Total Beauty NYC Launch Party: A night of Red Lippies, Champagne and Beauty.
This past week I attended the NYC launch party of Total Beauty. I joined Kristen from Total Beauty, Erika from Makeup Bag and Julia from All About The Pretty for a night of beauty and fun. The party was held at the fabulous Space NK.
I am really smitten with this place. It has the most amazing niche brands and a sales staff that is knowledgeable on all things beauty. This is a true beauty sanctuary.
The Total Beauty party goers were a mixture of bloggers,magazine editors and super cool PR gals. I finally got to meet Amber from Beauty Blogging Junkie, Marina from Makeup Loves Me, Elke from The Beauty Newsletter, Delphine from Steeping Beauty and the dashing and hilarious Ben from We Love Beauty.
It was great to mingle with fellow beauty addicts and meet some of the fabulous editors and writers from my favorite magazines. I quickly adored Genevieve from Allure. She was beyond lovely and a blast to dish beauty with.
Julie, Erika and I showed off the Total Beauty site to the party attendees. The site's goal is to be the ultimate beauty source on the Internet. They have created a useful beauty product library that is constantly growing. As a beauty junkie and a friend to many cool librarians...this is thrilling.
The site also provides reviews, beauty videos and the soon-to-be-famous Beauty Scout. This function will recommend beauty products based on your needs and likes after you complete a series of questions. The recommendations appear in the subtle beauty scout box on the screen. The box is small, non-intrusive with no flashing or annoying pop ups. It is like a little beauty buddy instead of a pesky sales associate. I highly recommend this part of the site. There is a number of questions to answer but the end result is actually worth it. I swear on my Lancome Behnaz lipstick!
Speaking of the beloved Lancome lipstick...both Julia and I wore it to the party.
The night ended with Amber's buddy, Dana, discovering her holy grail red lippie. The mysterious lippie transformed this Jennifer Connelly look-alike into a "Dita Von Teese worthy" bombshell. It was fun to be a part of this moment.
You never forget your first red...
Dana has promised to do a review for Amber's blog, Beauty Blogging Junkie.
You will need to stay tuned at BBJ for the revelation on the lippie's identity.
Credits: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This NYC trip was made possible by Total Beauty.
Credits: Blogdorf Goodman
Disclosure: This NYC trip was made possible by Total Beauty.
Labels: NYC Trip, Space NK, Total Beauty
posted by Annieytown @ 11:15 AM
11 Inspired Comments
11 Inspired Comments:
Previous comment from thread above:
You know I looked at the Total Beauty site and poked around, but I was disappointed. I think it is not an impartial place to get good, solid information. For example, a spa owner was quoted (and was the only quote in the review) as saying a certain skin brush was bad for your skin. But I own that brush and it has made my skin so good I don't have to go to the spa anymore for facials. I have actually never heard a bad review of this brush, and know a couple of dozen people who own it, so their review really came out of left field, and was a definite conflict of interest.They also said customer service for the company making it was bad, and that is patently untrue. I wrote Total Beauty asking them about this, and nobody answered me (this was several days ago). So they're not interested in fairness, and they're not interested in questions from people reading the site. What are they interested in? Money, I guess. I am actually worried about all my favorite beauty bloggers getting involved with them, because I've always been able to trust your opinions, and now you've got this corporate entity telling you what to push. If I wanted that I'd buy Allure's Best of Beauty issue and pretend that Great Lash actually is great.
I need a life, I know.
Mrs D
Mrs D: Total Beauty just launched and the review section is growing. The more people who visit and write reviews the more impartial it will be. I hope you consider going back and writing your review of the brush.
I am on the blogger panel for Total Beauty and no one has told me what product to push or what to publish. In fact no one has asked me to do anything. This is just one of the many reasons why I am joining the site.
I am excited about the site for many reasons. One of the most important is the future online community. I miss the old days of Makeupalley. The fragrance board was alive with a great group of people with interesting taste in all things from perfume to art. I learned something new every day and become real life friends with many members. I think we were all addicted to the boards back then. I constantly was checking MUA every 10 minutes and my wallet was empty. Today I rarely visit.
That is not a slam against the site. MUA has been good to me.
However...I miss the golden age where it was amazing.
I am hoping the Total Beauty message boards will attract the beauty addicts and junkies I have come to respect and love. I am hoping to learn again from a cool community.
As a blogger, I have learned a lot from these Total Beauty events. If you only knew how "green" I was on everything from advertising, business cards, technology and web traffic. I am this sheltered blogger from Ohio that they are slowly trying to help. There really is just friendship and support being offered.
I am going to pass on your concern to the TB gang.
Have a great night Mrs D!
Thanks, Annie! I deleted this post from the where I first had it above, sorry about that. The thing is, Total Beauty will go nowhere with this venture if they're not trustworthy. The "beauty blog" community is actually very savvy about products, very sophisticated, and they'll sniff out the b.s. in no time at all. Maybe TB doesn't realize that.The post I mentioned wasn't a review that could be contributed to, it was an article about a number of popular products, debunking them or giving them the thumbs up. I give it that article the thumbs down.
