always ask her while she’s threading your eyebrows -she is trained to NOT have the cotton in her mouth as she does it, so she can actually chat to you!  I’ve never been sure about the mouth thing tbh – I like a chat!  Amy has been threading my eyebrows for ages now. I trust her completely . Threading is £17, and again that’s redeemable against any purchase – so get your eyebrows done and buy a lippy ( or whatever!) and the threading is offset against the product which basically means you get the threading free – following?!) 
 
 
 

As promised, and if you are still with me – here’s the before, during ( after base was applied) and after, images.  No filters on any of them. Not even an Instagram rabbit ear. Not even that.

 
 
 
 
And that wraps it up for now!
I hope I have given you the confidence to go in and ask. If you are local to Guildford, make sure you go in and say I sent you, to pick up your little free gift!! While stocks last.
As ever thank you for reading
love

All words are my own and I wasn’t asked (or paid) to write this – Although I was gifted some products to take home.