Benefit Carnaby Street

Good morning!

I was so relieved for it to be the weekend.....until I realised that I have to work my first Saturday in my new job!
I've managed to put it off for 3 months as i didn't have enough training and had to wait for my jabs to take effect, but now there's no excuse....so instead of spending it in bed I'll be up at 6 again and hitting the road at 7....booooooooo!

If you follow us on twitter you'll have seen a few tweets from us about attending London Fashion Week (LFW) on Monday to see the hair and make up being done backstage at some of the shows. We're writing a full post on that tomorrow so please check back to see some amazing pictures!

Whilst we were there we decided to have a good old wander around London, particularly some of the not so obvious places. We ended up near Liberty's and Carnaby Street and low and behold, we found the Benefit bus!
This bus looks amazing, its beautifully pink exactly how you'd expect from Benefit and is fully kitted out with seats, ipads, tv screens and obviously lots and lots of make up!

It was of course celebrating the fact that Benefit have a new store opened on Carnaby Street, but this is not just any store as it's a boutique where you can not only have your make up done and pick up some lovely new products, but also have your hair blow dried, nails painted, spray tans and waxes all in the convenience of one beautiful store with champagne!
What an amazing idea!

We were welcomed onto the bus by Lisa Benefit and Alyson Rowe which was lovely, and they managed to get the AMAZING Pocket Belles to sing us a few numbers which were unbelievable.
They are amazing singers and performers and they're songs were brilliant!

I particularly loved the Benefit song and their Benefit print dresses.

 



I was lucky enough to have my eye make up done by Lisa as she showed us the looks they used at the Matthew Williamson show at LFW, the eyeshadows were beautiful browns and bronzey colours which she also mixed together to create an amazing shimmery bronzer which I will definitely be trying in future!



Alyson then arranged for us to travel to the new Benefit Carnaby Street store by rickshaw and it was brilliant, I've never been on one before so it was a lot of fun and I did feel like I was going to fall out!



So...onto the new store!

This was downstairs (we forgot to take photos upstairs....) and shows the make up bar with brow bar the other side and hair and nail salon in the background.

The blowouts are all on the wall for you to choose from and this was such a nice touch, I would personally pick Carrie if i was having mine done as I love big and voluminous hair!

One of the BEST things was that we were able to look at all the beautiful Christmas sets that Benefit are bringing out for this year.
I can safely say that I want all of them, and did end up picking one up to take home with me.....

This one was one of my favourites because of the variety of products in it and I will surely be picking it up. As soon as I get paid next!

This kit was great, such a bargain for essential Benefit products to try.

All of the kits vary in price and there is a picture of the pricelist further on below if you'd like to see. Some do seem a bit steep but when you look at the products inside and see that they're either full size or between full and sample size then you understand.

They also have a new fragrance out in time for Christmas which M loves, it's a very heavy warm and musky scent but I love that it's called Under My Spell Noelle!





The rest of the store was beautiful as well, there was a bar where you could order drinks from including Champagne which we were given a glass of and it was lovely surprise.





The store was (luckily for us!) really quiet so we could browse in peace and play around the with infamous blush boxes and new lip products out







The nail bar above and hair salon below look really cosy and I can see myself spending a lot of time in here if given half a chance!
I could quite easily spend a day moving through the different areas and having a complete pamper day before a night out. It would be perfect for hen nights and work parties!







Whilst there both me and M were treated to an eyebrow shape and wax. It was my first EVER time having my brows done professionally as I've never bothered before and so I was equally nervous and excited to have them done.
I've always been worried that someone would make them too thin or too arched and weird looking but obviously Benefit know their brow stuff and after meeting the girls I knew I was in safe hands!

After a quick consultation she got to work and this is what my brows looked like afterwards:



I absolutely love them!!! They're beautifully arched now which is something I couldn't get quite right and I'm hoping I can keep this up for a while before I get them done again. I would definitely go again as any pain and tadpole brow worries I had have been put to rest and I'd definitely go to get them reshaped again to save me the hassle.

The store is beautiful and we had so much fun. For an impromptu trip to London and ending up on the Benebus we had an amazing time and that was all down to Lisa, Alyson and the girls working at Benefit Carnaby Street so thank you so much to you all for making us feel welcome.

We even both made a sneaky purchase of the Christmas sets and I imagine there will be more made in the future!

I for one will be aiming to collect all the sets which may be a little expensive. I'm one down tho so it can't be all that hard right??
I think I need to get a boyfriend to afford all of them..... I just cannot resist all of those quirky tins!

Have you been to Benefit Carnaby Street? Will you be making a trip there to see the new store and all it has to offer?
Which of the Christmas sets have tickled your fancy?

I'm honestly having trouble deciding between Groovy Kind of Love, It's a Love Fest and Gimme Some Lovin!

L xxx