Hi Annie!
Love the post, love the pic, loved the party and loved meeting you! Hope you had a fab trip back to Ohio. Stay warm and do let me know next time you're in NYC! We'll have to do some more product shopping. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
xoxo,
Amber
Mrs D- As a beauty blogger on Total Beauty's advisory board with Annie, I feel like the product review section is the most exciting part of Total Beauty.
If you have a profile, you can review any product (good or bad) and they will not alter, edit or censor your post in any way. They really want the reviews to be as honest and revealing as possible. I love that!
Of course, some products will be amazing to one person and horrible to the next---so it's important for readers to understand that a review is just one person's opinion.
I am excited for my readers to take advantage of this site because I feel it's an amazing resource. Total Beauty has never asked me to write anything about them or "push" any products or resources---like Annie, all I have felt is support and a sense of community. I think Total Beauty is an amazing resource for beauty consumers (like me!) and I hope you'll give them a second chance!
All the best,
Erika from Makeup Bag
Hi Ladies! Of course I know that people have various opinions about products. That's the point of a review section. I've depended on the MUA reviews for years, and am completely familiar with the concept, I assure you. But the thing that disturbed me was a Total Beauty ARTICLE (not a review, and not a feature that allows any comment) that professes to give an anonymous consumer's opinion (described as "you"), an "expert's" opinion, and "the final word." And the "expert" conflict-of-interest problem I noticed was not only with the skin brush, but all throughout--dermatologists touting products they sell in their offices, etc. Here's the link, if you interested: http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/flash/c_73_products
There is a real need for beauty journalism. Not hype, journalism. It's really hard to find. Allure is a slave to its advertising, and Jean Godfrey-June was touting the sticky spot that holds her blotting papers shut, for gosh sakes, in her column last month. The ONLY places the consumer can trust these days are blogs like this one--written by real women who have real opinions and are not beholden to larger entities.
OK, off my soapbox! Can you tell I feel strongly about this? Thanks for listening.
I am hoping the Total Beauty message boards will attract the beauty addicts and junkies I have come to respect and love.
I hope so, too, as I also miss the old days of MUA. It was one of the first places online that I realized I wasn't alone in my beauty product addiction! So far, I really like the concept of Total Beauty.
A big thanks to everyone for pointing out the great and the "be aware" (which are bound to be in any piece of writing) at TB. This event looked SO exciting!! Thanks for taking us there! I've visited TB a couple of times and had a really positive experience! I'm looking forward to more from them (but like everyone here take written pieces -of any kind - as input only, never gospel). I agree that bloggers have been the only way that I've ever gotten the real deal on beauty. Thanks so much! Molly
Hi there,
On behalf on TotalBeauty.com, wanted to say hi and reply. Below is the excerpt Mrs D mentions, so you guys can review. The "You Say" comments are excerpted from actual user reviews (as the Zagat Guide does) -- and yes, are both raves and complaints.
As a company we clearly need a better system for e-mails (sorry, we just launched a week ago and are working to catch up!), but it's important for you guys to know -- our team of journalists is completely independent from beauty companies. (Just check out reviews of products with ratings like a 2.5 and 4 out of 10.) We are not afraid to break some eggs in the creation of a great resource for beauty consumers.
And to further break the mold, you'll never see experts promoting their own lines on TotalBeauty.com, because yes, we agree that it's a conflict of interest. Even when our expert panel includes gurus with big product lines, including Dr. Murad and Anastasia.
Anyway, we value all this feedback and are excited to see everyone so passionate about beauty. Feel free to send any follow-up questions.
Thanks for the chance to reply,
Beth Mayall-Traglia, Editor in Chief, TotalBeauty.com
---
Clarisonic Skincare Brush ($195, sephora.com)
You say: Reviewers rave about this rechargeable brush that uses sonic frequencies to clean skin, saying it made "a difference after using it once." The price tag, however, is a major deterrent; others complained of the company's "terrible" customer service.
Experts say: Spa owner Renella says the brush can be effective in the hands of a pro, but at-home users could "over-stimulate skin and cause breakouts." If you own one, she adds, use sparingly -- no more than once a week. (Cheryl Renella, owner of Channing's Day Spa in Chicago, Ill.)
The final word: Deep-cleaning facials are best left to the experts. For at-home use, try a manual brush like Shiseido "The Skincare" Cleansing Massage Brush ($21.50, nordstrom.com)
Thanks everyone for the comments!
I hope everyone gives Total beauty a chance! I am truly hoping that when the community launches that we have a great place to chat and learn. I need a new online place to loiter at!!!!
Hi Annieytown!
Dana has written her review of Dragon Lady! Check it out:
http://beautybloggingjunkie.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-very-first-red.html
Hope you had an excellent new year. Here's to a fab 2008!
xoxo
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