Clarins Central Pharmacy - 25th Anniversary

Last week I was invited along to the 25th Anniversary celebrations of Central Pharmacy in Cardiff. The store, which is at the heart of one of Cardiff's most popular shopping areas, is a beauty blogger's paradise, stocking a wide range of brands, from Clarins to Daniel Sandler; Dior to Nuxe. In addition to all the beauty loveliness stocked instore, Central Pharmacy is also home to a Clarins salon, which is one of only 76 salons in the U.K to have been awarded Clarins Gold Salon Status, so you can be assured that you are receiving the highest standard of Clarins service.

At the event we were given the opportunity to be given makeovers, using the latest Clarins makeup collections and were also given a demonstration of the Clarins Professional TriActive Facial and Body Treatments, which have been developed over five years.

There are six different types of Tri-Active facial, which are designed to address specific skin concerns:

• The Youth Activator
• The Lifting Line Smoother
• The Radiance Reviver
• The Moisture Replenisher
• The Skin Healer
• The Detox and Shine Stopper

The treatments have had some great reviews, e.g. 'Elle' UK's Georgia Collins has described the treatment as "one hour and twenty minutes of utter bliss", so it was good to be able to see the results up close. The treatments looked very relaxing, and the ladies who were having the treatments looked great after they'd finished, and were really pleased with the results. After the demonstrations, a large number of ladies rushed to book themselves in for the treatments after being impressed with the results.

The beauty therapist was really helpful, and was more than happy to give guests advice on which products would work best for their skin concerns, and also the best way to apply the products in order to maximise their effectiveness.

At the event it was great to be able to meet my fellow beauty blogger, Ms Red, of Ms Red's Beauty Blog, who I'd previously only known from Twitter. I also got to meet the lovely Sam from Clarins HQ who was wearing some fabulous Alexander Wang-esque boots from TopShop, which I was disappointed to find out were from a previous season, so will never be mine!

Ms Red

Central Pharmacy is owned by the same family who run Escentual, and it was lovely to be able to chat to @EscentualRakesh about the store and its plans in the forthcoming months.

Just before I left, I took advantage of the 25% discount being offered for the Anniversary celebrations, and purchased Daniel Sandler's limited edition 'In Love' candle, which is burning as I type. That was my consolation for not being able to attend Daniel's instore appearance later that week.

I might not have won one of the prizes (£75, £100, and £150 Clarins prize hampers) in the fantastic raffle that everyone had been entered into, but I was more than happy with my goodie bag which contained a powder compact, a mini Beauty Flash Balm (one of my Holy Grail products), and a mini HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion for only £9 - 38% off the RRP

You might remember Buyapowa's recent run of Benefit beauty bargains, and they have come up trumps again, with another series of beauty steals. The website has set up a series of Urban Decay co-buys, the latest one of which is the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. The RRP is £14.50, but if enough people sign up to the co-buy, then the price could drop to £9. The beauty co-buys are always hotly anticipated, so if you are interested, I would get in there quick.

Versace for H & M : Launch Day

A few weeks ago I chose my favourite pieces from the Versace for H & M collaboration. Well, the wait is finally over, as the Versace collection hits Cardiff tomorrow (Thursday 17th November). This is a bit of a coup for the store in Cardiff's St. David's centre, as it is the only store in the Wales and South West region who will be stocking the collection.

What items from the collection will you have in your shopping bag?

If you have got your eyes on a few pieces from the collection, then here's what you'll need to know:

• You should get to the store early if you want to get one of the coloured wristbands which gives you 10 minutes in the Versace zone. There are 14 ten-minute slots altogether.

• The coloured wristbands will be issued to shoppers from 8am, although the store won't open until 9am.
• Queuing will be on the Hayes entrance to the store.
• Every shopper who purchases an item from the Versace collection will receive a 20% off voucher to use in the rest of the store.

So, will you be heading down to the store to buy something from the collection? What pieces have you got your eye on?

Escentual Festive Flash Event

Just a quick post to let you know about an online event that Escentual are running over the next five weeks. In the run up to Christmas (until the 18th December), they are running their 'Festive Flash Event'. Every day there will be a different one-day only special offer, competition or free gift available to customers. Here is what's on offer this week:

Monday 14th November - A free Hydra Day Water Based SPF 60ml when you spend over a £100 on 3Lab

Tuesday 15th November - A free Narciso Rodriguez 10ml miniature with any 'for her' fragrance

Wednesday 16th November - 20% off all Pupa skincare

Thursday 17th November - A free 'Boss Bottled' sports bag with the purchase of any male Hugo Boss fragrance

Friday 18th November - Win a designer fragrance selection worth over £250