Balance Me & Marie Claire Shopping Evening

I recently went to a Balance Me Shopping Evening which was organised by Marie Claire Magazine. Tickets cost £10 each and included a goodie bag and 15% discount on anything purchased on the day.

The event was held in Debenhams in the White Rose Centre in Leeds and started at 6pm. It was held on the shop floor in a small space near the Balance Me stand. We were offered a glass of Champagne or fruit juice to start off with and some biscuits and then we were introduced to Sian Jones who is co-owner and director of Balance Me. Sian explained how the brand was started and the background of the 3 directors and then explained what was planned for the evening. 

Everyone had the opportunity to sit down with Sian and go through their skin concerns and she recommended which Balance Me products would be the most suitable to address our skin concerns.  There was no hard sell and Sian was really friendly & helpful throughout the chat.   I have a couple of areas of dark pigmentation on my cheeks and Sian recommended 3 products and showed me how to apply them to get the best results.  The products that she recommended for me were:
Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm which is a 100% natural product.
Radiance Face Mask which is 98% natural.
BB Natural Perfection with SPF 25 which is 99% natural.  This is their take on a BB cream. 

We also had a skin-reading session with Jackie who also works for Balance Me. I stuck my head into the skin-reading box which showed a reflection of my face and highlighted areas of concern which Jackie talked about and gave some tips on how to take care of my skin. In the end my skin was in much better shape than I imagined, especially with regards to sun damage. Jackie suggested exfoliating more and gave me a sample of the Radiance Face Oil (100% natural) and Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm. She was very flattering and guessed my age as in my twenties rather than the age that I actually am (which is a fair bit higher I have to admit). Thanks Jackie you made my day.

We had the chance to chat to Alex the Balance Me PR Manager. She was lovely to chat to and she introduced us to some of the new products which were not yet available in store. We were able to test the products and I will definitely be purchasing the Rose Otto Body Balm at some point in the future (unfortunately it's out of stock on their website at the moment and not in stores yet).  Its 100% natural and can be used all over the body. It smelled lovely and the texture was really rich but melts into the skin perfectly.  It will be great for those dry areas that you cant seem to get rid off in winter. 

There were about 10 or 12 people who attended the event and I had a chat with most of them.  It was the first event where I was able to chat to a fellow blogger. I met Lorna from life-by-ldb.co.uk who was lovely. Everyone got their fair share of time with Sian & Jackie and it was a nicely planned event, without any pressure to buy any of the products.

When the event came to a close we were given our goodie bags worth over£75, which was the highest value goodie bag they have ever given out. The goodie bag contained 6 products and we also received a copy of this months Marie Claire (which contains a voucher for L’Occitane which you can read about on my blog post here).

Balance Me Shopping Evening Goodie Bag

Just before the event finished there was a prize draw (at this point there were only about 6 of us left as we were having a great time chatting about beauty boxes and how we were all beauty addicts).  My sister was lucky enough to win the hamper of Balance Me goodies worth £150 (which she is generously sharing with me although she has first pick of the products obviously!!).

Balance Me Shopping Evening Hamper

I really enjoyed the event and it was great to find out about a British brand owned by women which uses natural ingredients and essential oils in their products.  They display the % of natural ingredients clearly on the front of each product and the lowest % on the products I came home with was 98% natural. Sian was keen to point out that it would be easier to go through the ingredients that are allowed into their products rather than go through the ingredients that they do not use. Overall I am really impressed with this brand and I can't wait to try all the products. The Balance Me philosophy is beauty that works naturally.  Read more about their story here & the Balance Me Promise here as it's an interesting read.

I couldn’t leave without making a few cheeky purchases.  I bought the Radiance Face Mask and Cleanse & Smooth Face Balm which were both recommended by Sian. I also picked up the Stellar Face Balm (100% natural) which had an amazing 70% off in store as I think the packaging has changed. There was also an offer in store when you purchased 2 items you received a free Facial Expression Filler (99% natural)  worth £22. This was still available even with the 15% discount. 

These shopping evenings are a great way to get to know more about a brand and it’s nice to get the opportunity to speak to the people behind the brand and find out what it’s all about. If you are interested in Balance Me products check out their website here.

Leighlee

I bought the tickets & the products in the last photo with my own money.