On Thursday, I attended the Urban Decay event which was held in Debenhams, Eldon Square. Now after over two years of blogging on this corner of the internet and about four years of blogging in total, it’s fair to say that I have had my fair share of events, however, this was like no other. There was about 70 bloggers who all signed up in which a good amount out of that 70 actually turned up. Hello to a lot of new northern blogger faces, where have you all come from?!

The event itself was ran by ELLEfluence, a platform that has been designed to connect influencers like myself with brands such as Urban Decay. This platform is not set to officially launch until January 2017 but I think Laura, from Elle Blonde, has done such a great job with this one.

Credit: Laura Pearman Photography

I met up with my lovely blogger friend, Alice from Alice’s Wonder Emporium and Holly from Bisous, Holly Olivia. It’s safe to say we were all out of our comfort zones when we saw all the new faces as we strolled up the escalators to where the event was being held.

We were greeted by Laura Pearman, who was photographing the event. There was also glasses of bubbly and Lindt chocolate balls on offer before sitting down for the masterclass. The masterclass was going to demonstrate how to re-create a day time eye look on the model, Emma who was lovely, and then how to transform it into an evening look. Personally, I think this was a brilliant idea as this is ideal for festive parties after work.

The day time look was created using the Full Spectrum Palette, Ultimate Basic Palette, All Nighter Foundation and some of their new brushes. Michael explained to us that the new brushes have synthetic bristles which are actually made from recycled plastic bottles.

The shades that were used from the Full Spectrum Palette included: Warning, Seize and Jones. As the shades were being applied to the model, the palette was being passed around for us to have a look at it. As soon as I saw the Spectrum palette, I knew that I had to buy it. The shades are so unique and different.

I felt as though I was watching a YouTube tutorial live. Michael shown us the difference when applying eyeshadow with primer and without primer and believe me I was shocked to see the difference of how pigmented it really was. I have never been the one to apply eyeshadow primer but it made all the colours pop and look a lot more vibrant whereas with no primer it made them look faint and a bit muted.

The other product that was passed around was the All Nighter Foundation. I have heard so many mixed reviews about this foundation so I haven’t committed to buying it yet but it is on my wish list. One claim I heard was that the foundation oxidises on the skin, however, Michael explained that it just adapts to your skin once you have put it on. I think I definitely want a sample before I commit to buying the full bottle to see how it sets on my skin and what the final finish looks like but it is a full coverage foundation which I definitely like. The packaging is air tight which means that the product is pushed up, allowing you to see how much of the product is left. No more cutting tops off bottles in order to get the remainder of the foundation onto the back of your hand.

I also managed to test the Naked Skin Colour Correcting Fluids which come in four different shades: yellow to conceal purple hued dark circles and brightening, green to cover any redness such as blemishes, pink disguises dark circles on fair tones, peach to conceal dark circles and deep discolouration on dark tones and lavender to balance out sallowness and neutralise skin with a yellow undertone. I can imagine the peach would be best for my skin and especially disguising my dark circles that never seem to go away.

The evening look was demonstrated by Nisha and Kelly. Firstly, I found it amazing how they turned such a subtle day look into a lovely evening treat to go and party the night away. Although I am not one for partying myself, I love creating makeup looks with plenty of glitter and this is what it consists of. As with Michael and Sophie, the girls talked us through each application step and why they were using the products. One skill I did learn is to use a black eye liner in the waterline and then blend it out with a brown eye liner on your lower lash line to smoke it out. The final look is so beautiful and dramatic.

During the demos, the makeup artists explained why they were applying the product in a certain way, information about the products and how to use them. I thought this was really helpful and I felt as though I came away from the event learning something new (and lusting over so many of their products). They also answered questions throughout the demonstrations which was really helpful too.

The event was originally meant to be held at Gusto on the Quayside but it was changed to Debenhams for us shopaholics to buy products at the end of the event. Food was provided by Rub Smokehouse however I found that they didn’t even include anything vegetarian. I know that it was changed last minute but they could have offered something without meat just to be on the safe side.

After the masterclass, we were all allowed to collect our goodie bags and have a browse around the makeup counters. Of course, after much deliberation, I decided to pick up the Full Spectrum palette with no regrets. I can’t wait to start using it properly and create a couple of looks from it. Let me know if anyone would be interested in featuring some on my blog. The goodie bag included: an original eyeshadow primer potion, naked skin samples (which aren’t actually my shade), a Debenhams beauty reward card which I already have, an information booklet about the brand including their top 10 products and a sample of their revolution lipgloss in the shade Scandal which is a bright, hot pink shade.

Overall, I really enjoyed the masterclass from the event. I learnt a lot of skills which I am going to take forward when applying makeup. I was left lusting over many Urban Decay items and really enjoyed seeing how much the North East blogger community has grown in size. I was slightly disappointed by the food that was on offer as I believe that, even though it was organised last minute, they could have at least had one vegetarian dish available. I have seen many people talk about Urban Decay events before and I have attended many other events in the North East where the goodie bags was a bit more full filling than the one I received but I suppose it wasn’t the highlight of the event. Finally, I think Laura has given ELLEfluence I brilliant start and I can’t wait to see what is in store for next year.

Have you tried any of the new Urban Decay products? What’s your thoughts?

♥

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