Most people assume that, if you’re a blogger, London is the place to be when it comes to events. And while London is undeniably jam packed with fun events, Leeds does throw a few good ones too. Paul Mitchell, the brand known for its premium hair care, threw a small event in Leeds Québec Hotel for the launch of their Ultimate Colour range, and to introduce us to their new makeup range CID Cosmetics.
Arriving at Québec (late, oops), I was taken to the cutest, cosiest hotel room ever where I was met with Prosecco and canapes. James, a makeup artist and product developer for CID Cosmetics, was showcasing their products on one of the bloggers. Everything was beautifully packaged in chrome, and the products themselves were lovely. Baked blushes and bronzes, sweet smelling foundations and an ash eyebrow pencil which actually suited blondes, among others. After the demo, we had the chance to ask questions and I immediately piped up to ask about how best to cover acne scarring – apparently, when correcting colour such as scarring it is best to use concealer one shade lighter than your skin underneath your foundation. I normally pop it over foundation so was excited to see how this worked so when the group was offered makeovers, I was like, ooh me me me please.
After having my makeup taken off, James primed and then applied concealer to my scarring. The CID concealer is water based rather than cream, meaning that the water basically evaporates and your left with just the pigment – this means it is perfect for working under foundation. He then applied foundation with his fingers, explaining that this was a great way to provide a flawless ‘second skin’ finish due to the warmth of your hands. I was finished off with a light pat of concealer on my under eyes, and a dusting of blusher.
Now, I didn’t get a photo of my skin but seriously, wow. You couldn’t tell I had acne scarring; my skin actually looked smooth, peachy and perfect. I’ve not had perfect skin in a long time. It was weird too, despite not using a bronzer or anything to contour, I had cheekbones. Cheekbones! I was kindly sent both the concealer and foundation after the event to try out so I’ll be reviewing them later on with a before and after shot so you can see the magic in full.
so shiny!
After the cosmetics bit was over, we were introduced to the new Paul Mitchell Ultimate Color Repair range. Obviously aimed at protecting freshly coloured hair, this range uses superfood quinoa to protect and reverse your hair from damage thanks to the amino acid chains and protein it contains. According to Paul Mitchell, these amino acids penetrate the hair shafts and bonds to any damage, making a protective shield so that colour can’t escape and oxygen (which causes colour to fade) can’t get in. Their tests have shown that using the range can protect your colour from losing its vibrancy for up to nine weeks. There is a shampoo, conditioner and serum-heat protectant spray, and we received all three in a little goodie bag at the end so, despite not having coloured hair, I have been trying them out.
What I love about this range (apart from that fact it smells deliciously warm and nutty) is that the shampoo is sulphate free (you can read about my journey with sulphates here and here), which means it doesn’t strip your hair of essential oils and colour. This does mean you need to shampoo twice to get a deep clean, but considering you only need a tiny blob each time and it doesn’t ruin your hair, its a small price to pay. The conditioner is good for semi-dry hair, but if you’ve been let loose with the bleach and your hair is snapping off, don’t expect it to help much! For just keeping your hair healthy and preventing more damage however, it works fine. My favourite of all three has to be the spray, though. It has a water and oil part so needs to be shaken before sprayed, but it smells and feels much nicer than your average heat protectant. I have found that my hair does get greasy a little quicker with this so I tend to focus it on my ends and spray very lightly on the crown of my head, and I’d only advise using it on wet hair! Overall, the range is definitely lovely and worth getting if you have dry, coloured hair. I’m hoping they’ll release a serum too as I love the smell and would happily have my ends protected and smelling delicious all day long!
You can read more about the event on the Paul Mitchell’s site here.
