Things have been crazy since I returned from my whirlwind trip to California! Shame on me for taking 8 million years (or two weeks, give or take) to get this post up, but better late than never, right? If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you noticed that I had a pretty epic time at Lucky Magazine’s Fashion and Beauty Blogger Conference.
In case you missed it, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of what lead me to LuckyFABB West:
- I attended LuckyFABB East in October in NYC.
- While I was there, I was selected to audition for Lucky Magazine’s New Voices of Beauty.
- They picked me as a finalist in December.
- You guys voted your faces off and helped me win one of the four top spots!
- Lucky flew me to NYC to shoot a New Voices of Beauty video in January.
- Lucky sent me to LuckyFABB West earlier this month to share my experience with the other LuckyFABBers!
- Full circle FABB happiness.
So, that’s how I got there. And now, here’s what I did…
After checking into the fabulous SLS Beverly Hills Hotel, the first pre-FABB soiree I attended was the “Good Taste Inspires” event hosted by Wendy’s at Blow Me Away Blow Dry Bar.
As usual, I went rogue and used the Wendy’s logo as style inspiration instead of selecting one from the menu. My stylist Heidi was AWESOME and all for it! She gave me faux bangs to match the cartoon and we coined the term #GlamourPigtails. I had way too much fun channeling my inner Wendy’s girl.
I also learned about the style contest Wendy’s is currently running in partnership with awesome fashion inspiration site Polyvore. (More on that later!)
After finishing my Wendy’s Asian Cashew Chicken Salad (which was super tasty, by the way), I headed to an evening of Hollywood glamour with SexyHair at Duplex on Third. It was chic to death in there. Fell in LOVE with the venue and had an absolute blast. Oldies played in the background and quotes by Marilyn Monroe, the face of SexyHair, were displayed everywhere. Oh, and the signature cocktail was a raspberry infused vodka lemonade concoction called “The Bombshell.” Love.
SexyHair Master Artist Nadirah Volpe styled me up with some serious old Hollywood waves using the new SexyHair Get Layered Flash Dry Thickening Spray.
I am obsessed with how it came out! There was a serious Veronica Lake situation going on. Apparently SexyHair liked how it came out too because I won their #SexyIsForever photo contest from that night! I’m currently sitting on about a year’s worth of their products that I will blog more about soon. 😉
I was also reunited with my fellow New Voices of Beauty! We had a moment.
The next day I was up early for the main event! I ate the cutest breakfast ever.
Then had a spaz when I opened the official Lucky FABB Agenda and saw my name!
Spazzed again when I saw Nicole Richie’s hair in person. Lavender envy ensued.
She gabbed about her House of Harlow 1960 line, that Givenchy blazer, what she grows in her garden, and her love of fanny packs. So adorable.
My fav takeaway from Nicole Richie though was what she had to say about having it all. “You can’t expect to do 100%, 100% of the time,” she said. “It’s not about living up to everyone else’s expectations, it’s about doing what you can do.”
Preach, sister.
Some of my other fav quotes from the speakers at FABB:
- “Don’t act like you’ve arrived when you’re only just getting the invitation.” – Sophia Amoruso, CEO of Nasty Gal
- “You have to hard wire yourself to be positive. Choose happiness.” – Eva Chen, Lucky Magazine Editor in Chief
- “‘What’s the trend you’re most looking forward to?’ Just wear clothes!” – Model Coco Rocha
I also LOVED the breakout sessions I attended, but I was especially impressed with the #InstaBeautyIRL Beauty Session sponsored by my friends at P&G Beauty! Badass makeup artist Kirin Bhatty demonstrated how to recreate certain Instagram filters in real life by using products from CoverGirl, Olay, Pantene, and Secret. She used me as a model and demonstrated how to Mayfair me up using the awesome CoverGirl truMagic bronzer. It was awesome.
After day one of the conference, I met up with the Lucky mag and P&G Beauty girls for a #MMM. (Madatory Margarita Meeting.) We all drank delicious jasmine margaritas and toasted to another exciting New Voices of Beauty Adventure.
We also chatted about the next day’s main event… Networking Brunch!
Brunch attendees were greeted with giant posters of our faces and the official NVB video on repeat on a big screen tv. It was hilarious, but pretty awesome too.
During brunch, the New Voices of Beauty were interviewed…
Good times ensued.
And then we all laughed, ate, connected with brands, made new blogger friends, and fangirled over Eva Chen.
After brunch we collected some serious swag (more on that later!) and then headed to another fab event at the spa at the SLS. I learned a ton of fun tips on how to incorporate honey into your beauty routine!
After that, I caused trouble in the bathroom with some beauties, hit one more event with my app designing friends at DWNLD Media, and drank way too much wine before flying home and losing my luggage upon my return to Florida.
Even with that, the trip was amaaaazing. I might still be catching up on sleep.
Thank you again to all of you, my readers, because I would not have been able to have this awesome experience without your support. I learned a ton and had a blast. Feeling very thankful. I can’t wait to share more of the products, tips, and tricks I discovered on my trip soon! xoxo